"HATH GOD SAID?"

            Tomorrow churches with strong Protestant traditions will be celebrating Reformation Day pointing to that date in the year 1517 when the German monk Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the castle church door in Wittenberg. Luther underwent an impeachment trial of sorts....although this was life and death....where in his defense he famously concluded.....after asking for some time to consider the entire matter...."Here I Stand, I can do no other, God help me."
             I'm not really into these type of celebrations. I mean they are nice in a way but these events have to be internalized....where we wind up examining ourselves....and not just stitched on a banner for a yearly church event. I'm far more concerned with those actual words with which Luther is so often quoted...."Here I stand, I can do no other"....for this is not just pageantry....and we may need to utter these very same words many times.....in the very near future.
             This was anything but easy for Martin Luther....and it will not be easy for us. If it would simply be black and white questions that we will be faced with ....easily discernible for all to see through....it would be one thing....but there will be great delusion involved....and that confusion is already building around us.
             Brothers and sisters in Christ....'Christians' and pastors and bishops will be condemning those who will say...."here I stand." Take a moment to imagine how difficult that will be....and Donald Trump is unfortunately part of this....for he as much as challenges the believer today who demands adherence to Scripture in speaking truth....as did the serpent challenge Eve with...."Hath God said"....the President thus substituting with a gospel of the power of positive thinking....where we in effect can all be as God.
             I don't know exactly how this winnowing turn of events will take place....but I know that we have to be prepared for difficult....'here I stand' moments. I know this also....after this winnowing takes place....we may be much smaller in numbers than standard church demographics point to today.....but believers will be united as we haven't been....probably since the first century of the church....and this as even now faithful persecuted Christians huddle together in other areas of the globe....some even in Northern Syria....waiting for the return of Jesus Christ in power and in glory!
             One last thing here.....try as one may....we cannot stick our head in the sand and pretend that these troubles are not upon us. There is more evidence in God's Word....from both the Old Testament writers and the New Testament writers....that these are not ordinary times....that our Lord is surely near....and even if He were not we should hope and believe that He is at the doorstep! I've written this many times....I hope the reader never has to return to these posts. Find a preacher from the past....books from the past.....histories of the past....and preachers and authors that sound like preachers and authors of the past...and seek that heart of a pilgrim from the past....and the "old paths" as Jeremiah instructed....for these are what God has given....for particular times as perilous as these we live in.

Warning.....By Anonymous

Preface: So you were picked to be part of the new Trump administration. You may or may not have heartily supported him throughout the primaries but certainly did in the campaign against Hillary Clinton. The new administration is barely out of the starting gate when serious problems start appearing in the character and mental acuity of the new president.....problems that you may have been concerned with since day one but you hoped that with the campaign over that the new president would settle into the chair of the most powerful man in the world....but he didn't....and the next campaign began almost immediately. What to do? Some challenged where necessary the president....and were summarily dismissed and/or unceremoniously dumped. Some resigned on principle. Others stayed....thinking that they had no other choice....that their more experienced efforts were needed. At least one stayed....somewhat regretting it later....but committed to at least giving the American public an idea of what was going on in the White House.

             He....or maybe it's a she....refers to it as the 'steady state'....as opposed to the 'deep state.' That term sat well with me right from the beginning! I'll refer to the author as a 'he' in this post. The 'he' I'm referencing is Anonymous.....the author of Warning that was just released two days ago. I'm over fifty books so far on Donald Trump. You don't need fifty books....but you need at least one....so make it this one!
             I have to believe that the identity of Anonymous will come out soon as there seemed to be dozens of personal instances in the book where someone else who is also in the White House can put two and two together. In fact the author seems to see this coming some day but will continue to....if asked...."strenuously deny" that he is Anonymous....and this in order to remain part of the 'steady state' for as long as possible. On the surface it may not seem right to do what he's doing....but who is the brave one here....President Trump who lies and bullies and humiliates....and who does not want opposing opinions....or this 'Anonymous' who will get hammered the rest of 'his' life by one side....and probably receive little to no credit from the other? We don't like spies do we....so would that extend to Nathan Hale....or how about the spies sent to Canaan?
              If you read the book with an open mind it may soften your opposition to the author....for you will see what some people in the White House were up against....people who accepted their positions thinking they were there to help....but found out that more help was needed than they could give. You would at least learn a little about what makes a person like this Anonymous author tick. He is obviously an historian of some sort....but in my opinion....from his terminology....not an evangelical.
             There really wasn't that much new in Warning....at least to someone like myself who has already read a lot....but to have the day-to-day personal actions and comments of President Trump laid out in one long almost uninterrupted narrative is still extraordinarily unnerving to read. The single message that comes out loud and clear from this author is that we cannot have four additional years of daily walking this tightrope....particularly since the number of those who might be able to rein him in are decreasing.
             I have to ask the typical Trump supporter.....will you not read one critical book from someone on the inside? Just one book? What you would see is a president with serious character flaws that are genuine liabilities on the world's stage....and a serious lack of knowledge....with no real desire to learn anything....as he somehow thinks that he already knows more than the experts on everything....and you will also see a man who is unpredictable on what he might specifically do....yet predictable in that on a regular basis what he does will send those around him scurrying to make right the confusion.
             You may still admire Donald Trump after reading the book....or at least still be mad enough to defend him....and there are good reasons for that....but as for another four years....I think that you might change your mind. Near the end of Warning The author faces the political reality of the situation....what to do if it turns out to be President Trump vs a hardcore socialist Democrat....but he also does something that I do in these posts often....and that is bring up the still possibility of a qualified primary challenger.....and even a third party....that's how sure the author is.....and I am also....that we should not want four additional years of the three we have already been through.

Film Review: OK....I took a friend's advice and went to a movie to get President Trump off of my mind....Matt Damon's and Christian Bale's Ford v Ferrari....but what happens? Henry Ford II reminds me of Donald Trump.....and if that wasn't bad enough.....I saw Jared every time that villainous Ford exec Leo Beebe was on the screen. Other than that it was a terrific film. I'm not an auto racing fan....and I never like movie car chases....but this was something to see. My wife and I are big Matt Damon fans....who is a very vocal progressive. Now how can that be? As a republican....way more conservative than Rush Limbaugh....or about as conservative as he once was before Donald Trump came on the scene....I should be taking my cue to besmirch....tear apart....destroy the person of....and at the very least boycott the movies of Matt Damon.....because that's what we do nowadays....like Piranha on a side of beef....just attack and chew if anyone so much as looks sideways at President Trump.
 

"...But For You Who Fear My Name..."

The church on the whole....outside of typical fundamentalist churches who are spread across the more rural areas and hollows of America....and who have not come to consider themselves more enlightened than Christians from the past....act as if they are somewhat ashamed of any talk about God's judgment on America....or even any talk about....(shhhh....Satan and demons)....choosing rather to focus on how God must be impressed by what we are trying to do through Donald Trump. Worst case scenario we all....or they all....get raptured up out of a bull Wall Street stock market....or a college bowl game?) No....we cannot see how far we have fallen....those of us who vote Republican. How was your worship service today? Could you detect any concern in the face of the pastor....any warnings whatsoever to remain vigilant.....as we look towards the coming of our Savior....and our King? Probably not....it's a mood killer.

            The Babylonian captivity of seventy years had ended. Some Jews returned from Persia and the temple was rebuilt....even though some of those cried....as the temple was nothing like the one that they remembered.
            Nehemiah was an official in the king's court when it was reported to him that the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruin and the people were greatly distressed and in danger. He was a praying man....as he wept for Jerusalem.....and secured a decree from the king to return and rebuild the wall.
            There was a lot of opposition but the wall was rebuilt....but do we remember this? Nehemiah was back in Persia for twelve years as the final dedications were made....but when he returned to Jerusalem he found that the people had not been faithful to God....particularly but not exclusively in that they greatly profaned the Sabbath. We also may not be aware that Nehemiah was a contemporary of Malachi who rebuked the people in much the same way as did Nehemiah.....as the people had God's decrees but were spiritually destitute.
             In a way we in America have rebuilt a temple and a wall....not on our border but a political wall in our Supreme Court....but if there was a Nehemiah to return he would rebuke us....for we also have God's Word but are spiritually destitute. That wall will do us no good....nor will that temple of religious freedom....if we do not trust in and look to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ....for as Malachi warned...."But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap."
              Four verses into Malachi we read..." 'Though Edom says, 'We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins'; thus says the LORD of hosts, 'They may build, but I will tear down'...." Time and again in Malachi the people challenged God's rebuke with....'How have we done this?'....and...."For what reason will you do that?"
              In the last few verses of this last book of the Old Testament we read...."For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,' says the LORD of  hosts, 'so that it will leave them neither root nor branch'.....but for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall."

It's Not Our Mission To Defend Donald Trump

Preface: So another person....this time the Secretary of the Navy....goes down primarily because he became involved with President Trump....the man who evangelicals want to be president for four more chaotic years....but are unaware that even the evangelical church has suffered greatly while putting its trust in him. Consider Ann Coulter....a best-selling author many times over....who now seems utterly confused as to where she stands. You may be aware of who James Rickards is....another best-selling author.....a geopolitical economics expert and analyst.....who I posted on a number of times....but who I no longer even recognize since he boarded the Trump train....or Rush who may keep his audience but has lost his intellectual gravitas in becoming the president's Baghdad Bob....or General Mattis or John Bolton....or Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows....or Lindsey Graham.....or Rudy....and on and on and on....dozens upon dozens of names. This all because we....let Trump be Trump....instead of holding him accountable!

