|
1
on: June 24, 2018, 09:06:45 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription
For Questions Or Comments: berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________
The Security of the Seal
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
In Revelation 7:1,2, John describes how in the coming Tribulation four angels will be given power “to hurt the earth and the sea.” But before they can act, they are told, “Hurt not the earth….till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (v. 3). Imagine how secure those believers will feel with the visible seal of the Lord “written in their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). Many believers today refuse to believe in their seal because they cannot see it, but I don’t know of any believer today who refuses to breathe the air because he cannot see it. Believers today can and should enjoy the same assurance as these 144,000 (v. 4), for while our seal is not visible, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Cor. 5:7). Our spiritual seal is just as real as their visible one, just as our spiritual circumcision and our spiritual baptism (Col. 2:10-12) are just as real as Israel’s visible circumcision and baptism.
These 144,000 sealed ones offer us dynamic proof of the security of our seal. Revelation 12 describes how in the middle of the Tribulation they are “caught up unto God, and to His throne” (v. 5). We see them next standing with the Lamb in the heavenly Mount Sion (Rev. 14:1), “redeemed from the earth” (v. 3), just as we will be someday (Rom. 8:23; 13:11), and they haven’t lost a single sealed one! They still number 144,000! Likewise, at the Rapture, the Lord will not misplace a single sealed member of “the church which is His body.” Talk about “signed, sealed and delivered!”
Sometimes the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is challenged with the notion that while our seal renders us safe from external dangers such as Satan and his host, God’s seal of the Spirit cannot protect us from within, from ourselves. An alligator’s powerful jaws can exert 3,000 pounds of pressure per square inch when closing, but once closed can be held shut with a man’s bare hands. It is argued by some that God’s seal works the same way, protecting us mightily from without, but helpless to keep us sealed should we sin too much from within.
Obviously, our Lord’s seal in John 6:27 was designed to protect Him from external dangers, for there was certainly no danger that He would sin from within and break the seal. So what assurance do we have in Scripture that God’s seal cannot be broken from the inside out? Surely this is powerfully answered in Revelation 20, where we are told that during the millennial kingdom God will take the devil and “shut him up and set a seal upon him” (v. 1-3). Imagine Satan’s frustration when after a lifetime of failing to break the seal of individual believers from without, he finds himself sealed up and helpless to break the seal from within! My dear Christian friend, if even the devil with his awesome power of evil can’t break God’s seal from within, what makes you think you can with your comparatively puny power of evil? In a great type of Christ, Noah was told to seal the ark “within and without with pitch” (Gen. 6:14). Once “the Lord shut him in” (Gen. 7:16), no water was going to get in, and no one was going to get out until it came time for God to break the seal and release the sojourners into the new world.
Will God ever break our seal? Not until it is time to usher us sojourners into our new world! We have a dramatic picture of this in Romans 15:26, where Paul talks about the collection that he had taken among the Gentile churches “for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.” Whilst this money was in Paul’s hands, it was sealed and absolutely safe and secure. Even though Paul was “in prisons more frequent” than just about anyone (II Cor. 11:23), and bribing your way out of prison was commonplace in that day (Acts 24:26), you wouldn’t catch Paul missappropriating funds for his own personal use to save his life! Speaking then of his plan to deliver this money personally to Jerusalem, he tells the Romans in Verse 28:
“When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain.”
Paul determined to make sure that the transfer of this sizeable collection was sealed air-tight to the possession of the people for whom it was taken. What a lesson for all those who handle the Lord’s money today! And what a picture of the sacred transfer that will take place at the Rapture! We have seen in this study that the seal of the believer in this life goes infinitely beyond what the world calls “hermetic,” but what happens when it comes time for us to be ushered into the new world? Ah remember, Paul says that you and I are “sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30), that is, “the redemption of our body” at the Rapture (Rom. 8:23). There will be no last minute fumble when the Body of Christ is joined to the host of heaven, for the Lord Jesus Himself will have “sealed to them this fruit,” this fruit of the church which is His Body. Just as our nation’s space shuttle remains sealed until it docks with the space station, even so the individual believer today will remain sealed unto our rendezvous with eternity.
The very honor of God is at stake in this matter of the security of our seal. II Corinthians 1:20 says that “all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” What are some of these unconditional promises that we have in Christ? Well, Verse 22 speaks of God….
“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”
If God’s promise were broken and sealed believers were somehow lost, God would get no glory “by us.” Indeed, the loss of a single Spirit-sealed saint would be a thrust at His integrity, for the soundness of the believer’s seal depends not on his works but on the solemn promise of God. We know this is so because Paul does not make mention of the Spirit’s seal exclusively to the spiritual Ephesians, but here includes the carnal Corinthians when speaking of this precious blessing. Thus we know that the most backslidden believer need never fear that he has sinned too deeply, broken his seal, and endangered his soul.
This is why we must be careful to “grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” When God’s Spirit was “grieved” at man before the Flood, God vowed to “destroy” man from the face of the earth (Gen. 6:6,7). When Israel “grieved” the Lord for forty years in the wilderness, God swore in His wrath that that generation would not enter the Promised Land (Ps. 95:10,11). But, when you as a believer grieve Him at His heart, your seal remains intact as the Spirit just stands there and takes it, choosing to respond with grace, not wrath. How it behooves each blood-bought believer to tremble at the thought of presuming upon such grace.
