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Let’s Make America Godly Again!

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The title of this week’s blog originated from an interview I heard on FlashPoint with the “Praying Great-Grandmother,” Rebecca Lavrenz, who was just found guilty on April 4, 2024 of four misdemeanors for walking into the Capitol on January 6th for less than ten minutes. Her story is alarming! She prayed and fasted for five days before driving 25 hours from her home in Colorado to the rally in D.C. to pray. She says on her website Restoring Godly Culture, “I bring God with me wherever I go . . . He told me to be there to pray.”

Videos show her peacefully walking into the east side of the Capitol building where Capitol Police ushered people inside. There’s even a video of her chatting with a police officer as she was leaving. Videos also show her staying within the roped designated area, as instructed, while she walked around praying then left. That’s it. That’s the crime for which the FBI came after her almost two years later in December 2022. This praying patriotic grandmother awaits sentencing in August 2024.

Here are the charges. Each one could result in a year in prison and $100,000 fine per charge. Remember the Capitol police stood with the doors open for her to enter and leave and all she did was walk around praying and at one point dropping to her knees in tears and prayer.

  • 18USC 1752A1: Entering and remaining in a restricted building.
  • 18USC 1752A2: Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
  •  40USC 5104E2D: Disorderly conduct in a capitol building
  •  40USC 5104E2G: Parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building

On her website under “My Story,” Rebecca describes herself, “I am a God loving, praying mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother who loves my country, family, and the things that are on God’s heart. I count my life as no longer mine, but God’s, which has lead me to the situation I now find myself in . . . . I went to Washington, D.C. believing God had chosen me for this assignment to pray and put action to my faith, not knowing He would also lead me to carry His presence into the Capitol building itself on January 6 to reconfirm the covenant which was set forth in the year 1620 by our pilgrim forefathers, that this country was established ‘…for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.’”  

She also posts her Mission Statement. Do you have a mission statement for your life like this one?

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Phil. 3:10

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt. 6:33

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations, you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. Is. 58:12

Philippians 3:10-Matthew 6:33-Isaiah 58:12

My Mission in life is to know God and make Him and His ways known, with a vision of restoring our nation back to God’s original intent and that of our founding colonists, declared in the words of the 1607 First Landing Covenant. 

“We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all Generations, as long as the Earth remains, and may this Land…be Evangelist to the World.”

Each time I’ve seen Rebecca interviewed, the joy and love of the Lord shines through her. There’s no bitterness or anger, even though her defense attorneys, support witnesses, or herself weren’t able to use or even mention the First Amendment in court. In fact, the jury asked twice why they couldn’t consider the First Amendment when they were deliberating.

Rebecca says as surprising as it was to hear “guilty” to all four charges, she immediately had a peace that God would still use it for good to reveal the injustice in our courts today.

Yet, we watch anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activists in the streets yelling “Death to Israel, Death to America!” “We are Hamas!” Hamas are terrorists?! They’re creating sit-ins to close bridges and roads leading to airports with seemingly no consequences or even arrests, while praying grandmas are being shackled, arrested, charged, and jailed. Sadly, Rebecca is not the first grandma this has happened to and many political prisoners languish in jail since Jan. 6, 2021.

How Did This Injustice Happen?

America has forgotten that our “rights,” even those in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, don’t come from man or government, they come from God. Government is not the highest order in the land. God is and we’re accountable to Him.

Originally, all civil laws were based on moral laws. The further we get away from that premise, the more rights and freedoms we actually lose. Civil law with moral law gives us freedom and rights. Civil law without moral law is tyranny.

When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability. Pr. 28:2 NLT

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! Is. 9:6-7 NLT

The founders of America were specific about everything in the Constitution because they had a real fear of power in the hands of a ruling class. Government should be responsible to the people, not to each other. The people are the bosses and government exists to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the people whom they serve and are responsible to.

Government without checks and balances will always have a propensity to want to rule and create civil law without consideration of moral law. This leads to a pharisaical, tyrannical ruling class who see themselves as gods. That’s where we are right now in America.

“The Constitution is a limited one, possessing no power not actually given, and carrying on the face of it a distrust of power beyond the distrust indicated by the ordinary forms of free Government.”—James Madison

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jer. 17:9

Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people. Pr. 14:34 NLT

Morality isn’t not doing what’s wrong; moral character is doing what’s right!

Why Aren’t All Christians Voting to Keep America a Godly Nation?

As Christians, we’re citizens of heaven, but as long as God gives us breath, we’re also citizens of earth. That makes us responsible. Our job is to vote our faith and our values! God will determine the outcome, but that doesn’t mean we do nothing. We vote! We speak out! We get involved!

Doing nothing isn’t the attitude we take with our own physical health. We don’t say that we’re going to die anyway someday, so why bother to ever go to a doctor? People use the excuse for not voting that God’s in charge so why bother to vote for who will be overseeing the health of our country and the future of our children and grandchildren for generations to come. Abstaining from voting isn’t biblical or moral. We’re to love and protect our neighbor and family as we love ourselves (Luke 10:27).

Not voting our values, faith, and beliefs forfeits our duty and privilege as an American by abrogating our responsibility of protecting and caring for those we love most and our fellow citizens!

Some people say, “I don’t get involved in politics or vote, I just pray.” That sounds so spiritual, but it’s not. A church that doesn’t encourage the flock to exercise their voting rights is spiritually and civically negligent. I know that might offend some. If you’re offended, ask yourself why. Then consider what if the disciples had taken a laissez-faire attitude after Jesus ascended to Heaven. Rationalizing: Well Jesus is determining everything from heaven now anyway, so we might as well just go fishing. They actually did go back to fishing before Jesus’ resurrection when He found them and told Peter, “If you love me, feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)

Jesus made it clear to them, and to us, that He left us on earth to occupy until His return. That means putting our faith into action, not always popular then or now. But Jesus’ disciples weren’t intimidated or dissuaded, and neither should we be. They used every tool they had to reach people with the truth of the Gospel.

Christians must not lose our voice in the public square because we acquiesced and allowed people into public office who try to silence us! The Bible is very clear that faith without action is dead!

 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades, will not overcome it. Matt. 16:18

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? James 2:20

Evangelical Christians make up about 35% of the voting population, 68 million! Unexplainably and inexcusably only half register to vote, and of that group, only half show up to vote! That’s pathetic, embarrassing, and tragic. Then we lament and wonder why moral law no longer influences civil law. If those potential Christian voters had voted in past elections, America would be a much better country today.

Satan uses this vulnerability and laziness in the body of Christ to divide Christians in their beliefs and values. A good example of that is on the topic of abortion or transgender atrocities. If Satan can weaken our influence and impact through infighting, fear, and complacency, we will see less and less moral law, and consequently less of a godly America!

We’re the stewards of our country. You and me! Every voter will determine not only the candidates that win, but whether or not America can truly live up to its motto, “In God We Trust!”

Don’t vote just so you get your way, or everything turns out how you want. I’ve heard some Christians say, if the next election isn’t fair, they’re not voting any more. That’s a defeatist position that Satan loves to hear from Christians. God rewards us not based on what other people do, but based on what we do! (Luke 19:11-27 “The Parable of the Ten Talents”)

And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. Luke 19:13 KJV

If we have a bad meal at a restaurant, we don’t say I’m never going to eat out again! We research a restaurant with good reviews of food we like. If we’re not happy with a particular doctor, we don’t say I’m never going to a doctor again. We do our homework and try another doctor. Our country’s political and spiritual health could depend on our research, participation, prayer, and vote!

“All that the best men can do is to persevere in doing their duty to their country and leave the consequences to Him Who made it their duty, being neither elated by success, however great, nor discouraged by disappointment, however frequent and mortifying. . . We must go home to be happy, and our home is not in this world. Here we have nothing to do but our duty, and by it to regulate our business and our pleasure.” –John Jay, first Supreme Court Chief Justice

I hope and pray you do your civic duty to research candidates, both local and federal, vote your faith, and pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven!

The people who know their God will be strong and take action. Dan. 11:32 HCSB

Please pray God will use praying grandma Rebecca Lavrenz’s story in a powerful way! That’s what she would want even if she goes to prison for praying.

Calls to Action

  • Dave and I have been taking a Biblical Citizenship class from Patriot Academy and some of the ideas I express in this blog came from our classes. We highly recommend this course.
  • Read Hal Lindsey’s blog from April 21, 2024, An Ancient Evil Reborn in Today’s America. Here’s a line about those young people born post 9/11/2001 chanting in America, “We are Hamas!” Lindsey says what I said above, “If they ‘are Hamas,’ they want to replace democracy with a theocratic ruling elite.” Don’t let this happen on our watch. We were born for such a time as this!
  • Listen to this podcast with Michele Bachmann, The Center of the Storm. Two people sent this to me. It’s that good and full of need-to-know information about the times we’re living in today.

Please leave a comment here. I reply to every comment.

April 22, 2024
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God Fights for Prodigals When We Pray His Will!

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“You know how it feels when you see any glimmer of hope in your prodigal.” —A praying mom

If you follow my blogs and newsletters, you know I wait on the Lord to tell me what to write about each week. God is so faithful to not only give me a word, but also back it up with confirmation that I cannot ignore. So I know today there are parents and grandparents in my reading audience experiencing sorrow over prodigals in your family because that’s what God has told me to write about in this blog. It’s not the first time I’ve written on this topic, in fact, I wrote an entire book about praying for our prodigals.

Last week, hubby and I participated in a prayer group where the common request was for prodigal children, most of whom were in the millennial age range in their thirties and early forties. That was the age of my own prodigal years. Even children raised in Christian homes sometimes want to explore their independence, which might mean venturing into the world’s ways. So, we prayed that night for the spiritual awakening, or reawakening, of all the prodigals.

Then the next night, Dave and I watched a recorded Flashpoint program, which aired originally on the same night the group was praying for prodigals. Gene Bailey, the host of Flashpoint, interviewed Pastor Kent Christmas about his new book, Turning Sorrow Into Joy: A Journey of Faith and Perseverance. Here’s the interview: Kent Christmas on FlashPoint with Gene Bailey Interview Segment 4.9.2024 (youtube.com). If you have a loved one engaging in sexual sin, I highly recommend you listen.

In the interview with Pastor Christmas, they referred to the previous night’s program when again the topic was praying for prodigals. Now God really had my attention, so we watched it also. Gene Bailey interviewed Pastor Tim Sheets of Awaken Ministries and his daughter Rachel Shafer who wrote together Come Home: Pray, Prophesy, and Proclaim God’s Promises Over Your Prodigal. Even as parents and grandparents agonize and grieve with tears on their pillow every night, Pastor Sheets and Rachel offered assurance that God will forgive returning prodigals.

They emphasized that while you wait, stay rooted in God. Your feelings and emotions will lie to you, but God’s Word is truth, as I wrote in last week’s blog Knowing and Speaking Only the Truth Will Keep Us Free!

