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Handfuls of Purpose

“And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.” (Ruth 2:16)
 
This verse contains the unusual instruction of Boaz to his servants concerning Ruth after she asked if she could glean after the reapers in his field of barley. Not only did Boaz allow her to do so but also commanded his servants to “let fall some of the handfuls of purpose” for her, thus making her task easier.
 
It is interesting that the same Hebrew word, basically meaning “take a spoil,” is used twice in this verse, once translated “let fall” and once as “of purpose.” The word for “handfuls,” used only this once in the Bible, evidently refers to a hand’s “grip.” Although all the translations seem to have difficulty with it, Boaz seems actually to be saying, in effect, to his servants: “Grab as though you were taking a spoil for her from the bundles of sheaves, and leave them as a spoil for her.” This was to be a deliberate and purposeful gift on Boaz’s part, but Ruth was not to know so that she could assume she had gleaned it all on her own.
 
Boaz, therefore, like his distant descendant (through his soon-to-be bride, Ruth), Jesus Christ, provided that which represented the bread of life as a gracious gift to his coming bride. In this, as in other ways, Boaz is a type of Christ and Ruth is a type of each believer destined for union with Him.
 
But the sheaves also represent the Word of God from which we daily can glean life-giving food for our souls. Our God has been pleased to leave us many “handfuls of purpose” along the way in the fruitful field of Scripture that we can stoop to gather as we go. Our heavenly “Boaz” has paid the price to take the spoil for us, but as we kneel down to glean each morsel, we “rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil” (Psalm 119:162). HMM

In Christ Jesus

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
 
One of the key doctrines of Christianity is the union of the believer with Christ. In fact, the expression “in Christ” or its equivalent is found over 160 times in Paul’s epistles alone. Since, in God’s sight, we are “in Him,” all His attributes and accomplishments are credited to us as well.
 
For example, Paul said even to the carnal Corinthians that “of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). To the Romans (see today’s verse) he said that being in Christ frees us from the judgment, since Christ has already borne our judgment.
 
To the Galatians, Paul emphasized that “ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The Ephesian epistle has many such expressions, the most comprehensive being Ephesians 1:3: “[God] hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” To the Philippians, he promised that “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). The Christians at Colosse were assured that “ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:10).
 
Even when we die, we “sleep in Jesus” and, when He comes again, “the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16). Paul even wrote to Timothy that God’s “own purpose and grace” had been “given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9). These are only a few examples of the marvelous blessings shared by all who are “in Christ Jesus.” We should be willing gladly to acknowledge “every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus” (Philemon 1:6). HMM

The Blood of the Lamb

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11)
 
This is the last reference in the Bible to the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; here, it is the overcoming blood, enabling believers to withstand the deceptions and accusations of Satan.
 
There are at least 43 references to the blood of Christ in the New Testament, all testifying to its great importance in the salvation and daily life of the believer. Judas the betrayer spoke of it as “innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4), and Peter called it “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). It is the cleansing blood in 1 John 1:7 and the washing blood in Revelation 1:5, stressing that it removes the guilt of our sins.
 
Paul calls it the purchasing blood in Acts 20:28 and the redeeming blood twice (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; see also 1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 5:9), thus declaring the shedding of His blood to be the very price of our salvation. Therefore, it is also the justifying blood (Romans 5:9) and the peacemaking blood (Colossians 1:20). Its efficacy does not end with our salvation, however, for it is also the sanctifying blood (Hebrews 13:12). There is infinite and eternal power in the blood of Christ, for it is “the blood of the everlasting covenant” (v. 20).
 
The first reference in the New Testament to His blood stresses this aspect. Jesus said at the last supper, “This is my blood of the new testament [same as ‘covenant’], which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Let no one, therefore, ever count the “blood of the covenant . . . an unholy thing” (Hebrews 10:29), for the blood of Christ is forever innocent, infinitely precious, perfectly justifying, always cleansing, and fully sanctifying. HMM

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Justified Without A Cause
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


God tells us in His Word that believers are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). The word “freely,” here, does not mean “without cost,” but “without cause.” The same original word is so translated in John 15:25, where we find the words of Christ: “They hated Me without a cause.”

