Peace in the Middle East 

     Should Americans care? Mike Huckabee is the U.S. ambassador to Israel. He had visited Israel some 25 times before this. 

     He had a front row seat to the war in Gaza, and Israel's fight against Iran and terror groups in Lebanon and Syria. President Trump made peace in the Middle East top priority, although some of his supporters question his investment in time and energy. A former Baptist pastor, Huckabee wants to convince skeptics that the U.S.-Israel relationship is vital. 

     The plan is for a board of peace to replace Hamas as the ruling authority over Gaza. President Trump will oversee every single person on that board. Members must be committed to creating a different kind of Gaza, he says, adding that "I really believe we're on the brink of something historic in the Middle East." 

     "And it wouldn't have happened without President Trump. He's the only person I know who could have gotten every one of the Arab nations to come to Sharm El Sheikh and sign that document...saying they're going to be a part of the future of Gaza." 

     Views understands the president's position, whether or not he is a Christian. We know what some of our leaders don't. Israel is God's nation. Jesus will rule the world from Israel when he returns. Plans for Gaza aren't central to all that. But, we know what the Jew-hating world doesn't. Satan leads the opposition. His primary goal is to overtake God's headquarters, and he will make trouble until Jesus returns and sends him into a hellish prison. 

     Trump and Huckabee alone can't save Israel, but they are on the right side of history.  

               Jimmy

  

 From WORLD's mailbag

 Immigrants, good and otherwise

     "Having worked my teenage years on the family's farm in the 1960s with illegal immigrants, I can attest to their value, hard work, ethics, and decent values. They crossed only for the harvest seasons, returning to Mexico every November, to return every April or May. 

     "They sent 90% of their paychecks back home. My brothers and I worked alongside them for 10-12 hours a day. They paid into Social Security without hope of collecting a dime. They sometimes begged to work for cash as they didn't have funds to buy fake documents. Back then, the INS hunted them down like animals and stole our helpers when we needed them the most. 

     "Now, millions are let in without vetting, and we will pay the price for that for years to come. Yes, we need immigrants, but we need them here legally, vetted, and based upon their ability to assimilate in the American economy. 

     "Canada vets immigrants and requires them to speak English or French and have a skill that can be employed in Canada. These types of requirements were introduced into Congress during Donald Trump's first term but never made it out of committee. Immigrants will save our economy, but drug dealers, gang members, sexual predators and worse must be vetted out. 

     "I pray for sound leadership, but before we reform the system and perhaps even provide a path to citizenship, we must cleanse our cities and land from the mess of illegal, unfettered, and dangerous immigrants who are not here to forward our interests." 

                   Craig Borgardt, Wisconsin

God's Goodness

     The call to proclaim God's goodness rests upon every believer. This call beckons us to move beyond passive belief into active. We carry an anointing to declare God's loving kindness. 

     Research shows that declaring positive truths can rewire our brains, reduce stress and foster healing. We engage in a divine partnership with God. 

     "Let those who fear the Lord say: His love endures forever." - Psalm 118:4.

     Prayer: Lord, empower my voice to speak of your goodness. May I reflect your everlasting mercy and inspire others to seek you. Amen.

Provided by our pastor

The American flag, 1972 conclusion

I have a dream

     As I dream of the next one hundred years, I see our indestructible, imperishable Spirit of Human Freedom spreading to the uttermost parts of the world! I dream of new airports, new doors opening, old walls falling and old ideologies fading away, until the prayer we have been singing for years comes true:

     Not for this land alone, but be God's mercies shown, from shore to shore. And may the nations see that men should brothers be, and form one family, the wide world o'er.

     Many a morning I recall rising at dawn to hear the trumpeter in camp arouse the slumbering to a new day with the sounds of reveille.

     We stand today on the threshold of a new day, a new era, a new age.

     Do you feel it? 

     Rise up and make your country and your world great! 

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Well, what do you think? The late Dr. Robert Schuller (voice of the flag) was calling on us to be great long before President Trump took up the challenge.

