Our Heavenly Home 

My wife had an intelligent sister who wouldn't believe. For 20 years she prayed for her. Then when no family members were expecting it, sister gave herself to Christ. Her husband, an electrical engineer, did likewise. He went somewhere over a weekend, without food, and prayed for God's will. He was to become a pastor. With lower income. He phoned his wife to tell her. She said, "I know. He told me."  

They are in heaven, and we have his Bible for morning devotions. He used a yellow marker - very unusual - to box in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. Here is part of it:

     "Now we know that if the earthly tent we love is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. For while we are in this tent, we groan...because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling...

     "Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 

     "We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So, we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 

     "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." 

*

If strong willed adults can surrender to God, faith over income,  so can we. 

 The Sanctuary Movement

   Part 2 

     "Not only does the sanctuary movement incentivize illegal immigration, it also shields violent predators from justice. The author illustrated the deadly reality of sanctuary policies, complete with names of several victims and those who assaulted them by rape, murder, kidnap, assault, strangling, even dismemberment.  

     "Sanctuary policies create incentives for foreigners, including violent criminals, to enter the U.S. and hide behind a taxpayer-funded cloak of invisibility. This system corrupts the purpose of the original cities of refuge as described in the Bible. 

     "Those cities were intended to provide a balance between instant justice and mercy, by creating space between those responsible for death, possibly unintentional, and those left to suffer its consequences. They were never intended to give quarter to unrepentant lawbreakers.

     "Sanctuary policies erase our borders, erode our culture, annul federal laws designed to protect us, and lead directly to needless death. They are an abomination and no just nation should tolerate them."

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PS. Yes, our southern border is closed. There are other ways to slip in, and the Biden millions are already here. 31 non-profits support illegal immigrants. Sanctuary types oppose ICE. How many immigrants are welcomed by employers who get them secretly on the cheap? How many children are hostages?   

 The Sanctuary Movement

     "Sanctuary once meant a holy place, or a place of refuge. 

     "The American sanctuary movement rewards criminality and endangers innocent citizens. Its history began in 1971 in Berkeley, California, when officials declared Berkeley a "City of Refuge" for draft dodgers. President Nixon was winding down the war in Vietnam. In 1985 the city passed a resolution obligating city "employes not to violate established sanctuaries," etc. 

Sean Davis, CEO The Federalist

     "These actions violated U.S. immigration law. War refugees seeking escape could be safe in Mexico, Venezuela or Columbia. They did not qualify for asylum here.

     "2021. The Biden administration threw federal immigration laws out the window. It federalized sanctuary city efforts, erasing the border and inviting anyone into the U.S. Migrants arrived, often with the aid of drug-cartel coyotes. Coached by lawyers from non-government organizations, they made claim, then released into the U.S. on their own, to appear in court years later. Ho hum.

     "What started as care for refugees in one city, became a global industry involving national governments, criminal syndicates and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars a year. Every institution involved had a political or economic incentive to ensure a flow of migrants into the U.S. The immigration-industrial complex became a self-perpetuating machine. 

     "The second Trump administration reestablished secure borders and has attempted to begin deporting those who entered illegally. But efforts have been opposed at every turn, often violent, even when deporting the most dangerous illegal immigrants. Much of this involves state and city officials in the sanctuary movement. 

     "The U.S. Department of Justice calculated that 12 states and the District of Columbia - nearly a quarter of the country - had become sanctuaries. Albuquerque, Boston, New Orleans, Newark and Philadelphia have been designated as sanctuary cities. Cities and counties across the country - more than 200."

Continued tomorrow

 

Legal Battle - Two Victories

     Jack Phillips is a Colorado baker who fought his case to the U.S. Supreme Court...and won. As for his other victory...

     "Phillips was driving home from work in 1979 when he says God came into his car. He felt a presence so strong it was if another person was sitting next to him. 'Everything was good' in his life, he said, 'but when God came into my car...He convicted me of my sin. All the good things I was doing...weren't enough.'"

     "He remembers arguing with God, telling Him he could clean up his life, become a better person, and then become a Christian. But God said, No you can't. Phillips eventually surrendered, and 47 years later he still becomes emotional when he retells the story."

     "His wife Debbie also became a Christian, and their lives immediately changed. They attended church, volunteered in ministry, homeschooled their children, and oriented every aspect of their lives. When they started their own custom cake business, they decided to honor God with it." 

     "Phillips knows his case led to a reinforcement of religious freedom and free speech. He knows that generations of people around the world have followed Christ faithfully without First Amendment protections." 

     "Those things are important," he says. "But they'll be gone sooner or later. They don't matter. What matters is our relationship with Jesus and His desire to have a relationship with us. That's why He made us." 

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 Author of 835 Opinions

     Justice Clarence Thomas became the second-longest serving member of the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. 

     President George H.W. Bush nominated Thomas to the court in 1991. During his 34 years on the bench, Thomas had authored 835 opinions by the end of June. His most cited majority opinion was a case involving discrimination in the workplace. 

Bekah Bernhardt, WORLD magazine

     Most of his majority opinions have involved economic disputes. He famously authored a court opinion in 2022 that upheld a right to bear firearms in public. Thomas also wrote a concurring opinion in the case overturning Roe v. Wade. During a speech, Thomas reflected on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence and how it has shaped his life and legal perspective. 

     He said, We should not forget that the Declaration established the principles that produced - despite all our imperfections, our miscues and our tragic mistakes - the freest, wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of the world. 

     It (the Declaration) provided the moral principles by which Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King would criticize the institutions of slavery and segregation. 

     If Thomas, 77, remains on the bench until 2028, he may replace Justice William O. Douglas for longest Supreme Court career. 

                                                      We can learn much more on the internet   

What Never Fails?

     "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." 

     "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

😌

     Recently, we blogged about loss of family 40 years ago. In my brokenness I took a large sheet and crayon, wrote from 1 Corinthians 13, and hung it on a wall in my apartment. I still love these verses. A few days later God's incredible love fell on this broken-hearted father. 

😌

     "But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears."

     "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 

     "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 

                                     Written by the apostle Paul 

Washington Passes the Buck 

     We don't enjoy this, but maybe we need to know more truth in our politicians. 

     White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt - soon to leave Washington for a different work...mother of three children...listed nine examples of Democratic officials describing the president as fascist, dictator etc. For the record, in government it is possible to lie big time, but impossible with three independent branches - for one branch to serve like Marxists. So far. 

     President Trump has escaped three assassination attempts. 😟

     Many Republicans and Democrats blame each other for problems. A number of citizens in both parties think some violence could be acceptable. Our Constitution and many laws are designed to settle every case without the need for violence. Conservative and liberals blame each other. America wasn't formed for political parties. That lasted for eight years, until George Washington's terms ended.  

     Many lawmakers have received death threats. Can't they sustain policy criticism without personal criticism? "Boy, that's a problem in a free society," said a retired professor at George Washington U. 

     Sen. Cory Booker suggests, "Every American needs to choose whether he or she will add to the toxicity or be a healer." Sen. Thom Tillis calls "violent political rhetoric a bipartisan affliction." In the past several years he has received death threats over voicemail and threats to his home. Still, he rejects the presumption that toning down the rhetoric means not responding to intimidation tactics. "We just have different ideological worldviews." 

     The WORLD news reporter who wrote this memo said, "I can find as many examples of Republicans and conservatives saying (expletive) they shouldn't say as I can liberals." 

               Jimmy