Thus sinners hated Christ “without a cause,” yet God justifies sinners “without a cause.”How can this be? Let’s see:

What had Christ done to earn the enmity of men? Nothing whatever. He had been kind and good, had helped those in distress, had healed their sick, had made the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear, the blind to see, and the lame to leap for joy. Why, then, did they hate Him: The Bible says they hated Him “without a cause, i.e., without any cause in Him. The cause of their hatred lay in their own evil hearts.

But on the other hand, what have sinners done to merit justification before God? Again the answer is: Nothing whatever. They have broken His commandments every day, lying, stealing, and committing hundreds of other sins. Yet in love God gave His Son to die for them on Calvary “that He might be just and [at the same time] the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). He loves and justifies believers “without a cause”, i.e., without any cause in them. The cause is to be found in His own compassionate heart, for “GOD IS LOVE.”

Thus those who trust in Christ, who died for our sins, are justified without a cause, by God’s grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

    “God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8.).

    “By this man is preached…the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which He could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38,39).

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The Heterophobic Gender Deniers

By Mark Alexander

Jun. 21, 2017

“In the supposed state of nature, all men are equally bound by the laws of nature…” —Samuel Adams (1794)

Disgruntled liberal protagonists, short on substance for their arguments, often resort to denigrating their opponents with labels. For example, if you disagree with their “Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender1” agenda, you’re “homophobic.” And if you disagree with their statist climate agenda2 you’re a “science denier.”

There are strong meritorious arguments opposing both these leftist orthodoxies, but allow me a bit of acerbic sarcasm to label those promoting the LGBT agenda as “heterophobic gender deniers.” June, after all, is “LGBT Pride Month,” which means plenty of celebrations in the theater of the absurd.

But before addressing those gay merriments, allow me also, by way of disclaimer, to submit that what follows is not a “conservative” or “religious” perspective on sexuality. In fact, I believe the private affairs of consenting adults, however sordid, are their business — until they attempt to normalize and nationalize them.

My perspective on this issue is informed by a keen sense of the obvious regarding the “natural order,” which today’s liberals profess to embrace, at least when it serves their political agendas. I am fascinated by the abject hypocrisy of those who, ostensibly, seek to preserve the natural order of the universe while simultaneously advocating the most fundamental violation of that order via gender politics.

The Laws of Nature3 upon which our Founders, classical liberals, asserted the endowment of Liberty4 are the same laws that contemporary liberals, who bear no resemblance to the classicals, so fervently reject today. They argue that licentiousness is consistent with Liberty. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This adulterated opinion is neither novel nor new.

In 1788, Fisher Ames wrote, “The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness, which the ambitious call, and ignorant believe to be liberty.” But as James Wilson observed, “Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness.”

The challenge is to find the right balance, and in my considered opinion5 regarding gender issues, over the last eight years our culture has become dangerously imbalanced to the side of licentiousness, the antithesis of Liberty.

And make no mistake: The Democratic Party’s6 gender play is, first and foremost, a shrewd political calculation based on the susceptible sentiments of its largest constituent bloc, female voters7. “Rights” are a distant second.

That being said, here are a few manifestations of how gender licentiousness continues to metastasize.

Without any constitutional authority, much less your consent, this month your taxes are being used to fund gender disorientation festivities in federal bureaucracies, including most notably the Department of Defense. At DoD and other agencies, Deep State holdovers from the previous administration are still implementing gender dilution policies.

At the Pentagon, Obama’s embedded homosexual advocate is Anthony M. Kurta, undersecretary for personnel and readiness, who declared last week, “We take pride in the contributions of all who defend and serve our country, and rely on the diversity of our members to meet our mission.” [Emphasis added.]

Really? Our nation now relies on military ranks being used as cultural Petri dishes for gender confused policies “to meet our mission”? I think we depend on superior foot soldiers and firepower to meet our mission.

In a ceremony this week, Kurta announced the recipients of the “Pride Military Leadership Awards,” including one to Army Maj. Gen. Tammy S. Smith, the first flag officer to “come out” after Obama and his social engineering Democrats repealed Bill Clinton8‘s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell9” policy.

Objecting to all the DoD’s gender sensitivity training and ceremonies this month, Retired Army Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, former head of Delta Force, protested, “For 16 years we’ve been at war. When service members are not deployed overseas, they are preparing for war. Not one minute of preparation time should be squandered on social experiments.”