Now we have AI, driverless automobiles, satellites and a closed border. We were on the threshold of failure until 2025. The communist/progressive political party does not want us to be "great." They are one election away from getting their way, as in 2021, or worse. Unless enough Americans continue to love our flag and what it represents. Your blogger thinks Dr. Schuller would be more sad than glad. What can we do? The spiritual battle rages on. We can/should pray daily for many reasons. 

 Our flag speaks, in 1972:

Think of it

     Only two hundred years ago my people were a motley group of foreigners. They spoke at least 15 languages. Somehow, they managed to overcome nationalistic prejudices, hostilities and differences. I say, a miracle of God. Then nationhood was ripped by a ghastly civil war, neighbor against neighbor, father against son. 

     But my country survived. Covered wagons gave way to railroads, and railroads gave way to airplanes. Again, war came and depression, soup lines and suicides. Somehow, a deep faith surged. Then came four wars in a period of six decades. Still the country survived. What has kept this young giant standing on its feet? Where did endurance come from? 

     Say what you will. You cannot explain this country without taking into account her churches, her temples and her Bibles. The explanation of our national strength can be found in the words of One. Jesus Christ promised:

     Whosoever hears the word of God and follows it, I will compare him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 

     It has become fashionable to discard all that has been held sacred. I warn, you cannot have the fruit without the root. Forsake God's virtues and you cut yourself off from spiritual faith, and courage that has made this country great. Seal off spiritual power with modern revisionism, and I warn you, your freedoms will suffocate and die.

Saturday: Conclusion. Our flag has a dream.

 1972   The American flag says...

Freedom depends on morality

     I have a second word for you. Be humble. 

     Look at the sins that remain and settle for nothing less than a deep cleansing. In your heart you know what needs to be cleaned. Know where your glory comes from. "Old Glory," I am called. My glory is the freedom that I give to every law-respecting man, woman and child. But mark this, freedom depends on morality. 

     The Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Word of God are the foundation of time-tested morality. Remove these foundations and suffer future shock. The vast majority of our citizens was trusted as self-disciplined followers of the Ten Commandments. Should the majority of our citizens forsake the disciplines that come through moral commitment, the society will no longer trust itself. 

     If my people depart from the virtues of God, they will find their freedom fading. Be humble. The high cost of freedom is commitment to God and the self-discipline it will demand. Without God, my stars will be clouded, my stripes will fade, my glory will depart, and your freedoms will erode and die. I the American flag have known humiliation too. I see men and women of high rank spending their millions on debasing pleasures. 

     Then they pledge their allegiance to me without guilt or repentance. I think of those who died for my country's freedom, and then I wonder if it was worth it! Oh God, what a waste. No! Not a waste; a challenge to call all back to the religious virtues that made freedom possible. 

Friday: a miracle of God?

     

 Our flag speaks  _part 3 

Freedom in my country

     No country knows greater freedom than my country. Freedom to each man, woman and child, to choose life's work. Freedom to travel from state to state without armed guards at borders. Freedom to try. Freedom to fail and not be cast into prison. Freedom to speak, write, praise, question or criticize anyone, and not fear a knock at the door. (Well, normally).  Freedom to worship, or not to worship, as the heart dictates.  

     Every Saturday I am found in Jewish temples where worshipers chant: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord." And Sundays in Catholic churches I hear them repeat: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." And in Protestant churches they sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear." 

     Freedom to borrow and build, to buy and sell, to make honest profit in return for real service. Freedom to start your own business, to create dignified job opportunities for people to learn the pride of honestly working for a living. I see the harvest of my fifty states. Look at the fruit of the land, her factories and laboratories an endless creation of new products flows forth:

     Wonder drugs and vaccines to destroy ancient plagues...tools to handle any task - to reach the moon, move mountains, photograph the inside of a human heart - tools made of iron, of plastic, tools made of diamonds, tools made of glass, tools made of laser beams. 

     Possibilities are unlimited...except as we limit them with a cynical, bitter, negative attitude! 

     Yes, when you see me flying in legislative halls, schools, courthouses and churches, listen to the rustle of my stars and stripes as I cry out to every boy and girl, every man and woman - Dream your dreams! Dare to believe! You can make it in America. 

 Tomorrow: Part 4. Be humble.