WARNING: Explicit Post on WAP and Judgement

Cardi B, the Rap artist who sings WAP

I'm embarrassed to write this post. I freely admit that I'm out of touch with current culture. However, young people might benefit from my understanding of the eternal truth that God will not allow the mocking of His character and standards for long.

A day of reckoning is coming for the United States.

The word God is an abbreviation of the name "good." God's actual name in Hebrew is four-letters, YHWH, and it is pronounced (without vowels) like the sound you make when you breathe. 

Every time you see the name LORD (all capitals in English) in your Bible, it is the English translation of the Hebrew name YHWH. 

"Let everything that has breath praise the LORD." (Psalm 150:6)

God is good. But to mock the LORD is the opposite of praising the LORD. Sin mocks the Creator, and a people who celebrate sin and mock the LORD will face a harsh and severe judgement. 

God is the author of the breath of your life, and when you take your last breath, you will return to the One who made you and gives you purpose.  God created us to reflect His good nature. 

We are to live humble, disciplined lives as we look out for the interests of other people and restrain ourselves from selfish ambitions, keeping our power, gifts, and strengths channeled for His glory and the good of others. We are called to respect other people and their property (e.g. "don't envy people or steal their property"), to abstain from sexual immorality (e.g. "sexual union with multiple partners is an outward sign of idol worship and of a disunion from the One true God"), and to constantly remember that this life is but a blink compared to eternity, and one day there comes a reckoning with YHWH on how you spent the time in which He gave you breath.

To rebel against God's commandments is the definition of sin. Rebellion is man's way of mocking the Creator.

If you want to know why America is unraveling at the seams, look no further than today's #1 song in the USA. Released August 7, 2020, by Rap Artist (?) Cardi B, WAP stands for "Wet Ass Pussy."  Since it's release, it is approaching 100,000,000 views on YouTube, and it has set the world record for the most number of download streams. 

Here are the words. WARNING: Do not read if you are offended by vulgarity, sexual immorality, profanity, racial epithets, and general godlessness (source LyricFind).

_________________

I said, certified freak
Seven days a week
Wet ass pussy
Make that pull-out game weak, wooYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, you fucking with some wet ass pussy
Bring a bucket and a mop for this wet ass pussy
Give me everything you got for this wet ass pussy

Beat it up, nigga, catch a charge
Extra-large and extra hard
Put this pussy right in your face
Swipe your nose like a credit card
Hop on top, I wanna ride
I do a kegel while it's inside
Spit in my mouth, look in my eyes
This pussy is wet, come take a dive
Tie me up like I'm surprised
Let's role play, I wear a disguise
I want you to park that big Mack truck
Right in this little garage
Make it cream, make me scream
Out in public, make a scene
I don't cook, I don't clean
But let me tell you how I got this ring (ayy, ayy)

Gobble me, swallow me, drip down inside of me
Quick jump out 'fore you let it get inside of me
I tell him where to put it, never tell him where I'm 'bout to be
I run down on him 'fore I have a nigga running me
Talk your shit, bite your lip
Ask for a car while you ride that dick (while you ride that dick)
You really ain't never gotta fuck him for a thang
He already made his mind up 'fore he came
Now get your boots and your coat
For this wet ass pussy
He bought a phone just for pictures
Of this wet ass pussy
Pay my tuition just to kiss me
On this wet ass pussy
Now make it rain if you wanna
See some wet ass pussy

Look, I need a hard hitter, I need a deep stroker
I need a Henny drinker, I need a weed smoker
Not a garden snake, I need a king cobra
With a hook in it, hope it lean over
He got some money, then that's where I'm headed
Pussy A1, just like his credit
He got a beard, well, I'm tryna wet it
I let him taste it, now he diabetic
I don't wanna spit, I wanna gulp
I wanna gag, I wanna choke
I want you to touch that little dangly dang
That swang in the back of my throat
My head game is fire, punani Dasani
It's going in dry and it's coming out soggy
I ride on that thang like the cops is behind me
I spit on his mic and now he tryna sign me, woo

