Idolatry or the true God

     One of the biggest problems of the ancient world was idol worship. The Babylonians, the Egyptians, and even Abraham's family in Syria worshipped images made of stone. The children of Israel went to Sinai after coming out of Egypt, saw Moses disappear into a cloud for forty days, and the first thing they did was ask Aaron to make a bull god. So, Aaron got golden jewelry from Israel and hammered it into a bull like the Egyptian god apis that they worshipped in Memphis. The children of Israel learned about this god by being slaves in Egypt and had to work in Memphis, where the idol was, to get stubble for buildings. When Aaron made the calf, the children of Israel ate, drank, and rose up to play. When Moses returned with the ten commandments written in stone by the true God: Yahweh. Moses was so furious that he tossed the tablets, destroyed the golden bull to dust, and put the dust in the river to make Israel drink it. Not only that, the idol worshippers were also killed to atone for their idolatry.

    Now, you may think that we humans would learn after 3500 years of history, but idolatry is still practiced today. Before I was converted to the truth, I used to play games like warcraft, diablo, starcraft, and massive role-playing games. There were images of idols and child sacrifice and violence, and we just get numb to it. But, in ancient times, war was common. Sacrificing your children was common. In one battle, the king of Moab sacrificed his male heir to his deity while losing a battle against the children of Israel, Judah, and Edom. The scripture says that the Moabites were indignant toward Israel. Baal worship was common back than too. Ahab was king of Israel who did it, and his wife Jezebel sacrificed Nabat just to get his land for the king. In baal worship, murder was a way to worship the deity. than there's molech that uses child sacrifice to please the dead idol. This practice the true God hates. Do we think we are any better today than the people were 2700 years ago?

    I must tell you, O reader, and I am being very open and honest about this. Before I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in 2012, I thought I was going to be sacrificed. my car broke down with three pistons breaking and the time belt not working. i almost got ran over by cars. I felt my spirit being drained by spirits. i told people the truth, and no one believed me, and some even encouraged my breaking. It got so bad that I ran away from my aunt and uncle's house in Lexington to go to Winchester on a car that was fixed. My heavenly Father intervened through an elder at my church to help me pay to fix the car cause I had no money and barely a job. I thought the enemy was going to murder me, but it didn't happen, and God spared me by diagnosing me with schizophrenia. It was a blessing in disguise. I am no prophet, but a man with a gift, but I had to go through some dark times to help me realize the truth.. If I wasn't diagnosed, i would have made myself to be an idol and a false prophet, but I have repented of my own image. I now see myself as just a man with a gift of schizophrenia--nothing more.

    People today devote their lives to anime and witchcraft and idolatry and video games that encourage violence, and think it's ok. It's just innocent fun, right? Paul says that people sacrifice to demons, and demons influence people to do evil like murder. You may not physically murder someone, but you may use your words to murder someone's spirit. Jesus warned that saying you fool in anger can endanger you of hellfire. We are still in danger of hellfire when we have abortions or have human sacrifice or do homosexual or sodomite acts. the wages of sin is death, but God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God desires us to repent. One king of Judah knew God's grace more than anyone, and his name was Manasseh. This king was so wicked that innocent blood ran in abundance cause he worshipped idols. He was taken captive to Assyria by their king and tossed into prison. While in prison, he humbled himself so deeply that he prayed to the true God and was answered with grace. Manasseh repented of his abominations and led his people to the true God of Israel. There is still hope for any sinner.

    God desires not anyone to perish: that was what Jesus said. God desires truth in the inward parts, and He desires us to live and not die. Jesus came so we could have an abundant life, and He said to Nicodemus that God so loved the world, that He gave his only Begotten Son. So that none may perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus died, so we all could live for him: to keep His commandments and serve Him who desires us to love Him, love ourselves, and love our neighbor. Paul says that love does no harm to a neighbor, and Jesus says that if you love Him, keep His commandments. Two commandments are to have no other gods, and don't create idols--even in your heart. God doesn't desire us to sacrifice ourselves or any of our children or family members for Him cause Jesus died for us, and rose from the grave. I much rather serve the living God as a living sacrifice than a dead idol that foolishly requires death.

Satisfying the Soul

     We all know that bread can feed the belly when you are hungry, but what feeds the spirit within us? Jesus said that man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Everyone in Christian circles may claim that the bible is the word of God, and yes the bible is God-breathed according to Paul, but what was Jesus really referring too? Jesus before healing the blind man in John's gospel said that the bread He had was to do the work of God: to feed people. People in today's culture with money, sex, power, fame, drugs, alcohol, and anything your heart's desire that you could ever want within our reach, but does it feed the inner man: does that spirit within gets nourished from all these things man desires? Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes to all: no. he had a 1000 wives, servants, gardens, houses, children, wealth, music, and everything the heart could desire, but he said it was all vain. Why? easy: it did not feed the spirit within.

     Victor Frankel wrote a book called Man's search for meaning. In the book, he was talking about his experiences in Auschwitz during World War II. He was a Jew that worked at the camp: he was considered one of the lucky ones. Even though, starving to death, working with pick axes from sunrise to sunset, and being called pigs while walking death marches and being insulted by nazis would be considered lucky--I guess. Victor was marching with his follow Jews to a quarry while all I mentioned was happening to them. In the deepest despair, Victor imagined himself having a lively conversation with his wife--even though she died at the gas chambers, but victor was feeding his spirit with love from his wife. Later, during his long stay at the camp, he imagined himself telling the story of his experiences at the camp and the LORD gave him hope. He did survive the camp and wrote the book mentioned and became a psychologist just as the LORD put it in his imagination to do. Jesus fed victor's spirit to help him survive the darkest time in human history.

    Jesus said that He was the bread of life. It took me a long time to realize that he meant that literally. Jesus knows each and every individual: he knows how to nourish your spirit. How my spirit gets nourished is not how yours gets nourished: every person is unique and what feeds me may not feed you. Jesus knew this when He said He was the bread of life. He knows how to feed you with life: it maybe a song, a story, a sermon, a hobby, a friend or family or spouse. or the ocean or a book or art or whatever is best needed for you--Jesus knows what you need. Seek Him: He never leaves us nor forsakes us, but the hard truth is that everyone needs Jesus, but no one wants Him.

    Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christain denominations? They all claim that Jesus is their God, but Jesus said that only those that do the will of the Father in Heaven will enter the kingdom of God. Jesus also said that if you love Him, keep His commandments. A rich man asked Him how he would inherit eternal life, and Jesus said to keep the commandments quoting some of them. Jesus also said that He did not do away with the law or the prophets, but gave the full meaning to them according to the greek. Jesus was never religious, but always did the father's will. Everyone needs Jesus, but how many want Him? There was a parable about the persistent widow who always went before an unjust judge to avenge her, but he would not for a while. But, cause she was persistent, he avenged her. The unjust judge asked if God would avenge His people who cry day and night to Him, and Jesus said that God would avenge them speedily, but here's the thing. Jesus said: "Would He find faith on the earth?" Again, everyone needs Jesus, but do you want Him?

    I realized for the first time in my life the desire to be fed by Jesus cause He is the only one to satisfy my soul. i started to pray the lord's prayer not cause of vain repetition but because it is what we need each day. Jesus knows me as an individual, so He knows how to feed me. he can do the same for you if you seek Him and humble yourself to let Him feed you with the bread of life.

The Battle of Tippecanoe and a Presidental Curse

     I feel that I must warn people about this year's election. Something that has happened during the war of 1812 has consequences today. During the war of 1812, William harry Harrison was the general that led against the Indian nations led by Tecumseh. One of the famous battles in that war was the battle of Tippecanoe, and there is a ruins park in Illinois where the battle took place. Tippecanoe was the capital of the Indian nations led by Tecumseh. Tecumseh was away fighting Americans on the field of Illinois and Indiana, and left the capital to his brother to defend. His brother was considered the Delaware Prophet of Tippecanoe. Well, in revenge on the Indians for their raids on the white settlements on the frontier, William Harrison and the Americans attacked Tippecanoe and burnt it down to the ground. After this battle, the Delaware Prophet prophesied that a president will die in office every twenty years. Americans won the war of 1812 with a draw against the British, but the Indian nations never rose again after the death of Tecumseh during the war.

    Well, if you believe in curses or not, that is up to you to decide, but I will show you the evidence. William Harrison, who fought the Indians in the war of 1812, became president in the 1840 election. Harrison was famous for being the shortest reigning president in our history; for he died in office not too long after he took the oath of office. His vice president, John Tyler, became president, but only for one term. An accident on a ship cruise changed the course of American history during his presidency. There was an update of the Navy and they were showing off the best frigate ship in the fleet. Well. there were two cannons on the ship, and they demonstrated them for a group of invited guests including the president, some of his cabinet members, and some senators. One of the cannons exploded throwing shparal in the air killing some people including the Secretary of State: Abel P. Upshur. Abel was in charge of the annexation of Texas into the Union, but when he died, John Calhoun replaced him and he alienated the Whigs not bringing anyone together.

    Because John Tyler failed to annex Texas because of the death of his Secretary of State, he didn't run for president in 1844. James Polk became president in 1844 because he was for manifest destiny to the west. He started the Mexican-American War, and expanded the U.S. with the treaty of Guadelupe to end the war. The war added the southwest territory which included Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, but this expansion caused trouble with the slavery issue. The death of Harrison led to a chain of events leading to the civil war with the Nebraska-Kansas compromise, the 1850 compromise, and the fugitive slave act, and eventually the Civil War that gave rise to Abraham Lincoln. Well, he was assassinated toward the end of the war in 1865 about twenty years after the death of Harrison.

    Twenty years later, James Garfield was assassinated in the 1880s, and Abe Lincoln's son Robert witnessed it. Twenty years later, in 1901, William Mckinley was shot, and Lincoln's son was going off a train to meet him when it happened. Twenty years later, Warren G Harding died in office after one of his cabinet members caused an international crisis. Harding was so stressed about it that he died from a heart attack. In 1945, towards the end of World War II, the longest president in our history died in office from a hemorrhage: Franklin Roosevelt. In 1963, John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald about 20 years later from the death of FDR. Ronald Reagan was shot in 1980s, but lived from the attempt, and during George w Bush's term in 2005, Reagan died from dementia. Now is the election of 2024, and already a candidate almost died by assassination: yes, Donald Trump. Both Harris and Trump are endorsed by Kennedys: Robert Kennedy Jr for Trump and John F Kennedy's grandson for Harris.

    I fear the curse of Tippecanoe's prophet will happen again. O Reader, we must return to the true God, so He can turn this curse into a blessing. We must repent of our wickedness, and turn to God. I plead for that, o reader. I plead for our candidates on both sides to follow Jesus who brought all curses on Himself for Paul said: "Curse be anyone that hangs on a tree." Jesus hung on a cross to give us forgiveness for sins and end all curses, and cleanse us from all sin. Choose God, and let all curses be turned to blessings through Jesus.

    

Vice: Gluttoning

     There was a man named Eli who was the high priest and judge of Israel before Samuel and after the judges. He had two sons named Hophni and Phinehas, The two sons took the sacrifices of animals that the Israelites gave to the LORD at Shiloh, and the priests ate anything and everything from the animals. The priests forced people not to cook the meat, but wanted meat raw. They were feeding themselves with what the people gave them for the LORD. According to Leviticus, the priests were suppose to get a certain portion, and it was suppose to be cooked so that there would be no blood to eat. God said to Moses that the blood was the life, so you shouldn't eat it. Eli's sons were getting fat with this food and Eli got fat with them, and this made Israel abhor God's offering. Eli's sons also were having sex with women while as priests: not only were they feeding themselves physically with blood food, but fed themselves spiritually with sex. Eli saw this and did not restrain them--he even did the gluttoning himself because he was fat when he died.

    Why do i tell you this story about gluttoning? You see, o reader, everyone of us is capable of gluttoning by choice, and there are consequences for it. Gluttoning is the overindulgence of eating or drinking or sex or drugs or alcohol or other things that could cause you health problems both spiritually and physically. Doing too much of something is a problem for every part of you. Feeding yourself without feeding others got Eli and his son's harsh punishment with God. In Ezekiel 34, God said woe to the leaders of Israel cause they fed themselves with the people's food and clothed themselves with the people's wool--talking about people as sheep. The leaders never took care of the people: never strengthened the sheep and cared for them by feeding them spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically with meat to eat. What is this meat? It's not just physical food, but love and justice and good stories and knowing God. Micah 6:8 said it best: "He has shown thee, o man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." When people, like Eli, feed themselves, are they really doing good?