            Supporting Donald Trump in the manner that some nationally known Christian ministers are championing is incongruous to the gospel they proclaim. The two positions are inconsistent with each other. Donald Trump's message....his real message of power and greed....is antithetical to the message of the gospel....but there is more that has to be added to explain this conundrum.
            Franklin Graham has gone off the rails in what he believes is a defense of America's God-fearing heritage. I understand how this can happen. We....by 'we' I mean evangelicalism in America....we struggled with the anti-God movement in America for decades.....myself anyway.....others for over a half century. It was natural in 2016 to rejoice when the Clinton/Obama legacy was challenged and beaten....but there is really no excuse for what happened next.
             I listened only a few minutes ago to an interview by Eric Metaxas of Franklin Graham....two good men....Franklin's efforts in his ministry of Samaritan's Purse having been an extraordinary blessing to millions in need....but both men are blinded to who Donald Trump really is. The Rev. Graham has thus essentially said..."I shall accept the leader God has given....but I shall not entertain any warnings from the brethren on why God may have given him to us!" Now you he might bring up the fact that Franklin Graham has spent a lot of time with Donald Trump.....where I certainly haven't? True....but back in early 2017....when it became obvious that the now President Trump was not who he had told us that he was....I began reading on the man Donald Trump. Previously to this.....like most of us....I had known very little about him....he built towers....he had three glamorous wives......he ran casinos....and he had a popular television show.
            I'm over fifty books now folks. How many has Franklin Graham read.....probably none. So I see one very consistent life that has not changed one iota in the past four years. This is one horribly profane man with a number of serious psychological pathologies that in itself should exclude Donald Trump for any consideration of four additional years.....but Franklin Graham is not aware of any of this. Donald Trump will at any time and on any issue meet with someone and take on a persona that is a benefit to him only. It will be lies....flatteries....and manipulation! So I would expect him to make pious statements.....and as soon as the meeting is done return to his narcissistic mania.
              In this interview the Rev. Graham said that he believes that the opposition to President Trump is demonic. His argument is that President Trump has done so much for the economy....and that money generated has provided more giving to the church. What he missed here is that conservatives fought valiantly against the economically restrictive policies of the Obama administration. We wanted a conservative candidate....any one of which on that podium in 2015/16 would have removed the restrictive barriers. Donald Trump is not the source of these economic statistics....but he ingeniously and malevolently took the sole credit for them.....and we believed him! He is now the king of debt....after ranting on debt to win the White House! Brothers and sisters in Christ....these statistics are more than fleeting! The stock market could.....and probably will....be in a tailspin in the near future.....in which in pure Donald Trump fashion.....he will blame on others....when it will have been partially because of his risky ventures in both foreign and domestic policy....all in the quest for ungodly profit....that brought down this idol of greed.
          Everything Franklin Graham described President Trump as in this interview was wrong. Donald Trump is indeed a politician...of the very worst kind. He does not keep his word....as he can turn on a dime whenever something benefits him at that moment. He is not building America great again....for this definition of greatness that we have is terribly skewed....as our problems are infinitely more involved than economic statistics and military expenditures. He is not "a good guy!" He is indeed doing all this for money and fame. He is not only not honest....he is the antithesis of honesty. So Franklin got all of this wrong because he does not know Donald Trump.
          To conservatives here....Donald Trump does not care about the immigration issue. He was totally pro open borders not that long ago. He did nothing for two years until the fall of 2018 when talk radio relayed to him that he is in trouble. He only wants these conservatives judges....of which we would have had with any other of the candidates....to strengthen his economic agenda. He doesn't really care about Israel. The embassy move was strategically planned....as was the Golan Heights....and the more recent settlements issue. He had cozied up to corruption his whole business life and now claims that corruption in the Ukraine was his concern. He was pro-abortion not that long ago....and made the switch because he had to. His own daughter....after he was elected.....tried to make a deal with Planned Parenthood. Nothing about this man is real....but he has successfully won us over. "Bringing our troops home' is a ruse. He only spouts that because it costs money....and if the money is to made by sending them....he'll send them.
           Will he defend an ally if attacked? If he can swing it yes. If he politically has to yes. If he in any way get out of it.....yes again. He has no passionate beliefs in this area.....for he is amoral....in love only with his own image....but the patriotic words will always be there in the rallies....and we will buy them. The last thing he was going to do in the 60s was go into the service. He joked about it.
            Franklin Graham was passionate in the interview in that this impeachment inquiry is a "travesty".....a travesty that it is terribly dividing America. Folks....Donald Trump is a divider and a destroyer by nature. He is the travesty....and the impeachment inquiry is not only legitimate.....it is necessary.....for if he is given an addition four years....he will need none of us....and not Franklin Graham either. He would rather the nation burn with anger than see his glory destroyed.
            Well....Franklin Graham is right on one thing.....God put Donald Trump in office....but for what reason? This is end-times related folks.....as is everything going in Israel right now. Making America great again was a terrible mistake of which evangelicals refused to critique.....failing to see that we also are guilty for what America has become. Yes we are against abortion and other such issues but we are mired in mud of this world....in our own ways.....as are all the others. Our discernment is shot.....our pulpits are at best sound asleep. One should have to look no further than Joel Osteen's popularity to see that our Christian moorings are gone and we are adrift.
          We think....no we are adamant....that we will rebuild....that we will make America great again....but God has told us that He will just tear down again. Common sense alone should tell us where this world is headed irrespective of any political parties. There is a winnowing coming.....and Franklin Graham will certainly be on the right side when it does....at the front of this remnant whereas I will be in the back....but as for now he has been deceived. We are all struggling to get our bearings as this freight train of deception and delusion barrels down towards a broken track.  The answer never was that Donald Trump was going to be our savior. The answer is that in Donald Trump we should see ourselves....our frailties....and use this travesty of division in America to awaken us....not politically....but spiritually.....of which Franklin Graham himself speaks. We are not to defend this man who has brought this ire upon himself....who in the process has also divided us....but to once again defend that which is our only hope....and proclaim Jesus Christ to the world....and to Donald Trump....not in a milquetoast gospel that only encourages him in his arrogance....but that he has his whole life profanely rejected any true gospel that may have been presented to him....and that God will not be mocked.....there will be no polls taken at his judgment....no Rush Limbaugh to tell how wonderful he is....and no famous ministers to write a recommendation. 

IT'S FOR THE OIL!

I don't know if Benjamin Netanyahu has used the word 'surrounded' although I imagine that he has as he is warning that Iran is trying to use Yemen to attack Israel from yet another direction. Iran is certainly using the word. God's Word....with Jesus speaking in the Olivet Discourse.....has ominous words concerning the surrounding of Israel by enemies...."But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near." How many times can I post these thoughts....these are serious times.....and we should regard them as such!

Donald Trump has led his entire life as a bull goose loony who barges in and takes control....and if things go bad....real bad....which they have on occasion.....he just files for a bankruptcy.....using as many loopholes as he can.....and moves on.....leaving a oil slick of people who lost money in his wake.....of whom he cares not a bit. How many people around him in the White House have already regretted being a part of his administration....and there will be more.....and he won't care.....because he is the only one of importance....but he can't do that in this job....his blunders effect whole nations....and the equivalent of a bankruptcy in this project....is a resignation.....or at the very least not seeking a new four-year contract.

Republicans.....(we)....brought impeachment proceedings against President Clinton on charges that were less important to national security than what Democrats....(they)....are doing right now to President Trump. Yet we are channeling Stalin in trying to purge anyone and everyone and their brother who has the audacity to give an opposing opinion. Otherwise intelligent and honorable men have been rendered totally incapable of even acknowledging any of Trump's many blunders. (I voted for the man Rush....and celebrated....we're out here and want another candidate!) Four decades involvement with Russia followed by Putin's efforts in favor of candidate Trump....clues everywhere that Donald Trump worships riches and fame often at the expense of ethics....serial lying as never witnessed before in an American politician let alone a president....obvious threatening and cajoling of potential witnesses over Twitter along with a refusal to even let people testify....stupid lame-brained shenanigans with the Ukraine followed by a weak defense that he somehow is a champion for anti-corruption....and a malignant narcissism that borders on unfitness for office if not already over the boundary line....all these things and his recent slew of nonchalant comments ($45 million a month) on our military possibly fighting and dying for oil that we don't own nor do we even need if our economy is as the President constantly tells us...."the envy of the world"....all these at the very least make impeachment proceedings legitimate....yet we are daily inflaming everyone and everything by calling it a coup....when more than anything else his outrageous antics and grossly overblown daily....almost hourly attacks on others....have consistently and purposely made a bad situation much worse.

News update: When we were told that the Ukraine conversation transcript given us was 'non-verbatim' I said....here we go....it's just like the Mueller redactions....they're going out of their way to tell us this....there are words missing....and that's exactly what the NSC Ukraine expert testified to yesterday....so it's SOP....standard operating procedure....destroy the person giving testimony not favorable to the President....how far we have fallen!

Breitbart's evening radio show interviewed President Trump spiritual adviser Paula White for about forty minutes in their eleven to midnight hour. If I heard her correctly she said that she was with the President today....praying for him....along with about thirty other ministers. I'm not even going to hazard a guess on what percentage of Christians listening in might have been shaken somewhat in their support for President Trump after the interview.....because they would have recognized the positive-thinking gospel of Norman Vincent Peale that was very clearly stated as that which Donald Trump was raised on and probably believes is related to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They might even be aware of the prosperity teaching of Paula White. So....whatever that percentage is....and I fervently hope it is high....some tonight are definitely questioning just what they may have gotten themselves into.

            "When these pundit fools who have called the Middle East wrong for 20 years ask what we are getting out of the deal, I simply say. THE OIL, AND WE ARE BRINGING OUR SOLDIERS BACK HOME, ISIS SECURED!"