Your honor, I'm a freak bitch, handcuffs, leashes
Switch my wig, make him feel like he cheating
Put him on his knees, give him something to believe in
Never lost a fight, but I'm looking for a beating
In the food chain, I'm the one that eat ya
If he ate my ass, he's a bottom feeder
Big D stand for big demeanor
I could make you bust before I ever meet ya
If it don't hang, then he can't bang
You can't hurt my feelings, but I like pain
If he fuck me and ask, "Whose is it?"
When I ride the dick, I'ma spell my name
Ah

Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, you fucking with some wet ass pussy
Bring a bucket and a mop for this wet ass pussy
Give me everything you got for this wet ass pussy
Now from the top, make it drop
That's some wet ass pussy
Now get a bucket and a mop
That's some wet ass pussy
I'm talking WAP, WAP, WAP
That's some wet ass pussy
Macaroni in a pot
That's some wet ass pussy, uh

(There's some whores in this house)
(There's some whores in this house)

_________________

It doesn't take long to understand why there is rioting in the streets, looting of shops, and a general meltdown of society when America's #1 song is WAP.  Even more startling is how "critics" praise WAP. I quote from Wikipedia.

"The song WAP received critical acclaim and was praised for its sex-positive messages."

The sex-positive movement is a social and philosophical movement that seeks to change cultural attitudes and norms around sexuality, promoting the recognition of sexuality (in the countless forms of expression) as a natural and healthy part of the human experience and emphasizing the importance of personal sovereignty, safer sex practices, and consensual sex (free from violence or coercion). It covers every aspect of sexual identity including gender expression, orientation, relationship to the body (body-positivity, nudity, choice), relationship-style choice, and reproductive rights. Sex-positivity is "an attitude towards human sexuality that regards all consensual sexual activities as fundamentally healthy and pleasurable, encouraging sexual pleasure and experimentation. The sex-positive movement also advocates for comprehensive sex education and safe sex as part of its campaign. The movement generally makes no moral distinctions among types of sexual activities, regarding these choices as matters of personal preference."

I am speechless.

In my next post, I will tell you the true story of a man hanged on Friday, August 15, 1873, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for his crimes in Oklahoma. His name was John Childers. He lived his life in full rebellion against the Creator, and his crimes were well-known to the 5,000 who came to witness his public execution.

The trap door flipped open and John's body fell, his hooded face tilted to the side as the rope snapped his neck. At that precise moment, a lightning bolt from a lone dark cloud over Fort Smith struck the gallows, accompanied by an enormous clap of thunder. The wood of the gallows, set on fire from heaven above,  showered the people with thousands of sparks. Screams filled the courtyard. 

When the crowd's roar finally grew quiet, and as John's body quivered in the final throes of life, an ashen-faced, trembling black woman cried loudly, "John Childers' soul has gone to hell!"

If that woman speaks the truth,  and a day of judgment for Cardi B and America does not come, soon, then God will need to apologize to John Childers.

U.S. Citizens Must Have the Mentality of a Marine

Slavery is evil.

All human beings intuitively know this. That knowledge is part of the innate Law of God that the Creator makes plain in every human conscience.  

Philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) called this knowledge Natural Law, and argued that humans know by nature that it is wrong to kill, enslave, or steal. 

Therefore, according to Locke, every human being has Natural Rights guaranteed by Nature and Nature's God. They are "life, liberty, and property." Thomas Jefferson and the Founders of the United States changed Locke's concept of  "property" to  "the pursuit of happiness" in The Declaration of Independence. The Founders knew that citizens' freedom to pursue private property led to the general happiness of the population.

In today's civil anarchy, many citizens of the United States have made the mistake of believing that the problem our country faces is one of race. They say that black lives have been historically, institutionally, and culturally enslaved and that "white, Christian privilege" has been the heart of America's problem. 

A little history will expose the error in their thinking.

Robert Davis, Emeritus Professor of History at Ohio State University, writes in his book Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800:

"From 1500 to 1650, when trans-Atlantic slaving was still in its infancy, more white Christian slaves were taken to Barbary (Northern Africa) than black African slaves to the Americas." 

That is an inconvenient truth for those who think "white privilege, Christianity, and the United States republic" should be destroyed and a new system of governance and leadership established. 

Slavery is not about race or religion. Slavery is about power.

Dr. Davis writes: 

"One of the things that both the public and many scholars have tended to take as given is that slavery was always racial in nature – that only blacks have been slaves. But that is not true. We cannot think of slavery as something that only white people did to black people.”

Evil people in power, regardless of color or creed, enslave others. 