Donald Trump’s10 nominees to replace these high-ranking agency personnel have yet to be approved by the recalcitrant Republican Senate, because the Left is successfully holding Trump’s agenda hostage11 with its fake news12 conspiracy theories. First it was about “Russian collusion13.” Having failed on that fake front, it’s now about “obstruction14.”

In the field, there are plentiful examples of Obama-regime appointments still moving up the pipeline, most notably the new Air Force Commandant15, Kristin Goodwin, who arrived in Colorado Springs with her “wife.” Again, while Goodwin’s choice of a mate is just that, her choice undoubtedly elevated her above other qualified candidates for the Commandant post.

But more notable than the DoD Deep-Staters who continue to advance unabated was a casualty of heterophobic politics on Capitol Hill. In May, Trump’s exceptionally qualified nominee for Secretary of the Army, Dr. Mark Green16, a decorated combat Special Operations Flight Surgeon, made the difficult decision to fall on his own sword17 rather than become yet another distraction to Trump’s agenda.

Why?

Because Dr. Green’s views on homosexual pathology did not comport with the LGBT orthodoxy that has overwhelmed opinion inside the Beltway.

Beyond the Beltway, here are some examples of gender denier news this month:

    Blueberry sales prohibited unless you affirm “gay marriage” — here18

    The National Park Service office of Relevancy, Diversity and Inclusion embraces “transgenderism” — here19

    Department of Defense and State fly rainbow flags —here20

    The Army’s new bathroom policy —here21

    Oregon adds third gender to driver license identities — here22

    Parents shocked by drag queen performance for grade-schoolers — here23…

    Homosexual group sets high school transgender policies — here24

    Mindless gays for Sharia Law? — here25

    The American Medical Association broadens gender identity — here26

    Gender therapists and puberty blocking drugs — here27

    Pro-trump homosexuals banned from LGBT parade — here28

    On the LGBT obsession with the use of gender neutral pronouns29 now subject to regulatory enforcement30 in some U.S. cities comes word that to our north, Canadian citizens could be jailed for failing to comply with the new gender pronoun orthodoxy — here31

    The Associated Press has updated its style manual to comply with gender pronoun conventions — here32

For the record, The Patriot Post will not be changing our style manual to include gender-neutral pronouns…

    LGBT plans for national monument commemorating their persecution —here33

However, not all is copacetic between Democrat factions and the LGBT crowd. Many black Americans strongly object to homosexual “appropriation” of the genuine civil rights movement by claiming that the LGBT agenda is also a civil rights issue. And feminist groups are objecting to the transgendered crowd stealing their thunder.

Finally, it is no small irony that we celebrate Father’s Day34 in the month usurped by the LGBTers, because it can well be argued that one of the most significant contributing factors in gender disorientation is the lack of effective fathers in families.

Though there are some genetic factors related to a predisposition for effeminate characteristics that may attract homosexual pedophiliac predators to young males, the fact is more is taught than caught. A major factor in gender dysphoria is failed fathering.

All being said, I would encourage compassion for those who have gender identity issues — noting that “celebrating” those issues, in effect, upholds and supports them in misery.

Patriots, please support The Patriot Post35. In the 21 years since we launched The Patriot Post, we have become the Internet’s most influential grassroots journal of Liberty. Our mission success depends entirely on the voluntary financial support of our fellow Patriots — YOU. Please support our 2017 Independence Day Campaign35.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776

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Notably, this case was not brought before the federal courts until July 2015, after Republicans had taken control of state government from the Democrats. Wisconsin has long been a Democrat stronghold which, until Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016, had not voted for a Republican for president since Ronald Reagan won the state. Wisconsin’s state-level gains for the GOP are a microcosm of America generally, where Republicans made tremendous advances. During Barack Obama’s disastrous tenure, the GOP picked up nearly a thousand state legislative seats, control of two-thirds of state legislative chambers, 63 House seats, and 10 U.S. Senate seats. The Democrat Party is at its weakest electoral position25 in nearly a century, and is desperate for a way to reverse these losses.

The courts have largely refused to intervene in gerrymandering disputes26 in the past, primarily because the drawing of such districts is an inherently political act. For the courts to intervene would be to substitute the opinion of the judiciary for the opinion of the elected branches. As Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter warned in Colegrove v. Green (1946), “Courts ought not to enter this political thicket. … The fulfillment of this duty cannot be judicially enforced.”