    Jesus was accused of being a gluttonous man by the scribes and pharisees. Sure, He fed the 5000 in the wilderness of Tiberias, but a lad gave Him 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and Jesus generously gave to the hungry people by breaking the food into fragments. Jesus told stories about the kingdom of God, and had compassion on the shepherdless people, so He fed them. What were the scribes and pharisees doing? Caiaphas said it best when he said that they needed to kill Jesus, so the Romans wouldn't take away their power and nation, but they lost their power and nation anyways in 70 A.D. The scribes and pharisees fed themselves, and not the people. How gluttonous!

    Eli's sons surely felt the punishment of their glutton behavior because they went to battle with Israel and the ark of the covenant, and Eli's sons died in battle. The ark was taken, and when news went to Eli about the events, Eli fell backwards on his chair, broke his neck, and died. The scribes and pharisees lost their nation when Tidus and an army of romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple as prophesied by Jesus that not one stone should be left upon another. The only thing remaining at the time was a Roman fort. Gluttoning can be tempting, I know. When you are alone, you want to feed yourself. I know the feeling. But, the truth is: God gives us food to feed others. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically, We get fed to feed others. I am working on this vice cause i like to be fed, but it's about taking care of others. It's about feeding others--not just yourself.

Virtue: Merit

     There's a saying that Abraham Lincoln said which goes: "Anyone can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Lincoln empowered so many generals during the American Civil War like Hooper, Burnside, Meade, and Grant. But, Grant had the merit to fight the south to absolute victory. Sure, the other generals had their positions and authority and could gather a great army to defend the north from the south like two times in Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg, but none had the merit to fight till the enemy went to total surrender: Grant did. He did it in Fort Henry, Kentucky, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Tennessee, and Vicksburg, Mississippi to help secure union control over the Mississippi river. Why was Grant's merit worth the notice of President Lincoln? Easy: Grant proved his worth.

    Skip nearly 30 years later in the Spanish-American War in Cuba. Another president named Theodore Roosevelt led ranchers and cowboys known as the rough riders against the Spanish in Cuba, Roosevelt could have been a lieutenant in the army, but he chose to be a second lieutenant because he felt unworthy and wanted to prove his merit. When he was a child, he was an ill child and had to do work outs with hunting, rowing, and boxing to overcome this problem, so it was no surprised he felt unworthy of the army. He felt that way when he became a rancher in the Dakotas because the only experience he had was a politician in New York, so he knew how to talk, but not how to be a cowboy. He wanted to prove himself as a rancher. In the Spanish-
American war, he did lead the rough riders against the weakened Spanish to occupy not one but two hills on the risk of his own life. That charge encouraged the Americans to keep moving forward until Cuba was freed from the Spanish. Because of his merit in the war, Teddy Roosevelt was recognized by his countrymen to be Vice President, and on the death of William Mckinley, he became president. I am not glorifying war, but a virtue in all of us: merit.

    Merit is a choice to prove ourselves: to prove our worth, our dignity, our humanity, our talents, and our gifts. Merit helps us to prove that we are worth something: that our lives have meaning and purpose. Merit helps us to show that we are human capable of great things, of noble deeds, of love, of joy, and other meaningful merits--even though we don't feel worthy of them. One such person whom wanted to prove his merit to Jesus was the Centurian whose servant was sick. He wanted his servant healed, and asked Jesus to heal him. However, he being a gentile didn't feel worthy that Jesus, a Jew, could go under his roof. The Centurian said to give the word, and his servant will be healed. He related to Jesus his merits by saying that he had people over him and under him telling his servants to do something and they did it. Jesus marveled by his faith, and healed his servant with a word. Jesus acknowledged the Centurian's merit.

    Personally, I often consider myself unworthy of a wife because of my family issues, my schizophrenia, my flaws and sins, my sex drive, and my misunderstandings about relationships and marriage cause of the five divorces in my family. All i know is toxicity and dysfunction, but i am working on being worthy of a wife: to provide and protect and lead. I desire to learn about healthy, good relationships and good marriages. I want to feel worthy of being a good husband and father, and that requires merit and character. My character gets tested everyday: sometimes i learn from my failures and sometimes i enjoy my humble successes. Either way I am learning to prove my merit, and you can too, o reader. Perhaps, George Washington will give you a medal for your merit. You never know, o reader, what honor may come.

Jeremiah and America

     While Jeremiah the prophet saw the disasters caused by the sins of Judah and the kings of Judah when they did all sorts of abominations like passing babies through the fire to molech and murdering God's prophets and even defiling God's temple with baal idols in the temple, God gave a prophesy in Jeremiah 30 about a future restoration of a new Israel. In Jeremiah's day, Babylon was fighting to put Judah and everyone that didn't obey God into captivity. Jeremiah saw it and wept: he was considered the weeping prophet. But, God saw the future of Israel to be a blessing and a glory. God referred to Israel as a chaste virgin: a bride. I am not talking about Israel today in the middle east, but all the nations today that are Israel by birthright: the British Commonwealth, America, and the state of Israel. But, for this blog, o reader, I will show you what I learned about America.

    Jeremiah said in the prophesy that Israel would be an outcast, The pilgrims of America's founding were outcasts: they were separatists from the Church of England, The pilgrims wanted to follow the bible, imperfectly, but that was their desire. America was a nation of outcasts, and still is. The pilgrims and all immigrants came to America for religious freedom: Jamestown, Plymouth plantation, Quakers led by William Penn, John Winthrop, and other Separatists. America became Zion, the Christian nation, that gave freedom of religion to all. God brought Zion back home with fear and trampling as Jeremiah said. Jeremiah said that Israel going through travail like a woman giving birth is mentioned in revelation about a woman giving birth to a male child when the dragon tried to kill him but failed. This child was Jesus Christ, and the woman was the church: Zion. The church went into the wilderness to go to a nation that's symbolic of the moon, sun, and 12 stars. This nation was mentioned to Joseph in a dream that he told his father and brothers. That dream was fulfilled in Joseph's firstborn son, Manasseh, whom Jacob blessed to be a great nation: America.