The United States was built on the concept of moral political leaders ensuring individual citizen's freedoms; freedom from tyranny. freedom from oppression, and freedom from enslavement. 

The Founders knew that the immortal principle "all men are created equal" might lead to an internal war, which it did less than a century later.  Those having economic power in the south, though intuitively knowing slavery to be "evil," desired it to continue. They were just like the men and women of today who know that pornography is evil and exploits women, but Americans do nothing to stop it.  A day of reckoning always comes.

America had her day of reckoning over race. It was a brutal and costly Civil War (1861-1865). Now, blacks can be President. The finest athletes, movie stars, educators, businessmen, and intellectuals are black, and they stand equal and toe-to-toe with any gifted white person. 

America is the land of liberty and equality. America's problem is not about race.

America's problem is with people who don't understand that Natural Law and Natural Rights are the foundational principles upon which the United States of America are established.

There are some who wish to cause chaos in the United States in an attempt to tear down the system of government they say is built on "white, Christian privilege." 

The idea the United States is built on "white, Christian privilege" is pure ignorance. The United States was built on the immortal principle that "all men are created equal,"  and that we are guaranteed by the Creator "certain inalienable rights." Inalienable means they supersede any government laws and cannot be removed since the Creator gives them to us, not the states.

Our clear and present danger in the United States is the increasing and absolute power of the state and the resulting enslavement of citizens to the states' dictates, denying the individual citizen's Natural Rights.

Those of us who know history are warning you.

The enslavement of people, regardless of their color or creed, occurs when absolute power is handed to evil leaders.  Evil leaders are those who deny Natural Law and Natural Rights and make mandates to which people must conform, soon enslaving those same people for resisting the state's power. 

Slavery has nothing to do with race and everything to do with immoral power.  

As we see citizens of the United States arrested while singing hymns in front of their courthouse, as we observe a woman getting tasered and arrested for not complying with a mask mandate at an outdoor football game for her children, as we see random United States citizens assaulted and robbed on the streets by anarchists, United States citizens have arrived at a momentous crossroads. 

We must make all make a decision as to what we are going to do to stop the impending enslavement.

In 1805, the Marines were sent by President Jefferson to rescue white slaves on the coast of North Africa (Tripoli) during the First Barbary War. We hear about their mission every time we hear the Marines' Hymn played: 

From the Halls of Montezuma

To the shores of Tripoli;

We fight our country’s battles

On the land as on the sea;

First to fight for right and freedom

And to keep our honor clean;

We are proud to claim the title

Of United States Marine.

It's time for every American to take the mentality of a Marine.  

The Social Dilemma, Francis Bacon, Jesus & Truth

Last week, my wife Rachelle and I watched the documentary The Social Dilemma.

The film examines the rise of social media and the damage it causes society. It features interviews with Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist who quit Google and founded The Center for Humane Technology. 

Our youngest son told us that after he watched The Social Dilemma, he did away with all his social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In essence, the documentary's premise is that hatred, division, and the extreme polarization in our politics and culture are due to one fundamental problem. Tristan Harris states the problem succinctly:

"You look around and it seems as if the world is going crazy. Is this normal? Have we all fallen under some kind of spell? I want people to understand that the problem happening in social media doesn’t have a name, but it has to do with one source, with one fundamental problem.

If we don’t agree on what is true, or that there is such a thing as truth, our country is toast. This is the problem beneath other problems because if we can’t agree on what’s true, then we can’t navigate out of any of our problems.”

Scientists, venture capitalists, tech industry leaders, and others agreed with Tristan's belief that America's fundamental problem is the inability to know and agree on the truth.

Cathy O'Neil, Ph.D., a data scientist and author of Weapons of Math Destruction, echoes what Tristan Harris believes about America's trouble with the truth.

“People talk about Artificial Intelligence as if it will know truth. AI is not going to solve the problem of fake news. Google doesn’t have the option of saying 'Is this conspiracy? Is this truth?' Because they don’t know what truth is." 

Roger McNamee, a Facebook venture capitalist in Silicon Valley summarizes America's problems well:

“We need to have some shared understanding of truth. Otherwise, we aren’t a country.”

Jesus said, "I am the truth." (John 14:6). Standing on trial before a powerful Roman governor named Pilate, Jesus had the courage to say:

"The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

The God of this world is the God of truth.  

