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No Possible Scenario.....There is no possible scenario.....even a very good one....that would excuse Donald Trump on how he has acted on the conronavirus emergency. He attacked good people doing the very best they can under extraordinarily difficult conditions. He set a precedent....in politics....to attack science or anything else...if it does not conform to whoseover's demands. God gave man common sense that says to take precautions.....and he ridiculed that common sense....in an attempt....to get reelected! Have you ever heard him even once asking how someone else might be doing? Did he say one thing about Chris Christie when he was in intensive care? You wouldn't even know that he has a young son if the media didn't tell us.
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It's difficult to put politics aside on issues like this but it can be done. The White House announced today that Sudan will normalize relations with Israel.....making it the third Arab nation to do so.....with others expected. The Trump supporter will not consider this at all....for they do not know what this man is capable of....but readers here might. Israel just announced yesterday that the sale of F-35s to the UAE by the US will be approved. As for Sudan.....their name is taken off of the terrorist list. They in turn put $335 million in an escrow account to pay claims on past terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda. Presdient Trump today asked Benjamin Netanyahu if he thought that Joe Biden could have made such a deal. This is two weeks previous to the election. Netanyahu....who also is in trouble in his country....said that this was a new era of peace. You would think that common sense would demand that all these deals be scrutinized greatly before approved because of the obvious attempt to win an election.....but the power of this man in office is an ongoing onslaught. No one here wants to argue against anything that might promote peace....but a hasty political bought peace can be more dangerous that no peace initiatives. Also today....as a result of this arrangement....Hamas and Fatah agreed to work to unify and end their differences. What we need here is congressional under oath behind closed-doors testimony on every conversation....any fine print that might not be revealaed until later....who was involved in those conversations....and if any pressures were applied to get people on board. For now we need opinions from those in the intelligence community....and others whose life work is in this area....in detail.....and we will probably get them.....but possibly not in the next two weeks.
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Donald Trump's relentless attacks on the family of Joe Biden is beyond hypocrisy and a case study in someone totally devoid of a conscience. I don't think that there can be any other explanation. The Trump history goes way back to the Gold Rush. For a man of Donald Trump's screw tightening-rule bending-contractor stiffing-discriminatory business history.....and happily selling million dollar tower suites to newly made oligarchs....no questions asked....laundering their money for them....money at times with blood on it...and his own Ukraine deal....shows that some major piece of a healthy mind is missing. We on our side are not aware of this Donald Trump because talk radio has long ago purged all that information....thus showing that in us also some major piece of a healthy mind is missing.
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Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson is and will always be one of my heroes in life and the Christian faith. Before the war....while a deacon in his Presbyterian church.....his main passion was for starting and growing a Sunday School for the Black people of Lexington, Virginia. He took insults for his efforts....and threats....but he kept this passion until his death. James L. Robertson Jr. relates this in his book Stonewall Jackson, the Man, the Soldier, the Legend....that Jackson was defending his efforts in front of the courthouse against the arguments of a couple prominent members of Lexington society....and shortly after this argument Jackson showed up at the office of one of the men and said...."Mr. Davidson, I am afraid I wounded your feelings this evening. I have called to apologize to you." Upon which Mr. Davidson told him that he himself was in the process of writing an apology to Jackson. Jackson then said.....and this is why I bring this anecdote up...."Mr. Davidson, these are the things that bring men together and make them know each other better." We need to be able to converse in order to know each other better.....and now more than ever....but speaking of those on what we call the Right....of which I have taken residence for decades....our minds have been filled to overflow by talk radio and cable shows....(led by a man who thrives on rage)....with what we consider patriotic ferocity....even a righteous savagery. The other side is no better. Will the conversation....difficult as it may be....ever return?
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Cold War to Hot War?.......The United States is ratcheting up the pressure on China as the US and India just signed a defense agreement. The man who talks all the time about "endless foreign wars".....brought the cold war back with China through its tariff excursions....and now is exacerbating the possibility of hot war by heightening China's problems with India. It used to be that with all the issues we faced with countries that we were at odds with.....that the primary goal was to avoid war. Yes you make tough decisions....you keep the heat on....you prepare for the worst....but always with an eye on the potential calamity of major war....certainly never facilitaiting it's arrival. Today it seems that we cannot see two steps ahead of us. We have military power....and it is being increased....but we have little wisdom.....and that little bit may be deminishing.
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The Latest Story On Trump's Financial Dealings....So Trump built a tower in Chicago and got most of the money from a German bank.....then could not pay it back on schedule. The bank applied pressure....Trump sued....the bank sued back....and a deal was made behind closed doors. We know now that a large some of money....$270 million....was 'forgiven'.....in other words Trump didn't have to pay....and that money would normally be taxed.....but Trump was losing so bad that through tax loopholes he didn't have to pay that. The president said today....."I was able to make an appropriately great deal with the numerous lenders on a large and very beautiful tower. Doesn't that make me a smart guy rather than a bad guy?" Yes...it does make him a 'smart guy' in way.....a Balaam sort of way...."who loved gain from wrongdoing." (2 Peter 2:15)
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Here's a thought.....old-time Democrats....Zell Miller types....Never-Trumpers who utterly refuse to be a follower of Donald Trump....because they know exactly who he is.....Tea Party people who were never fooled.....and that remnant of evangelicals who know what a false prophet is....form a new party if it turns out to absolutely be needed.....and for a temporary name....how about The Refugee Party?