    Jeremiah prophesied about a future return of Israel from his time period in 586 B.C. That happened with the founding of America through Jamestown in 1607 and Plymouth plantation in 1620, but America wasn't a nation until July 4th, 1776. God said that this new nation will be filled with Thanksgiving, and that was started with the first thanksgiving in Plymouth Plantation with the Indians. After a good, fall harvest, Thanksgiving became an American tradition ever since. Presidents like George Washington and Abe Lincoln proclaimed thanksgiving proclamations, and President Franklin Roosevelt officially signed into law the thanksgiving tradition we know today. Governors like John Hancock did thanksgiving proclamations in their states, and the Continental congress during the American Revolution made many pray and fasting proclamations as well as thanksgiving proclamations. American leaders were fulfilling bible prophesy without even knowing it.

    America had a history of merriment throughout her history with her music like hymns from Longfellow and Emerson and Whitman to songs like Yankee doodle, Battle Hymn of the Republic, O Susanna, my old Kentucky home, and others. America had best remembered the history of her heritage through song. The pioneers like Daniel Boone, Johnny Appleseed, and Davey Crockett would sing merrily as they traveled west. Songs like Star Spangle Banner by the Poet Francis Scott Keys or the song America the Beautiful filled America and the world with merriment. President Ronald Reagon knew the author of the American heritage song being God, which fulfilled Jeremiah's prophesy in chapter 30.

    Jeremiah said that this new Israel would increase and not be small. America from her founding had abundance of children: Men would have many children through one wife. When she died, the men would have many more through another wife. Women would teach the children about God through the bible or other American literature. Books like uncle tom's cabin, the scarlet letter, or the last of the Mohicans, and the adventures of huck finn had biblical themes in their books, and the women taught them. Women would teach virtue and morality as well as reading and writing and math. If you look to the original sources, America had the best education system in the world since Plymouth plantation. When America stopped teaching religion and morality and virtue, we endure the consequences. 
But, since our founding, God fulfilled Jeremiah's prophesy by making America the third most populous nation on earth.

    Another thing that America does is that we have a constitutional republic that chooses our leaders from the midst of us in the nation--which fulfills Jeremiah's prophesy written in Jeremiah 30:21. The framers of America at the convention of 1787 argued about making America a Monarchy under George Washington, a democracy like Greece before Alexander the great, or a republic like Rome before Julius Caesar. America has a unique republic of balance between all branches of government as well as between the people and the states, but we still get our governors and nobles from our midst. A lot of the founding fathers like Roger Sherman and George Washington were self-taught, and Abraham Lincoln was a self-taught circuit riding lawyer. The uniqueness of America is that our noblemen and women as well as governors could come from rags to riches. It's part of our American Spirit, and it fulfills Jeremiah's prophesy. Anyone can be great in America, which is a freedom no other nation has.

    I don't know about you, o reader, but God made this nation into who we are as a people. But, we have forgotten our heritage and who we are as a people. We have forgotten the American Spirit of the pioneer. We have lost the song from neglect and walking away from religion and morality. Who are we, America? Do we still have the Spirit of adventure singing the song of merriment with thanksgiving to God? Or, are we miserable, divided strangers in a land of immigrants? Who are we, o America?

Virtue: Patience

     You would think that patience is not a virtue in this instant gratification culture of ours when everything can be granted instantly, and no one has to wait. It is normal not to wait and have everything you wait for here and now. I am no exception to this folly: there are days I ask God to give me a wife here and now, but He doesn't. A lady would come into my life, and I pray she's the one He's chosen, but like David's brothers when God chose someone after His heart, He refused them. This left me with heartache, but I am learning patience; for I believe God has the best for those who wait on Him. What I didn't realize until now, about all the waiting, is that there are benefits to patience.

    I will relate a personal experience that can show you what I mean. A proverb comes to mind about my experience that says: "Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly." (Proverbs 14:29). Recently, I had been promoted to a shift manager at my work, and I had never been tested as a leader before. One day, I was at the cash register when a Mexican man came in wanting to order a pizza, so I tried to communicate with him, while placing his order, by asking him what he wanted. He only wanted a medium pizza with part of a deal we have, but he had to order two items to get the deal. He thought that it was two pizza toppings, and not a separate item like pizza or breadsticks. With my schizophrenia, I had a hard time giving clear communication, so we were misunderstanding each other. I was getting frustrated, but I stopped and took a deep breath and told myself to have patience. Everything cleared up, and the man was satisfied with his order: I displayed slow to anger to help the man like Jesus would have done. I hope, O reader, that this personal experience would show you the benefits of patience.

    A lot of bible people had patience. Abraham was a son of one hundred years and Sarah was a daughter of ninety years when they had Isaac. Joseph's dreams started at seventeen, but didn't happen until he was thirty. Joseph had to prepare with what God had in mind for him while as a slave and in prison before being second-in-command to Pharoah. David was anointed King of Israel when he was a teenager, but he didn't perceive himself to be king until he was thirty and had a lot of trauma and preparation to be king with a heart like God's heart. After Moses fled from his great father, the Pharoah, to go to Midian, he was a shepherd for forty years before God called him from the burning bush to save the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Many people were called for God's purpose, but had to wait before their purpose was realized.

    Jesus was zealous for His Father's work at twelve years of age, but didn't start His earthly ministry until He was thirty in earth years, but He waited from the foundation of the world to be one with man--that's a long time. All the time Jesus was on earth, He was tempted at every turn yet without sin. His patience with the woman caught in adultery was astounding. The Pharisees caught her in the act, and brought her to Jesus with the immediate attempt to stone her, but He waited. Jesus went on the ground and wrote. When He stood up, He said: "he who is perfect throw the first stone.". Then, He patiently went back to the ground to write; all the Pharisees dropped their weapons and walked away leaving the woman and Jesus alone. Jesus told the woman in hopeful patience to go and sin no more. Jesus' patience saved a woman's life, and that's how God is: slow to wrath.

    Paul says in I Corinthians 13 that love is patience and kind, and Jesus showed that to everyone He came in contact with. I don't know about you personally, O reader, but His example of patience is something I desire to imitate--even if it is hard to do so with all the temptations in the world. I hope there is a good reward for waiting patiently on the LORD--come quickly LORD Jesus.

Virtue: Humility

     I want to go on before starting this subject about humility to show you, o reader, my intent for writing about virtues and vices. The purpose is for self-improvement: to war against our vices and strengthen our virtues. I know it's hard to do this, but all character creating takes patience and time as well as desire and effort. There is great reward in doing this, and it is something within your power to do. I want to work on myself personally, so I can be a virtuous man, and have the joy of a virtuous life that God offers man, but it takes hard work to strive for excellence. Now, I will start with humility.