Francis Bacon and His Masterpiece Book "Of Truth"

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is considered the father of the scientific method. He also has been called the father of empiricism. His works argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. Most importantly, Bacon argued science could be achieved by the use of a skeptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves.

Bacon dealt with truth scientifically. He believed truth to be objective and quantifiable, with its source the Creator God. Bacon explained in his classic work Of Truth three main reasons human beings do not want to admit or agree that there is an objective truth that has its source in the God of truth.

Reason #1: Acquiring the truth is hard work.

When someone speaks of "my truth" or "your truth" or "their truth," then truth has become subjected to someone's feelings or way of thinking. Bacon vigorously argued that real truth comes from God, is objective and independent of human feelings, and must be discovered through hard work. To know God's Word, said Bacon, is to learn the who, what, when, and where facts of the Bible was written. The truth, like any precious object, can be discovered. But uncovering the truth requires hard work, and Bacon says people don't like to work hard for anything, especially God's truth. To read the Bible involves the study of ancient history, geography, languages, and a host of other disciplines. The reason there is no agreement on truth in America is that Americans would rather enjoy playing video games than endeavor in virtuous gains. Our delight in sports often poisons our devotion to Scriptures. Americans don't like to work for anything, especially the truth.

Reason #2: Blurring the truth is haughty wickedness.

God's truth as to how we ought to live and behave is discoverable, but the enemies of truth constantly say to us, "Has God REALLY said ...?" Francis Bacon calls God's truth "the bright sun at noonday," and writes that humans don't like what they see of themselves in a mirror illuminated by the noon-day sun. All of us look better, said Bacon, when we dim the lights. The word "sin" means "rebellion." There used to be a shared value of truth in America that adultery was immoral, homosexuality was opposed to God's standards, sexual immorality was something to be shunned and not celebrated. The 10 Commandments were viewed as God's commandments with a requirement for our compliance and not God's suggestions with a request for our consideration. But rather than see clearly what God has sad and condemn ourselves as rebels to God, we turn the lights down so that we don't have to see ourselves as we really are. America has blurred the truth.

Reason #3: Contravening the truth is the human way.

Francis Bacon says a strong motivating factor for human beings living contrary to the truth by outright contravening a direct command of the Creator, is because human beings in general believe that God's truth constricts their freedoms. "I want to do what I want to do, regardless of what God says." Freedom, it is said - real human freedom - means "throwing off the constrictions that come with the truth." Bacon says that the human being does not understand that the only real freedom that anyone will ever experience in this life is when he or she discovers God's truth, accepts His truth without varnishing or dimming it, and then lives it. Like a well-designed train that stays on its tracks, a human being submissive to the will of God moves forward with power and purpose. When one goes off the tracks, there is a crash and burn. Truth means freedom. 

"For you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). 

The social dilemma in America is indeed a lack of agreement and/or acceptance of the truth that comes from God.

An Isaiah 16 Targum on the Destruction of America

Fires in California in the year 2020

Most people don't read the Bible. 

When some do attempt it, the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) seem confusing if not impossible to comprehend.  

The lack of understanding of what the Bible reveals says more about our modern system of education than it does the readers. 

Just a little more than a century ago, it was not uncommon to find many five-year-old Americans who had been taught to read the classics in the original Greek, Latin, or English. 

I'm mentoring a 13-year-old young man who struggles "to believe the stories of the Bible." This young man will one day see that his struggle is actually a symptom of his lacking knowledge in ancient history, language, and geography.

A generation of people raised on video games has little patience for virtuous gains. 

An English Targum might help someone understand the Bible better.  A Targum is an oral or written translation of the Hebrew Scriptures using another language, updating geographical locations, language idioms, and ancient history into words easily understood by a generation unfamiliar with the originals. 

The power of an English Targum to transform English speaking people can be illustrated from Isaiah 16. 

Context of Isaiah 16

The Land of Moab (in Pink)

The Moabites were a people in Isaiah's day just like modern Americans. They were proud, self-

sufficient, and uninterested in YHWH, the God of Israel. They'd abandoned faith in God.

In 712 BC, the cities of Moab were "destroyed in one night" (Isaiah 15:1) by the mighty Assyrian army. Some Moabites fled from their country first to Selah (Petra), and then made plans to send emissaries to Zion (Jerusalem) to ask for refuge (Isaiah 16:1-4).