SNAP!....SNAP!....COME OUT OF IT....THINK ABOUT WHAT HE IS DOING!....."What I intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an ExxonMobil or one of our great companies to go in there and do it properly.....and spread out the wealth." Fox reported that the president said that the U. S. "may have to fight for the oil.....it's OK" and it would be a "helluva fight."  Folks...."It's OK"...."helluva fight"....he has gone mad.....have we also? These comments should make you ill.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? Does our military still support Donald Trump? I don't know....but they certainly should not. His flippant unguarded comments on oil demonstrate his disregard for human life. What happened to his outrage on the Kurd issue over "this bloodstained sand?" What he is saying here folks is that he will send your sons and daughters to war....(to keep the strait of Hormuz open?....No!)....to add to his sick quest for glory, profits and fame. We may regret not spotting these very obvious clues. Do we not even think about the lives of our military anymore....as we cheer on this madman?

        "We're keeping the oil. Remember that. I've always said that: Keep the oil. We want to keep the oil-$45 million a month. Keep the oil."

According to Andrew McCabe in his book The Threat....the president said this on Venezuela in a meeting...."That's the country we should be going to war with. They have all that oil and they are right on our back door." If he does.....he'll be using humanitarian issues as the excuse.

         "There's a scene from Ted Turner's Gettysburg where Brigadier General John Buford, played by Sam Elliot, scans rocky heights and farm land that would in one day become a battlefield, and he literally spews out these words as he foresees carnage in the Union army if the politicians and generals play their war games as usual...afterwards men in tall hats and gold watch fobs will thump their chests and say 'what a brave charge it was..... I've never seen anything as brutally clear as this.... It's as if I can actually see the blue troops in one long bloody moment....as if it were already done....as if tomorrow already happened and there ain't nothin you can do about it. He went on to lay out a plan to change that, 'We can block that road till the main body gets here, and deprive the enemy of the high ground'!"  Folks....the above paragraph is from a 2012 post. I can see American troops fighting somewhere....anywhere....because Donald Trump....who falsely claims to be so concerned about the loss of human life...(150 casualties in Iran)....has our troops fighting to clean up some mess that he made....some deal in his mind that fell through. We can stop this.....and get back on the high ground that we were once on before he lured us off....by letting it be known that we no longer support him....and that we demand a legitimate challenger in primaries.

NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER'S IMPEACHMENT: As we all know....removing a president through a senate trial is more than difficult....and this only exacerbated in a society whose fringe is growing at an alarming rate.....but this needs to go to trial nonetheless....and senators will be forced to go on record. As one whose prayer is that God would open our eyes to Donald Trump and his armor-bearer Rush Limbaugh....I would advise that the already voluminous evidence of at least abuse of power.....be presented primarily to the public....in time to nominate someone else....that no matter how the senate votes.....the people will wind up heavily on the side that four additional years of a man such as Donald Trump is not wise.

"NO NEWSPAPERS FOR YOU....ONE YEAR....UNTIL ELECTION!": The President of the United States today let it be known that he was going to direct all federal agencies to end subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post. Those around him think that they will be able to control him....they won't....we Americans today have a front row seat to the original reality show of Big Brother....we are to read only what we are permitted to read. (Update: Retired four star general Barry McCaffrey's tweet on this news story...."No room for HUMOROUS media coverage. This is deadly serious. This is Mussolini.) This just out....a new book claims that President Trump called the Secretary of Defense James Mattis to tell him to "screw Amazon" out of the "opportunity" to bid on a $10 billion cloud computer contract. According to the book....Mattis said he would bid this contract the right way. Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post and is president of Amazon. It was announced yesterday that the contract was awarded to Microsoft.

"AND NO PRAYER EITHER!": A Trump hotel in Washington D. C. abruptly cancelled......A Night Of Prayer For The Kurds....that was to be hosted by a religious non-profit that sends medical help to the Middle East. Reason.....security concerns. Attorney General Barr has already booked a Family Holiday Party for December....(I thought we were allowed to say Christmas once again?)....no security concerns there. Evangelicals....you are empowering a man with no conscience. You have let your guard down....jettisoned vigilance....closed your eyes and covered your ears as to who Donald Trump is....and pastors....many of you....you have opened the door and invited a false prophet into the church....and for what reason....the cross of fake news that the President has to carry. You should be more concerned about the cross of Christ.

An answer to a reporter's question on bolstering his impeachment defense team...."Here's the thing. I don't have teams. Everyone's talking about teams. I'm the team....." No...here's the thing....a president makes the final decision....but he/she had better at least be seeking the thoughts of others.

BALD-FACED LIES BY THE SCORE: Candidate Trump vowed to "cut the national debt....very quickly"....but instead he's blowing it up like that blimp of him that appears in the skies now and then. He tore Obama apart for all the golfing he did....and said that he wouldn't have time to golf....but has golfed more than twice as much as Obama. These are bald-faced lies that he told....not regular lies....but bald-faced lies....said to get the nomination....(and there are many of them!)....and to be honest.....it speaks more to our own lack of character that we don't even care that he is a serial liar....for he has dragged conservatives off the high ground down into his own personal swamp and darkened mind. He brags on not taking a salary....(right?)....but even an ultra-conservative estimate of what his golfing costs the government (us) is in the tens of millions of dollars! I'd say that was one terrific deal he made for himself!

PARTY WITHOUT PITY: Folks....on the Ukraine situation....it's not just that act itself....holding off on aid for a returned favor. Even Trump's supporters say that everyone does that....it's what that act entailed. The Ukraine....a nation fighting for its independence from Putin....asks for assistance to defend itself....but Donald Trump has no heart or soul to even look at this beyond a deal that could benefit him. Can you not understand this evangelicals? Has your heart become so hardened in pursuit of patriotism that you cannot even pick up on what is wrong with this situation....or with that of the Kurds....where hundreds have already died....women and children also....and there have been atrocities....while Donald Trump somehow thinks this was such a great deal. We may be about to find out what a man without pity can do.

ICHABOD....THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED: There is a passage in Jeremiah that we in America might want to reflect upon. He was given a vision after Nebuchadnezzar carried away captives to Babylon...two baskets of figs.....one full of very good figs and the other of very bad figs. What may seem surprising is that Jeremiah is told that the good figs were those taken away captive....and the bad figs were those that remained behind in Jerusalem and Judah and even Egypt. We in America have gone astray from obedience or reverence to God who gave us our very existence. The 'Make America great again' ethnos are not the good figs....but are rather those that fight to keep a rebellious culture that only uses God's name as some sort of talisman....or as an Ark of the Covenant that protects simply by being there. Ichabod...The Glory Has Departed. Those who have seen that we have fallen short....all of us....myself being among the greatest offenders....have been forced into a humility that leads us to once again....as in the beginning of this nation....to rely only upon His wisdom and His will and His guidance....no matter how it may appear on the world's stage.

THE CULT OF TRUMP: My first years as a Christian were spent in the study of apologetics....the defense of the doctrines of God.....specifically the divinity of Christ.....and therefore including research on what are called 'Christian cults'....religious sects that proclaim to be Christian but deny essential truths of Christianity.....most particularly those on Jesus Christ. At the time I put ads in the newspaper trying to persuade Jehovah Witnesses....and those studying with the Watchtower....to call me. So I spent a number of years involved in the study of 'Christian' cults. Steven Hassan is obviously a biased Progressive....and also a mental health professional who was many decades ago a Moonie....but today works to free.....from the perspective of psychology....and from first-hand experience....people who are or were harmed by destructive cults. If you are indoctrinated already in not reading any books that are critical of President Trump then this is not for you.....but if you are able....as I am able....to read something like this and recognize what is helpful and what is incorrect....then this is a book you should read. The title is The Cult Of Trump...A Leading Cult Expert Explains How The President Uses Mind Control....and once again the author is Steven Hassan. The book is much more than a primer on what techniques cults use to capture their followers as there is valuable information on that part of Christianity....emanating primarily although not exclusively from charismatic theology....that leads us into following 'ministries' that use many of the techniques explained in the book

CHARISMATIC HERMENEUTICS:.Every week or so I check to see if Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn....author of best sellers The Harbinger and The Paradigm and most recently The Oracle....has posted a new video. He had....apparently an older teaching he gave at Kenneth Copeland's church in Newark, Texas. He started out saying nothing more than I have written many times on America's rebellion against God.....and then he made this statement...."There have only been two civilizations in human history that had been founded solely for the purposes of God. The first was called Israel...the second was called America.....it was founded after the pattern of Israel...to be an Israel of the new world." This teaching is so egregiously in error that it should shake any scripturally sound Christian to the core. It is this biblically unwarranted elevation of America that has spawned wayward doctrines....weakened evangelicalism....placed politics and trusting in princes ahead of trusting in Christ alone....and also spirited the near adoration of the false prophet Donald Trump. Pastor....it would be wise to wake up for this is no small phenomenon that has entered the core of evangelicalism....most likely your church also....and is reaching into households and enabling a president whose risky impetuous often nocturnal decrees and injunctions are becoming more erratic.

DUH!: The overarching concern that I have had for quite a while about President Trump has not revolved around the possibility of his resigning or being forced out of office....or even deciding not to seek that second term after all....although I mentioned that fairly often in these posts. My concern then and now is how he will react when faced with the ultimate of challenges. I am closing in fast on fifty books on Donald Trump....with four at my elbow right now....these books encompassing his life and many career endeavors....and one thing that comes out perfectly clear is that he has no empathy for anyone and never has....no personal belief system beyond seeking glory for himself....and that there is nothing that he would ever say that I would believe without outside verification. He mesmerizes and he bewitches....always leaving a trail of wounded or destroyed individuals behind him. Evangelical ministers keep telling us that God put Donald Trump in office....my response each and every time.....Duh! The pertinent question is why has God done this. I've likened Trump to Nebuchadnezzar...."Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as my royal residence and the glory of my majesty?" Now that's a Trump tweet if I ever heard one! Just after saying this the king went crazy. Donald Trump is either crazy right now or he will be there soon....but God....when Nebuchadnezzar had completed his time in the fields....gave him a proclamation of praise to utter....but we do not read God's Word as a template....as in The Paradigm....or The Oracle....as so many have mistakenly have fallen for today....but rather we read in passages like this....examples to meditate upon. Although President Trump claims that his goal is keeping our military out of war.....his risky actions.....east and west....are increasing that likelihood. He has shown little to no wisdom at all in foreign affairs....and that's not a good sign....and far from being brilliant....he seems extraordinarily inept....blundering all the time....but still we do not know God's plans for America other than we are being judged.... that we brought this judgment upon ourselves even as God has warned us time and time and time again....and that we have only as of yet seen the beginning of judgment. One last thing to add here....that 'ultimate of challenges' is quite possibly very near....and all of these highly-charged political investigations may be moot. So yes.....pray for Donald Trump....that God might restore some semblance of sanity....not to make the Hanging Gardens of America great again....but that we might humble ourselves before our Creator....that He might be with us in this coming storm.