Come Home contains 90 decrees in Scriptures to pray for bringing prodigals home.  In the interview, the authors mentioned several verses with the prophetic message of hope. Belief accelerates the power of God. Believe in a future where your children will come home physically and spiritually.

But now this is what the Lord says: “Do not weep any longer, for I will reward you,” says the Lord. “Your children will come back to you from the distant land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your future,” says the Lord. “Your children will come again to their own land. Jer. 31:16-17 NLT

God promises He will fight for and save your children! You must believe and claim these promises and pray them over your children with unwavering faith.

Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior? Who can demand that a tyrant[a] let his captives go? 25 But the Lord says, “The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. Isaiah 49:24-25

The Message translation of Isaiah 49:24-25 says: Can plunder be retrieved from a giant, prisoners of war gotten back from a tyrant? But God says, “Even if a giant grips the plunder and a tyrant holds my people prisoner, I’m the one who’s on your side, defending your cause, rescuing your children. And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves, killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction. Then everyone will know that I, God, have saved you—I, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Those verses emphasize that God’s on our side. He’s going to save our children. While we want to believe this, it’s tempting to take back our concerns and worries even after we cast them onto God. We should quit putting power into earthly circumstances and instead magnify God and His heavenly perspective as these following Psalms emphasize.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. Ps. 22:27-28

They [prodigals] will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. Ps. 24:5 NLT

My Daughter and My Prodigal Story of Redemption

I wrote Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents with input from my daughter of what she was thinking and feeling during her prodigal years. For seventeen years, I was a prodigal raising a prodigal until God reawakened my spirit at a Harvest Crusade where I rededicated my life to Christ. On the stadium floor, I knelt and told the Lord, “Your prodigal has returned. I will go where you send me.”

Kim didn’t receive well the dramatic change in my life. She was happy with the way we were living before. In spite of her resistance, I felt an urgency for Kim to also surrender her life to the Lord. I remembered a time when I stopped eating beef and switched to turkey burger. One day Kim, who was probably in middle school, said, “Mom, don’t you care about my health too?!” I thought she would still want hamburgers, but she wanted to be healthy like me. She hasn’t eaten beef since.

After my rededication, I heard a message on the reality of hell. I couldn’t stand the thought of my daughter going there. I had a dream that I looked down from heaven and heard her saying, “Mom didn’t you care enough about my spiritual health to not give up on me?” That’s when I began praying Scripture for my daughter daily, biblically, expectantly, persistently, sacrificially, unceasingly, and thankfully.

In Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, Kim writes, “Mom, I saw the book Praying God’s Will for my Daughter in your bathroom one time, and I felt resentful that you thought I was ‘lost’ and needed you to pray for me. You turned your life around so completely, and I couldn’t relate to the new, ‘weird’ you. All the praying stuff was outside of my comfort zone. When I learned you were praying for me, it upset me. I felt that I could take care of myself and didn’t need your prayers.”

From the devotional Kim referred to above, I learned how to personalize and pray Scripture for her, which allowed me to pray God’s will while I journaled my will to release my feelings and concerns on paper. I share those journal writings throughout the book and include “40 Days of Praying Scripture for Your Prodigal” on page 313. Kim thanks me today that I never gave up praying for her.

Satan is Targeting Children!

Today, Satan is blatantly attacking the family and children more openly and abrasively than ever before.  Abortion for teenagers or gender changes without parents’ consent. Parents who want to know what their children are being taught in schools labeled domestic terrorists! Drugs are rampant and killing our children. Child suicide has reached record numbers. Schools are teaching young children about perverse sex practices as “sex education,” even as young as kindergarten. As “gay rights” became mainstream and legalized, Satan had to move it up a notch to transgenderism. Children are given drugs and surgically mutilated, irreversibly in many cases, and deceived into thinking they can change their gender from the way God created them. Drag grooming is considered entertainment for children, even though it’s a precursor to pedophilia.

This isn’t normal or biblical. It’s satanical. Satan really is coming after our children, but Christians have the weapons we need to ward off the attacks of the enemy. Prayer. God’s Word. Civic action like voting, running for office, and activism.

I’m not writing this article to promote my book, or any book, but there’s a reason God had these pastors and me write about saving our prodigals. Because we all need to know how to love and pray scripturally for children and grandchildren, while still maintaining a relationship with them without backing down from our biblical beliefs. Their very lives depend on it!

If you have a child or grandchild involved in sinful activities, it doesn’t make it right. Yes, I know it hurts and it’s painful. Parents often think they need to go along with what their child is doing or risk losing the relationship instead of being godly parents and getting them the emotional, spiritual, and mental help they’re so desperately crying out for, while also praying unceasingly for them. If they were a murderer, and some are, you still love your child, but you don’t decide that murder is acceptable because your child committed it. That applies to any and every sin.

I chose to unconditionally love but never condone. In God’s eyes, all sin is wrong, and all have sinned. Only repentance and asking forgiveness from Jesus for our sins places us in a right relationship with God. Salvation.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3:22-24 NLT

Never Stop Praying!

Declaring God’s Word over your prodigal activates your own faith!

None of us know when Christ is going to return for believers. We watch the prevalent evil today and wonder how long it will be before the Lord says enough. No parent or grandparent wants to have a child or grandchild left behind. That was the urgency I felt when I was praying for my daughter’s salvation. Then I prayed for each of our eleven grandchildren to be saved with the assurance that I would someday see them all again in heaven. Yes, there’s been a few regressions, and I just pray all the harder because I know what God assured me with my daughter: God wants our prodigals back even more than we do!

Don’t give up and let Satan win the spiritual battle for your prodigal’s heart and soul. Though it may seem contradictory, the more rebellious, defiant, stubborn, and argumentative your prodigal becomes, the more you should cling to this hope and encouragement: God is working in his or her heart, and they’re resisting. But that means they haven’t surrendered completely to Satan and are experiencing tormenting guilt. God hasn’t given up and neither should you. There’s still hope.

I know it’s hard to do when your heart is breaking and you don’t see any change in the situation, but never stop praying for your prodigal. Pastor Christmas prayed and interceded for 14 years. I prayed Scripture for six years for my prodigal. Previous blogs from prodigal Alycia Neighbours whose story is in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, shared how long her parents prayed for her return: Never Stop Praying for Your Prodigal! and After the Party for the Returning Prodigal.

Alice prayed for 27 years. She said, “It’s all you can do when everything else is out of your control.” In the chapter on Praying Biblically in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, Alice told how she prayed Scripturally for her daughter, which is how I prayed for my daughter EVERY DAY! It’s simply personalizing and paraphrasing God’s Word as a prayer back to Him. Here’s an example of how Alice said she prayed Scripture for her prodigal.

“I’ve learned to pray for my daughter by praying back the Scriptures to God. For example, I pray Ezekiel 36:27-29 for Liz’s heart to soften and for her to return home: “God, give my daughter Liz a heart of flesh to replace her heart of stone toward spiritual things. Through Your Spirit, move her to follow Your decrees and carefully keep Your laws. Help Liz to return home Allow her to live in the land You, God, gave to her spiritual forefathers; may she be Your child, may You be her God. Save her from all her uncleanness.”

As another praying mom Suzanne said, “I know God isn’t done with her, and I choose to see her the way He does!”

 “Never stop praying!” 1 Thess. 5:17 NLT

Photo Credits: http://www.sharefaith.com

PS Hear the interview I did on Solomon and Jamila Jefferson’s podcast about praying for your prodigals, It’s Not How You Start But How You Finish. click here.

PSS The principles I share in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter also apply to sons and grandchildren. There are questions at the end of each chapter for use in a Support Group or Bible study group.

PSSS For the week of April 15-21, 2024, signed copies of Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter purchased on our website will be reduced to $10, plus tax and shipping costs. We want to enable you to pray for your prodigals! (If PayPal charges you $18.00, we will credit you back $8.00)

Library Update

  • VICTORY!! Idaho’s Governor Little signed the Children’s School and Library Protection Act, finally addressing the widespread library porn issue in a meaningful way! It goes into effect this summer so I’ll  follow up with our local library to be sure they enforce it.
  • Gov. Little also signed Bill 538 that bars teachers from referring to a student by a name or pronoun that doesn’t align with their birth sex unless parents consent.
  • Last month, the governor signed House Bill 668, which blocks the use of public funds for gender-affirming procedures.
  • Gov. Little also signed House Bill 421. It states, “In human beings, there are two, and only two, sexes: male and female. In no case is an individual’s sex determined by stipulation or self-identification.” Most notably, in addition to ruling that sex and gender were synonymous, this bill “codifies in state law biological definitions for ‘woman,’ ‘man,’ and other sex-based terms, making [Idaho] the fifth to exclude men who identify as women from being legally recognized as female.”

Idaho is on a role! What’s happening in your state?

Please leave a comment here. I always reply!

April 15, 2024
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Knowing and Speaking Only the Truth Will Keep Us Free!

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I woke up last Friday morning praying about what I should write in this week’s blog. I kept hearing the Lord say, “Write about truth!” I’ve written profusely on this topic in previous blogs. So, Lord, why more about truth now?

The Lord quickly answered my question when everything I read in my devotional time that morning focused on “truth.” I couldn’t ignore His not-so-subtle nudge. Apparently, truth is a topic I can never write about too much. Satan will never stop trying to counter God’s truth with lies, which more and more people, including Christians, believe instead of God’s Truth. So, here I go again!

Dave and I are taking a Patriot Academy Biblical Citizenship course through My Faith Votes via zoom on Thursday nights. I highly recommend this course to learn the truth about our country’s foundation and living out biblical principles in today’s culture. A large part of the previous night’s discussion was you guessed it, about truth. Maybe that’s why I woke up the next morning with truth on my mind. Here are some alarming facts.

  • Three out of five Americans believe there is no moral absolute truth!
  • One out of two millennials believe there is no absolute moral truth!
  • Only 6% of Americans have a biblical worldview!

To have a functioning society, you need at least half the population to agree, and we don’t have that today in America, even in our churches.

Personal opinion has replaced absolute truth. “Your truth” can be anything you want it to be, even when it contradicts biology, science, rationale thinking, and the only true standard of truth, the Holy Bible.

So even though man’s scientific biology and God’s Word clearly says there can ever only be two genders, male and female, culture’s fantasy “truth” says there can be hundreds of genders. Not only do many believe this lie, you’re considered intolerant and bigoted if you don’t drink the Kool-aide and agree.

Even Christians and pastors have fallen under the trance of acquiescing to a lie. Do you think calling this deception a lie is too harsh? Here’s the definition of a lie from the dictionary and it applies here. “A false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth. Something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture.”

The Bible predicts satanic deception. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 2 Thess. 2:9-12

Back to Friday morning’s truth revelations. When I opened My Faith Votes email, “Friday Five Actions for the Faithful,” which is a recap of the week’s news and actions to take, Laurel Brooks wrote: “To protect this nation and the freedom for which it stands, we can no longer afford for Christians to self-silence. Let us speak the truth, even when it’s falling on what seem to be deaf ears. Remember – His Word will not return void. Let us be bold and courageous. Blessings follow our obedience. May we all be obedient to whatever He is asking of us today.”