YHWH had compassion on the Moabites. The LORD instructed His people (the Jews) to shelter the Moabites in Zion: 

"Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their refuge from the destroyer." (Isaiah 16:4).

The LORD is always compassionate and merciful to those who run to HIM for shelter. Ruth was a Moabitess. She is in the lineage of King David and the Messiah. God is merciful to those who run to Zion (the cross of Jesus Christ) for shelter. 

However, one of the major themes of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is that the LORD brings down the proud and the LORD exalts the humble.

"For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled by the LORD, and those who humble themselves will be exalted by the LORD." (Luke 14:11)

 "For exaltation comes...from God...for He brings down the poud and He exalts the humble." (Psalm 75:4-7)

 "God mocks the proud, but He gives favor to the humble" (Proverbs 3:34)

"Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble." (I Peter 5:5).

God still brings down the proud who resist Him. 

Isaiah 16:6-11 is the explanation from YHWH for why the Moab was destroyed in one night. YHWH brought devastation to a proud people. The LORD laid Moab low.  

An English Targum of Isaiah 16:6-11

To help you understand that the Bible is just as relevant and practical today as it was in Isaiah's day, I'm giving an English Targum of the rationale of YHWH for destroying Moab (America). 

We have heard of America's pride --

How great is her arrogance! --

of her conceit, pride, and insolence;

But America's boasts are empty.

Therefore the American people wail,

They wail together for their country.

They lament and grieve over farms,

For the fields of the Midwest wither, 

The vines of California are on fire.

Foreign nations have brought down

American industries from success.

They have forced businesses to close

from the far East Coast to the West.

Your once-thriving economy has been

shut down and the people have nothing.

I mourn the loss of Chicago's safety,

I weep over Minneapolis's destruction.

I find myself weeping over the events 

in Kenosha, Portland, and Louisville,

for the cries of the riots have overcome

your former wealth and prosperity.

Gladness is gone, for it is taken away.

Joy from your abundance is no more; 

for no one sings in cities of California.

Nor are there any shouts in the arenas.

There are no businesses making money.

I have made all the shouting for joy cease.

I feel the harp's mournful song for America.

And my inner being weeps for Washington.

America, there is REFUGE in running to Christ and living for Him as our King. 

A nation cannot forsake the LORD. A proud people will see themselves as their own gods. When that happens, the One true and merciful Creator will bring low those proud people. 

America is being made low.

A Tribute of Honor for Navy Veteran Claude Hicks

Col. Curt Castillo at Claude Hick's grave

Rachelle and I have some very special friends around the world whom we cherish.

Two of those friends live right here in Enid. Air Force Colonel Curt Castillo (ret.) and his wife Suzi are members of Emmanuel Enid. We've known them for two decades. Colonel Castillo has had a highly distinguished and decorated career in the United States Air Force, recently finishing his Air Force career as a commander at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma. He now flies for one of the United States' major commercial airlines, commuting from Enid.

Yesterday, Curt read my post entitled Covid and the Inhumanity of Isolating the Elderly. I lamented the fact that some of our elderly were dying alone, without family around them because of isolation.

Another friend of mine from Texas, Rex Ray, read the same post that Curt did.

Rex is an intelligent man and regularly tells some wonderful stories in his comments on my blog. Rachelle and I became close to Rex and his wife Judy after they joined us on a tour of Israel just a couple of years ago. 

After reading my post about the tragedy of the elderly dying alone because of COVID-19 isolation, Rex commented: 

"This is a heart-breaking story.

Our favorite cousin, Claude Hicks, was in the navy and scheduled to invade Japan. But two weeks before, the BOMB ended the war.

He was in a nursing home, and we were not allowed to visit.

When he died this May (2020), his wife was in a nursing home and wasn’t allowed to attend his funeral because of the virus. Claude Hicks was buried at Dallas Forth Worth National Cemetery that has 41,000 graves.

There were no “Taps”, no flag to be given to a loved one.

The number allowed to attend was six.

All we could see from 200 yards, was a backhoe digger, and men lowering a coffin."

Col. Curt Castillo read Rex's comment on my blog.

Col. Castillo and Rex do not know each other. 