When the Court has chosen to invalidate redistricting lines in the past, it has generally done so based on the claim that the lines in question disenfranchise minority voters — that was the case just last month with two North Carolina districts27. However, these cases have been few and far between. In the other most recent case — 2004’s Vieth v. Jubelirer — a 5-4 majority rejected plaintiffs’ claims, unable to delineate where normal “to the victor goes the spoils” redistricting stopped and disenfranchisement began.

Interestingly, members of the minority party often work with the majority in gerrymandering districts. While the minority party will stay in the minority, its members are drawn into increasingly safe districts, protecting them from general election challenges.

It should also be noted that both parties have engaged in such gerrymandering for more than two centuries. Even now, in addition to the Wisconsin case, a challenge to the congressional districts drawn by Maryland’s Democrats is being heard by the lower courts.

Gerrymandering doesn’t always work out for the victors though. Following the 2000 census, Georgia Democrats — with absolute control of state government since Reconstruction — gerrymandered congressional districts so “nakedly partisan” a three-judge panel modified them. In 2002, voters, furious at Democrats28, elected Republican Sonny Perdue as governor, and awarded the state Senate to Republicans. The next election saw Republicans win the House. Republicans now hold supermajorities in the state House and Senate, and control every constitutional office in the state.

In these gerrymandering challenges, a move is being made to have the courts strip the power to draw districts from the elected branches and hand it to an independent panel, such as a board of retired judges equally representing both parties.

Both sides have valid arguments.

On the one hand, gerrymandering has led to safely partisan but politically polarized districts where both parties tend to cater to their base. This has made it increasingly difficult for parties to find common ground on any issues. While the Republican Party has its share of moderates, it is generally a conservative party. The Democrat Party is even more partisan, and virtually no politician supporting tax or spending cuts, or declaring themselves pro-life, can expect to survive long in that party.

On the other hand, the Constitution grants power to draw district lines exclusively to the elected branches, and to change the foundational structure of our government is not to be taken lightly.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

    The Escalating Tension in Syria29 — U.S. shoots down first enemy fighter in nearly 20 years and Russia issues its own threats.
    Republicans Seek Reciprocity in DC30 — Rep. Massie introduces bill that would force Washington to accept gun-carry permits from every state.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

    Michelle Malkin: The Double Murder of Otto Warmbier31
    Gary Bauer: The Real Danger32
    Star Parker: How We Can Start Taking Back Our Country33

For more, visit Right Opinion34.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Michelle Malkin: “We may never know what brutal torture and malign neglect American student Otto Warmbier suffered at the hands of North Korea’s dictatorship before losing his life this week at the age of 22. But it wasn’t the first time the free-spirited Ohio native died. More than a year before succumbing to the unknown illness or injury that left him in a coma thousands of miles away from home, Otto Warmbier’s own countrymen murdered his reputation. His character. His humanity. Click-hungry media ghouls knew nothing about Warmbier’s small-town upbringing, his family life, politics, personality, disappointments or dreams. But they gleefully savaged a young man who made a mistake on a doomed trip to a totalitarian hell. … Otto’s saboteurs engaged in the very same bigotry and stereotyping they recklessly accuse everyone else of at every turn. … Utterly consumed by malignant identity politics, the left-wing intelligentsia have become the intolerantsia. They are bent on dehumanizing individuals, fomenting racial, ethnic and class division in the name of ‘progressivism,’ and never taking responsibility for the damage done.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “The intercourse between individuals and between social groups takes one of these two forms: force or persuasion. Commerce is the great example of intercourse by way of persuasion. War, slavery, and governmental compulsion exemplify the reign of force.” —Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)

Observations: “You have to look very hard — and you have to spend a long time looking — to find a genuinely happy or content left-wing political person. … The bottom line is: You just don’t encounter happy, laughing liberals. Even their comedians are consumed by hatred. The Democrat Party’s become the largest hate group in this country. Even their comedians are angry and enraged, and that suffices as comedy. I think it’s one of the reasons why left-wing comics have become primary sources of news for other left-wing liberals.” —Rush Limbaugh

A blind squirrel finds a nut: “To realize the single-payer dream of coverage for all and big savings, medical industry players, including doctors, would likely have to get paid less and patients would have to accept different standards of access and comfort. There is little evidence most Americans are willing to accept such tradeoffs.” —The Washington Post editorial board in a piece titled, “Single-payer health care would have an astonishingly high price tag”