I had just heard during our Patriot Academy Biblical Citizenship class the night before that 77% of Americans self-censor. In other words, we know the truth, but we don’t speak it because we’re afraid the truth will be offensive or result in conflict. So, we self-silence just as Laurel wrote above. Just go along to get along.

The Friday Five Action Partner of the week, Deborah, whose family has had a farm on the Texas /Mexico border for over 100 years, wrote in her testimony: I saw it first-hand right here in my community – the reluctance of Christians to speak truth and back up their vote using biblical values . . . If we truly want to see change then Christians need to run for office, lead in their communities, and ultimately be that voice of truth in the public square. 

Amen!

God was definitely impressing on me the importance of knowing, speaking, and loving the truth. As if it all wasn’t enough to get my attention, and I hope yours, I opened up my Turning Points devotional for the day by Dr. David Jeremiah and the heading jumped off the page, “God’s Truth”! The verse was from the armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18), Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth. Eph. 6:14

Dr. Jeremiah reiterated what I had just heard the previous night in Patriot Academy. He said, “In recent years, a new phrase has entered the cultural conversation “my truth” or “your truth” have, for many people, replaced “the truth.” Social media has made it possible for every person to speak his or her truth to the world. This trend is fallout from the rise of the postmodern worldview that says there is no truth. Instead, truth is in the eye of the beholder; truth is whatever you say it is.”

Christians should never be confused about truth vs lies because we hold in our hand and in our hearts the source of all truth, God’s Word, the Holy Bible. Jesus prayed to God His Father for every believer in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” “My truth” “your truth” “culture’s truth” “woke truth” are all lies from Satan. Myths. There’s only One Truth, God’s truth revealed in His Word.

“God’s Word is eternal, no matter how culture may change, it never changes. The Bible is God’s Word from cover to cover.” Franklin Graham

“The Word of God is perfect; it is precious and pure; it is truth itself.” Martin Luther

That’s why I hope you’re reading your Bibles every day. The Bible is the only source of truth that will truly keep you free. Satan knows that so he’ll try to keep your Bible closed. You might identify with the 8 Sneaky Ways Satan Stops You From Reading Your Bible that I wrote about in this article.

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 NLT

When You Know the Truth, It Takes Courage to Speak It!

You will probably find yourself in the minority, maybe even in your church, when you boldly stand up for the truth rather than sitting silently when you should be defending the truth instead of self-censoring. You may even be attacked by friends, family, fellow parishioners, neighbors . . . for not going along to get along. Denying the truth to keep the peace. Stifle conflict or debate.

Silence infers agreement.

You aren’t rude, harsh, angry, loud, or antagonistic. You speak with integrity, wisdom, love, compassion, and conviction. But you always speak truth! As Christians, we never back down from the truth just to appease.

Defending biblical truth requires courage. The Bible has harsh warning words when we don’t. Notice the first description of those who are lumped in with all the other evil doers.

“But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Rev. 21:8

We must speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), but we must speak! Not “our truth” or the “culture’s truth,” but God’s truth clearly spoken from the Bible. When we let what we know are lies influence the minds and hearts of our family, friends, churches, communities, and culture, it’s detrimental to them and to us. The Lord will guide our words. “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NLT

Dr. Jeremiah advises, “While personal counselors and mentors can be valuable in our life, the Bible does all those things—for free! Is there anyone who doesn’t need to be told the truth, have his rebellion exposed, his mistakes corrected, and discover Gods way to live? No—which is what makes the Bible so practically relevant. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Tim. 3:16 NLT

Now, I want to address those who think that Christians shouldn’t be involved in government. That’s a lie straight from the enemy and every lie that we believe and defend has serious consequences for not just us, but generations to come.

I was reading an interesting discussion about Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” which he published in 2021 that includes the texts of the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance. Greenwood is the composer and performer of the song, God Bless the USA, and it’s in his Bible. When I read some of the theologians’ criticisms about Greenwood’s Bible, they need to take the Patriot Academy Biblical Citizenship class! They seem ignorant of where the Founding Fathers got their ideas.

The author of the article wrote, “The inclusion of secular documents in the “God Bless the USA” bibles was a controversial choice. While texts such as the Declaration of Independence and Pledge of Allegiance make passing reference to a “Creator” and “God,” they are not necessarily religiously centered documents. The U.S. Constitution is also included within the bibles’ covers, which at no point acknowledges God at all.” The author never capitalized Bible, and he clearly doesn’t understand the source of these documents, so he too needs to take the Patriot Academy Biblical Citizenship class.

I appreciated at the end of the article, the inclusion of comments by Dr. Peter Kerr, dean and professor at Colorado Christian University’s School of Business and Leadership. Dr. Kerr said critics are being obtuse, and he sees nothing wrong with the inclusion of texts important to U.S. history. “Inserting America’s founding documents into a Bible is not wrong. The men who wrote them were followers of God, and even said in the Declaration of Independence that God endowed us with certain rights the government cannot take away,” said Kerr. “As long as people can differentiate God’s words from human words, it doesn’t matter if they were published inside the same cover.”

Here’s truth from Dr. David Jeremiah’s research about the men who formed the foundation of our government: “More than fifteen thousand documents written by America’s Founding Fathers—newspaper articles, pamphlets, books, monographs—found that the Bible was the most-quoted source in all their writings. Those men found the Bible to be the most relevant source they could use for building the foundation of a new nation.”  

Our Founding Fathers knew and understood what we often forget today . . .

The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them. Ps. 19:7-11

Library Update

GOOD NEWS! If you’ve followed in past blogs the efforts of some of us to remove obscene pornographic and grooming books from our local library, praise God, the Idaho legislatures passed the third attempt at a bill. The new Bill 710 “The Children’s School & Library Protection Act” is now setting on Governor Little’s desk awaiting his signature. He vetoed a similar bill last year, so will you pray with us that he signs this bill. We’ll then be able to require our local library to abide by it.

Join me and other believers around the nation on Monday mornings to pray together via zoom. A powerful way to start the week praying with like-minded believers! My Faith Votes keeps action partners informed on what’s happening in the nation that effects religious freedom, sanctity of life, strengthening and protection of the family, and care for the needy. Go to MyFaithVotes to sign up.

Many states like Idaho have our own MyFaithVotes weekly morning prayer time via zoom. To check if your state has one, go to the MyFaithVotes website. If you’re in Idaho, contact me  and I’ll get you to our prayer coordinator to join us on Tuesday mornings.

If you haven’t seen the movie Letter to the American Church, you can watch it free on Friday, April 12th. For details and to register go to www.myfaithvotes.org/LTAC. To bring the movie to your church go to www.Lettertotheamericanchurch.com.

To learn more about Patriot Academy click here.

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here. I reply to every comment.

April 8, 2024
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Raising Kids to Follow Christ: Nurturing Lifelong Faith in a Turbulent World

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As you’ve read in my previous blogs and newsletters, I have a heavy burden for protecting our children and grandchildren from the wiles of the evil one. Satan is no longer sneaky and sly in his tactics. He’s open, blatant, and ruthless in going after our children in the schools, libraries, entertainment, games, sports, sexualization, gender confusion, and child-sex trafficking, while liberal “progressive” politicians on the left and media are complicit with the devil’s evil demonic ways. As a grandparent, I find it horrifying to watch the legal system working as accomplices to the breakdown of the family and taking away the rights of loving parents.

Satan had a minor setback with the overturn of Roe v Wade, so he’s now targeting his evil attacks on the children given precious life.

Children Are A Gift From God

Children shine with exceptional and extraordinary worth that exceeds all other God-given blessings. These priceless souls arrive in our arms as eternal treasures bearing the very image of God. As stewards of these divine gifts, we have a duty to equip ourselves for their proper care. It sounds like such a daunting task, and at times, it can seem overwhelming. We need tools and insights steeped in Scripture and spiritual wisdom that will empower us when we feel inadequate to guide our children towards a lifelong commitment to Christ.

The Bible does tell us that parents bear a sacred responsibility when it comes to nurturing children in the ways of the Lord. Joel 1:3 instructs parents to impart the truths of their faith to their children, who in turn, will pass on this sacred legacy to future generations. The Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry and platform God entrusted me with almost 30 years ago is exemplified in this verse.

Tell your children about it in the years to come,
    and let your children tell their children.
    Pass the story down from generation to generation. Joel 1:3 NLT

This cyclical transmission of faith serves as the bedrock upon which the continuity of Christianity rests, echoing the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19–20. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Lee Ann Mancini Wants to Help Parents!

A book from an author friend of mine has come along at the perfect time to help parents and grandparents raise and nurture children for Christ and not the culture. Today’s Monday Morning blog is featuring author Lee Ann Mancini’s new release Raising Kids to Follow Christ: Instilling a Lifelong Trust in God. (No relation to my daughter Kimberly Mancini) Let me share with you some thoughts about Lee Ann’s book because we all have children in our family and community. We all should care about their souls.

Our culture’s current trend toward moral relativism amplifies the urgency of instilling a steadfast faith in our children. Lee Ann Mancini provides the solutions we need in her new parenting guide. Raising Kids to Follow Christ: Instilling a Lifelong Trust in God offers invaluable insights drawn from both scripture and cutting-edge research in childhood spiritual development. As the CEO of Raising Christian Kids and a distinguished professor, Mancini emphasizes the vital role of parental guidance rooted in love and joy, safeguarding children from the perils of faithlessness.

I often ask audiences when I’m speaking on mentoring, “Are you the men and women you want your children to become?” “Do you have the marriage you want your children to have?” “Do you have the faith you want your children to live out?”

Lee Ann also recognizes parents are the primary educators and spiritual mentors in the lives of their children. She stresses that the way we live proves the most significant character lesson we teach. Lee Ann says that our actions and attitudes serve as the blueprint upon which our children model their own beliefs and behaviors. Her book shares insights on how to exemplify a life centered on the Word of God so we can provide a living testimony of Christ’s transformative power. Faithfully measured, our personal steps will lead our children and grandchildren towards a deep and abiding relationship with their Savior.

Lee Ann emphasizes the cornerstone of parental efforts must rest upon the unwavering truth of God’s Word. Just as Jesus is the living Stone chosen by God, so too must His teachings form the solid foundation upon which our children’s, and grandchildren’s, faith is built. Amidst the storms of life, anchored in Christ, they can stand firm unwavering in their devotion to Jesus and unyielding in their faith convictions.

As many of us know so well, the journey of raising children in the faith comes with a myriad of challenges. In a world hostile to Christian values, we must remain vigilant in equipping our children and grandchildren with the spiritual armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) necessary to withstand the onslaught of worldly temptations. Through prayer, guidance, and unwavering commitment, we can nurture within them a love for God and His Word thus empowering them to become beacons of light in a world shrouded in darkness.

Lee Ann esteems the calling to raise godly children as sacred, but she also shares her parenting advice with the hope of grace. It is never too early, nor too late, to inspire our children to love Jesus and develop a passion for His Kingdom. With fresh insights and transformative strategies, she welcomes us to embark on a journey of faith, nurturing the next generation of believers and disciples.