Mr. Secretary (Mike Pompeo)....I would still like to know exactly what your advice was to the President as he was dictating orders on Syria....not a redacted transcript of your comments as was the Mueller Report....or a non-verbatim transcript as in the Ukraine call....but your exact advice....(it's going to come out in a book some day anyway)....because we know what you are saying now.....and we need to know if you are being ordered to say this. (update: When I heard the term 'non-verbatim transcript' what came to my mind was that there were words missing....and they were covering themselves.....and yesterday the NSC Ukraine expert testifying to Congress said just that.

Radio talk show hosts....you had the opportunity back in early 2017 to hold President Trump accountable but you turned from being leaders to simple-minded followers of a Pied Piper....and now you are sinking in a quagmire of lies and obfuscations and gross exaggerations.

PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD, O AMERICA: God had told Israel through the prophet Amos that He had given them warning after warning...."Yet you have not returned to me." Then came this....."Prepare to meet  your God, O Israel." God had warned us increasingly over upwards of a half century....through Billy Graham and others....yet we ignored Him and turned to MAGA for our help. The warnings have stopped.....have you noticed that? "Prepare to meet your God, O America".....would surely go in one ear and out the other.

"I'll SEE YOUR TARIFFS AND RAISE YOU WORLD PEACE! President Trump uses the power of his office to apply pressure to anyone who does not do what he wants....attempting to destroy the economies of enemies...taking this risk not because our economy is hurting....but because he wants to build his own personal glory greater and greater and greater! These are not well-conceived plans....with all the boxes on consequences checked........but crap shoots. He is in effect pushing the world to the brink of war. His Achilles Heel may be that these enemies have more than forty years of dossiers and psychological profiles on him to work with.

Whenever trade relations between the US and China become threatening you can always find an article on what would happen if China retaliated by dumping US treasury bonds....(over $1 trillion.). The articles always leans on the security that such retaliation would hurt China as much as the US....but there is more to this problem than meets the eye. If China's economy tanks it could very well be followed by civil unrest.....of course President Trump would probably be laughing....because that's what he does when he gets the better of someone....but the world markets could also go under. China would have a difficult time with civil unrest if the US and everyone else are stable.....but if the world economy is collapsing then....one....the Chinese people might not be so incensed....and two.....if they were then the communist government....with the world economies already in a tailspin....could react much harsher. My concern....one of them....is that China....now on the defense....might initiate chaos in order to take the offense to better position themselves for a situation....many of the world's economies collapsing....that one segment of economists are already predicting.

Brother Trump's Traveling Salvation Show

OK...we are all familiar with the story of Gideon....particularly in that God whittled his army down to 300 men....but that's not too hard to figure out as God wanted to make sure that the Israelites knew that it was God alone who brought the victory.....and there are other instances in God's Word like this....but why the method of the lapping of the water to pick out those 300 men? Well....there are differing opinions on this....but only one makes sense to me. Those men who just reached down and grabbed some water wanted to keep going. Their mind was on the business at hand. The bulk of evangelicals today would be as those who kneel to drink....particularly as it relates to Donald Trump. They think that they're on a mission. I listen to them call in to radio programs and its the exact same language as it was in 2016....as if nothing has changed....as if we don't have almost three years of a President Trump to weigh....but we were fooled then....we weren't soldiers....we didn't even do any thinking....we just sat down as if at a rally and cheered.....and yes voted. They call us Never-Trumpers....or Deep-Staters and even worse....even though we voted for Trump....and celebrated! There may not be that many of us....but we have thought this through.....and have found the person of Donald Trump severely wanting in fitness for that position. Following someone like this isn't going to bring us victory or even relief. We're tired....I know I'm tired....let them have their rallies....we're not veering off to some mirage....where if there is water it's poisonous....but will drink only from the fountain of living water. Should God have mercy upon us then the eyes of evangelicals and conservatives will be opened to Donald Trump....and Rush Limbaugh. May tomorrow be the Lord's Day that the Holy Spirit moves mightily upon our pulpits to turn us back to Christ and away from lying vanities....that a soberness might return....and a vigilance restored.

We might want to pay attention to President Trump's....what seems to be evolving relationship with Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli ambassador to the United States had requested of President Trump that he release $12 million to Palestinian security services. According to reports....the President's response was typical Donald Trump...."If it's so important for Netanyahu, he should pay the Palestinians $12 million." According to another Israeli newspaper report..."Several weeks ago Netanyahu told cabinet members in a closed-door meeting that US President Trump would not act against Iran until US general elections in November of 2020 at the earliest." It is my contention....and this from reading fifty books on Donald Trump....after voting for him....after celebrating....and after it became apparent in early 2017 that he was not who he said that he was....(the latest book being Donald Trump Jr.'s just released Triggered)....that Donald Trump would turn on anyone....anyone....on a dime....as he did the Kurds....because there is not an ounce of truth or transparency in him. The language....tone....choice of words....used in the first report was troubling. The second report mentioned above shows very clearly that Donald Trump's reelection is more important to him than any promise....than any threat....and more important than our ally Israel. Evangelicals have been blinded....and bewitched....but they're not quite yet bewildered....and certainly not bothered. There is concern is that support from the Democrats on Israel is waning....but there should also be concern that Donald Trump looks more to the economic relevance and potential of the Middle East....than Israel's security. This is a cold cold man....overflowing with rhetoric....but devoid of principle.

            It has been my contention that Christians....evangelicals in particular....have fallen for a false prophet in the church....but more accurately 'to' the church....in Donald Trump....as he tells us constantly....using the imprimatur of 'God'.....never 'Jesus'.....(I've only heard him use the name Jesus once)....that things are going to be better than they ever have....that we are "one glorious nation under God".....which we are not....and that we are going to keep 'winning...winning...winning"....and that..."the best is yet to come"....when the Christian with even the slightest bit of discernment should know that this world and our nation are heading to a showdown with Almighty God. This whole MAGA campaign has been an affront to what God has made very clear to us. It has been pure arrogance to think that economic and governmental and military issues somehow assuaged our guilt from the culture and society and greed and self-centeredness and increasing rebellion and indifference to a call to be a peculiar people that has been our calling card for almost an entire century. We've come to the point that we have become like Donald Trump of whom our dependence is now solidly anchored. Speaking to the Christian here....this nonsense of Donald Trump being a modern day Jehu has blinded us from....and laid the groundwork for....the manipulations of a false prophet. Dates and time periods and events have become our of method of interpreting Scripture as it all centered around us....and our view of exceptionalism....and not Christ. The way is no longer narrow....but wide....its width subject to the effectiveness of rallies and tweets and polls. Our pulpits have let us down....failing to see that they are susceptible as anyone in the pews. "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour"....this warning (1 Peter 5:8) has long since been discarded in our determination to find a prince that will restore that which God said He will then tear down again. There is a call to repentance on us....not a call to make America great again. We have all fallen sway to the lures of this world....and to nationalism....of which none of us in this arena are exempt. May God not fulfill our desires....but change our desires....for His name's sake....and for His glory not ours.

Note: In case you are not familiar with it....the latest Christian book best-sellers....Jonathan Cahn's The Paradigm and The Oracle....have convinced evangelicals that God has politically endorsed Donald Trump.

IT'S TIME TO FALL ON OUR KNEES.....THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE ARE DOING!

            Somewhere between Frank Sinatra's....'I Did It My Way'....to set the people up.....and the Rolling Stones'...."You Can't Always Get What You Want"....to send them home....and in between referencing God often....and asking at one point how many people of faith were in the arena....while often embellishing and at times lying....President Trump concluded his Kentucky rally with his usual...."We are going to continue winning....winning....winning".... in this...."One glorious nation under God"....and that...."the best is yet to come." Brothers and sisters in Christ.....the epistle of Jude comes to mind....where someone creeps in unnoticed amongst the brethren....pronouncing judgment....."one-way ticket to hell'....and rushing "headlong into the errors of Balaam"....a hidden reef.....caring for himself....causing divisions.....worldly-minded...."arrogantly flattering people for the sake of gaining advantage." When someone....Donald Trump in this case.....gives the church a false prophesy....again and again and again....one such that Ezekiel warned of...."they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace...."....then is it not ours to.....as Jude implores....."contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."?


            President Trump needs to resign....to let the Republican Party pick another candidate....and that will only happen if those in the Congress tell him behind closed doors that enough is enough....thank him if they want....but tell him to please step aside....not so much that we could find another candidate....important as that is....but more so that we might clear our heads....and once again see how far as a people we have fallen. Folks....Kanye West...Hip Hop....I really haven't a clue on this music....but I'll tell you what I do have a clue one....I forget the year....the artist is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame....it was in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena....that lost power to the lights for a little while.....to pass time the singer threw his sneakers into the crowd of worshipers who rushed for them like the Carp after bread at Pennsylvania's Pymatuning spillway....and he then told a few stories.....and led the entire audience in chants of 'Thank you Jesus'....and I'm sure that I shouted along. This is how weak we can be merely over entertainers and showmen....and really....nothing demonstrates this better than how we fell hook, line and sinker for the mother-of-all reality shows....and the greatest showman in America....Donald Trump.