Imagine a Christian Secret Service agent, assigned to protect a president that continually took the Lord’s name in vain. This president knows that his speech grieves the agent, but he could care less! Until one day the agent saves his life! Surely now he will amend his speech! But no, he continues to blaspheme and the agent, though grieved, continues to keep him safe. Before you holler, “What an ingrate!”, remember that when you sin against the Spirit that saved you and keeps you sealed, you have more in common with this ungrateful president than you would care to admit.
What is it specifically that grieves the Lord? Well, if Paul had warned us not to grieve “the Lonely Spirit,” we would know not to ignore Him and make Him to feel left out. If Paul had cautioned us not to grieve “the Shy Spirit,” we might grieve Him by showering Him with the same attention as our Pentecostal friends! But it is “the Holy Spirit” that Paul tells us not to grieve, and His name says it all! It is the ungodly and unholy behavior of the context (Eph. 4:25-31) that grieves Him at His heart. Thus may each of us determine in our hearts to “grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” |
|
|
2
on: June 24, 2018, 08:51:42 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription
For Questions Or Comments: berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________
The Security of the Seal
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
(From a message preached at Faith Bible Church, Pastor Kurth’s home church in Steger, Illinois)
“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).
What does it mean to be “sealed” by the Spirit, and how secure does this seal make us? Words mean things, and we are not allowed to ascribe arbitrary meanings to Bible words. But a careful study of the Bible use of this word “seal” will develop it’s meaning for us and fortify our faith.
In Esther 8:8, the king of Persia ordered that a decree be issued, and commanded: “seal it with the king’s ring.” When the king’s ring was pressed against the hot wax that sealed a document in those days, the sealed scroll then bore an imprint that identified it with the king. Similarly, when you and I were baptized into Christ the moment we believed the gospel, we were identified with Christ, and to this day we bear the unseen imprint of the Holy Spirit. And while I like to identify with our Chicago sports teams only until they start losing, how good to know that God remains identified with us even when we grieve Him!
Esther 8:8 also teaches us that a decree sealed with the king’s ring “may no man reverse!” Not even the king himself could overturn an order sealed with his ring. How reassuring to know that no matter how we grieve His Spirit, God Himself cannot reverse the eternal destiny of a believer that bears His seal. When Daniel was tossed into the lion’s den, the king sealed the den with his own signet “that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel” (Dan. 6:17).
Moving on in our study of the seal, we see that Job enjoyed absolute confidence in his security (Job 19:25-27) because he knew that his sin was “sealed up in a bag” (14:17). He knew that no one could break the seal of God and release his sin. But how much more secure should we feel! Christ has done more than seal our sins in a bag, He has “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26) and sealed us with His Spirit!
Next in our study of the seal, Jeremiah 32:9,10 tells us that Jeremiah bought some land and “sealed” the deed, here called “the evidence of the purchase” (v. 11). Well does this writer remember as a young boy sending away for prizes advertised on the back of cereal boxes. The prizes were “free,” but required two or three “proof of purchase” seals found on each box of cereal. That’s what the Spirit is for us, proof that our pardon has been purchased by the blood of Christ, “evidence” that could be presented were we ever to be called to stand before God’s bar of justice.
Just as there were “witnesses” (v. 10) to Jeremiah’s purchase, we know that there were angelic witnesses to the purchase of our redemption, holy ones who watched in wonder as the Son of God purchased our redemption on Calvary, then rejoiced when we believed the gospel (Luke 15:10) and sealed the deal.
The evidence of purchase in Jeremiah’s day came in two parts, “both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open” (v. 11), an open deed left available for examination in the event of land disputes, and a sealed deed kept safe for security purposes. These deeds were identical. We know that criminal embezzlers often keep two different sets of books—one to show the authorities, and one that accurately reflects their wrongdoing! But Jeremiah’s land deeds were the same, “both that which was sealed…and that which was open,” reminding us that, while our Spirit seal is invisible (since “your life is hid with Christ in God”—Col. 3:3), our public lives should read the same as our title deed, for our open seal is “known and read of all men” (II Cor. 3:2,3). The Apostle Paul put it this way:
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this SEAL, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (II Tim. 2:19).
Jeremiah’s land deeds were placed “in an earthen vessel” for safekeeping (Jer. 32:14). Likewise, God placed the proof of our purchase within us, within these jars of clay that make up our physical bodies (Gen. 2:7; II Cor. 4:7). Wouldn’t Jeremiah’s deeds have been safer in the temple? Well, which lasted longer, Israel’s temple or the Dead Sea Scrolls found recently after nearly two thousand years—in earthen vessels! God knows precisely what He is doing when He leaves your seal in the earthen vessel of your physical body, for it is secured by the power of His almighty arm.
Jeremiah was told to place his deed in an earthen vessel, “that they may continue many days” (Jer. 32:14). How many days? Well, Israel was about to be overrun by Babylon, meaning that even though Jeremiah held the deed to the land, the property would be out of his control for seventy years. When Jeremiah questioned the Lord about the wisdom of His command to buy the land (v. 24,25), the Lord assured him that the captivity would someday end, and the land would no longer be out of his control (v. 44). How this reminds us that when the Lord Jesus redeemed us, He knew that even though He would hold the deed to our hearts, we would be out of His control for about seventy years (Ps. 90:10). Thankfully He, like Jeremiah, went ahead and made the purchase anyway!