Raising Kids to Follow Christ serves as a wise and powerful companion as we navigate parenthood or as grandparents. The crises and shadows of life in this world will threaten to shake its youngest souls. Our children need the hope only Christ can offer. With a strong foundation, this generation can transform the future.

As we embrace our role as stewards of His precious gifts of our children, may we rise to the challenge with unwavering faith and steadfast resolve. We can depend on experts like Lee Ann Mancini to come alongside us in raising kids to follow Christ. Together, we can fulfill our true purpose and enjoy our greatest reward of raising a generation to love and follow Christ Jesus as their personal Savior.

An Overview of the Treasures Found in Raising Kids to Follow Christ.

In Raising Kids to Follow Christ: Instilling a Lifelong Trust in God, Lee Ann Mancini inspires parents, grandparents, teachers, and others to teach their children essential Christian principles to enable them to navigate the world with grace, integrity, and an unbreakable bond with their heavenly Father.

This book goes beyond surface-level advice, delving into the intricate matters of children’s hearts and minds and offering a blueprint for nurturing a deep and unwavering faith in Christ.

Raising Kids to Follow Christ offers:
• Decades of personal experience and training based on key essential principles in Scripture
• Practical strategies for addressing doubts, fears, and questions that arise in today’s culture
• Ways to help children control their emotions and actions in various situations
• Suggestions from some of today’s brightest Christian minds in children’s spirituality
• Empowerment for parents to become their child’s spiritual champion
• Easy-to-understand apologetics for children and adults
• Fun ways to connect your child’s heart to Christ

Raising Kids to Follow Christ is a collaborative journey inviting parents to learn, grow, and flourish alongside their children as they become bold in their witness and committed to their faith rather than the secular culture.

About Lee Ann Mancini

Lee Ann Mancini is the award-winning author and executive producer of the Sea Kids series, which can be viewed on Answers.TV, Pure Flix, Right Now Media, and Minno. Lee Ann earned Master’s degrees in Theological Studies, Christian and Classic Studies, and Biblical and Theological Studies. She serves as an adjunct professor at South Florida Bible College and Theological Seminary and hosts the award-winning podcast, Raising Christian Kids.

Raising Kids to Follow Christ: Instilling a Lifelong Trust in God would make a great Easter or Mother’s Day or Father’s Day or any day gift for the parents in your life. The children of today are the future of tomorrow. Let’s be sure they’re spiritually prepared to win the battle for their souls and for our world.

Please leave a comment here. I always reply.

March 4, 2024
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Jesus Doesn’t Just Get Us, He Saves Us!

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Like some of you, I watched the Super Bowl. I’ll admit, I know nothing about football, but I do enjoy watching the commercials. Dave forgot about that at first as he had recorded the game and we typically fast forward through all commercials, which we did do with the halftime show. Watching the commercials with an overtime game made for a long program, but the ending was exciting.

What I want to talk about in today’s blog is the two “He Gets Us” commercials during the game. You can read my thoughts on last year’s He Gets Us commercials @ Yes, He Gets Us, But He Doesn’t Want to Leave Us Where He Found Us.

My overall opinion of the 2024 He Gets Us commercials, Who Is My Neighbor? and Washing Feet, were much like last year. They reinforced the secular voices calling Christians who oppose a sinful culture as intolerant and haters. The commercials falsely portrayed Jesus and condemned Bible-believing Christians. That was the inference I got from watching them and I’m sure many others did too.

The two commercials depicted a social justice Jesus who loves everyone. He does love everyone, but He doesn’t love everyone’s sinful actions. Jesus hates sin that destroys the people He loves. He went to the cross to offer redemption, forgiveness, and salvation from our sins. These commercials don’t portray or even imply that gospel truth.

Who is My Neighbor? depicted a variety of people culminating with a final slide: “The one you don’t know, value, or welcome.” Insinuating that these people, or people like them, aren’t visible even to preachers, missionaries, evangelists, outreach ministries, churches . . . . Christians.

As believers, we know the biblical reference is Luke 10:26-37. A nonbeliever probably wouldn’t recognize that reference.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he [Jesus] replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus went on to share the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37.

The second He Gets Us commercial had a variety of people having their feet washed by people who looked different than them. The ending slides read, “Jesus Didn’t Teach Hate. He Washed Feet. Jesus Gets All of Us.” If you didn’t see the commercial, here it is. You can make your own determination. But what raised me up off the couch, just like last year, was their implication that if you oppose sins like abortion or homosexuality, you’re a hater. Feeding right into the Marxist, secular, and dare I say, partisan political agenda and propaganda.

Actually, Jesus only washed the feet of his disciples. In Luke 7:36-50 we read the story of a sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears of repentance. “As she stood behind him [Jesus] at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” (vs. 38)

Washing feet in the Bible isn’t only a symbol of humility and service, but also a powerful metaphor for spiritual cleansing and forgiveness. It symbolizes the spiritual purification and reconciliation offered through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. In 1 John 1:9, we’re told, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The He Gets Us commercial didn’t portray the significance or true meaning of foot washing. Jesus does love all of us, but He wants us to repent from our sin, turn away from it, and ask for forgiveness. That’s the complete message of the Gospels. “Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” (vs. 48)

Questioned about the use of foot washing in a CBN interview, Jason Vanderground, president of the marketing firm Haven and co-creator of the He Gets Us campaign, said their goal was to get people to go to the He Gets Us website to ask their questions and learn more about the meaning of the ads. When asked how many people actually responded, he evaded the question and told a story about someone who talked to them in the streets of Las Vegas.

Pastor Inspired to Make ‘He Saves Us’ in Response to ‘He Gets Us’

Interestingly, in Northern Ireland, Pastor Jamie Bambrick was watching the Super Bowl and saw the He Gets Us commercials as a missed opportunity. I totally agree. He graciously said they might be well intentioned, but they “put a Jesus-shaped stamp of approval on the values and actions of our generation common today. Things Jesus considers sin and is strongly against like homosexuality and abortion.”

“I think a lot of Bible-believing Christians viewed [‘He Gets Us’ ads] and went, ‘You know what, this just isn’t a reflection of the Gospel, and it’s not a reflection of our heart toward the lost, either'” Bambrick said.

Pastor Bambrick emphasized that the He Gets Us campaign portrays a false gospel of what the church must do and therefore Jesus would do. The ads imply your sins are not a problem or something needing repentance. You see a message that all God wants the church to do is love, affirm, and accept everyone and their actions, even when sinful. We do love, but we don’t affirm every action and we don’t accept everything as being moral and right.

Christian Post reports that Pastor Bambrick believes the ads were implying that “if the Church calls people to repentance, if the Church calls people to turn from sin, that is preaching hate, which of course it isn’t. . . That is an act of love, it’s an act of grace” he said.

“My experience with most Christians is that we actually love those who are in sin, but we love them enough to want to see them set free from their sin,” he said. “We love them enough that we want to see them delivered and brought to newness of life in Christ; to turn from their sin and be saved from it — both obviously from the eternal consequences of sin, but also in this life, how much better it is to walk with Jesus.”

He went on to ditto my reaction that the perception from the He Gets Us commercials will be that Christians who are calling on the world to turn from their sins are haters preaching and teaching hate. These commercials played right into the playbook of attackers of Christianity who call us the “oppressors” because we’re against killing babies, gender manipulation, mutilating children, and same-sex sexual relationships.

The true gospel is not a message of hate; it’s a message of love that Jesus is calling us to share. He loves us enough to lay down His life to cleanse us from our sins while we were sinners. That’s not hate, that’s amazing love. Love says we see you as someone who can be rescued from your sin!

So Pastor Bambrick felt inspired to make a powerful video ‘He Saves Us’ of people with testimonies of life-changing transformations. The slideshow in Bambrick’s video includes Kat Von D, a tattoo artist and TV personality who became a Christian after renouncing witchcraft; Josh Timonen, who became a Christian after helping atheist Richard Dawkins write a book against God; John Bruchalski, an abortionist turned OB/GYN; and Steven Bancarz, who repented of New Age practices.

Other portraits include former jihadist Mohamad Faridi, former KKK member Mike Burden, former drag queen and prostitute Kevin Whitt, former porn star Brittni De La Mora, former gang leader Sebastian Stakset, former drug addict Jeff Durbin, former trans-identifying woman Laura Perry, and former lesbian activist Rosaria Butterfield.

All slides show their former and current life with the same music in the background as in the He Gets Us foot washing ad. Closing captions on He Saves Us are: “Jesus Doesn’t Just Get Us. He Saves Us. He Transforms Us. He Cleanses Us. He Restores Us. He Forgives Us. He Heals Us. He Delivers Us. He Redeems Us. He Loves Us. Such were some of you.”

Pastor Bambrick said he hopes his video shows “the heart of Jesus” and reflects the love Christians have for those who remain enslaved to their sins.

‘He Saves Us’ is one minute, as was the foot washing slideshow. The two He Gets Us ads totaled 75 seconds. 30 seconds of commercial time during Super Bowl costs $7 million, not to mention the cost of making them. What a waste of money and opportunity.

Pastor Bambrick made his video in an hour, posted it on X, and it immediately went viral with millions of views. Praise God! He said the majority of comments were encouraging and positive.

Here is more of his interview Pastor Makes a ‘He Saves Us’ Ad in Response to ‘He Gets Us’ Super Bowl Ad, and It Goes Viral | CBN News. I hope you’ll take a minute to check it out and especially watch He Saves Us and share.

Let’s hope that He Saves Us and even He Gets Us has people talking about Jesus. We can pray that they open doors for people to seek out the true Jesus of the Bible.

Jesus was perfect as a human. Not one of us is perfect. Even though if you look closely in the first frame of the foot washing commercial, the girl on her knees doing the foot washing is wearing a white T-shirt that says “perfect.” A subtle message that believers see themselves as perfect. Not so.

Jesus was and is God. That’s the Deity and saving grace of Jesus that’s missing in the He Gets Us campaign. “The Father and I are one.” John 10:30

He understands us. He loves us. He wants us to live holy lives. He doesn’t want us to live sinful lives. He Saves Us.

15 For we do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15

Library Update

On Valentine’s Day, three of us attended the Garden Valley Library Trustees Board Meeting for the second time where we were successful in having removed from their November minutes the reference to us as “people in favor of censorship.” We continued to request that seven books targeted to children with obscene and pornographic material be removed from the library shelves and the online library catalogue.

I read the Idaho 1972 code on the definition of obscenity and pornography to minors. Another person shared the lack of trust in the library being a safe place for children, and a third person shared the American Library Association that presents books and policies to libraries is now being led by a Marxist Lesbian whose intent is to destroy capitalism, the family and subvert Christianity. The board said they would consider these requests, but we’ll need to continue attending future board meetings.

I’m interested to get your thoughts on this blog. Leave your comments here and I will reply.

February 19, 2024
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Is Giving Thanks a Lost Tradition?