            It was a blessed morning.....Saturday....320 calories and 3.6 miles on the treadmill.....and a sermon by John MacArthur on the headphones titled An Appeal To Charismatic Pretenders. (You can easily Google this) The blessing was in the sermon but the exercise helped. I encourage you to somehow incorporate sermons from men who preach like men from the past into what may be your very busy schedules. You know what you might find out? You may wind up trying to incorporate those busy things into your schedule around hearing the Word of God.

            In 1988 I attended an $100 a plate dinner in Pittsburgh for Pat Robertson's campaign for president. I certainly did not know it at the time but I was just a grassroots pawn in a huge and powerful somewhat secretive networking conservative organization called the Council for National Policy....the good guys....as opposed to the Council on Foreign Relations....the bad guys. Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, and dozens more names that we here would all be familiar with....along with big conservative names like Richard Viguerie and Paul Weyrich...were building a conservative/Christian base that would in theory return America to its roots. This is all well and good so far. These issues....abortion, the family etc....are all our issues....we're on the right side of the issues....but we were....and still are today....necessary soldiers for political conservatism....but not necessarily soldiers for Christ at all. As I was looking at the names of the group of evangelical leaders who were praying over President Trump the other day in the White House....I saw leaders of organizations and megachurches....(magachurches?)....but it was as if I was looking at representatives of a political party....not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Political campaigns today want megachurch pastors and presidents of activist organizations who can storm the bulwarks of the progressive left to win America back to God.....or so they say.....but that's not in reality the case.....we may win America back to conservative politics....but Jesus may still look at us and say....."depart from Me....I never knew you." There is not much I can say in a 'preface'....even a long 'preface' like this....on a topic such as this....but it may strike a chord with some who have wondered why many of these Christian organizations....and even churches....seem more political than Christian....and answer the question that the mainstream media has been scratching its head on for four years now....'How can evangelicals support someone like Donald Trump?

I mentioned above that I just read Donald Trump Jr.'s book Triggered...How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us. I don't have any ill-feelings for Don Jr. primarily because I feel sorry for him that Donald Sr. is his father. As for the book....it was like reading the transcript of Donald Jr. on a conservative talk radio show....where for almost three years now.....having abandoned honest investigative conversation....these talk show hosts spend three hours a day on non-stop spin in favor of the President....totally ignoring and obscuring everything else. Don Jr. did the same thing in his book which as I said.....did not read as a book.....but as a transcript.

"I Shall Not Seek....And I Will Not Accept...."

"Thus says the LORD, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind. and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD......Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD....and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream....and will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought....nor cease to yield fruit'." (from Jeremiah 17)

Voted For Him....Celebrated....Fool Me Once....Not Twice

Pastors....will you wake up yet....you like to tell everyone how you trust God....why then don't you also trust His warnings.....if you even bother to consider them? So many of you....Franklin Graham as an example....defend Donald Trump....instead of God's half century plus of warnings to us as a nation....his own father's warnings to us. Are we as this president says...."one glorious nation under God"....well are we....please answer that....an America whose "best days are ahead of us"....that is going to keep on...."winning winning winning".....that's what he says at every rally....to people in your congregation....who you are responsible for? Would you please at least consider that these may be the ravings of a false prophet....and that you may have been taken in? This as a profane man....and an arrogant man....who lies as naturally as he breathes. Oh but you say....he is a Jehu....a Cyrus to Israel? That's your excuse for overlooking who he is. Look around....he has no loyalty to anyone. You have the responsibility of these souls in your congregation....and are failing miserably in preparing them for that which God has explicitly warned us. Fall on your knees as you may have at one time....and pay attention to what God warned us of....and not Rush Limbaugh and his..."talent on loan from...GAWD"

Note on the above: I posted on a President Trump rally in Phoenix back in August of 2017 where the rock n' roll songs stopped long enough for Franklin Graham to give a prayer....and it was a wonderful prayer of humility from a fallen people....something his father might have given....something a pastor might have uttered during our Civil War. The auditorium was silent as Graham walked off. VP Pence took the microphone and straightaway the auditorium was shaking to the chants of...USA...USA...USA! Franklin Graham should have known then and there that Donald Trump had taken our eyes off of Christ.

CONSERVATIVE DENVER RADIO HOST FIRED MIDSHOW AFTER CRITICIZING TRUMP....
This is one of the lead stories on Drudge right now....Saturday evening....and it is endemic of what conservatives are faced with....who voted for Donald Trump but have not given up their principles or their issues. The fired host is quoted in...."I cannot and will not toe strict Trump party line." Talk radio right now....the national hosts....have been bewitched along with many others by the mesmerizing power of Trump....thus they bombard their audience.....three solid hours on every show....with an obscurantist view of who Donald Trump is and what he has done. This is one reason why these impeachment hearings must detail for the American public the findings of the Mueller Report....and the testimonies of those who know Donald Trump....and that there is a problem here....for we conservatives are not going to read any critical analysis on President Trump....for we are told that this is all fake news....and we are not going to get this information on talk radio.

THE ATLANTIC magazine seems to do it best so they should be the ones to do an in-depth investigation of conservative talk radio. An example of how conservatives are manipulated would be the Louisiana election of Saturday. Last week it was all the rage....then the Trump supported candidate loses....and it's as if the issue fell off the face of the earth. These hosts cannot talk about anything that might reflect badly on President Trump. These same hosts also are fond of using the phrase..."their beloved audience"...."the smartest audience on radio"....but that's not how they treat them. For they treat them as deplorables who if they are not kept in line will then think on their own....and that means trouble for the President. We need to know how the callers are chosen....and statistics on what information is brought out....vs. totally ignored....and some research on fill-in hosts who are no longer called upon....and why....and how many times the main radio hosts have been in contact with the White House....and if they are given talking points. Go for it Atlantic!

OK NANCY...WHAT IS IT YOU REAL WANT? Do you want at least a functioning republican form of government again....as opposed to a one-man show....a reckless and narcissistic 'force of nature' who dominates everything? Consider this.....you know what Donald Trump is really like....who he really is....many of us know who he is....but conservatives in general do not know who he is...for the information had all been kept from them. All of the Russia and the Mueller info....and the business history of Donald Trump over his entire adult life....the many nefarious people and deals....and the very serious psychological concerns....all of this and more needs to be put before the American public. The new Trump Party will try....but they would not be able to continue to shield conservatives on who Donald Trump is. If you do that.....as opposed to only going for 67 Senate votes....President Trump will either see the handwriting on the wall and drop out of 2020 or resign or we will get that candidate to beat him in the primaries. Consider taking this tact in telling America...."Sixty-seven Senate votes are very difficult to get.....we may not get them in this party dominating age.....but you the American people....will get the information that was kept from you....and you can make up your mind from there!" If you do not do this we will remain intractable and uninformed....but I have to warn you that if you do bring the whole Donald Trump before the American public....you may wake up this sleeping giant of conservatism....and no longer under the spell of Donald Trump....and seeing ourselves as low as low can be....God may demonstrate His power....for His glory....and for His name....alone!

WAR CRIMES: Simple logic and common sense would demonstrate that there are some cases where a person was falsely accused.....and we should all cheer when a complete pardon was issued....but there are other cases where the war crime is no different than a murderer on the street. Other than news stories....I'm not familiar with the three men involved in President Trump's actions yesterday....but I am very familiar with Donald Trump! I doubt if he has any real concern in this area at all. You may remember Otto Warmbier....at one moment Trump made statements like...."We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime"....but when it more suited his personal needs he said of Kim Jong-un..."He tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word....he felt badly about it. He felt very badly" ....and this from a rally...."He wrote me beautiful letters and we fell in love." This decision was made yesterday because President Trump has had a very bad week in the public eye. It is meant to invigorate his base. He specifically saves decisions like this. There are more.....and they will be made when they are needed.

NIELSEN FOREIGN POLICY: Here's another one just today.....on the Israeli settlements....the decision was described by most news sources as....'a significant shift in foreign policy.' The military pardons were described as 'a significant shift in Pentagon policy.'  The issue isn't the settlements....it's the timing....and how these 'significant shift' decisions are made. Will someone wake Nancy Pelosi up....and Mitch McConnell. This is Nielsen foreign policy out of an NBC survival television show boardroom. Everyone who would speak up in that White House is apparently gone. Mike Pompeo looked straight into the camera and said they were just doing what Ronald Reagan believed. You had better believe that Trump told him to say that. Pompeo and Pence have to be holding their breath every day. Speaker Pelosi needs to call Pompeo into these impeachment hearings....under oath....and ask him for a blow by blow on how these decisions were made. Why? Because we are challenging the fitness of Donald Trump for being President. If it turns out that he just looks for something to pick his approval poll up....that he doesn't genuinely ask questions....or that there are warnings and opposition to these sudden decisions of his that he ignores....and if it becomes apparent that all the people around him are just 'yes-men'....then the Senate would have to confront the reality of a very bad situation.