We learn more about the Bible meaning of the word “seal” in Ezekiel 28:12, where it is said of Lucifer, “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” Here we learn that something that is sealed is perfect and complete. Not a single thing could be added to Lucifer to make him wiser or more beautiful. Similarly, God has not needed to add a single star since the original creation, since in the beginning He “sealeth up the stars” (Job 9:7). And wonder of wonders, not a single thing needs to be added to believers today who are sealed with the Spirit, for we are “complete in Him” (Col. 2:10).
In Jeremiah’s day, both the seller and the buyer of land had to affix their seal to the deed to testify to the transaction. But what about the transaction of our redemption? John 3:33 says:
“He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.”
How does a man “set to his seal” that God is true? Simply by receiving His testimony and believing on Christ (v. 36).
And speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, John 6:27 says, “Him hath God the Father sealed.” To what could John be referring to but our Lord’s experience at His baptism when “the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him” (Luke 3:22). If this be the case, the conclusion we can draw from this is almost too precious to believe. If the “seal” with which God the Father sealed our Savior is the Holy Spirit, then you and I are sealed with the same seal with which the Lord Jesus Christ was sealed. If that doesn’t make you feel secure, I’m not sure what will!
But why would the Lord need such a secure seal? Perhaps in some sense this would enable Him in His humanity to bear the awful load of sin that was placed upon Him at Calvary. If this be so, we have further proof that we need never fear the loss of salvation due to our sin. If all the sins of all the world were not sufficient to break His seal of the Spirit, then surely your comparatively small load of sin will never avail to break your seal of the Spirit.
Romans 4:11 teaches us that Abraham “received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised.” Abraham’s seal was a wonderful illustration of our own in two blessed ways. First, circumcision was irreversible, re-inforcing our conviction that our seal is likewise permanent and irrevocable. Second, Abraham’s seal went with him wherever he went. I’d forget my head if it weren’t attached to my shoulders! And just as sure as getting pulled over by a policeman the day you forget your wallet, you know you’d die the day you forgot your seal, if it was something you had to remember. Bless God, it isn’t! |
|
|
3
on: June 24, 2018, 08:44:31 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription
For Questions Or Comments: berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________
Simple As Can Be
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Have you ever heard some preacher say: “There are many things in the Bible which are hard to understand but, thank God, the plan of salvation is as simple as can be.”
Well the plan of salvation is simple IF we obey II Timothy 2:15, “rightly dividing the Word of truth.” Otherwise it is far from simple.
The Apostle Paul wrote: “We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28.). Yet James wrote: “By works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24).
Again, at Sinai God said to Israel through Moses: “If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people …” (Ex. 19:5). But our Lord said, as He sent His apostles to witness for Him that, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved… and these signs shall follow them that believe: in My name shall they cast out demons, they shall speak with new tongues…” etc. (Mark 16:16-18.). Thus, according to their “great commission” water baptism was required for salvation and miraculous signs were the evidences of salvation.
Confusing? Contradictory? Not if we “rightly divide the Word of truth.” It was after “the law was given by Moses,” after our Lord’s earthly ministry, after the commission to the twelve, that God raised up another apostle, Paul, and sent him forth with “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
It was Paul who was sent to declare: “But NOW, the righteousness of God without the law is manifested…” (Rom. 3:21). “To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). “Therefore, being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). |
|
|
4
on: June 24, 2018, 08:43:15 AM
|
|
Started by Soldier4Christ - Last post by Soldier4Christ
|
|
Prepared Hearts
“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” (Ezra 7:10)
It does not come naturally into our hearts to seek, obey, and then teach others the words of God as found in the Scriptures. Therefore, like Ezra, we must prepare our hearts.
The Hebrew word for “prepare” means to “stand erect,” and thus takes special effort. One’s natural “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), not at all inclined to “stand up” for the Word of God.
But Ezra did, even in the court of a pagan king and in the midst of the enemies of God’s people in a far country, and even among the backslidden people of his own nation. He prepared his heart, fixing it in firm faith on the laws and promises of God. And because he did, he could testify: “I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me” (Ezra 7:28).
On the other hand we read, for example, of King Rehoboam whose rebellion and sin led to the dividing of Israel into two kingdoms and eventually into the captivity. These judgments came because, unlike Ezra, Rehoboam “did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD” (2 Chronicles 12:14).
Thus, our hearts need to be prepared to seek God and His Word, but how do we get them prepared? First, we must come to Him in true humility. “LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear” (Psalm 10:17).
God is then the One who actually prepares our hearts! “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:1). We can only prepare our hearts to seek and serve God if we humbly call on Him to do the preparing. HMM
|
|
|
5
on: June 23, 2018, 06:36:59 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription
For Questions Or Comments: berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________
The Captain of Our Salvation
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Years ago a man of God was asked to preach at the funeral of a young soldier whose parents were unsaved.
During the course of his message the preacher sought to impress upon his hearers the basic fact that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.6:23).
This greatly upset the parents. After the service they complained: “This is embarrassing. Our boy was not a sinner.”
The truth was that shortly before his death this young man had done what every true, born-again Christian has done. He acknowledged himself to be a lost sinner and, trusting Christ as his Savior, had been so gloriously saved that his parents were mystified that he could be so happy in the face of death.