Curt was so moved by Rex's comment, that today - on Curt's day off  - he drove to DFW National
Cemetery to pay his respects to Claude Hicks. Col. Curt Castillo took the time to locate Fireman First Class (F1) Claude Hicks (United States Navy) final resting place. At the grave, he paid his respects.

Col. Curt Castillo texted me just a few minutes ago: 

"As my parents age, I really appreciated your blog yesterday. However, Rex Ray's comment struck a nerve. Rex not being able to attend his cousin's funeral up close and personal is sad and unnecessary. I don't know Rex, nor do I know where Rex lives, but if you could tell him that I have visited his cousin's final resting place and paid my respects to a man who served his country with honor." 

Rex, I know that you and Judy will read this. Please share with Claude's wife that United States Colonel Curt Castillo (ret.) was so moved by his story of an isolated burial for a soldier of honor, that he traveled to pay his respects.

This is why I love America. Our country is filled with men and women with the character of the Castillos, the Rays, and the Hicks.

There is no stranger when it comes to sacrifice and honor. Thank you, Col. Castillo, for illustrating what makes America such a great country.

 It's people like you.

Covid and the Inhumanity of Isolating the Elderly

Susan's Father, March 2020

This is Susan's story.

Or more accurately, this is the story of Susan's father. 

Susan's father is pictured to the left in a photo from March 2020, just days before the government-mandated lockdowns of our elderly in nursing homes and living centers throughout the country, isolating them from their loved ones. Susan's father lives in a nursing center 25 miles south of Enid, Oklahoma. 

Susan shares her story and the pictures of her father to illustrate the inhumanity of isolating the elderly from their loved ones. After she shares her story (below), Susan asks that you pay close attention to the picture of her father that taken last week, the first week of September 2020. According to Susan,  the picture shows the effects that six months of isolation from loved ones have had on her father.

Susan reads my blog. I don't know Susan, but recently she wrote to me an email expressing her gratitude for writing so plainly about controversial issues during these Covid-19 times.

I'll not comment on Susan's story except for one caveat at the beginning, and a summary at the end. My caveat: Some of my best friends in this life own nursing homes and living centers. I pray for them daily. My job as a pastor is a breeze compared to their jobs in 2020. 

What is happening in nursing homes and living centers is not the fault of nursing home administrators. They are doing their best. They are under government mandates. They also face severe pressure from the public, from families, and from health departments.

But there comes a time when peoples' stories need to be heard. There are worse things than dying from Covid-19. One of those things is living isolated from loved ones. 

If the cure becomes worse than the disease, then living is worse than death. 

Here's Susan's story, unedited and reprinted with permission. 

"My Dad is in the nursing home. He has dementia, diabetes, and profound loss of hearing. The lockdown due to Covid-19 has been an extraordinary hardship for him. He has had no physical contact with his family for six months now. He is confused and does not understand why we have abandoned him. But he does know that he is alone and it has taken away his reason to want to live. I am writing this because we don’t know how much time has has left. He is skin and bones from not wanting to eat. We eat to live and if you are completely isolated from everyone who loves you, then what do you have to live for?

The staff comes and goes about their own lives normally as they should! Physical therapist, doctors, inspectors all coming and going in the nursing home. The only ones not allowed in are the families. My parents have been married for 56 years. And they can’t see each other face-to-face, can’t hold each other’s hand. This is having a terrible toll on my mother as well. This is breaking the spirit of them both!

Being deaf my father has to see your face to understand what you’re telling him, but with everybody with a mask on, It has just made him more isolated.

My dad got Covid-19 anyway as did most of the residents in his facility. He went to the hospital where he was in a blacked out room. Didn’t know if it was daytime or nighttime. Hadn’t had his teeth brushed, Not allowed to go have a shower as Covid-19 patients aren’t allowed in the shower room. He was in there for 10 days! He physically recovered but emotionally he has not recovered, and will not recover until he can have contact with the only thing he cares about, his family. He is depressed, confused, and very alone. 

This has gone on far too long! They can’t even get their haircut, or sit together in the dining room, left laying in a bed, no fresh air, no sunshine. they are isolated to their bedroom and they have been for far too long. The families are suffering heartbreak and anger as well knowing their loved ones are dying alone, without being able to say goodbye, they will never get over this. 

