FLASH ALERT....Just in....students and everyone.....John Piper has a message out on his ministry website....desiringgod.org....that you must listen to. Just go to the website and click on....Divine Judgment and Mercy. This message was preached in 1982! Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Well it was a bittersweet day....bitter in that the topic of the one-day conference on a Christian college campus was....Confronting Antisemitism....but in a way it was a highlight of my life.
I'm going to bring back various posts on Israel from after the October 7 Sukkot Invasion attack....as it was described in the conference. It was still the 6th of October here....the last day of Sukkot....when the attacks started in the early morning hours in Israel
Former Vice President Mike Pence was the main speaker. We arrived in the auditorium a little bit early....with reserved but unnumbered seating. The usher led us down to the first row. I don't think that I have even been in the first row for anything before....other than in church. We had about a forty-five minute wait until the college president and Mike Pence took the stage. At one point I said to my wife that this is where someone comes down to us....apologizing for mistakingly seating us in the first row....and then leading us to the last row.
So it was an hour of sitting about eight feet from the former Vice President. Close enough to see any blemishes on his skin that don't show up on television. Note....there were none. This man is truly a wonderful blessing on America....and has been since he entered government. His Christian integrity is abounding. His wisdom is obvious....and his faithfulness to God and to his country is evident for any honest enough to realize it.
His talk was moving....mostly about what he experienced as he was in Israel shortly after the attacks....talking to Israelis who lived in that area close to the Gaza border. I'll give you just one of the many anecdotes. The Israelis that live in the attack zone....were known for trying to make peace with the people on the other side of the border. They even built a park area for both peoples to enjoy family times. These were the people that Hamas focused their horrors.
Michael Medved....I had heard him speak before....gave a very informative talk while we all ate lunch....the title of the talk....America And The Abrahamic Advantage. I'm sorry that we had to miss the session with Naomi Schaefer Riley....the title of it....Campus Extremism: The Rise And Consequence Of Antisemitism in Higher Education....I heard that it was wonderful....for I remember how profoundly insightful was her 2011 book....that I read hot of the press....The Faculty Lounges: And Other Reasons Why You Won't Get The College Education You Paid For. The book focused on tenure as the main culprit in the liberal faculties of most of today's colleges and universities. The college where she spoke today is one of the few where there is no tenure.....and in my mind....for decades now.....our son and daughter-in-law graduated from there....is a small Harvard....(or what Harvard once was)....in both academics and beauty.
Vice President Pence....(is it wrong to still use that title in respect)....did his very best to stir us up in remembrance of what we were in America....(he may have used the present tense of the verb....are)....and in our obligatory defense of that nation ally.....and as it relates to a people that God has not forgotten.
He spoke calmly and confidently about his Christian faith....emphasizing one verse....it just happened to be the verse that he and his wife had devotions over early this very morning....(Michael Medved used the same biblical verse)....Genesis 12:3....(speaking of Israel)...."I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." (This is the NKJV....I did not pay attention to the translation he used)
Note: My original plan was to bring back all of my posts since October 7 of last year....but there were too many.....so I chose a few.....one of which is from September....before the attacks.