The simplest believer in Christ understands all this. He knows that for the “old man” the death of the body is indeed a “dishonorable discharge” for laws broken, orders disobeyed, responsibilities unmet, and trusts betrayed. But for the “new man the death of the body is the vestibule through which he is ushered into the blessed presence of “the Captain of our Salvation,” the One who “by the grace of God tasted death for every man” that He might “bring many sons unto glory” (See Hebrews 2:9,10).
This is why we read in Hebrews 2:14,15:
“Forasmuch, then, as the children [of Adam] were partakers of flesh and blood, He [Christ] also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
“And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
No wonder St. Paul’s simple message of salvation was: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). |
|
|
6
on: June 23, 2018, 06:35:17 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________ At the cross!
(Charles Spurgeon)
The cross, that deepest revelation of the glory of God--is the great weapon which breaks down the heart's defenses! It is especially the love of Jesus shown in the cross, which turns and transforms the hearts of sinners.
In the horrifying torture and crucifixion of Jesus, we see the highest proof of the highest love. His bleeding, makes our hearts bleed. His shame, makes us ashamed. In the cross we see the divine disgust at sin, which makes sin appalling in our eyes as well. But further, through the cross we see a love so unfathomable, that it pierces our apathy and overwhelms our desires for earthly trinkets.
At the cross . . .
our pride and sinfulness are mortified,
our self-deifying efforts are destroyed,
our wandering hearts are exposed,
the beauty of Christ in His humility and holiness are held before us,
and the glory of God shines brightest in all its transforming power.
The atoning work of Jesus is the great gun of our battery. The cross is the mighty battering-ram with which to break in pieces the bronze gates of human prejudices and the iron bars of sinful obstinacy! |
|
|
7
on: June 23, 2018, 06:25:51 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 6-22-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________
The political piece is easy: Every legislator or bureaucrat with a space-related industrial sector has a constituent “rice bowl” they want to fill. As always, a good forensic decryption aid for issues like these is this: Follow the money.
As for the grievances and drivers behind the decision, last year, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Service Committee, spoke at the National Defense Forum. He flatly stated, “What we have found is that space has not been able to get the attention it needs, culturally or resource wise.” He was taking aim at the Air Force, which — at least in his estimation — gives space short-shrift. “The Air Force’s number one mission culturally is air dominance, as it should be,” Rogers said. “Space is a subordinate mission and that’s no longer acceptable.”
He further noted in the previous year that none of the 37 Air Force colonel promotion candidates to the rank of brigadier general were space professionals, and that out of 450 hours of required courses within the Air Force’s professional military education curriculum, only two are devoted to national security in space. Rogers likened the current state of space power to that of the Air Force in its nascent stage under the Army, saying it requires a similar solution.
From a doctrinal standpoint, opinions about separating space from the Air Force’s mission are all over the map. Some national defense strategists believe space power remains simply a logical extension of air power and thus should remain within the Air Force. Others note space is trans-service: All military branches use space and have a vested interest in space not “belonging” to any one service. Still others believe that development of a truly independent space force is needed to spur the kind of growth that rapidly sprang from the minds of its doctrine developers once the Air Force became an independent service component.
Clearly, doctrine developers and Pentagon planners don’t speak with one voice on the topic, so searching for the answer about whether a separate space force should exist is likely pointless.
One thing is clear, however: America’s adversaries — especially China and Russia — are challenging its dominant role in space. Stealing U.S. technologies, among others, China has made alarming advances in counter-space technology, with the end goal of denying U.S. access to space capabilities if a conflict between the two nations arises. So as Trump wrestles Beijing over trade and North Korean nukes, the Space Force may be one more chess move.
As to the ultimate wisdom of President Trump’s decision, the truth will become known over the long term. We’re almost certain to see a robust body of “space doctrine” and new technologies develop from this initiative. Let’s hope these future assets to our national security outweigh the bureaucracy associated with having another military mouth to feed at the budget trough. For now, however, we can still hear the echoes ringing out from the rally in Duluth, Minnesota, which the president just visited: “Space Force, Space Force, Space Force, Space Force!”
Bastiat is a retired career Air Force officer and pilot.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56723-a-space-force-to-be-reckoned-with
MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST
Internet Taxes: Killing the Golden E-commerce Goose?32 — The Supreme Court’s ruling allowing taxation of Internet sales will cost consumers a lot.
Harvard Turns ‘Diversity’ on Its Head33 — The Ivy League bastion is routinely rejecting Asian-Americans based not on grades but race.
Trump Eyes Education-Labor Department Merger34 — Being two sides of the same coin, unification could lead to significant reforms.
Socialist DOJ Employee Harasses DHS Secretary35 — Allison Hrabar decided it was time to call Kirstjen Nielsen a “villain” and “fascist pig.”
Video: Border Patrol Agent Sets Record Straight on CNN36 — Parents put their kids in horrible danger and yet the American Leftmedia blame Trump.