DONALD TRUMP HAS HAD A DISASTROUS EFFECT UPON EVANGELICALISM AND THE CHURCH: Christians were very well aware of the looming judgment from God due America prior to that fateful June 16, 2015 day when Donald Trump descended that escalator....whose presence in our midst since then has in effect swept all that discernment away with all the humility that we may have had. We have projected all of America's rebellion and waywardness and idolatry upon our political opponents and consider ourselves to stand innocent before God as we defend the perceived champion that He has sent us....who is in reality a false prophet....and a seriously ill megalomaniac....who has turned us into wolves also as we regularly tear apart and devour anyone who happens to oppose him....many of whom are good and decent men and women.
            Woe are we....as we gave up our real heritage as a God-fearing people for a mess of pottage. We consider ourselves patriots but it is no longer America or the Constitution that we seek to defend but our own political biases....for if it was America that we are concerned with we would at the very least politely tell this man to leave....for he is a divider and destroyer such that was not even Bill or Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama. If he is not forced to withdraw from his reelection campaign....or forced to resign....or found guilty in impeachment....then should God even give us five more years there would be four additional years of gut-wrenching torment as Donald Trump would continue to lie to our faces....poke and jab....laughing all the while....because that is the story of his life.
             We have time to replace him on the ticket....what we may not have time for is to clear our heads and humble ourselves before God....not that He would withhold judgment....we have passed that opportunity....as He warned us for upwards of a half century....Barack Obama and Donald Trump both are part of that judgment....but that He might have mercy upon us and be with us in the difficult days ahead. The President tweeted out eighty-some tweets yesterday....that in itself should shake us to the core in that we have even accepted this madness. These tweets and all his other machinations are psychological manipulations meant to keep us begging for more arrogance and more delicious lies that we have come to value more than God's Word.

THESE IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS ARE LEGIT!: Impeachment proceedings against President Trump are legitimate and here's why. Donald Trump has had business dealings of some sort or another with Russians and oligarchs with ties to Soviet and Russian government officials for four decades....those dealings rose to a crescendo with the attempt to build a Trump Tower right in Moscow.....complete with the plan to offer Vladimir Putin a prime penthouse if he had OK'd the deal. So far it could be just business Trump style but the problem arises and reaches at least impeachment inquiry stage when it became obvious that Putin's people wanted Trump to win and tried to help him whenever they could. We had better believe that dossiers on the billionaire American celebrity....from both sides....the KGB and the FBI and CIA....had been developed for decades....for that is standard practice. I remember vividly the WikiLeaks leak and how it was the last nail in Clinton's campaign's coffin. The Mueller Report needs brought out and examined in detail in these hearings. Don't think there is anything there? Then no need to worry. Add to all of this the adventures of General Flynn and Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen....and many others.....and sprinkle Donald Trump's idolatrous love of money and fame and very possible multiple psychological disorders on top of it.....and this inquiry is legit! Donald Trump's relationship with Paul Manafort particularly....and what his personal business history was....needs put before the American people. Obstruction of justice....evident in tweets alone....has to be a key. The Ukraine matter is only a part of this trial. Add to all this how the now President Trump seems to favor Russia's Putin to extraordinary degrees....and now this nonsense with abandoning the Kurds and feting Erdogan in our capitol.....and it would be irresponsible for Republicans not to at least want get to the bottom of it themselves.

DONALD TRUMP IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED! It would be surreal if it were anyone but Donald Trump. It was only weeks ago that this president was threatening Erdogan but today he's a '"big fan" of his. Hundreds are dead in Northern Syria with more killed every day....and to fete him at the White House....on the first day of impeachment hearings....as I said would be surreal....if it were not Donald Trump who is a man with no conscience....a man with no principles....and with a lust for personal glory. What is surreal is our response....or rather our lack of response. Five Republican senators sat in on the meeting.....as President Trump blindsided them and set them up. I've got fifty books under my belt on this man our president with three or four sitting here waiting for their turn. That's why I know who he is whereas conservatives and sadly Christians do not. He hasn't changed one bit over the decades....unless....and this is truly frightening....unless this power of mesmerizing of his is something new....as he speaks audacious lies and bold deceptions in what normally would be easily spotted and rejected....even ridiculed....but we somehow believe them....for in this mesmerizing power he has convinced us that all negative information on him is fake news.  May God have mercy upon us....may He open our eyes....as our blindness towards this man is so evident that only God's direct judgment in the matter can explain how we....particularly Christians....so easily fall for this delusion. To Israel...or Taiwan....or South Korea....or the Ukraine....or anyone....he may indeed be there if you need him....it all depends on how his poll numbers are at the time....or if there are other options available to him....that's not a true ally.....or someone to be trusted.

PLEASE STEP ASIDE IN 2020 FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE COUNTRY!: "With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office-the presidency of this country.....Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president." This was LBJ on March 31, 1968. I was 18 years old and watched this at the counter of a local dairy store which we all hung out. I have a question for the Trump supporter....do you think that Donald Trump is the only one....the only one....that can possibly lead America today as its president....that no one else can possibly do what he can do....and no one else....no one else....could possibly defeat the Democrat socialists? If you say yes I would humbly ask you to mull over that extraordinary proclamation....for you had better be right....or you might wind up with a Mussolini whose supporters thought the same thing. If your answer would be...no....that such a proclamation goes too far...that God determines who will rise and who will fall....then maybe considering the total discord that is always around Donald Trump....that he should bow out of a 2020 election.....to help heal a nation....and he would therefore be able to make decisions in the last year of his term....without worrying about his reelection.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: One by one men of God who gave us God's warnings are going home to Him....Billy Graham and R. C. Sproul close together almost two years ago.....Martyn Lloyd-Jones almost forty years ago....even David Wilkerson....and there are not many left....John MacArthur and Erwin W. Lutzer being two of them. Everything that I have ever read by Erwin Lutzer has had an effect on me.....particularly his writings concerning the occult religion within the Third Reich....not as much in an historical sense....but as to how it still relates to us today.  I implore of you to read his 1995/2012 book Hitler's Cross...How The Cross Was Used To Promote The Nazi Agenda. It has a forward by Ravi Zacharias if that helps. The second book is by John MacArthur. As you may know he is a prolific writer.....and in my opinion this may be his best.....or at least his most needed today....Christ's Call To Reform The Church.

WATERED-DOWN 'GOSPEL'....AT BEST....FLOODS THE CHURCH: Twenty years ago one could walk into one of the many Christian bookstores around....(my wife and I owned one)....and it would be hard not to have a choice of dozens of good Christian books right before your eyes. These stores are almost all gone. Good luck finding a quality Christian book in the Christian Life section of Barnes & Noble. There may be a couple there....buried in amongst Joel Osteen and others....but even I need time and a good eye to spot them. I've had Christians tell me in response to this that anyone could order good Christian literature on the Internet. That's true.....if they know what they want....but how selfish is this....'I can get them.....who cares about anyone else?' The reality is that our supply lines today have been cut. Try to find a preacher who does not preach at best a modern gospel. Try to find a preacher with an unction for souls......who might shed tears.....and cry out to the lost....or even warn the brethren. Try to find a preacher....or even a Christian....who pleads in their prayers....Maranatha....Lord Jesus Come!

Back To President Trump: He has already forced Germany and NATO into questioning our commitment. He is doing the same thing in the Middle East....and now he is causing South Korea and Japan to wonder just how strong of an ally we really are. Donald Trump has absolutely no wisdom whatsoever on foreign policy. My question would be....should I have been a republican in the Congress....is who around him might agree with what he is doing....if anyone....and is there opposition as John Bolton was? This is all about money. OK....how can this president at one moment.....which really is all the time.....tell us how wonderfully great our economy and financial outlook is....the envy of the world....and then at the same time make very risky decisions that would normally only be made when we would be struggling? It's a rhetorical question for I know the answer. He is like Goldfinger in the Bond novel....as he worships the power inherent in making
money.

DID YOU LEAVE CHURCH TODAY FEELING LET DOWN? If you are always down upon leaving church....wondering if that is all there is....or it's as if you just turned Joel Osteen off the television....there are sermons on the Internet from men of the past....and men who preach like men of the past....to feed you until God either provides a pastor or awakens yours. I've posted on this often....but today I would like to recommend more of a conference talk. Just Google....DA CARSON....Two Ways To Live....and see if it stirs something in your memory on how God's Word can be taught.

"....But The Real Cross Of Christ Is Not There...."

The following post is almost six years old.
     
          Th Chapel Library is a ministry that according to its own pamphlets...."Send (s) Christ centered materials from prior centuries worldwide." I'd like to quote the 19th century Anglican preacher J. C. Ryle from some materials that I just received from them:

          "You may know a good deal about Jesus Christ, by a kind of head knowledge. You may know who He was, where he was born, and what He did. You may know His miracles, His sayings, His prophesies, and His ordinances. you may know how He lived, how He suffered, and how He died. But unless you know the power of Christ's cross by experience, unless you know and feel within that the blood shed on that cross has washed away your own particular sins, unless you are willing to confess that your salvation depends entirely on that work that Christ did upon the cross-unless this be the case, Christ will profit you nothing.... you must know His cross and His blood, or else you will die in your sins."

           The Reverend Ryle, who preached at the same time and in the same city as Charles Spurgeon....and in the same truth....and with the same warnings to a modern church....continued:
 
           "As long as you live, beware of a religion in which there is not much of the cross (emphasis his).....there is carved oak and sculptured stone; there is stained glass and brilliant painting; there are solemn services and a constant round of ordinances; but the real cross of Christ is not there. Jesus Christ is not proclaimed in the pulpit. The Lamb of God is not lifted up, and salvation by faith in Him is not freely proclaimed. And hence, all is wrong......Do not be ashamed of the 'old paths' in which men walked who were inspired by the Holy Ghost. Let not the vague talk of modern teachers who speak great swelling words about 'catholicity' and 'the church' disturb your peace and make you loose your hands from the cross."

           Friends...our pulpits....many of them....are filled with men who love Christ but for one reason or another failed in their calling to preach Him and the cross of Calvary. Pray for them....for in doing so you will be praying for us all....in a nation that evidenced by news items every day....is hastening to oblivion. (This comment is six years old....and we are far worse off today.....especially in the new 'make America great again' church....where biblical doctrine and practices are often deep-sixed to build that popular church with dozens of ministries but little discernment on the wolf at the door.