    C.S. Lewis says it best when he said that humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. What he meant is that humility isn't about bringing your self-worth down but lifting other people's self-worth up. Paul said in Philippians that we should esteem others better than ourselves. In the same writing, Paul talked about Christ humbling Himself from being God to being a man: not just any man but a slave. We don't picture the all-powerful, majestic God being a slave, but that's what Jesus Christ did. The best example of this is the Passover ceremony: Christ got a towel and went on His knees to wash the apostle's feet. This is significant cause not even a slave did such a thing: the custom of the day was to provide water for guests to wash their own feet. Jesus did something not even a slave would do. That's humility. Notice that this Passover was the night before His crucifixion, and all Christ did was serve the apostles.

    It's true what Jesus said that those who are great need to serve; when He said this, He brought a child to them. Why? What lesson can we learn from a child in humility? The most innocent of children are humble: Children are curious and teachable and are willing to learn through examples of adults. Children are good imitators: Children idolize heroes like dad or mom or heroes they read about. Even Solomon said it best in Proverbs 17:6:"Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children are their fathers." Children want to be like their heroes--just hope it's a good hero. That's why Christ came to show us the example to live by, and children can imitate it. But, it takes humility to see a hero beyond yourself: proud people only see themselves as heroes and no one else--it's sad but true.

    A Hero of humility is Esther: she stood out when Vashi's pride made her lose the queenship. Esther did not decorate herself with jewels and gold, but only asked what the eunuch suggested and that gave her favor. When she was told about the Jews being slaughtered by degree, she chose to fast for three days and risk her life to see the king. Even though she was hungry and scared to death, she made two banquets for the king and her foe--sacrificing herself to feed her enemy. That's humility. Eventually, when Haman's plot was revealed when Esther petitioned for the life of her people, her humility prevailed cause Haman and his sons were hanged: saving the Jews.

    Humility is a sacrifice: you have to shallow yourself and pride for the sake of others. Jesus said that whoever wants to be His disciple must deny himself. Moses did that all the time when the children of Israel tempted God ten times in the wilderness. God wanted justice, but Moses wanted mercy, so he pleaded for Israel. God, in His infinite mercy, often repented from His just wrath cause of Mose's humility. God, when Aaron and Miriam confronted Moses about his Ethiopian wife, God said that Moses was the meekest person on earth at the time. But, even Moses had his pride cause he wasn't able to go into the promised land cause he did not do what God said at Meribah. God told Moses to speak to the rock, but instead he used his staff to strike it in prideful anger instead of speaking humbly to the rock to give water. His mistake was for our learning.

    Humility is hard because it requires selflessness. Only with the Spirit of the humble Christ can God teach us to be humble as Christ is humble. God's Spirit works in us to write God's ways on our hearts and minds, and sometimes it requires lessons from experiences of others or self to really solidify this foundation. Christ is the vine, and we are the branches, and without God, we can do nothing. But, Being humble is doable with effort and love.

Vice: Pride

         I like to think that I am immune to this vice, and have the virtue of Christ, but that's not realistic nor accurate. We live in a world where satan, the source of pride, entices us humans with what John calls the pride of life. What is that exactly? What is so prideful about life? I thought life was good or if we choose: evil. Well, satan is an angel once at the throne of God with Christ and the other archangels praising the Father on His throne. Ezekiel described satan as an anointed cherub and was considered perfect when he was made and ordained as the morning star, but he had pride and trusted in his own beauty and intelligence and power. Because he was proud of himself, he thought he could rule better than God, so enticed a third of the angels to take the throne with a betrayal and a coup, but to no avail. There's a proverb that says: "Pride goes before a destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). This is surely true for the enemy and any prideful person; for the enemy was exiled from God's throne to fall to the earth. That was how he could entice Eve in the garden.

         The serpent appealed to the woman's pride that she would be like God and not die when she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When this happened, our ancestors gave up dominion to the enemy to rule because of their pride. A whole lot of consequences happened to Adam and Eve including the sting of death. Many years later, Herod the tetrarch was so proud of himself for his speech, after killing the apostle James, that the people thought he was a god, but never gave glory to the true God so an angel struck him and he died and was eaten by worms. Goliath pride himself of his stature and his warrior skills until he was beheaded by a shepherd boy with a sling and a stone.

          There's all sorts of things to be prideful about. Naaman the Syrian was prideful of his rivers in Syria until he was convinced by a servant to go to the Jordan, as Elisha said, to be healed of his leprosy. Uzziel, the king, was proud of his office as king and thought he should be a priest, so he went into the temple with a censer for incense, but to his shame, he was rebuked by the rightful priests and became a leper till he died living the rest of his life in shame. Uzziel proved the proverb: "First comes pride than comes shame, but to the humble is wisdom." Nabal was prideful of his wealth that he scorned David's servants for the good deeds they did to protect Nabal's livestock--with no reward. If it wasn't for his wife, Abigail, Nabal and his men would have died by David's hand, but the understanding wife convinced David to not do it and blessed David and his men with food and wine for their labor. What happened to Nabal? He had a feast in his house and got drunk. When he learned the truth from his wife, his heart became a stone and God smote him. There's pride in one's race like the Egyptians that wouldn't eat with Joseph because he was a Hebrew, and that pride led many generations later to a Pharaoh with so much pride in his race that it took nine plagues and the death of the first born by God to let the children of Israel go.

            Those are just a few examples of pride, and the consequence is evident. Pride can also make you not teachable like King Saul against the Amalekites. Saul heard the instructions by God through Samuel but because Saul thought he knew better than God because of pride in his ways, He didn't do what God said to do. God said to do an herem to everything in the city of the Amalekites because of God's promise to Moses that he would have war with Amalek from generation to generation because of what they did to Israel in the wilderness by attacking the weak and the infirmed. Saul killed the Amalekites, but spared Agag the king and the spoils for offerings to God, but this was not what God wanted. God wanted to do right for Israel, but Saul didn't do it. Because of Saul's pride and stubbornness, he lost the throne of Israel as king, and many generations later, an Agagite name Haman tried to get revenge against the Jews through the King of Persia. If it wasn't for Esther and Mordecai, the Jews would have been massacred. God saved the Jews through humble Esther, but it wouldn't have ever been needed if King Saul wasn't so prideful and just obeyed God.