OPINION IN BRIEF
David Harsanyi: “I’m a pretty liberal guy on immigration — open to more asylum seekers, bigger immigration, more temporary workers, etc. But I’m not a huge fan of chaos. And I suspect I’m not alone. Yet we have Democrats and activists calling for the elimination of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We have a Democratic Party unwilling to make any compromise on the issue even when we’re faced with a surge of migrant children. As Gabriel Malor pointed out in The Federalist this week, the proposed legislation cosponsored by every Senate Democrat was so carelessly written that it would prevent ‘federal law enforcement agencies almost anywhere inside the United States from arresting and detaining criminals who are parents having nothing to do with unlawfully crossing the border and seeking asylum.’ It’s not healthy for the country or the people who come here seeking a better life for them to be thrown into a system that doesn’t work. Nor, as we are increasingly seeing in Europe, is it politically tenable to rely on emotionalism as a means of ignoring all law.”
SHORT CUTS
Pathetic parting shot: “Charles Krauthammer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist and intellectual provocateur who championed the muscular foreign policy of neoconservatism that helped lay the ideological groundwork for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, died June 21 at 68.” —The Washington Post’s Adam Bernstein in a “straight news” obituary
Gross hyperbole: “This policy of family separation reminds us of the cattle cars of Nazi Germany when children were separated from their parents and marched to supposed showers. It reminds us of the Japanese internment camps. It reminds us of all the darkest periods.” —Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
Open borders: “No, it would not be better to build a wall. A wall is expensive, ineffective [and] immoral. … It’s not better to build a wall. What’s better to do is to build a bridge.” —Nancy Pelosi
Braying Jenny: “The president’s executive order seeks to replace one form of child abuse with another. Instead of protecting traumatized children, the president has directed his attorney general to pave the way for the long-term incarceration of families in prison-like conditions.” —Nancy Pelosi
Hypocrisy alert! “I hope that while some may have tried to politicize it, I hope that was not the case. … I’m not going to take any bait on what one partisan said or the other. … People will say this and that. The fact is, the reality is: The children are there and we need to address the problem.” —Nancy Pelosi in 2014, back when child detention under Barack Obama wasn’t as politically useful as an issue
Village Idiots: “ICE has strayed so far away from its mission. It is supposed to be here to keep Americans safe but what it has turned into, frankly, is a terrorist organization of its own that is terrorizing people who are coming to this country.” —actress and political aspirant Cynthia Nixon
And last… “Democrats don’t want to detain anyone for any reason. They want open borders. Period. … No matter what the president does in the name of compassion, the Left will attack him because it will settle for nothing less than 100% ‘catch and release’ until the job of fundamentally transforming America is finished.” —Gary Bauer
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56724-friday-short-cuts
Join our editors and staff in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Mark Alexander, Publisher |
|
|
8
on: June 23, 2018, 06:24:48 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 6-22-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________
The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Jun. 22, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/56730-mid-day-digest
THE FOUNDATION
“Newspapers … serve as chimnies to carry off noxious vapors and smoke.” —Thomas Jefferson (1802)
IN TODAY’S EDITION
Time magazine’s latest fake news is as egregious as we’ve seen.
A pistol-packing pastor saved lives during a violent carjacking.
Do we need a Space Force? That’s a complicated answer.
The Supreme Court just made online retail more expensive.
Harvard discriminates against Asian-Americans in the name of diversity.
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.
IN BRIEF
Time Propagates Bald-Faced Fake News1
Thomas Gallatin
The cover of the latest issue of Time magazine features two individuals. One is a little Honduran girl crying while juxtaposed and looking down at her is President Donald Trump. The caption reads, “Welcome to America.” The clear message being sent by the leftist magazine is that this poor little girl is alone, separated from her parents because of Trump’s zero-tolerance illegal immigration policy. In announcing its cover, Time tweeted “TIME’s new cover: A reckoning after Trump’s border separation policy: What kind of country are we?”
However, as has become all too common with the Leftmedia narrative2, there is one massive problem with Time’s cover — that little Honduran girl was never separated from her mother. In fact, after leaving the rest of her family, her mother had paid a human trafficker $6,000 to smuggle them across the U.S. border, where they were subsequently arrested by Border Patrol agents. Border Patrol agent Carlos Ruiz explained3, “We were patrolling the border. It was 10 o'clock at night. We asked her to set the kid down in front of her, not away from her — she was right in front of her … so we can properly search the mother.” Ruiz added, “So the kid immediately started crying as she set her down. I personally went up to the mother and asked her, ‘Are you doing OK? Is the kid OK?’ and she said, ‘Yes. She’s tired and thirsty. It’s 11 o'clock at night.’”
Was the minor separated from her mother later? No, both mother (Sandra) and child (Yanela Denise) were detained at a family residential center in Texas together. The Daily Mail tracked down Sandra’s husband still living in Honduras. He explained that his wife desired to go to the U.S. to seek a “better future,” but that he did not support the idea. Sandra left behind three other children on her trek to seek asylum in the U.S. But, if she was seeking asylum, why did she not go to a port of entry and do so legally? Because Sandra is a repeat offender. Back in 20134, she was arrested and deported for illegally crossing the border. It would appear that this illegal alien had no grounds for claiming asylum, thus her decision to break U.S. law. This may be more common than the Leftmedia would care to report.
Clearly, none of these facts matter to Time, for the agenda being pushed is open borders. The powerful emotive image of a crying little girl offered too much potential as a tantalizing piece of propaganda to be ignored. And if the truth gets out, no matter — it’s the immediate emotional impact that moves people. It’s become common practice for the Leftmedia to package the news not to inform but to disinform. And Time’s coverage is one of the most egregious examples to date.