So again I am begging, reunite the families with their loved ones in the nursing home. I am attaching two pictures of my father one was taken in May during lockdown but allowed out of their rooms and the second one taken when I picked him up from the hospital and returned him to the nursing home, you can see how much ground he has lost in just a few short months. 

This is inhumane and cruel for the end of their life to be locked up alone afraid and confused. We do not have much time left. 

This is urgent! Please allow us to be together." 

Susan's Father, September 2020

The old Hans Christian Anderson fable called The Emperor's New Clothes tells the story of an emperor in an ancient country that hired two weavers to make the king some new clothes. The weavers, unknown to the king, were professional swindlers. They took the king's money with no intention of making the king new clothes. A succession of court officials, and then the emperor himself, visited the weavers' shop to check on their progress. They all saw that the looms were empty, but having heard the weavers were allegedly the best in the world, the king and his court each pretended to see fine clothes being woven lest others think them foolish.  Soon, the king rides in procession before the entire city in the new clothes purchased from the weavers. The king is naked. But the people are too uncomfortable to declare the truth. They're afraid of the king. They're concerned they may be the only ones saying something is wrong. They are afraid of a backlash from others. That is, until a little boy cries out, "The king has no clothes!"

The government has come to the conclusion in 2020 that it is better for the elderly to isolate, shelter-in-place, and keep away from loved ones from fear of "catching Covid-19" than to allow families to live their lives making choices that are best for their loved ones. The people have complied. The individual liberty of American families has been overrun by forced compliance to the American government.

Susan is like that little boy in Hans Christian Anderson's story. She wants it known that something is wrong with the present situation in our country and she's willing to speak up and let her voice be heard.

It's better to live life loving the elderly under the threat of imminent death than to live life isolating the elderly in the hope of extended life. 

Jesus and Christian Involvement in 2020 Politics

Pilate and Jesus

Recently some sincere followers of Jesus have gone on social media and bemoaned the fact that Christians are seemingly more political than gospel oriented in 2020, as if the gospel of Jesus Christ and politics have nothing in common or should be completely separate. 

However, the idea that Christians should not be involved in politics or not vocal about politics is at best naïve and at worst anti-Christian.

Politics are at the core of the Good News message that Jesus Christ gave us.

Jesus was a controversial political figure in His day, and His followers should expect no less controversy in our day.

In fact, Jesus died as the result of a political execution. He died in the manner He did because the Roman government established death by means of crucifixion for everyone who rejected imperial Roman politics. 

Christians would do well to remember that the cross of Jesus was a Roman political cross, and that Jesus died on the cross because He was vocal in His politics.

Jesus led the common people of Israel to stop trusting in the Roman government and to start trusting in the Supreme God. As long as the Roman government ruled the people, the kingdom of God would never rule the world. 

Jesus repeatedly told his hearers  about “the coming of the kingdom of God.” This message of "kingdom" represented the theme of His ministry. That's important to remember because of the significance of the word "kingdom."

In the days of Jesus, "kingdom” was a political word. There was the kingdom of Herod in Israel, and the kingdom of Rome throughout the world, including in the nation of Israel where Herod served as Rome's vassal king of the Jews. Jesus told the people that the kingdom of God for the earth was far better than Roman or Herodian politics. 

Jesus prayed to the Father, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," in what we call The Lord's Prayer. The kingdom of God, according to Jesus, would be a far better political system than the kingdoms with which his hearers had been familiar. 

Jesus taught the people that politics mattered. 

Jesus called what matters the kingdom of God on earth. He could have called it the “family” of God. He could have used other words, like "gathering" or "community" or simply "the people of God." Instead, Jesus used the political word "kingdom." Using the kingdom of God as a description of what the world should become was a political statement by Jesus, a strike at the heart of Roman politics. 

In other words, Jesus was a political agitator in His day. 

Jesus taught that the kingdom of God would be a world of economic justice where everybody had the material basics for life's existence. The kingdom of God would bring the world into peace and nonviolence. Together, the political ideals of economic justice and world peace represented the twin icons of the kingdom of God on earth.

Jesus is our greatest example for why a Christian should be involved in politics and vocal about it. 

Jesus’ passion for God's kingdom among men created conflict with the Roman authorities. Jesus began his public ministry shortly after Roman authorities arrested John the Baptist (Mark 1:14).Throughout the gospel narratives of Jesus’ life, political conflict, disagreement with Roman authorities, and being labeled a political agitator dominate the Jesus story. 