                Jesus said that whoever humbles himself shall be exalted, and whoever prides himself or exalts himself shall be abased. That's what happened to King Saul and so many others. If we are not careful, O reader, we could be abased because of our pride--me included. I pray we learn these lessons about this vice, and make war against it to not do it again. On my next blog, I hope to talk about the virtue of humility.

Capable of Vice and Virtue

         I want to start a series of blogs about human vices and virtues that can be applied to yours and mine's life. We like to think that we are good people by birth, or evil people by birth. Modern man believes themselves to be good and progressing toward a better person with hard work and struggles while Christians believe in the original sin coined by Augustine in the 3rd century A.D. Original sin talks about Adam and Eve taking and eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil making death inherently inevitable for man. Any person through this philosophy will claim that man is inherently evil. The bible says through Paul in Romans about Jacob and Esau that "before they did any good or evil", so when you are born, you inherited a clean slate: Clean from the good and evil deeds and words of yourselves and parents. A child doesn't know good or evil from birth, it is taught by example and teachers with words and deeds. Just because a newborn is new in ignorance, doesn't mean he or she is not capable of good or evil-- We are all able to do or say good or evil: that's the power of freewill.

         This capability can be dangerous and a lot of people don't want to be responsible for their actions. Yes, there are consequences for vices like the lack of happiness of a greedy man or woman whose sole purpose is the love of money. Or, the poverty of a person who is able to work but doesn't because they feel entitled to riches without diligent hard work, so they chose laziness or theft to satisfy their tastes. Or, the consequence of a prideful spirit of independence believing one's self to be better than their neighbor because of pride of self when achieving something. There is nothing wrong with achieving something, but to make yourself pridefully better than someone else doesn't make you a better person. We all are capable of these vices, including myself, and that should frighten us to the core. I love Benjamin Franklin's saying that says: "Make war with your vices." The problem today is that we believe we don't have any vices because we have inherited perfection: it's an illusion and a lie.

        History tells us that man or woman is capable of the most destructive evils and the greatest triumph of good. Spain's Ferdinand and Isabelle in 1492 justified their evil acts against the Jews with the Spanish Inquisition using a proverb from the scriptures to justify the popes decision. Spainard's used torture chambers with machines to pull arms and legs from a Jew's body to murder them with torment. If modern America believed deceitfully that we are not capable of such evil, look at abortion. The same tactic used against the Jews are being used on unborn babies. We are able to stop this abomination, so please end the abomination and make a choice to never repeat the past.

        Goodness can happen as well by our good choices. David and his men were afraid because of death threats from Saul, and a messenger said that Keilah was being attacked by the Philistines. David inquired of God twice, and obeyed to go to Keilah to save that city from Israel's enemies. David chose to do good despite the evil against him and God rewarded him with a kingship and dynasty that lasts for all time. In American history, George Washington, After General Gate's victory at Saratoga in 1777, was pushed by Congress as well as general Conway and Gates to be dethroned from his office of generalship. It all started with a letter from Conway to Gates that was leaked to Washington that attacked his character. Washington ignored the attack and chose self-control and not to little himself to the level of those who ambitiously desired his station with jealousy. Washington knew he was capable of such pettiness because of man's human nature. He chose self-control and dignity. With that virtue came confidence of the people and that confidence made him the first president of the United States of America.

       Jesus knew human nature and knew He become a man with such nature--even though he's the Son of God. He was all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Jesus saw a woman caught in adultery and she was accused by the Pharisees, He went on His humble knees to write on the ground. I believe He did this to remind Himself of the evil he could do in this temptation, so He needed a remainder of the commandments. He said: "Whoever is perfect, let him cast the first stone." The Pharisees were convinced of their conscience seeing what Jesus wrote, and walked away. When Jesus and the women were alone, Jesus said with love and grace: "Go and sin no more." I don't know about you, O reader, but I want to follow Jesus, my example, knowing my capabilities of vices and virtues. I hope in future blogs, I will discuss specific vices and virtues, so please continue to read, my friends.

Prove Peace

         War has broken out in Israel again in this year of 2021, which is 73 years after the first Arab-Israel conflict happened. 1948 was the year that Israel declared independence from the British Mandate that they were under since the end of World War I. The Palestinians were under this same mandate as well, but weren't promised a homeland like the British did for the Jews with the Belfour Declaration. there were conflicts between the Arabs and the Israelis before the State of Israel existed, but i'm not going to focus on those. the first conflict between then two happened after the United Nations created a two-state solution by giving a portion of the land to the Jews and another portion to the Arabs, and making sure that Jerusalem and Bethlehem were in international hands. This didn't satisfied the Arabs in 1947, and they tried to conquer the land of Israel for themselves and killed the Jews in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem until the Israelis saved them in the War of Independence. Arabs lost a lot of territory to the israelis, but kept the temple mount and the Al-Aqra mosque, which was under the control of Jordan.

        This was the first of many conflicts between the israelis and the Palestinians. Israel had always been in need of a homeland as was promised to them by the British after World War I. Wars had been fought over the land with Israel victories in 1967, 1973, 1980, 2003, 2008, 2012, and now. the problem in the conflict is the same. both sides have learned to not get along as members of the family of Abraham. Palestinians want to take the whole land of Israel for themselves, and the Jews want a land to live in peace. No one is doing what the God of Abraham wants them to do. No one is proving to live in peace with each other. Even if there's a two-state solution to this conflict--which had been done before and led to war. How can you expect the two-state solution to happen again? The Palestinians want the whole land--even if that means killing Jews, and Jews only want to live in peace.

        Nothing has changed in 73 years of this conflict between the two. If i may be bold to tell you the truth. the only reason why this recent war in the middle east has happened is because the president of the United States sent aide to the Palestinians that gave them funding to fund terrorists. That's how Hamas got the rockets to fire into Israel. Trump cut the funds to the Palestinians because he knew they were funding Terrorists. Joe Biden is to blame for the conflict today because of his anti-Israel policies. there are consequences for actions, and more so for people of power. I love the quote from Abraham Lincoln when he said: "Any man can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Biden has been tested with power, and is failing because of his unfruitful character. We need to learn the wisdom of the God of America. If you want to have peace in the Middle East, stop funding terrorists. Stop fueling terrorists, and stop making war for no reason at all. Prove with your actions that you want peace.