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Brothers and sisters in Christ....how do you square the following with what you know to be true....with what Jesus so vehemently warned us of in Mark 13:37 of the KJV...."And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch"....or as in the ESV...."Stay awake"....or in the NASB...."Be on the alert!" In case you missed it in his nomination acceptance speech....the President said this...."Our opponents....see a wicked nation that must be punished for their sins." Do you realize what he said here....we're not a wicked nation....and there is no punishment coming! He said in that speech that Joe Biden was no savior....and that redemption does not come from them (Democrats)....and that they look to career politicians for salvation. Why would he use these words? I don't believe that Stephen Miller chose these words....for after researching his life I believe that he himself chose them....because this is his mind....the mind of a genuine biblical false prophet. So I ask again....how do you square this? How does Franklin Graham square this after his own father warned us for over half a century....or John MacArthur after he himself so strongly warned us of false prophets? Maybe they did not hear this part of the speech....a very legitimate excuse....but there is no excuse for not knowing how this president has consistently drummed into the minds of the church....of whom they are shepherds.....that our best is yet ahead.....that we are going to keep on winning....rich and strong and proud and safe!
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A quick story first....that I heard from a J. C. Ryle sermon....Bernard Gilpin was his name....Cranmer, Ridley and Latimore had already gone to the gallows....and Gilpin was summoned by Bloody Mary....friends said their goodbyes but Gilpin was known for his oft repeated words..."It is all in God's everlasting covenant....and must be for good." He departed.....but on the way his horse stumbled....Gilpin's leg was broken....and it took weeks to heal before he could travel....Queen Mary died during that time....and the persecutions came to an end. God alone puts leaders in charge....and removes them. If the election were today Biden would easily win....but his horse may yet stumble. These men are unaware of it but are competing to see who will lead America as God's judgments increase. Normally one would expect Trump to be the only choice....but his word is absolutely worthless.....and his mind may not be adled as Biden's appears at times....but it is beset with severe personality disorders that threaten everything that he blithly and frivolously claims to love....such are the judgments God has seen fit to bring to us. A winnowing of the church is coming.....lamps with oil and lamps without oil.....while seven letters have been sent to us.....which we may read.....if we should find some free time on our hands.
Note: That sermon by J. C. Ryle was titled Without Clouds and is wonderful. It can easily be Googled.
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Apparently the New York Times ran an article on how talk radio is "turning millions of Americans into conservatives." I didn't get to read the full article but Rush ranted on it a little today on his show as he was upset that they estimated that only 15 million listen in daily to his show....instead of 20 million. I have been a radio talk show listener for over a half century. I could name a dozen Pittsburgh talk show hosts that have come and gone in that period. For twenty years or more conservative talk radio was a sure and steady source of information to all conservatives. Rush Limbaugh was simply invaluable. Beck was a help....and Hannity was tireless in his efforts....and Levin wrote some of the best books that we had available to us....but Donald John Trump destroyed all of that....as talk radio no longer informs.....it indoctrinates. Some of the facts it gives are surely true....but most of the truth is not there! It no longer addresses the intellect but rather the emotions. The victory was ours in 2016....but inexplicably we then rolled over and have been slaves to the president's lies and pressure tactics and manipulations ever since.
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An Anomaly....as the article on the Drudge Report called it. John Tyler....the 10th president of the United States.....was born in 1790. He had a son....Lyon Gardiner Tyler who was born in 1853.....who had a son .....Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. who was born in 1925....and who died only a few weeks ago.....leaving a brother....Harrison Ruffin Tyler.....who was born in 1928! So the 10th President of the United States....who was born in 1790....has a grandson who is still living.
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Are you suffering today....either physically or spiritually or mentally? Please consider listening to a Light Of The World conference message by Michael Reeves from 2019 titled Take Up Your Cross. It's a wonderful message....and you will be blessed!
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Someone recently asked me....why read 75 books (80 now) on Trump? Well ask any biographer why they would read so many books on their subject? Ask any Christian...why read hundreds of books over a lifetime on their faith....why read and meditate every every blessed book of the Bible dozens upon dozens of times? The more that I read on Donald Trump....the more that I felt I had to warn.....thus this prayer.
"Lord....protect us from the power this man has over our minds....if it be Thy will....and to Thy glory....for he is ravaging Thy church. If it not be Thy will to open everyone's eyes....then winnow Lord....that Thy children might be as one....that we might look only to Thee for strength....call only upon thy name....and seek only thy face.
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Note: I encourage you to take 30 minutes and watch a wonderful video on a man who spent years in jail....not for preaching in itself....but for forsaking the proper way of church services....in the proper venue....allowed by the laws of the king. Just Google....'John Bunyan, The Preacher, YouTube. John MacArthur is at the heart of the issue of holding church services when the state prohibits it. I disagree with him here. This is but one issue....and I could not recommend to you more....his ministry....(gty.org).... and particularly a book of his titled....Christ's Call To Reform The Church. Please order this book...for you won't find it on the shelves of the typical bookstore. (listed right now as only $9.49 on Amazon)
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I can't help things like this. I just finished mowing the lawn and heard the most wonderful message from Scottish theologian and professor Michael Reeves....titled All Things New....The Return of Christ....and have to recommend that you listen to it!