Jesus entered Jerusalem the last week of His life on a donkey as "King" to symbolize that God's kingdom would bring peace and the abolition of war. During that last week of His life, Jesus cleansed the Temple and called it “a den of robbers” because the Temple had become the center of collaboration with Roman political rule and taxation (Matt 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46).

Jesus died at the hands of Roman and Jewish political authorities because Jesus had passion for a transformed world and He said "No!" to the political powers that would end up killing Him. 

Of course, that's not the end of the story.

Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and death, and one day the kingdom of God on earth will be fully realized.

Until that time, Christians should follow the example of Jesus and never be afraid to speak out against an oppressive government that breeds injustice, violence, and oppression.

So next time you're tempted to say "Christians should stay out of politics," my rebuttal is a gentle disagreement contained in the words, "If your goal is to be like Christ, you must be involved in politics to ensure a world of freedom, justice, and peace."

Do You Know What Our Public Universities Teach?

The worst indictment on American culture in 2020 is that Americans pay more attention to football coaches and college championships than university professors and classroom curricula. 

We focus intently on what's happening on the football field and demand that coaches be a winner.  Yet we couldn't care less about what's happening in the college classroom and yawn as professors are given their tenure. 

It is in the university classroom that America is being destroyed, one student at a time. America used to be a melting pot of all cultures. Just a little over a generation ago, to be an American meant allegiance to the principle of individual liberties.  America was known worldwide for the capitalistic freedoms of individual thought, expression, and religion.  Conformity is the new normal.

Today, to be an "American" means you must adhere to the elitist's ideas. For the average American to express opinions different than those of the liberal cultural elites that rule the fields of education, medicine, and government is forbidden by the new socialists that are attempting to overtake American capitalism. The freedoms of individual thought, personal religion, and differing speech are now being ridiculed and punished via social shaming.

"Do you disagree with us?" We'll destroy you. "Do you have more than us?" We'll take it from you. "Do you live differently than I?" I'll shame you till you're just like me. 

Why has this change come over a new generation of Americans? I believe it's because the average American citizen has paid little attention to what public universities are teaching our children.

An example comes from my family's alma-mater, Oklahoma University, in Norman, Oklahoma. 

A Construction Science major at Oklahoma University recently told me that this fall (2020), he began taking a Resident Construction class, learning about the science of architecture in residential areas.  Construction Science is a blended program of science, engineering, business, architecture, and technology that provides a strong, broad background in construction management.

On the first day of class, the professor walked in wearing a 2020 Biden t-shirt. 

Then, the professor informed the class that a requirement for the class would be the mandatory reading of The Color of Law. Before I wrote this post, I purchased and read The Color of Law so I could comment on it. It is not about construction science. The author of the book is a socialist who believes more government control, more government intervention, and more government authority is needed to limit the freedoms of private developers. 

The author, Richard Rothstein, is a liberal academic historian. He knows nothing about residential construction.  Like all socialists,  Rothstein advocates that the government should rule over all American lives, using racial divisions as the excuse for more government. He believes in demanding the private developers be forced to conform to government mandates on housing. More government intervention, not less, is the solution to America's problems for every socialist. 

In the name of cultural diversity, university professors are mocking American liberty. In devout denials of the Creator God, educators are demanding that our young people give allegiance to an all-controlling government. Whereas freedom of thought, expression, and religion were once encouraged in the university classroom, professors now practice outright coercion, intimidation, and submission to government intervention. 

If you don't agree with the Construction Science professor at Oklahoma University, and if you disagree with the premise of The Color of Law, you'll not pass the class. That's the impression received by those who spoke with me privately in order to avoid any retribution. 

Americans shouldn't be surprised. Since the 1920s, communists have sought to destroy capitalism in the United States with little success. In the 1960s, the communists began changing their tactics. They settled on the more palatable word  "socialism," and sought to condition a new generation of Americans to give up their liberties in the name of progress. And now, our public university classrooms are filled with socialist professors that turn out students loose with the intent of destroying historic American values. 

We fell asleep while our universities were overrun. Take five minutes and watch this chilling video of a man who warned America in 1969 of what we are now seeing in 2020. 

It's time to wake up, America, and defend your liberties.