Broken bonds

     "Cutting contact with parents won't heal children's wounds.

     "Idealization of the self will not heal emotional emptiness. Young people determined to forge their own identities forget (or don't know) that we are made and shaped by others as much as by individual personality traits.

     "It's only by seeing ourselves reflected in close, sometimes difficult, unions that we understand who we truly are. God, a relationship in himself, means to shape us in relationship, beginning with our mother's arms and father's voice. 

     "'Honor your father and mother' is a weighty command. To break that bond for self-centered reasons makes us weightless."  

Janie B. Cheaney, WORLD magazine

Who Says? 

     "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

     "The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

     "The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 

     "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

     Not possible? It will be normal during the millennium to come, when Christ returns to rule the world. The above is from Isaiah chapter 11, written centuries ago. Isaiah wrote many verses that interest all of us who believe and hope in the Lord. 

     In verse 10: "In that day, the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people..." 

We have little idea how great our Savior is, do we? 

           Jimmy

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.