        I have the luxury of going to Israel and Jordan in 2008, and i have the luxury of learning about both the Israelis and the Palestinians. I have learned that the Israelis are very down to earth and the Palestinians were a very family ordained people. both want to live in peace, but are faced with problems that the land offers. Both are of the seed of Abraham, and both want peace. prove me wrong that they both want peace. prove it, and wage peace instead of war. Only then can the conflict end. Theodore Roosevelt said it best: "speak softly, but carry a big stick." hopefully, war will end: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Shot Heard Around the World

         This day is the anniversary of the battle of Lexington and Concord that sparked the American Revolution. On April 19, 1775, British troops sent by the royal governor of the colony of Massachusetts marched to the town of Lexington and were met with the colonies farmers and brave men on the American side. Before this famous battle, a famous man named Paul Revere did his midnight ride to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adam that the British were coming. Paul Revere did his best to avoid British capture in order to warn the people of the danger that would come. But this revolution to create a new nation started with this midnight ride and also began with what Ralph Waldo Emerson said in his Concord Hymn the shot heard around the world. that shot happened on the bridge of Concord and in the town of Lexington, but no one knew who actually made the shot to start the revolution.

        This battle started a chain of events that led to the battle of bunker hill and the battle of Dorchester heights, and eventually to the glorious declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Lexington and Concord was a victory for the Americans who went toe to toe in musket fire against the more trained and more disciplined British. The British couldn't defeat the will of the Americans to fight to the bitter end, and they eventually retreated to Boston when the British charged the hills of Bunker hill fighting toe to toe with the more advantaged Americans and dying in the process. American would have won that battle if it wasn't for their gun powder running out. The Americans were defeated, but the British lost a great deal of men to make it so. This boast the morale of the Americans and demoralized the British. So much so that they never fought George Washington in Boston, but retreated by ship when Washington was at Dorchester Heights, which was considered a miracle by divine Providence

        These American inspiring battles were the beginning of eight long years of war to gain our independence and liberty. Patrick Henry said it best when he said in his famous speech to the Virginia Legislature: "Give me Liberty or Give me Death!". The ups and downs of the American Revolution helped shape the nation into what it is today--even though we had forgotten the famous battle of Lexington and Concord. The world was turned upside down after America became a nation, and without the shot heard around the world, we wouldn't have an America as we see it today with all our accomplishments and standards of living. The humble roots started this day on 1775, and it shouldn't be forgotten.

        What does this anniversary have to do with you O Reader? Well, right now, America is fighting against herself between two revolutions: the Marxist revolution, and the American Revolution of 1775. We can't be half Marxist and half American under God; for a house divided against itself cannot stand. Who among you will fight for his Land, God, and Union? Who will fight our foes like the Americans of 1775 against the British? Who will save the Union? Who will fight to the bitter end for the American way of life freely declared on the declaration of Independence and the constitution? Who will renew the covenant that the founders made with God and relied on His providence giving their lives, fortunes and their sacred honor? will you on this anniversary of the shot heard around the world do these things? God willing.

Save the Union!

           December 7th is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan in 1941. That attack, 79 years ago, caused a giant that was at peace with her neighbors to go into a war that already begun years ago when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. America was very different then. Christianity was still very strong in America in 1941 as the reason for a prayer meeting before FDR's day of infamy speech the next day. America didn't want to fight a war as was said by FDR in his fireside chat when Hitler invaded Poland. Sure America became neutral for a time, but that didn't last long; for when Japan was told by Germany to attack Pearl Harbor, it took considerable time to plan and execute. Japan wanted the spoils of victory after the war was over, and expected to defeat America in the war. Unfortunately for the axis powers, that did not happen. America and the world was saved by the might of God's chosen people, and a God that strengthen their arms for war as was promised in genesis that He would do for Joseph's descendants.

           79 years has past since that fateful day in infamy that turned a depressed nation into an industrial giant, many things had changed since that time. Martin Luther King Jr changed the nation and the world with his 'I have a dream' speech, and his marches for freedom to end segregation. President-elect Johnson gave his Great society speech and witnessed the first Americans on the moon. Nixon was elected and due to Watergate resigned. Ford, Carter, and eventually Ronald Reagan came into the scene to face off against nuclear threats by the Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall fell, and eventually the Soviet Union collapsed. God has saved the Union again. But, this generation knows not the horrors of war in Europe or the threat of nuclear holocaust--although the 9/11 attacks was a wake up call. America has been prosperous unlike any other nation in history, and it's because of our covenant with our Creator that the founders made on July 4th 1776. God was our God and We were His people. George Washington saw that when he made his first act as President to dedicate the nation to God at St Paul's Chapel in New York City.

            America is not the same as it once was. The cracks in our foundation are being revealed: Abortions, homosexual marriage, rioting, looting, porn, corruption everywhere--even in church--sex trafficking, and many other abominations that we do to weep our Creator and spit at the covenant the Founders made. There's talk of civil war--well that has been done before and 700,000 Americans both north and south died from that war. The deadliest American war in our history. Why did we fight it? what was the purpose of brother going against brother? The south said state's rights, and the north said slavery, but to a Just God it was Punishment for our national sins. Lincoln knew that and proclaimed a fast to humble the nation to prayer and fasting and repentance. God wanted the abomination of slavery to end in America, and Lincoln did so to bring about the end of the war between the states and to save the union.

            This covid virus should help us to look at ourselves and what we are doing to deserve the punishment due us for our sins as a individual and as a nation. Although many people died from the virus, many millions more babies in the womb died from abortions, and it's still happening. How can we be so stout and steadfast about protecting ourselves from a virus, but not protecting the unborn from being murdered? What are our priorities America? We fought and defeated the Nazis two generations before, and in this generation, socialists and Nazis try their best to destroy America from our own people. History is forgotten or corrupted by people who claim they know the truth, but are liars. American history is being torn down by Marxist's revolutionaries who don't want God in their knowledge, but God is everywhere in American history--just look to the original sources. Patrick Henry quoted scriptures all the time in his famous give me liberty or give me death speech. Abraham Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address was jammed with scripture. by the way, Harry S Truman, a Christian Democrat, quoted from Lincoln at the end of World War II. Where have we gone from our heritage, O America? Where's the American Spirit? The spirit of the Alamo that would rather die than live without liberty? What happened to the patriot's that fought in the pacific and in Europe and North Africa to save the Union? how the mighty have fallen in the midst of the earth

             There's talk of war between ourselves, but not so much talk about how to save the Union. That was Lincoln's official purpose as president of the United States during the Civil war. How many of us still have the American Spirit to face tyranny? to love liberty to the death? Who among us will fight for our land, God, and Union? Who will fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Who will fight for religion and morality that George Washington said was the most fundamental things that kept our institutions sound as he said in his farewell address before leaving the presidency. Who among us will save the Union?