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This week is Thanksgiving when many of us will gather with family and friends to eat a big delicious traditional meal. Maybe watch football, play games, fellowship, and hopefully say a prayer thanking God for the many blessings we enjoy in our life. Often, the only time we really focus on the true meaning of Thanksgiving is during that prayer before the meal we’re all anxiously awaiting with anticipation and appetites! If you’re looking for some ideas of how to offer a Thanksgiving prayer for various circumstances, I wrote a Crosswalk article on that topic—4 Prayers to Say At the Thanksgiving Table.

Last week, I learned a term that was new to me. As Dave and I were shopping at Trader Joe’s a full week prior to Thanksgiving, the aisles at this store and Costco were jam packed with shoppers. I commented to the Trader Joe’s checker that I was surprised people were shopping so early for the big meal a week away. Both she and the bagger simultaneously said, “Friendsgiving.” I didn’t hear what they said, so they repeated it several times. When I had a questioning look on my face, the checker said many people get together for a meal with their friends the weekend prior to having a family Thanksgiving celebration later in the week.

I love that idea. We’ve done that in the past too, as well as invited friends to the family dinner. But I’d never heard it called “Friendsgiving” before. When I posted about Friendsgiving on Facebook, I received many comments from people, including my daughter, who said it wasn’t a new term. Just new to me, I guess.

Thinking about Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving brought to mind a thought I’ve had for quite a while. Are we raising generations that have forgotten the courtesy of expressing gratitude not only to God, but also to others? Let me explain. I’m a boomer. My generation was born between 1946-1964. As soon as I could print, or even scribble, the expectation was that when I received a gift from someone, especially for birthdays or Christmas, I sent a thank you note to the gift giver whether it was family or friends.

When I was married, part of the shower and wedding preparation was ordering thank you notes to send out for the gifts we received. And when I was pregnant and received shower and baby gifts, as crazy as it was being a new working mom, it was a given I would make the time to send thank you notes.

I’m finding this thank-you etiquette courtesy is now a lost tradition. Yes, today it might be an email or text instead of a mailed thank you card, but often those aren’t sent either. Somewhere along the generational sequence, one generation didn’t pass down to the next generation the importance of showing gratitude for the gifts they receive. And we wonder why we’re watching generations of entitled children and adults today who expect someone else to pay for college loans they willingly took out and then complain about having to work 9-5 jobs!

Author Carol Roth says Gen Z’s (1997-2012) woes with fulltime work stem from “their parents failing them.” Here’s a quote from her article. “While it’s easy to dunk on these young people, I really blame the parents. This hurts, because Gen Z is being raised in large part by Gen X [1965-1980], which should make the kids awesome and self-sufficient.” She goes on to say that “young people consuming Marxist propaganda online and even in school it’s not surprising they want to do as little works as possible while still expecting food, clothing, shelter, entertainment and more will just fall from the sky for them.” I was happy to see she suggested mentorship as a solution.

But an even sadder consequence of not feeling compelled to be grateful to those who sacrifice their money and time on a gift or providing a college education or offering them a job, is we now also have a generation that has forgotten to say thank you for the sacrifice Jesus made to give them the gift of salvation.

It only takes one generation failing to pass down their faith, traditions, work ethic, or even the courtesy of showing tangible gratitude for a gift, for these things to be forgotten or eliminated from a culture, as we’re watching today with the void of Christian beliefs in government and in families.

Make This Thanksgiving a Wake-up Call in Our Life and Families

Even more important than thanking each other is to give thanks to God who is the provider of every good thing in our life.  I like how Dr. David Jeremiah presents the importance of experiencing continuous daily thanksgiving in his November 18-19, 2023, Turning Points Magazine weekend devotion titled “Thank Goodness!”

“Thanksgiving is understanding that blessings are hiding all around us, and we must find and focus on them. It’s the attitude of knowing we have a God in charge of all. It’s the habit of pausing to whisper, ‘Thank you Lord,’ throughout the day. It’s finding good times even in bad times and rejoicing even in sorrow. It’s noticing the color of flowers, the shape of clouds, the smell of fresh bread, and the comfort of a soft pillow at night.”

“Gratitude leads to ‘glad-itude.’ Counting our blessings is a positive step toward erasing our heartaches. The psychology of thanksgiving comes from the very mind and heart of the God who told us to be vigilant in thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2) and ‘in everything give thanks; for this the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18).”

With the birth of Christ, there were no longer Old Testament feast days of thanksgiving. All the ceremonial celebrations of Israel were fulfilled in the Messiah.  Instead, we’re told to give thanks in and for everything—the good and the bad times. As we gather together to celebrate our American holiday of Thanksgiving rooted in the harvest celebration of the Plymouth Pilgrims in 1621, let’s be reminded to give thanks in everything and to everyone—today and every day.

I personally want to thank each of you who take the time to read my weekly blogs and monthly newsletters. I appreciate your comments on the blogs and also for those who share on social media or forward them on email. We really are blessed to live in a time when we can freely communicate with each other across the miles and expand our friendships even to those we’ve never met personally. It’s a blessing I don’t take for granted and a ministry I take very seriously.

As the apostle Paul would say, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Cor. 16:23-24 NLT

Have a blessed and grateful Thanksgiving from Dave and me.

PS There won’t be a Monday Morning Blog on November 27, but I’ll be back December 4. Can you believe it’s almost December?

Please leave a comment here and I will reply.

November 20, 2023
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Be Alert for Where and When the Lord Wants You to Get Involved!

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If you follow me regularly, you know I’m always challenging my readers to be Christians of action and not just full of biblical knowledge. It’s one thing to know the Bible; it’s another to live the Bible. The Lord wants us to do both. Not only be knowers of the Word, but also doers. In our volatile world today, we don’t have to look far for where we can get involved in promoting good where evil is invading our culture.

It’s easy and comfortable to be armchair critics where we sit on the couch and watch on television, social media, or our electronics the world atrocities contradicting reason and right. We complain about how insanely wrong things are today.

We might even gather in groups and discuss our opinions and complaints, but talk is powerless unless we put our disgust and distress into some kind of positive action to make a difference.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

There was a time when our frustration focused mostly on the world stage or maybe even centered on our government, but Satan is shooting his flaming arrows into our neighborhoods, families, schools, and yes, even, our churches.

We’re watching horrific pictures and narratives of evil at its worst as satanic barbarians attempt to wipe out the country of Israel. An evil attempted genocide of Jews we never expected to occur again after the Holocaust. How could this current atrocity happen to one of America’s allies and the people God has called His chosen?

I think some of the surprise attack came from relying on technology that can always be hacked or fail. Also, complacency and apathy to the reality that until Jesus returns for His church, Satan really is the ruler of the world.

We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. 1 John 5:19 NLT

We must remain alert to the enemy’s tactics, which are ALWAYS evil and destructive with the motive of deception and denial of God’s principles.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8 NKJV

Complacency masquerading as “tolerance” has allowed the enemy to infiltrate almost every area of life today. Americans think we’ll never be blindsided by a 9-11 style attack again. We take our shoes off and go through metal detectors and put our liquids in 2 oz. bottles to board an airplane because that was the vehicle of evil used the last time, while millions of illegals flood our borders and throw away their passports and ID’s once inside so they can assume new identities in America. Why would anyone want to do that? You know it isn’t for good. Are we ready? Is the church ready?

I’m not talking provisionally ready; I’m talking spiritually ready. Are our loved ones ready? Are we willing to reach out with the gospel to those who aren’t?

Yes, it can be uncomfortable. Inconvenient. Unpopular. Challenging. Scary. But when I find myself in those situations, I rely on the promise God gives us in Luke 21:14-15 . . .

14  Don’t worry about what you will say to defend yourselves. 15 I will give you the wisdom to know what to say. None of your enemies will be able to oppose you or to say that you are wrong. Luke 21:14-15 CEV

My Recent Getting Involved Experience

I hope you know I would never challenge you to do something I’m not willing to do myself. My mantra for years has been that the church, you and me, need to get involved in our local communities to right any wrongs that God brings to our attention. I’ve also said that we shouldn’t look only at the national level, but open our eyes to what’s going on in our own backyards. Maybe it will be running for office or actively supporting candidates who support our values. Every position is important from school boards to library boards.

I also would encourage you to investigate Christian-based organizations keeping a pulse on what’s happening in your area. I follow several in Idaho and one of those is Freedom Foundation. I receive their emails which often expose unethical issues in our state and draw our attention to pray over, and if we feel the Lord leading, to get involved. Since I live in a very small rural community most of the issues I read about are not in our area. But several weeks ago, there was an email from the Freedom Foundation addressing sexually obscene, pornographic, inappropriate books for children discovered in our local community library.

How could I ignore this? I couldn’t. So at first, I just posted the article on my social media page and a community social media page. Little did I know I was starting a firestorm! The comment attacks were fast and furious. I have to admit I was shocked that so many people were in favor of these books.

My main question was why were the books in our library? What was the purpose in making them available to our local children? But instead of answers, I received attacks on Christianity and my “morals,” although I never said I was a Christian. But it seems if you took a moral view of this atrocity, you must be a Christian. I was told, “keep your morals in your church.” I wondered what kind of “morals” the accusers had.

I learned there was a “Material Reconsideration Form” we could fill out to request these books be removed from the library. So I announced the situation to my church congregation and asked others to join me in filling out the forms. I was encouraged that many did. The two-sided form wasn’t easy to fill out and it required reviewing the dark material in these books, which I didn’t want to do. I felt like I needed a shower. How would I get the images and words out of my mind? It was just too dark.

Did I really want to do this? When my grandchildren were younger and visited us, I used to enjoy taking them to the children’s section of our library as a fun activity, but they’re older now, so these books weren’t affecting me personally. But I care about all children. I care about the next generation.

You would recognize some of the book titles as the same books parents are bravely contesting and reading aloud in school board meetings. Now God had brought them to my attention in my town. I had a choice to just complain or take further action beyond filling out the forms.

Then I discovered a podcast “Banned?” with Pastor Jack Hibbs interviewing Karen England, from Capitol Resource Institute. In this podcast, they discuss the sexually explicit and pornographic books that are plaguing our public-school systems and public libraries. Karen kept pointing out that we may be surprised to learn this isn’t only a problem in liberal cities, but many of these books are often available in conservative “red states” as well. They were talking about the very books in our “red state” small community library or on their website as an e-book download that children could access.

“Banned?” is an important podcast for every parent, grandparent, and concerned citizen to hear. It’s hard to listen, and yes, it’s dark, but that’s where Satan does his work. Especially, if you’re in a “red state” like we are in Idaho and think that none of this could happen in your local library or school. It is happening in school districts and libraries throughout our state! You can’t escape it.

It was a timely podcast for me. I thought if this brave Christian woman, Karen England, can subject herself to knowing the content of these books and go around the nation exposing them to protect our precious children, I can and will do my part.

I prayed long and often late into the night for God to give me the words, wisdom, and courage to take a stand and encourage others to join me. Many did. We attended the next library board meeting where those opposing our “moral” position and those joining me opposing the books each were given three minutes to present our arguments to the board.