So, as the saying goes, don’t believe the hype. Discretion and reasoned inquiry must precede any acceptance of news from any media source. Blindly trusting a news report simply because of the notoriety of the media organization is foolishly naive. Thankfully, a growing majority5 of Americans are recognizing just how biased mainstream media has become.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56725-time-propagates-bald-faced-fake-news
Pistol-Packing Pastor Stops a Carjacker6
Nate Jackson
Is there anything as American as a pistol-packing pastor who takes out an armed carjacker and then tends a wounded man until medics arrived? That’s exactly what happened7 in Washington state Tuesday when a local pastor — who is also a fire department lieutenant, EMT and trained concealed carry permit holder — shot and killed an attacker at a Walmart. The assailant fired shots in the store before heading to the parking lot to attempt a carjacking. He shot and wounded a male driver before turning his attention to trying to steal a second car. That’s when the pastor stepped in and shot him. He likely saved the life of the wounded driver.
We’ve reported in recent years both that gun owners are model citizens8 and that more armed citizens are stopping attacks9 than ever. What sets this one apart is that the good guy is a shepherd.
As The Resurgent’s Peter Heck reminds us10, “There’s that famous scene from Mel Gibson’s ‘The Patriot’ where the local preacher, played by actor René Auberjonois, comes down out of the pulpit to grab a musket and join the American patriots in the revolution. When congregants react shocked at the sight of a rifle-toting pastor, the preacher tips his cap and says, ‘A shepherd must tend his flock, and at times fight off the wolves.’”
Washington state has at least one good shepherd.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56726-pistol-packing-pastor-stops-a-carjacker
Editor’s Note
Charles Krauthammer, the intellectual giant conservative commentator and Pulitzer Prize winner, has died at 68.
We’ve carried Krauthammer’s columns11 (syndicated by The Washington Post) for the last decade, and he’s been a valuable part of our Right Opinion12 roster. He was also well-known as a Fox News commentator. But he didn’t start out on our side. Krauthammer was the former editor of New Republic and he was a speechwriter for Walter Mondale. Who knew that Ronald Reagan would eventually win over even his opponent’s staff?
Visit our site for Krauthammer’s Washington Post obituary13. Fox News also has its own14 remembrance of Krauthammer’s life.
Top Headlines15
Paul Ryan, House leadership delay vote on compromise immigration bill until next week (Washington Examiner16)
Justice Department asks federal judge to remove 20-day detention limit on immigrant families (PBS News17)
Pelosi says border wall is “immoral” (CNS News18.)
Antifa calls NYU prof a “hero” for doxxing ICE employees (Campus Reform19)
Obama’s cyber chief confirms 2016 “stand down” order against Russian cyberattacks (Fox News20)
Supreme Court says police can’t use your phone to track you without a court order (NBC News21)
Administrative law smackdown: The Supreme Court strikes a blow for political accountability (The Wall Street Journal22)
Six highs and lows of the House budget proposal for 2019 (The Daily Signal23)
House approves five-year farm bill (The Hill24)
Humor: Media slam president for prematurely ending crisis they were exploiting (The Babylon Bee25)
Policy: Supreme Court botches Wayfair ruling, putting small online businesses at risk of new taxes (The Daily Signal26)
Policy: Blueprint for balance: A federal budget for Fiscal Year 2019 (The Heritage Foundation27)
For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report28.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56727-friday-top-headlines
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
56710 56709 56715 56711 56713
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion12.
FEATURED ANALYSIS
A (Space) Force to Be Reckoned With31
John J. Bastiat
There’s an obvious question asked by, well, everyone in the wake of President Donald Trump’s announcement earlier this week that he has directed the Pentagon to create a “Space Force”: Do we really need an independent space force? Furthermore, what drove this decision to create what will be the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces? The answers have several moving parts, including politics, well-grounded grievances and doctrinal considerations. |
|
|
9
on: June 23, 2018, 06:21:43 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 6-21-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________
Top Headlines12
Data shows sanctuary policies are hampering ICE arrests (CNS News13)
Supreme Court rules states can require online retailers to collect sales tax (NBC News14)
White House to propose merging Education, Labor Departments (The Wall Street Journal15)
Senate can’t muster votes to trim 0.08% of federal budget (Reason16)
Democrats demand end to firing delinquent government workers, union reforms (Hot Air17)
Michael Bloomberg will spend $80 million to flip the House for Democrats (The New York Times18.)
RNC sets another fundraising record, hauls in $14.6 million for May (The Washington Free Beacon19)
Three of the five FBI employees dinged for anti-Trump bias in IG report ended up on Mueller probe (The Washington Times20)
Report: Nearly 400 million civilian-owned guns in America (The Washington Free Beacon21)
Humor: New ballot initiative proposes dividing California into tiny bits, feeding it to sharks (The Babylon Bee22)
Policy: How immigration officials cooked the books and fooled Congress for years (The Daily Signal23)
Policy: A day in court remains elusive for some taxpayers (American Enterprise Institute24)
For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report25.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56701-thursday-top-headlines
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
56688 56678 56676 56686 56682
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion28.
What Are You Doing For Liberty?
Sometimes readers ask us what good a donation to The Patriot Post will do in the fight for Liberty. Good question. The answer is that we’re a leading advocate of Liberty and limited government through our hard-hitting daily news analysis. By covering the latest headline stories from a constitutional perspective, we provide grassroots Patriots with the information needed to spread the word and make a real difference.