Before Kristalnacht

        What I am about to say is very grave indeed, but it must be said; for I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to tell you the truth. History is repeating itself today. We haven’t learned from the past, and because we haven’t learned from history tyrants are rising up in America to do what Hitler did to the Jews in the 1930s. Why do I say that? Well, Hitler used propaganda to criminalize Jews and calling them the inferior race and the Germen Gestapo called them pigs. They were the deplorables and the white privileged of Germany before the war—sound familiar America? Hitler needed someone to blame for the lost of World War I, and in all of his writings and speeches, he had to blame someone, and that was the Jew. He believed that the Jews were trying to take over the world with their financial system—which started with the Bolshevik revolution during World War I in Russia. 

Well, sounds like people in America who are in poverty or different or of a different race or class or gender need someone to blame for their difficulties, and they happen to blame white Anglo-Saxons. Sure, we’ve made mistakes, but we had also tried to correct those mistakes. America is not perfect—no human made country can be perfect, but throughout our history we had done our best to apply God’s principles into the fabric of this country. People today with their socialist hearts are trying to destroy the foundations of this country to make it a country that is just like Germany before and during World War II. The socialists want nothing more than to ruin this country, and make it something that will destroy liberty.

Hitler did lock downs too for Jews: Jews had to wear a star of David to identify themselves as Jews—like we are forced to wear masks for no reason at all—like the papers we get for being essential workers. They couldn’t go to the theater or the park or have a business, and if they did have a business it would be fined or vandalized by Nazis. Jews couldn’t work in the civil service even if they were a part of the military. If you were a Jew you couldn’t marry an Aryan person because it would defile the master race. This was before Kristalnacht in 1939. America, we have a pandemic that is calling out the socialists to do exactly as Hitler did to the Jews on the American people: lockdowns, Gestapo arrests for stupid crimes that shouldn’t be crimes, and hypocrisy in government officials. Our grandfathers didn’t fight the Nazis so that their grandsons could become the very evil that they fought against.

Now, because of the cops killing a black man named George Floyd, now there’s a call for justice just like when a Jew killed a German official in France to call Kristalnacht in Germany. The Pogrom destroyed and looted Jewish businesses and places of worship burning books and breaking windows. Fires were everywhere, and the Nazis did nothing to stop it. Now we are in a similar situation here in America where looters and vandalizes and socialists are repeating history. How long, O America? How long will you turn your back on God and tolerate the oppression of the socialists? How long will you defy God and not return to Him with all your heart to be a nation under God? We are in judgment because of our abominations. Thomas Jefferson said it best about America in his day: “I tremble for my countrymen when I reflect that God is just and his judgment cannot sleep forever”. In America, we are breaking the law of nature and nature’s God by doing things which are against nature. God’s judgment cannot be delayed on a people that disregard the rules of order and right which heaven has ordained as George Washington said in his first inaugural address.

            I fear that the course that we are taking in this country is in the direction of a holocaust unless we turn from our wickedness, and repent of our deeds. There’s still time to return to your Creator, O Fairest in the land. How long He’ll wait for us is uncertain, but clearly time is short, and we must act quickly.

Liberty and Safety

        There was a quote by Benjamin Franklin in light of this crisis with the Corona Virus. He said: “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” This is profound from where it came from. You see, he was a signer of the declaration of Independence which made him a traitor to the crown of King George III, and if he were to be caught by the British, he would have been hanged. Signing the declaration of Independence was a sentence to death, and he did it full heartedly relying on God to protect him and others who signed that oath to God. The signers of the declaration faced hardships by the British: some lost their properties, some were put into prison in Florida, and some lost loved ones, but they all made the sacrifice for liberty. Patrick Henry said it best in his famous speech: “Give me liberty or give me death!”

Have we lost that American Spirit in America today? Have we lost the spirit of the pilgrims that went to Jamestown and Plymouth? The same spirit that declared to the world that we were relying on God and that all men are created equal who have inalienable rights by God of which is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Have we lost the same spirit of the frontier when men like Daniel Boone, Davy Crocket, and Johnny Appleseed founded this country under harsh conditions? Have we lost the spirit of America that expanded from coast to coast starting with the Louisiana Purchase of which Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore? Have we lost the spirit of the fighting men and women of the Civil War that fought to free all Americans from slavery? Have we lost the Spirit of Martin Luther King Jr who with so many whites and blacks fought to free all Americans from segregation in the south?

 

Who are we America? Are we cowards or are we brave? Are we selfish or loving? Is our heart pure or corrupt? We spit in the face of those who fought for liberty over the years in this country just because we want a little safety. Franklin was right: we don’t deserve safety or liberty—if we are so willing to give it up so easily. Ronald Reagan said it best when he said: “Freedom is never more than a generation away from extinction.” Americans fought the Nazis during World War II to save Jews and other men and women of Europe from tyrants that wished to rule with an iron fist. How long have we been since we were really tested? The test is simple: do you want to live free or to live as slaves? Americans since the founding have answered this question with their own blood. War of independence, Civil War, World War I, World War II, and even Iraq and Afghanistan most recently were examples of Americans fighting for freedom. Where is that pioneering spirit that built this country? Where are the brave men and women who stand up to tyranny in all its forms?

 
        This pandemic has taught Americans one thing: freedom is fragile and that you can’t sacrifice freedom for safety. John F Kennedy faced the Soviet Union in the midst of a cold war with nuclear weapons during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and still maintained liberty for America. How far have we gone from the pioneer spirit that made this nation great? We are not great because of our own wisdom and might, but because of the covenant that we made with God at the founding: the same vow that still holds true today, and that vow needs to be renewed in every American. That we are one nation under God with banners that said to tyrants: “there is no king but king Jesus.” If we don’t fight for liberty, who will? If we don’t stand up for righteousness and virtue that God laid out in nature and nature’s God through the bible then we don’t deserve the liberty we take for granted. Return to God, America, and He’ll return to you. God willing—He will deliver us from ourselves.