Even a young twenty-year-old woman courageously read a disgusting sexually graphic page from one of the books and others told testimonies of the horrific acts that occur when young minds are exposed to pornography. To the board’s credit, they listened and allowed everyone the opportunity who wanted to speak. They recorded the meeting, and we were told they would review and make their final decision, which as of this writing we haven’t received.

Applause and Assaulted

A group of us stood outside the library hugging and thanking each other for speaking out and for those that came to support us. But as you can imagine, not everyone was happy about us being there. It only took a day for me to be attacked personally on the community social media page. I received the usual “hater” slander, my ministry was ridiculed, and I was pretty much told to stay in my own Christian lane. Which actually I was!

I could also see the delusional confusion when the slanderer accused me of making the young woman read the vulgarity from the book and referred to her as my “daughter”?! I had no idea she was going to read or what she was going to say. I was just delighted to have the next generation participate and speak the truth.

Sometimes you just have to laugh at delusion. The Lord reminded me I should be flattered they thought this 20-year-old was my daughter, since my own real daughter just turned 50!!!

Jesus told us to expect persecution but also not to stop sharing the gospel because there are some who will listen just as He experienced.
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. John 15:20

Paul said, 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. 1 Cor. 4:12:13

I’ve chosen to not give the satisfaction of answering the latest slanders because I choose not to escalate the discussion with those who are blinded by lies. That’s a lose/lose attempt and only gives them more of a platform. I can only pray that one day their eyes will open to the truth.

As an author myself, I know that authors write to a target audience with a purpose and focused message. I can’t imagine what kind of mind writes this smut for children. An author would have to have a sinister agenda and purpose to write books like these directed towards children. Their purpose is either pedophilia or grooming.

If you saw the movie Sound of Freedom, they really are coming for our children! I wrote a blog last year on November 8, 2021 by that very title They’re Coming for Our Children! We can’t stay silent.  

Jesus didn’t say living the gospel-life would be easy. It’s often heartbreaking to see so many people championing evil as a “freedom” when we’re talking about innocent little minds and bodies. If you’re willing to take action in the schools and libraries in your area, I want to leave you with this tool.

Obscenity Law Defined: Supreme Court Defines Obscenity

Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957).  Ruled on two criminal convictions for obscenity. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding that obscene speech is not protected by the First Amendment.  It further determined that the standard for obscenity is “whether, to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole, appeal to prurient interest. (Emphasis added)

Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973), reaffirmed the Roth ruling. “In sum, we (a) reaffirm the Roth holding that obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment; (b) hold that such material can be regulated by the States, subject to the specific safeguards enunciated above, without a showing that the material is “utterly without redeeming social value”; and (c) hold that obscenity is to be determined by applying “contemporary community standards” not “national standards.” (Emphasis added)”

Where is God asking you to get involved?

[God] who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 2 Tim. 1:9 NKJV

 “Today is no random day. It’s a God-planned day for His devoted children.” Greater Purpose by David Jeremiah

Please leave a comment here. I reply to all comments.

Also, Facebook has been lowering visibility of my blog posts, so please always feel free to share them!

The middle picture is from Andrew D Griffin of Love Alive.

October 16, 2023
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Once I was Blind, But Now I See!

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This week, I’m doing something I occasionally do and that’s promote a movie with a message that everyone needs to see and hear. I’m talking about the movie The Blind in theaters this week. Dave and I went to see it on 9/29 and even though I knew most of the story of Duck Dynasty’s Phil and Kay Robertson, I really didn’t know how bad it was before Jesus came into their life.

Decades before “Duck Dynasty,” Phil and Kay Robertson suffered a stormy early period of ten years in their marriage marred by Phil’s alcohol abuse and infidelity. “The Blind” captures their story of struggle, redemption, and hope.

When we were finding our seats at the theater, I saw a young teenage couple and asked if they knew what the story was about. They smiled and said they did. I told them how happy I was to see them there and that this film was reaching the next generation. After the movie, Dave and I started talking to a couple sitting next to us and discovered we had the same conservative faith beliefs and burden to protect children in our state’s schools and libraries. We were blessed to make new like-minded friends.

Let me backtrack a bit. Dave and I enjoyed watching the Robertson family with their four married sons’ families and Phil’s brother Uncle Si in their Duck Dynasty reality show adventures. That sparked our interest in learning more about them since the whole family was obviously Christian and they weren’t afraid to talk about their faith, Jesus, and family.

After Duck Dynasty ended, many in the Robertson family branched out with other shows, podcasts, books, and ministries.

Dave and I have a remote connection to the Robertson family. Their third son Willie Robertson’s wife Korie is the daughter of John and Chrys Howard owners of the former Howard Publishing that published my first two books, Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer: A Companion Guide for Women on the Breast Cancer Journey and Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help, & Encouragement for Hurting Parents. The Howards later sold their publishing company to Simon & Schuster, which still publishes those two books.

I never personally met Miss Kay [as she’s fondly called] or Phil Robertson, but they spoke several years ago in Nampa, Idaho and Dave and I attended. Phil is a bold evangelist and speaks freely about his life before Christ and the change accepting Jesus as his Savior made in his life, his marriage, and his family.

Recently, we heard Phil and Miss Kay interviewed by Kirk Cameron on his TBN program Takeaways. They said that their children felt the couple’s early tumultuous marriage years needed telling to share the miraculous transformation Jesus made in Phil’s life and Kay’s belief in him when he was haunted by the demons of alcohol, infidelity, and childhood memories. I don’t want to give away any spoilers because you need to see the movie, but to quote Phil, “You’ve got to come to the end of yourself to find the beginning of God.”

It’s one thing to read and even hear Phil and Miss Kay’s testimony, but to see it visually in this film is indescribable and inspirational. The portrayal of Kay and Phil is raw, open, and vulnerable. They hold nothing back of how bad things were and how good God is. In the Kirk Cameron interview, Phil revealed something I hadn’t heard before that he had learned of fathering a now 45-year-old daughter during his time of infidelity. She’s welcomed into the Robertson clan.

Their son, Willie Robertson, said in an interview with USA Today Network about The Blind, “It’s the early years of their marriage, so it’s gutting and raw. It’s definitely not ‘Duck Dynasty.'”

 “It tackles big issues – mental illness, depression, alcohol abuse,” Willie said.

Willie and his wife Korie Robertson produced the movie with their Tread Lively production company.

“Mom and dad have been very public about their early struggles, but seeing it up there on the screen really made it real for all of us,” Willie said. “It’s tough for them to open up that part of their life, but they’ve been willing to do it to try to reach others who are struggling. People see the family and ‘Duck Dynasty’ and think, ‘They have everything,’ but this story illustrates we had hard times like everyone else,” said Willie, who was 2 when his parents separated for a time.

“It’s powerful,” Willie said. “It’s a story of hope and redemption that shows you’re never too far gone to be saved.”

“In this movie, ‘The Blind,’ we let go of everything. We’re telling it,” Miss Kay says.

The 10-year span in The Blind depicts what Phil Robertson himself describes as his wild rebellious years of substance abuse and cheating before turning to God and building the clan’s Duck Commander duck-call manufacturing business into an empire in rural West Monroe.

Why would the Robertson’s be so open, vulnerable, and transparent about such a dark time in their life? Because they care more about saving lives than saving their reputation. Their testimony is one of redemption, love, and forgiveness. A wife who didn’t give up hope for her husband and a Jesus who can save even the most despicable wayward person. A testimony shared to bring others to Jesus.

It’s not about how bad you were, it’s about how good God is! He goes after the one that was lost even though 99 are saved. Which gives each of us hope for those we think will never change their life. If God could turn heathen Phil into an evangelist, he can and will save anyone who surrenders his or her life to Jesus Christ and seeks forgiveness for their sins.

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. Matt. 18:12-13

Why Share Our Testimony?

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. —1 John 5:11-12

But as for me, how good it is to be near God!  I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, And I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do. —Ps. 73:28 NLT

There’s no greater witness to God’s goodness than sharing what He’s done in your life. No one can question your testimony because it’s your personal experience. As we mature spiritually, we move beyond just remembering God’s goodness for our own benefit and start retelling our testimony to help others just like Phil and Kay have done.

We all have varied life testimonies in addition to our salvation testimony. Some of you have heard my “Feed my Sheep” testimony. If not, you can read a little here. I never tire of telling my story as History.

You may not think you have a testimony if you’ve been a Christian most of your life and life has gone smoothly. You can’t relate to Kay and Phil’s story or maybe even mine. God has been walking beside you guiding your life every step of the way. But that’s your testimony to others who worry about losing something by turning their lives over to God. You’re a living example of how good God really is!

Maybe you’re stumbling under the burden of a hidden past you’ve been too embarrassed to talk about and hope will never be revealed. Now may be the time to deal with those buried hurts and hang-ups. Like Phil and me, once they’re out in the open, Satan can’t use them against you anymore.

When I felt God leading me to write Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, I had to ask my daughter if she was okay with me revealing the prodigal time in her life before she accepted Christ as her Savior. I assured her that I would also be sharing how I was a prodigal raising a prodigal.

I write her response in the Acknowledgments: “My dearest Kim, you will always be my “baby. To share our story, to bare our souls, is no little thing. I admire and celebrate the beautiful, humble, and courageous Christian woman you have become. When I shared my vision for this book, you were on board and willing to let me expose our lives on these pages, all for the glory of God. That’s no small concession, since our life together has had many twists and turns—some we regret and others we celebrate. I thank God for making both our paths straight. We were lost and now we’re found. I love you baby.”

Kim told me, “Mom, if we can help one daughter and her parents, we need to share our story.” Kim also writes in the book what she was feeling and thinking during her prodigal years.

God redeems your story by surrounding you with people who need to hear your past so it doesn’t become their future. Like Phil and Kay’s testimony and Kim’s and mine, it’s the opportunity to give purpose to a crisis.

You might not make a movie, write a book, or tell your testimony from a stage, but God will bring people across your path and the Holy Spirit will prompt you to share. Every day, you encounter opportunities to share your testimony, and every time you tell it, you’ll remember how good God has been to you.

Revealing is the first step to healing!

Just like Phil’s spiraling down and my backsliding years, our testimony isn’t about how bad we were. Our message is the redemption and forgiveness available through our initial salvation or a rededication to Jesus Christ.

When people ask me how I made it through life’s difficulties, the best answer is, “I couldn’t have done it without God.” That’s your best answer too. It opens the door to share your story. By the way, your story doesn’t have to have a “happy ending” like the Robertson’s or mine for you to share it.

Your story becomes your testimony when the focus is on God, not on you. It’s not a time to tell someone else’s story. Stick to details that pertain to you and those willing to let you include them in your story.

When anyone tells me about an encounter with God, or a memorable circumstance in his or her life, I always ask if they’re writing it down because God is going to use it as a life-experience testimony. My ministry tagline is “Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness.”

I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul [formerly Saul], a persecutor of Christians before he was struck blind by the Lord on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1:1-18.