To protect the integrity of our content, we have never accepted advertising, which inevitably influences objective analysis. Nor have we ever charged a subscription fee, which would limit our ability to reach large numbers of students or those on fixed incomes.
But we depend on your generosity to keep this resource coming. If you are able to financially support our steadfast promotion of Liberty, please support The Patriot Fund today. Thank you for standing with us! —Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column
Read Demo Party Leaders Don’t Care About Children — Unless…29. Demos don’t want an immigration solution. They want fodder for political talking points to advance their statist agenda and undermine the Trump administration’s economic policy success before midterm elections.
If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email, update your subscription here30.
MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST
A Despicable Hate-Fest Ginned Up for the Midterms3 — The despicable “splitting up families” campaign if choreographed for a Demo win in 2018.
ObamaCare Repeal Back From the Dead?31 — Maybe. Either way, changes are coming to ObamaCare in the form of association health plans.
NAC Objects to Census Citizenship Question32 — Census Bureau gets pushback from a leftist committee for including citizenship question.
Ireland: When ‘Freedom’ Becomes Coercion33 — The recent abortion vote strips religious liberty and conscience rights from Catholic hospitals.
Video: What Is Intersectionality?34 — Identity politics in which the value of your opinion depends on how many victim groups you belong to.
OPINION IN BRIEF
Victor Davis Hanson: “The inspector general’s report on the Clinton email covers just one scandal. Presumably, the IG and other investigators will issue reports on a number of other ongoing scandals that involved the 2016 campaign. How did government officials, by hiding information about the so-called Steele dossier, mislead the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get warrants to spy on U.S. citizens associated with the Trump campaign? How was it decided that the Clinton campaign would pay Christopher Steele for gathering dirt on the Trump campaign, and how did the information from the dossier get to intelligence agencies? How was an FBI informant inserted into the Trump campaign? How were names of U.S. citizens unmasked by Obama administration officials and leaked to the press? If the IG report on the Clinton email scandal is any guide to these upcoming investigations, expect widespread abuse of the English language to warp reality. The media is using the antiseptic ‘informant’ in place of the cruder but more accurate ‘spy’ or ‘mole.’ The off-putting but accurate ‘wiretapping’ has become the more professional ‘surveillance.’ The sanitized ‘improper’ always sounds cleaner than the more accurate ‘illegal.’ In sum, ‘2016’ could make a logical sequel to 1984.”
SHORT CUTS
For the record: “Ramzi Yousef was the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Bojinka plot, as well as the nephew of 9/11 architect Khalid Sheik Mohammed. Poor Yousef almost didn’t make it through customs. Not only was his own passport of dubious provenance, but his traveling companion was carrying bomb manuals, car bombing videos — and instructions on how to lie to U.S. immigration inspectors. Yousef claimed asylum and was released into our country to execute the first WTC attack.” —Ann Coulter
Memory lane, part I: “Do not send your children to the borders. If they do make it, they’ll get sent back.” —Barack Obama in 2014
Memory lane, part II: “We have to send a clear message, just because your child gets across the border, that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay. So, we don’t want to send a message that is contrary to our laws or will encourage more children to make that dangerous journey.” —Hillary Clinton in 2014
Braying Jackass: “Vice President Mike Pence let me be the first person to officially welcome you to the City of Brotherly Love, and to my District in the State House! To be clear, we’re a City of soaring diversity. We believe in the power of all people to live and to contribute: Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Atheist, Immigrant, we want you and we’ll respect you. So keep that in mind while you’re here raising money to attack more families, spread more lies, blaspheme with your bible, and maybe even talk to a woman without your wife in the room. We have plenty of them, and they’re pretty much all more powerful and more real than you have ever been. So…get bent, then get out!” —Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims, whose vitriol included an image of him flipping off Pence
Alpha Jackass: “WE SHOULD RIP BARRON TRUMP FROM HIS MOTHER’S ARMS AND PUT HIM IN A CAGE WITH PEDOPHILES AND SEE IF MOTHER WILL WILL STAND UP AGAINST THE GIANT A—HOLE SHE IS MARRIED TO.” —actor Peter Fonda
And last… “If emotion is to supersede law, then just about any law can be circumvented if the emotional level is high enough.” —Cal Thomas
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56698-thursday-short-cuts
Join our editors and staff in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Mark Alexander, Publisher |
|
|
10
on: June 23, 2018, 06:20:45 PM
|
|
Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
|
________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 6-21-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________
The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Jun. 21, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/56702-mid-day-digest
THE FOUNDATION
“They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men.” —John Adams (1775)
IN TODAY’S EDITION
It’s no surprise the Trump’s EO on illegal minors didn’t satisfy Democrats.
Beware viral photos of detained immigrant children.
This whole episode is a despicable hate-fest ginned up for the midterms.
Ireland will mandate even Catholic hospitals perform abortions.
Is ObamaCare repeal back from the dead?
The Census Bureau’s citizenship question is “racist”?
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.
FEATURED ANALYSIS
Resolving the Alien Minor Separation Issue1
Thomas Gallatin
As pressure mounted nationally under the strategic Democrat- and mainstream media-fomented conniption fit2 over the practice of separating minors from parents who have illegally crossed the U.S. border, President Donald Trump issued an executive order Wednesday halting the practice. Trump said that the U.S. needs to have a “very powerful, very strong border … [while] at the same time we have compassion.” He added, “We want to keep families together. It’s very important. … I don’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.”