DISPATCHES

YES VIRGINIA, THERE ARE FALSE PROPHETS AND FALSE TEACHERS....here is one....this Tweet from early this morning...."Virginia, (the commonwealth) with all of the massive amount of defense and other work I brought to you, and with everything planned, go out and vote Republican today."......."That 'I' brought you?".......You don't see a problem here? You don't see the arrogance....the delusion of grandeur? When in reality he came in on the coattails of what others had fought for....and constantly exalts himself with greatness. Really....you don't see the problem here?

            It is my opinion that Donald Trump didn't love America back in the 1960s nor does he love it today.  Fifty books on him (seventy today) since he showed his cards in early 2017 on who he really was showed me that....but we think that all these books are fake news don't we? It rings cavernly hollow in my ears when at rallies he will so softly and gently say...."we love our country." A better man would see how nearly half of America literally despises him....and for the betterment of this country that he supposedly so loves.....would at the very least take himself out of the 2020 race. Even LBJ...the biggest back-room brawler of them all did that. That was my hope anyway.d when anyone builds a wall, behold, the plaster it over with whitewash...that he would just let someone else take the helm....that he would retire gracefully with the great personal accomplishment of becoming the 45th President of the United States....but the charade gets worse as time goes on. Imagine for a moment.....free if possible of the fear of a President Warren or any of these candidates....imagine a second term for Trump....he being free then of any commitments to conservatives....this a mbler.....finding fault....arrogantly flettereing people  for the sake of gaining advantage......divisions....worldy  minded....devoid of the Spirit....causing man who demands total loyalty but possesses none? Force yourself to at least consider this....he won't need you at all! This fear of losing Trump....absurd in itself....in place of common sense....is dominating our life and destroying our discernment....this when we have no fear of God....nor of standing before Him in Judgment....nor of His many warnings....and when we are anything but...."looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. " (Titus 2:13)


Folks...I vented a little in this following opening paragraph....and probably here also....and I'll tell you why. I'm on a treadmill at a gym fairly often and can see but not read from a distance....Fox And Friends on the wall TV....or whatever they are called....and I may catch a glimpse in the mornings on vacation.....and all I ever see is a pair of legs in the middle and three laughing faces on top. Sometimes there are three frowns as a horror story might be in the news as it was today in Mexico....then a commercial and three laughing faces again as baby turtles waddle to the surf.....or some such story. We have successfully compartmentalized the news and everything in our lives.....war bad.....Steelers....yea! Church....hallelujah....politics....boo! All this while we apparently haven't the slightest idea what God has been saying to us for fifty plus years.....let alone 2000 years. So that story headline about the three Fox news personalities not understanding how a baseball team going to the White House can be controversial was hard to digest. We have a man in the White House who thinks that he is some kind of God. Do you read his tweets? This is not a normal person. There is trouble here. It doesn't matter what I'm doing on any day....raking leaves....watching a movie....in the car.....visiting with friends....(I think I have three left)....at these times and all times my mind is never far from thankfulness at God's mercy on someone such as I....and on the eternal souls of family and friends....and on a world writhing as in birth pangs....and on the Lord of Glory....along with His powerful angels....mounted and just waiting for the command. This was normal thinking in days long gone by. How can a Christian not see the ever-increasing pain and suffering....and torture....all around this world....and the vacuum of where technology is taking us....a vacuum tailor-made for the horror of the Antichrist....and not cry out...."Maranatha....Lord Jesus Come!"? Are we soldiers for Christ or not? Where is our mind? Or have we become so like the world that we actually like our upper-middle class 'blessings?'

OK....the three people on the Fox morning show....can't tell you their names....I haven't been programmed by cable news yet...they are aghast at the response (according to Fox Internet) to a baseball player.....can't tell you his name.....who wore a red MAGA hat. Let me give them a clue why the fringe on the other side might act like whatever they acted like....as opposed to the fringe on our side who act the same way. They are going to have to come out of their bubble for a minute to hear this. President Trump has poked and jabbed and stirred and incited and ridiculed and lied....and manipulated his supporters as effectually as any cult leader America has ever seen....thousands of times.....constantly.....daily....almost hourly....not to mention bullying and arm-twisting anyone who doesn't bow down to him....all the while showing signs of malignant narcissism....among other psychological disorders....in the almost three years he has been president....and these three folks at Fox can't understand what's going on? Get real.....do they read anything other than their own script? It serves the other side right....the mainstream media....as they gave us totally biased news for decades....outright lied at times into the camera....and now that they can clearly see something for once in their career....that our guy in the White House is a tyrant in the making....with serious problems....and a cult following....and they scream this from the rooftops.....but we don't believe anything that they are screaming.....as we yell...."Fake news!" Yes....it serves them right. It serves us all right as we played at church....'happy hour'....and ignored God's warnings.....the thunder of which alone.....from those ministers who weren't entranced in their own anointing....should have had us looking for a storm on the horizon..


Conservatives....and others....were fighting for conservative judges and business expansion for decades while Donald Trump was pro-choice and pro-open borders and pro-most everything else that we were against. He transitioned....elbowed everyone else out of the way....and now exalts himself as some kind of champion....and we accept that exaltation....and join in!
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A couple of the radio talk show hosts were scornful.....50 American military were removed.....big deal! Syrian King Antiochus IV....(anyone remember him?)....was in the midst of invading Egypt who had appealed to Rome. The Roman Senate sent Gaius Popillius Laeras and about a dozen men with a message for Antiochus IV....stop your invasion and go home. Gaius arrived in Alexandria and met the king....and gave him his orders from Rome. The king hesitated....as he wanted to consult his advisers. Gaius Popillius Laeras took a stick and drew a circle around the Seleucid king in the sand.....and told him to make up his mind before he leaves the circle. Hmm....only a dozen Roman soldiers.....but then again they were soldiers from Rome....He turned to the east....(according to some sources)....and walked out of the circle....to return home.
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            "As I have strongly stated before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I've done before!) They must, with Europe and others, watch over the captured ISIS fighters and families. The U.S. has done far more than anyone could have ever expected, including the capture of 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory, THE USA IS GREAT!" The person who said this is obviously unbalanced....and it is to our shame that we utterly refuse to admit it.
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Donald Trump is judgment on America...on the Republican Party....on conservatives in particular....on me for a lifetime of dalliances with the world....and on evangelicals and good men such as Franklin Graham specifically....as they had taken their eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ as our troubles mounted....and trusted in princes and military might....and are now blinded....following a disreputable charlatan.....who in previous years would not have been given a second thought.
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CBN News is reporting that President Trump has let them know that he will attend this weekend's Values Voter Summit in Washington D. C. as thousands of mostly Christians will gather to hear dozens of speakers. Donald Trump is a genuine....biblical....false prophet....but not one person at this summit will realize this. He had consistently prophesied from the beginning that the best is yet to come for America....(taking full advantage of the evangelical's anointing for him)....whereas God's Word says something different. The man is the very personification of an American media creation meant to mesmerize for a while....and make some money for his creators....but certainly not to come to life like Frankenstein's creation. He is right now trying to shut down an impeachment inquiry....not deal with it....but shut it down....which leaves Richard Nixon's actions in the dust. Most recently....as his impetuous mind spun out of control for an evening and he decided to let Turkey move into northern Syria....and as usually happens at times such as this his supporters read him the riot act....he is now attempting to walk back or possibly undo the problems that he caused....thus the Values Voter Summit....where he will most likely be blindly cheered once again.
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Politico is reporting that Ralph Reed is scheduled to have a book released in 2020 titled...For God And Country...The Christian Case For Trump....but that the original title for it was Render To God And Trump. According to Politico the book will argue that Christians "have a moral obligation to enthusiastically back Trump." First we had the Billy Graham evangelical....which degenerated into  the Ralph Reed evangelical....and now has hit rock-bottom with the President Trump evangelical where being 'born again' has been upstaged by 'making America great again.' The new title is bad enough but the original would have laid the problem out clearer.
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Here's a question that republicans should ponder at least once: Everyone now acknowledges that Donald Trump lies. It took a year but I've heard even Rush and Sean and Mark admit it.....although they all had some kind of excuse for it. President Trump's lying.....literally thousands of times over a few short years....is now legend. The question for republicans who after initially being embarrassed by it...but now just chuckle over his lying....is this....hey....if he lies to everyone else....all the time....with a straight face.....what's makes you think that he's not lying to you also....Rush and Sean and Mark.....because he is....it's not a strategy.....it's an illness!
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It was President Trump's finest moment. He had sent a three-carrier strike group flotilla to the waters around Korea.....this in late 2017. As bad and dangerous that the situation revolving around North Korea had been....if there was ever to be moment to stop the nuclear buildup of Kim Jong-un....this was it. I posted one of my concerns at the time and it was the potential of Kim building a submarine capable of carrying and launching nuclear missiles....for if that was to be the case then he could theoretically park one right off of our shore. Well in August of this year it was reported that it appeared that Kim was building that submarine.....and even preparing to test a ballistic missile that could be launched from it. A few days ago he launched again....from the land....and it appears that it may be that submarine capable missile. The situation with North Korea is much changed since 2017. Kim Jong-un has made a lot of progress....and probably a lot of changes....as well as China. Our military build-up can happen again but it would be much more difficult now.
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The American economy had been hamstrung by prohibitive business regulations and taxes. Conservatives had been fighting these issues for decades.....and there were a number of candidates in the 2016 primaries who were going to do something about it if elected....yet Donald Trump acts as if these were his ideas. He takes credit almost every day for something he was but a part of....but there is something even worse than that....we believe him. The same situation exists with conservative judges...we would have had every one of them with the other conservative candidates.
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The Ukraine is in a life-and-death struggle with Vladimir Putin. They naturally look to the United States for military assistance....but President Trump had more important things on his mind if they were to get that assistance....he needed a political opponent to be smeared. This is not dissimilar to his words over NATO where it was asked of him...on a few occasions....if the U. S. would defend NATO if push came to shove with Putin. In one of his rallies the President related how a president of one of the NATO countries called him and asked...."Would you leave us if we don't pay our bills?".....his answer....."So I said, 'Yes, I will leave you if you don't pay your bills." A couple of things about this.....first....the gist of the conversation probably happened but one always has to keep in mind that nothing that President Trump says....ever....ever....is to be believed without outside verification! Second...he made a statement concerning America using the first person....he does this all the time.....as if there are no other branches of government....yet on our side we continue to ignore the plethora of evidence that there is an extreme problem here. Third....this demonstrates that Donald Trump has no real passions on issues such as totalitarianism....for he wouldn’t extol the praises of Putin and Xi Jinping and ‘fall in love’ with Kim Jong-in if this were not the case. We should keep this in mind on the Middle-East and Venezuela and all the other conflicts where noble ideas are piously expressed by President Trump....which are mere words from speechwriters....for in his world it’s money that brings more power....and power that makes more money.
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It is literally gut-wrenching for many Americans to every day watch President Trump's actions....listen to his words....and see first-hand how he manipulates everyone under him....yet his stronger supporters revel in what others weep over. If Donald Trump really cared anything for America he would admit that for this reason alone he should quit seeking a second term....but malignant pathological narcissism gives no quarter to foes and friends alike.
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It's a sad article to read....The Atlantic's.....Unfit For Office....by George Conway....(Kellyanne's husband.) Conway repeats issues that not only I had posted on for a long time but that many others....professionals and non-professionals....had observed and also written on....this because these mental issues concerning President Trump are so obvious that any observer should be able to spot them easily. The article is sad....to me anyway....because at 30 pages long....it misses almost nothing in the problems that we face with Donald Trump's presidency. When read in such a barrage format it should have a sobering effect well beyond political biases. You can read it easily by Googling the title.
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Update: It had been my hope that President Trump would eventually see that he is literally tearing the country apart....that the universe does not revolve around him....that he would as did LBJ in 1968 announce that he would not seek reelection....and that he would retire with the great achievement of becoming the 45th President of the United State....but that's not him....he desires some form of deity....and it now appears that he needs to resign.
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This is serious stuff folks....it's not the typical 'we've got to win back the House' type of stuff. You cannot let yourself be swayed by the optics of the Trump rally crowd....any leader of a large cult can draw people from any major city....and any one of a number of popular but false teachers in the church today could fill up Pittsburgh's biggest arena. Trump immediately responded to criticism of his abandonment of the Kurds with the Tweets below which are absurd as to almost being unbelievable that an adult made them! Consider thoughtfully these tweets folks! There is still time....Lord willing that is....to get another candidate to face the socialists. Update: The President's behavior and tweets are becoming increasingly erratic. Surely Republicans are noticing this..