 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

Later in Acts 22:1-16, Paul told his testimony of transformation from being an enemy and persecutor of Christians to an evangelist sharing the Gospel.

As I watched in The Blind, Phil Robertson’s retreat into the forest almost living like an animal during his darkest times, I was reminded of the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony of living like a wild animal until he also surrendered to God (Daniel 4:1-37).

At the closing of The Blind movie, they showed comments on the screen. One was what Miss Kay said to the former pastor of the West Monroe White’s Ferry Church of Christ who visited Phil in Junction City during his darkest hour, planting a seed that eventually sprouted. Kay said to the pastor, “If you can help save Phil, he will go on to help save thousands.” Which Phil certainly has done!

While many may know of Phil’s tenaciously outspoken faith now, they may not know the hard and twisting road he walked before surrendering to Jesus. The title “The Blind is a play on words and refers both to, “I was blind, but now I see” (John 9:25), and to a shelter that conceals duck hunters called “the blind.“

“I think maybe if these people watch the movie and see how I was, and then they look at me now and see how I operate, [it will give them hope],” Mr. Robertson said. “You got to remember all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God so I’m not the only person that has sinned. The way out is faith in Jesus Christ.”

“I would have never dreamed I would be out there preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ when I was back there getting drunk as a skunk,” he continued. “But when that happened and I was freed from it, [everything changed]. That’s why I’ve been saying ever since that happened and I came to Jesus [what God can do].”

“Our prayer is that people will see the movie and know there’s hope. It’s never too late to be saved.”

“Jesus—that one sacrifice—has made perfect, forever, those who come to Him. If you just think about it, His blood gives us the opportunity to move beyond our sinful self,” Mr. Robertson said. “What do you get when He shows up, when you come to Him by faith? Love, joy, peace, patience…. It’s well worth the effort to follow Jesus faithfully.”

Amen!

If you didn’t receive my September newsletter, here’s the link. I would encourage you to read it.

Some of the “Why Share Your Testimony” discussion above is from my book Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten.

Please leave a comment here. I reply to all comments.

October 2, 2023
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When Brave Choices Regarding Our Children are Hard!

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When I was writing Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith, I chose “Brave Choices” as the chapter to feature Jochebed, the mother of Moses. We know how terrible our culture is for children today, but when Moses was born, Pharaoh was demanding the murder of all newborn baby boys. Parents and children have been the object of satanic attack since the beginning of time.

Today, we have our government calling parents domestic terrorists for trying to protect their children from Marxist propaganda and perverted sexual grooming in schools. In some cases, those parents have been falsely labeled, targeted, canceled, and even lost their job, as one California mother experienced. Even still she says, “It’s been tremendously stressful, absolutely devastating to my family … Hopefully people will be inspired to just be courageous and strong and supportive of each other. And it’ll inspire parents to stand up for their children and come together as a community to not let cancel culture happen to anyone else.”

Marxists are running the American Library Association and pornographic books are considered curriculum in schools. Emergency room visits by children and youth with mental and behavioral health emergencies in the United States have been increasing over the last decade with an increased prevalence of depression and suicide.

Parents and grandparents can relate to Jochebed when they send their kids out the door to school not knowing what harm might come to them physically or mentally. Imagine Jochebed’s angst when she was making her legendary brave choice. As she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, her heart twisted in turmoil: the joy of a new mother competing with fear for his life. Egyptian Pharaoh, observing the Israelites were multiplying too fast for his comfort, had commanded the killing of every Levite baby boy upon delivery.

Fortunately for Jochebed and Moses, the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, feared God more than Pharaoh and made the brave choice to defy Pharoah’s death command; “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” (Ex. 1:16)  Selective infanticide even back then.

How the midwives must have feared for their own lives when the dreaded Pharaoh summoned them and angrily demanded to know why they were letting the baby boys live. Without wavering or hesitancy, they calmly answered that the Hebrew women were much stronger than Egyptian women were and they delivered before the midwives arrived. These two women risked their own lives to save lives. Discovery of their secret would surely result in punishment or even death. Instead, God blessed their courage and grit, “So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.” (Ex. 1:2)

God also caused Pharaoh to believe them so the king decided to take matters into his own hands by sending his soldiers to locate and drown newborn Hebrew males in the Nile River. Jochebed trembled with trepidation hearing the wails and screams of new mothers as soldiers ripped infant boys from their arms and mercilessly drowned the crying babies.

Jochebed and her husband Amram cried out to God to spare their precious son and trusted God to answer. For three months, she nursed and tended to her baby, while trying to muffle his cries and coos and cautioning her two older children, Miriam and Aaron, not to tell anyone about their new baby brother.

When she could no longer hide her baby, Jochebed resolutely wove together a basket to keep him safe from the flowing waters, swaddled him in a blanket, nestled him in the basket, and prayed as she tearfully slipped him into the Nile to float downstream, not knowing his ultimate fate. Would God protect her precious baby? Would the soldiers discover him? A mother’s distraught tears—a heart-wrenching choice.

Living Everyday Brave!

In an article titled, “Living Every Day Brave,” Rachel Linden wrote, “Today I am choosing to be every day brave. What does that mean, you may ask? In essence, every day brave means choosing courage in the face of challenge. Believing that on the other side of fear is something better. It means embracing bravery as a mantra, a habit, a way of life, and embracing it every single day.”

Some choices are easy, but others not so much. While vacillating between options, we’re often weighing the effect of our choice on ourselves or someone else. Sometimes, we have to dig deep to find the courage to make a hard choice . . . a brave choice we may not want to make, especially when it comes to our children.

In Putting the Basket in the Water: Trusting God in the Next Phase of Your Child’s Life, children’s teacher and author Ashlei Woods wrote:

“There comes a time – many times, actually – in the lives of our children where we have to put the basket in the water. We have to let go and trust the plan of the Father. The world is a scary place – a place where we fear our children could drown. But we must remember that we have to let go so that God can draw them from the waters for His great purpose. He has called us to be their parents, but they were His first.

My friend, whatever water you may be getting ready to put your basket into – remember that you have to put them in the water for God to draw them out and place them into His perfect plan. Though you might not be physically present with your child as much during the next phase of life, you can always petition the heart of the Father on their behalf.”

Susan Reinhardt commented on Facebook about Ashlei’s quote above, “I need this message again and again, reminder after reminder. The “water” grows much more tumultuous every day and can be terrifying, especially since I now have grandchildren to pray for as the world’s agenda is to own their souls. Praying, praying, praying!”

Susan has the answer for all of us with children or grandchildren heading off to school this year as the schoolroom turns into a political and spiritual battleground. As I was writing this blog, I came across an Op-ed by Jeannie Cunnion, “I’m a mom who left it all on the field raising my sons and I can’t stop smiling and crying.” The subtitle is “God was our coach and our leader, but now it’s time for my son to move on to college.” As the Lord led me to read this article about a mom sending her firstborn off to college, putting the basket in the water if you will, Cunnion shared why like Moses’ mother she could let the basket go with confidence. Here’s what she said:

“I know this: What I get right and what I get wrong does not determine who my child becomes. Yes, I play a vital role in his life. My words and actions matter greatly. But God’s sovereignty over my son’s life supersedes my significance in his life. What I’ve done is significant. But what God can do is supreme. And His wild grace covers us both!  

But more than anything, God was our coach. He’s our leader and He held us together. And for all the things I got wrong, this is one thing I got right – I left it all on the field and I entrusted the outcome of our effort to God. I trusted God with the son He entrusted to me. God knows what my son needs in this next season. He loves my son in ways I can’t comprehend.  He has a plan for my son that is better and bigger than what I often felt pressure to orchestrate for him.” 

Our Children and Grandchildren Need to be Prepared to Make Brave Choices

God lets us all make our own choices, yes even our children and grandchildren. They have free will, but we as parents and grandparents can make the decision to ask God that they would follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance. S. Hawkins writes in his devotional The Believer’s Code, “An amazing aspect of God’s love for us is the fact that He gives us choices. We are not His puppets . . . . He loves you so much that He allows you to make choices in life. While most of the choices are small, some have the potential to be life-altering.” It’s those life-altering choices that keep us on our knees for our children and grandchildren.

They are His creation, made in His image, but he will not force then to remember that or to make choices according to His will or His commandments. That’s the hardest part in letting go. Some choices could change the trajectory of their life and that’s what scares us, but Janet Denison wrote in an article in Christian Parenting, Push the Basket from the Shore, the following wise advice for every parent and grandparent: “Put the basket in the water—then push!”

“Congratulations to all of you who had to put your babies in a basket for the first time and especially for that last time. Pray that they will row in God’s directions instead of anyone else’s—even yours. Pray that they will serve God and become who he has called them to be. Look forward to watching them achieve their [Jeremiah] 29:11 life.”

“How did Moses’ mom ever place her baby in that basket and shove it in the direction of Pharaoh’s house? It was impossibly difficult, but she wanted her boy to live. 

You will bless your kids if you follow her example. And, chances are, they will bless you in return. The baby Moses grew to become the man God used to save the children of Israel from slavery.  Weave the baskets, put them in the water, and equip them for their journey. Then give them your blessing as they shove off from the shore. It’s not easy, but it’s the right thing—actually, the ‘God-thing—to do.” 

I would add though that we as parents and grandparents must continue the battle to bring God back into our schools and actively do our part in preventing Satan from using public schools to indoctrinate our children. I read a great meme “It’s not about who is right and who is wrong. It’s about what is right!” We should all be fighting for God’s definition of right to prevail against opposition from those who are trying to turn our culture into Sodom and Gomorrah. It didn’t turn out well then and it won’t now either.

Please leave a comment here. I appreciate your thoughts and always reply.

*Portions of this blog were excerpts from Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith.

Who Me Everyday Brave?

August 21, 2023
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Loving God and America is “Dangerous” in 2023!

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People come and go over the generations, but demons remain the same from the days of Noah, Elijah, Ahab, Jezebel, and Jesus until today.

Satan is real and his army of demons are continually at war with God’s people. Jesus dealt with demons that understood His true identity and obeyed His command. He cast out demons from a man with an impure spirit – “My name is Legion; for we are many” – into a herd of pigs that rushed over a steep bank into a lake and drowned (Mark 5:1-13).

Author, Lit. Col. Robert Maginnis (ret.) writes in an opinion article, “Today, Satan’s demonic army is very active. They manifest themselves through various practices such as divination, witchcraft, channeling and wizardry (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). They deceive, attack the human mind with the intent of control, and they leverage power to take captive people, especially the prominent.” The Scripture Maginnis refers to here also says in verse 10, “never sacrifice your son or daughter”!

Hal Lindsey reminds us that, “Like it or not, we live in a war zone. Bombs of deceit, violence, and rage explode all around us. This spiritual war is not hypothetical, and it is not a metaphor. It is a real war with real casualties and real collateral damage. But a spiritual war is not to be fought with guns, fists, or missiles.”