In his executive order, Trump noted that while the families will not be separated, they also will not be released. The order reads, “It is the policy of this Administration to rigorously enforce our immigration laws. It is also the policy of this Administration to maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources. It is unfortunate that Congress’s failure to act and court orders have put the Administration in the position of separating alien families to effectively enforce the law.”
Did Trump’s action assuage Democrat and MSM “moral” objections? Nope. Before the ink was even dry on Trump’s EO, Democrats began voicing their objections. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-2020) complained, “This Executive Order doesn’t fix the crisis. Indefinitely detaining children with their families in camps is inhumane and will not make us safe.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (S-VT) harangued, “Trump’s executive order merely replaces one inhumane act with another. In response to the overwhelming public outrage at his policy of tearing children away from their parents at the border, this administration thinks the appropriate response is to indefinitely detain families.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) lamented, “It’s extremely troubling that the president’s executive order would require immigrant families with children to be detained indefinitely. The order appears to be the next step in the Trump administration’s larger agenda to eliminate basic protections for asylum seekers.”
Clearly, Democrats favor open borders and want to see the reinstatement of Barack Obama’s catch-and-release policy that amounted to nonenforcement against illegal immigration. It’s a despicable hate-fest ginned up for the 2018 midterms3.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) quickly called out the Democrats, tweeting, “Some Democrats now even using the disingenuous ‘indefinite detention’ term. They know full well that those who unlawfully enter the U.S. are not held indefinitely… Just heard Senate colleague on floor say U.S. detains immigrant children ‘indefinitely & indiscriminately’. That is just PATENTLY FALSE. They are entitled to due process hearing so not indefinite. And only applies to those who enter the U.S. unlawfully so it’s not indiscriminate.”
But it was Trump himself who dealt the most devastating blow with a video of Democrat leaders4 advocating tough immigration enforcement. You know, back before they could bash him for actually doing it.
Now for a few important details the mainstream media is deliberately not telling you.
Of the 12,000 immigrant minors in Health and Human Services custody, 10,000 crossed the border without a family member, and 2,000 are in custody because their parents entered the country illegally.
Mark Alexander argues that “these minors in HHS custody are now safer, more comfortable and better cared for than at any other time in their lives.”
As HHS Secretary Alex Azar notes: “The vast majority of these kids are teenagers, over the age of 13. We have a few who are under the age of 13 and keep them in separate facilities with separate protocols. These kids are getting the full range of services. America is a generous nation, and America takes care of these kids even though they should not be in the country. We provide them with education, we provide them with meals, they get medical care, they get dental care, vision, they get athletic time, entertainment, they get psychiatric care. We’re providing excellent care for these kids. … Each child costs taxpayers hundreds of dollars per day … more than most U.S. parents can afford to spend on their children.”
Azar notes further, “The simple fact is, the way you prevent separation, the way you prevent your children from coming into our care — don’t come into our country illegally. Go and present yourself at a legal border crossing with permission to come into the country, or make your case why you legally should be allowed to enter. If you break our laws, you will be prosecuted. If you’re prosecuted, you may have your children given into our custody.”
Listening to hysterical media coverage, you might be amazed that it’s so simple. But it is.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56696-resolving-the-alien-minor-separation-issue
Those Viral Immigrant Children Photos — Caveat Emptor5
Mark Alexander
As part of a cynical political ploy2 to undermine Trump administration policy success ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, Democrat Party6 leaders have executed a successful campaign appealing to their Latino constituency. The centerpiece of that appeal has been a viral social media firestorm promoting images of children in cages7, claiming they have been “ripped from the arms of their parents by Donald Trump” and comparing Trump to Hitler.
Fact is, the most widely circulated of those viral photos were taken in 20148 when Barack Obama was setting immigration policy.
By extension, as the Left correctly calculated, these images of caged children generated a lot of “heartfelt emotive compassion” across its other constituencies and across the political divide. (For the record, the vast majority of these detained minors separated from one or more parents who entered our country illegally are between the age of 13-18, not young children.)
The resulting public outcry prompted Donald Trump9 to sign an executive order1 attempting to resolve the issue, while Congress endeavors to reach a consensus on competing immigration reform bills. But because of Left-judiciary rulings regarding immigrant minors10, the government may have no option but to release these minors with their families into the American heartland, where they will then never return for a deportation hearing. In effect, it’s an open-border invitation to more illegal immigrants.
So pervasive are these viral images, ostensibly of detained children, that in a report on the Demo response to Trump’s executive order on Fox News’s “Special Report With Bret Baier,” his reporter on the hill, Peter Doocy, included a “tragic” viral social media image in his coverage.
To put it mildly, it’s unfortunate when you have to turn to CNN to dispel Fox’s errant description of this photo as one of those children “ripped from the arms of their mother” by Trump administration policy. But CNN reported11 days before the Baier report that this was a staged photo.
To his credit, before the end of his show, Baier did apologize for using that fake image. However, when it comes to emotive viral photos of children, pushed by the Left to bolster its statist political agenda, caveat emptor!
https://patriotpost.us/articles/56700-those-viral-immigrant-children-photos-caveat-emptor |
|
|