@realDonaldTrump....two hours ago...."This is a great day for civilization. I am proud of the  United States for sticking by me in following a necessary but somewhat unconventional path. People have been trying to make this "Deal" for many years. Millions of lives will be saved. Congratulations to ALL!"

@realDonaldTrump....Two hours ago...."This deal could NEVER have been made 3 days ago. There needed to be some "tough" love in order to get it done. Great for everybody. Proud of all!"

@realDonaldTrump....Three hours ago.."Great News out of Turkey. News Conference shortly with @vp and @SecPompeo. Thank you to @RTErdogan. Millions of lives will be saved."

Brothers and sisters in Christ....we need to go to 24/7 prayer....not the typical prayer that we hear for President Trump’s political opponents to fail....but that God might give us sight to see through this man....and to view our own culpability in this collapsing nation.
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The President this past June said that we were 'cocked and loaded' after Iran shot down our drone....but he wanted to know how many would die if we responded. He was told 150 so he used that and moved on. I wonder if he asked how many Kurds would die if he opened the way for a Turkish invasion of Syria? Of course he didn't. This man has no conscience.

 Something to consider....it might surprise you.....and you probably won't like it: It's probably his greatest campaign boasts.....jobs and unemployment statistics. 'How can you argue with good 'people' statistics like that? This is why we have to keep President Trump!' Well I'll give you two reasons but there would be more. I think that I watched about seven seconds of the Mississippi rally last night.....enough to hear Donald Trump brag about all the stifling business regulations that he got rid of. Folks.....we have been fighting for this for decades....while Donald Trump was pro-choice and pro-open borders and flirting with Miss Universe contestants....and horsing around with Vince McMahon....and building his genius reputation with The Apprentice....and who knows what else. He elbowed his way in and now claims this was all his idea. It wasn't! The same goes with all the originalist judges he brought in. But secondly and more importantly.....the jobs statistics make it look like life in America is much better....and that's what we are supposed to be so thankful to him for....but what he indeed has done on his own....is turned our country into a war zone....with people hating each other....and threatening civil war. He has been a divider his whole life....and he devilishly enjoys it.....fifty books on Donald Trump showed me this very clearly. He is a troubled individual.....a manipulator and a con man's con man who certainly cannot be trusted. So those jobs statistics have to be weighed against the turmoil that his personality and lack of character generates. One last thing....he has essentially destroyed any effect that evangelicals may have had on our society. He gathers 'ministers' around him in the Oval Office....mostly charismatics and megachurch pastors and presidents of Christian politically social activist organizations.....their heads bowed and hands extended.....while he stands in the middle....with fake humility....thinking that he's pulled one off on God.

  Former Fox News on-air personality Tobin Smith has a new book out titled Foxocracy...Inside the Network's Playbook of Tribal Warfare....in which he gives an insider account on how Fox cable regularly manipulates or programs listeners.....basically forming their opinions for them or at least pushing those opinions to an extreme. I may read the book later but would fully realize that all of cable television media at least attempts to do the same thing....but it sparked my thinking on the subject....for as I've mentioned numerous times in these posts....I have never had the cable news networks in our home....no idea who Tobin Smith is....never saw Bill O'Reilly on television.....or rarely.....on vacation maybe....saw Hannity or any of the other evening hosts.....and I also rarely saw the now famous morning group of three Fox news personalities.....no Napolitano....no Judge Jeanine....(is that her name)....no one!
            I've also posted extensively on how I have been a radio talk show listener since the 1960s! I had two decades in before Rush Limbaugh began....although he was just down the road spinning 45s at an am Pittsburgh pop music station. So theoretically....talk radio may have shaped my thinking....but cable news didn't....and that may be part of the reason why....please excuse my choice of words.....I'm not a robot for President Trump? I haven't been programmed! I have to note this....talk radio has fundamentally changed over the past three years. Long gone are the decades of genuine debate where you didn't know who will call in next. There is no longer genuine conversation anymore....no give and take....as today it is just programs the mind of the listener.
           We are a people of the image today....as opposed to a people of the written word. Our son was less than a year old when I noticed his incessant staring at the pixels in the television so I put the TV in the basement for the next nine years. As you may know....I read....at least a couple of books a week....52 weeks a year. There is hardly a day when God's Word is not opened up. How can anyone who believes that the Bible is God's direct word to us.....not take it and read.....even devour....on a regular basis? We are not taught classic literature as we once were and therefore our conversation and our thoughts suffer. We also....as a Grove City College professor theorized his book Why Johnnie Can't Preach....no longer sit down with paper and pen and write a letter....wherein we were forced to think before we put the words down on paper. I'm concerned about this as it affects these posts as I type fast but always have to go back and rewrite or reform my thoughts.
           Another influence on the formation of my own opinion stemmed from this weak age of preaching that we have today. In order to compensate I listen to at least three....sometimes four and five sermons a weak....through the Internet....from men who preach like men of the past.
           I don't think that it is possible to listen to sermons by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and O. Palmer Robertson and D. A. Carson and Michael Horton and R. C. Sproul and Iain Murray.....just to name a few....(I'll be finding another sermon in a few minutes as I head to the gym)....and not see very clearly how we have devolved in preaching the cross of Christ. Thus these posts....these warnings. I've recommended....more than recommended.....challenged....even more than challenged....warned the average pastor of today to take advantage of this resource....or they may not fulfill their responsibility to feed the sheep....these sheep who today are malnourished to such a degree that they wander everywhere for food that is more often than not poison....filling arenas and megachurches to listen to a prosperity gospel....and falling head-first in love with a genuine false prophet in Donald Trump and his 'travelling salvation show.'

Rush Limbaugh this afternoon is essentially indicting the entire intelligence community. Reason? They don't think that Donald Trump knows what he is doing....Donald Trump who didn't want to go to daily intelligence briefings because he said that he knew more than all the generals.....Donald Trump and his failed reality television summits with Kim Jong-un.....(they fell in love).....Donald Trump who seems to favor Vladimir Putin over NATO....Donald Trump who took everyone by surprise by turning on the Kurds....greatly increasing the risk of war.....after a phone call with Erdogan....Donald Trump who has Jared Kushner out there solving the world's problems.....Donald Trump who uses the Justice Department to purge his political opponents....Donald Trump....who his own people wouldn't let him testify in person because he can't help but lie...now who could have a problem with all that? It's obvious! Deep Staters and Never-Trumpers!

President Trump's chief defenders....talk radio hosts....tell us constantly that what we see in Donald Trump is a fighter....he's fighting for us....and that's why so many people don't like him....couldn't be further from the truth. He is despised not because of his policies....he's despised because of who he is. He certainly didn't fight for a wall for the first two years....and he surrendered right away on repealing and replacing healthcare. They are celebrating today our formally leaving the Paris Accords but he had to be dragged to the table a while back when Ivanka had his ear and there was still a chance he would cave....but that was an issue that couldn't be avoided. You can't really say he surrendered on the national debt because he never really cared about that anyway. What this is....is that he has made so many horrendous mistakes in abusing the power of his office that his back is to the wall. He's not fighting for us....he's fighting for himself.