4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Just like Jesus doesn’t change, neither does Satan. That’s hard to hear and accept, but it’s true. Satan’s goal is the same as it’s always been to tempt, deceive, and destroy God’s created people with sinful and evil practices and choices.

I encourage you to listen to a podcast with Charlie Kirk and Pastor Mark Driscoll. Pastor Driscoll’s recent book New Days, Old Demons: Ancient Paganism Masquerading as Progressive Christianity, describes how the entire apparatus of modern wokeness—transgenderism, child mutilation, abortion, even drag queens—is simply a repeat of themes from the Old Testament starting with Ahab and his evil immoral wife Jezebel, whose evil ways passed down from Genesis to current times.

 There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. 1 Kings 21:25

In the podcast, Driscoll explains that the Bible doesn’t just retell what happened in the past, but forecasts what will always happen in the future. The same political and cultural issues chronicled in 1st and 2nd Kings are the evil issues we see in our culture and politics today. Progressive, woke, soft-woke Christianity / pastors are rooted in the same demonic realm.

If we tolerate evil demonic forces, they will dominate! Jesus told the Church in Thyatira in Revelations 2:20-21, “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. Rev. 2:20-21

Praise God there are spiritual warriors amongst us today who aren’t afraid of the demonic principalities coming against them because these men and women of faith allow the Holy Spirit to guide and lead them. I want to highlight two mighty warriors for God who understand that Satan and his demons work through men and women blinded by evil who want to replace God with government. These men of valor are saying not on our watch!

I hope you stand with them and me in agreement. Even though we don’t have the platforms of these two courageous Christians, and many others, we can support them in prayer, encouragement, and however the Lord leads you.

Two Modern-Day Spiritual Warriors

The first Christian warrior I’m going to discuss is Sean Feucht because he made national news right here in my home state of Idaho when he brought his Kingdom to the Capitol tour to Boise and received demonic pushback. This isn’t the first time it’s happened to Sean, but it became big news because Idaho is considered a red, conservative, Republican-dominated state. Beware: that position isn’t guaranteed nor is it one we can rely upon complacently as evidenced to what happened to Feucht here in my beloved Idaho where Sean was called “dangerous” by the local newspaper, The Statesmen, for daring to bring God and worship to the steps of the Capitol.

You can read the entire news coverage with details here “Christian singer mocks Idaho newspaper calling worship gathering ‘dangerous.’ ‘Good news is that God wins’. But a synopsis is that ahead of his scheduled stop in Boise, the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board wrote an opinion article attacking Feucht and his allies as “dangerous activists” and “charlatans” “who want to inject their brand of Christianity into government.” The Idaho Statesman’s article spewed the following hate propaganda . . .

“Feucht and his group are playing on the same, tired, worn-out, BS, far-right ‘fears’ that evildoers on the Left are coming for your children, through the schools, through the libraries, at Pride festivals and drag shows,” the opinion piece read. While conceding that his “hate speech” was protected under the First Amendment, the editorial board warned it was still “dangerous.” “The danger comes when these groups impose their religious views on others and inject church into the state through the power of government, as we’ve already seen in Idaho through the most restrictive abortion ban in the country, attempts to put a bounty on libraries and bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. No one is telling these groups to abandon their religious beliefs. We’re just telling them to keep their religion in their church and out of our government.”

The Statesman doesn’t think using the power of government to kill innocent babies in the womb, sexually mutilate and castrate children, and allow the teaching of perverse sex in schools is “dangerous,” only biblical principles are “dangerous.”

If you read the full hit job in the Statesman titled “Keep Your religions out of our government. Dangerous activists coming to Idaho Capitol,” you’ll see that a group of “faith leaders” in the Northwest (Feucht went to Olympia WA and Salem OR Capitols before coming to Boise) sent a letter to legislative leaders to denounce “the appearance of these faith peddlers, whose views are full of hate.” Here’s an excerpt from these so-called “faith leaders” who must’ve all gone woke to protest Christian worship at Capitols and reject biblical principles!

Here’s an excerpt from the letter: “As faith leaders in the cities of Salem, Olympia and Boise, we are writing to inform you of an anti-LGBTQ+ speaker coming to each of our state capital cities this week and ask you to speak out against anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry,” the faith leaders wrote in a letter to state legislative leaders. The letter from the ‘faith leaders’ continued: “Sean Feucht has spent the past year capitalizing on anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments by railing against Pride Month, even embracing the exclusionary label of ‘Christian nationalist,’ and declaring that people with his narrow view of Christian theology should make all laws in the United States. “We reject these attempts to cloak bigotry in religious language, and we ask you to do the same.”

Sean Feucht’s response:

“It’s all part of the King coming back,” Feucht said at an event in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “That’s what we’re practicing for. That’s why hell hates that we’re worshiping at every Capitol across America. That’s why we get called, ‘Well, you’re Christian nationalists.’”

Feucht understands why his Christian beliefs cause friction. “When you’re doing something BIG for the kingdom of God, the opposition is LITERALLY Satan. The good news is that GOD WINS,” he wrote on Twitter, after Satanist counter-protesters showed up to the Boise event.

“I don’t begrudge the Statesman for what they wrote—they are well within their Constitutional right. We both exercised our rights under the same amendment. What they wrote is not so much a critique of the Let Us Worship Movement as it was a shameless plug for the LGBTQ agenda. To stand on the Bible is dangerous in the year 2023, especially when that truth conflicts with the LGTBQ agenda,” he wrote.

He also tweeted: More than 12,000 “dangerous” God-fearing, America loving worshippers flooded the capitols in Washington, Oregon & Idaho! Thank every one of you for TAKING A STAND for Jesus in your state!

In another satirical tweet mocking the media article and protesters, Sean wrote: “Beware! Kids singing with flags! Hurry up and ban flag waving DANGEROUS Christian kids from the capitol before someone gets hurt!”

On a Facebook post he wrote: “’He who sits in the heavens laughs.’ Sometimes you gotta just laugh at the enemies pathetic attempts to stop the spread of an unstoppable kingdom. He’s weak. He’s lost. He’s got no new tricks. PRO TIP FOR 2023: Laugh your way through victorious living.”

Sean mocked those trying to mock God! He uses humor to combat their vicious attacks and he always prays that some of the Satanists, abortion-rights protesters, LGBQT mafia, and media find salvation at his worship events. He’s reported that many have come to accept the Jesus they initially came to denounce. Still, he concedes, “To stand on the Bible is dangerous in the year 2023.”

As protestors and satanists yelled profanities the entire two hours the Boise Capitol allowed the worship event, Sean’s team passed out individual communion packets. The entire worshipping crowd took communion together with Sean on his knees in front of the Capitol declaring the blood of Jesus over the building and the city. The worshippers did a joy dance around the Boise Capitol and Sean rang the Freedom Bell he said was the first one he’d seen accessible at a Capitol. Then he sang a song about freedom. “I can hear those Liberty Bells rattling rattling the gates of hell. I can hear those Liberty Bells ringing ringing. It’s the sound of freedom. The gates of hell will not prevail!”

The only way to fight satanic demonic spirits is with the Spirit of the Lord, which Sean and many of us “dangerous Christians” fully understand. For more information about Sean’s Let Us Worship Ministry go to his website and learn when he’s coming to your Capitol or city.

The second Christian activist I want to highlight is actor/author Kirk Cameron who has several faith-based children’s books published by Brave Books. Cameron has been trying to host faith-based story readings for children at libraries to counter drag queen story readings and receiving pushback initially having 50 libraries prevent him from coming. He sent them all letters asking them to reconsider and many did, but he’s also had to contend with drag queens, Satanists, and trans people showing up to harass him and the audience of parents and children.

 In spite of the attacks, Cameron pushed forward and declared August 5 to be a See You at The Library national event with over 300 libraries across the country booked by everyday patriotic people to read books to children that cherish family, faith, and patriotism. Kirk says he’s “passing the baton to the people.”

But two days before Kirk and Riley Gaines were to read books to children and families on August 5th in another so-called red state at the Huntsville Alabama Library coordinated by Moms for Liberty, the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library System said it would no longer accommodate the book-reading event “due to concerns about logistics and security” as popularity for the event grew.

Cameron and Brave Books used law firm First Liberty Institute to send a letter saying it was “prepared to vindicate this violation of our client’s civil rights in court,” as a discrimination against religious groups. The library reversed course and allowed the book reading limited to 225 attendees and the police restrained 100 protestors outside.

“We must stand our ground and fight for our public institutions,” Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot said. “The foe we fail to meet at the gate in our own generation is the foe we let into the city for the next.”

Cameron said, “I believe this reconciliation between us and the Madison Public Library is a testimony to the strength and power of moms and dads gathering in prayer for the blessing of their community. Both sides rose to a higher ethic than we often see in today’s polarized society.” He also said, “By seeking the common good and love for our neighbor, we found a solution … See you at the library!”

Gaines said, “We’ve seen this before. The library has come up with an excuse to prevent us from sharing wholesome messages to children and their families because they don’t want to be associated with it.” She added, “The people have shown they want to attend this event and to support the mission of Brave Books. Situations like this embolden activists and ANTIFA. She also said, “I’m happy to say the event now a go again, and we will continue forward with full force! It’s times like this where we must stand our ground as conservatives but more importantly as Christians.”

Here’s an alarming fact. Brave Books uncovered a video discussed in an interview with Cameron where the federally funded American Library Association headquartered in Chicago teaches librarians specifically how to stop Kirk Cameron from coming to their library!  The methods included permitting rooms to be booked only by local library cardholders as well as offering “alternative,” diverse programming on Saturday at the same time as the “See You at the Library” events. An ALA executive, in a live-streamed presentation suggested that members hold a “library-sponsored Pride festival the same day and fill the library with rainbows” to share messages of “inclusion and diversity.”

Yet the ALA has no problem with drag men reading to and sexually gyrating in front of children in their libraries. That’s demonic!

Be Dangerous for Jesus!

It’s true that the Bible, Christians, and Christianity are dangerous to Satan, demons, and all forms of evil! That’s why the Lord tells us “12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Eph. 6:12

Just like God created earth with a physical and spiritual realm, He created humans with an earthly body, soul, and spirit. We take great care of our physical bodies but can neglect that we have a choice as to the spirit that resides inside us. Either the Holy Spirit or a demonic spirit will take residence in our heart. THERE’S NO OTHER CHOICES. NO NEUTRAL.

We see the spiritual forces of evil manifested in our culture, government, laws, schools, libraries, medicine, and people who consider God dangerous. What they’re saying is that to them Satan is safe.

Lord, help the deceived understand that heaven and hell are as real as God and Satan. 

The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand. Ps. 119:113 NLT

If you haven’t seen my July newsletter, I encourage you to read the opening article 4 Prayers Asking God for a Hedge of Protection. Here’s the link.

I love to read your thoughts. Please leave a comment on the website blog and I’ll reply.

*The opening picture is of Sean Feucht’s worship team and the worshippers in front of the Boise Capitol on July 30, 2023. I hope it wasn’t too big, but I wanted you to get the full effect.

August 7, 2023
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