Political futures: “I think if Democrats learn a lesson from this election, it’s that the euphoria that they felt for the last several months as Donald Trump has fallen in the polls and they began to believe that this would be not easy but doable to take over the House of Representatives and eventually replace Donald Trump, that euphoria is gone and it’s replaced with reality. And the reality is, it’s going to be a long twilight struggle.” —UVA professor Larry Sabato

For the record: “Democrats are looking almost incapable of translating the energy of their core supporters into actual election wins.” —Associated Press

And last… “Nothing preps you for next election more than concluding your team is too virtuous to win & voters are too evil or dumb to see the truth.” —Jonah Goldberg

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

Join us 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.

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Mid-Day Digest

Jun. 21, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

    Despite record spending, Democrats still couldn’t pull off a special election win in Georgia.
    What massive voter fraud? Oh, that massive voter fraud.
    The Supreme Court is going to look at a gerrymandering case. That’s really unusual.
    Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“It behooves you, therefore, to think and act for yourself and your people. The great principles of right and wrong are legible to every reader; to pursue them requires not the aid of many counselors.” —Thomas Jefferson (1775)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Georgia ‘Deplorables’ Tossoff Ossoff1

Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in Tuesday’s special election for Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District, in what was both the most expensive and most watched congressional campaign in history. The victory is astounding given the “pollaganda effect2” — the heavy media coverage in the last two weeks giving Ossoff the lead. It’s a replay of how wrong the DemoMSM propagandists3 were in 2016.

Astoundingly, there was more than $50 million spent in this election by the candidates and special interest groups — $20 million more than the previous congressional record. Ossoff, who collected most of his funding from rich liberals in California and Massachusetts, outspent Handel 7-1 — and still couldn’t pull it off.

Democrats insisted, right up until Handel’s victory, that this election was a referendum on Donald Trump4, but it is more a referendum on the Democrats’ failure to understand Americans outside the Beltway and their elitist East Coast urban centers. Yes, this was Dr. Tom Price’s district (now Trump’s HHS Secretary), but if this was just about Trump, his low approval rating should have opened the door wide for a Democrat win — especially given that Trump only won the district by a narrow 1.5% margin last year. But Handel defeated Ossoff with a 5% margin — so much for the Democrats’ blustering about “narrowing victory margins.”

Political commentator Tucker Carlson nailed it: “Democrats still have no idea why they keep losing elections. If they did, they would have run a real candidate, with a real job who understands the constituents he is attempting to represent.”

Meanwhile, in a little watched House election in South Carolina, Republican Ralph Normal defeated Democrat Archie Parnell. Demos are now 0 for 4 in special elections since 2016.

The ‘Voter Fraud Doesn’t Exist’ Claim Is on Shaky Ground5

In January, our Thomas Gallatin explored a deeply troubling question that threatens the integrity of this nation’s electoral system: “Just how much voting fraud does exist?6” Nobody can say for certain. As Gallatin pointed out, “If no comprehensive investigations are done, then the argument merely continues to be the spitting contest it currently has become.” That’s what prompted Donald Trump to form the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity7. The commission is evaluating both voter fraud and voter suppression.

Democrats clamor a lot over the latter, with Hillary Clinton even going so far as to blame voter suppression for November’s humiliating defeat8. (That and the Russians, of course.) But leftists don’t share the same concern when it comes to voter fraud. No wonder then there was an uproar when Trump suggested that somewhere between three and five million illegal votes were potentially cast during the 2016 election. There’s no immediately available proof, of course, but that’s a claim the commission can and should examine. After all, independent evidence suggests Trump’s assertion is not rooted in hyperbole.

According to The Washington Times, “The research organization Just Facts … revealed its number-crunching in a report on national immigration. Just Facts President James D. Agresti and his team looked at data from an extensive Harvard/YouGov study that every two years questions a sample size of tens of thousands of voters. … He estimated that as many as 7.9 million noncitizens were illegally registered [in 2008] and 594,000 to 5.7 million voted. … For 2012, Just Facts said, 3.2 million to 5.6 million noncitizens were registered to vote and 1.2 million to 3.6 million of them voted.”

Assuming these statistics are anywhere near accurate, it’s not a stretch at all to suggest, as Trump did, that up to five million illegal immigrants voted for Hillary Clinton. It’s possible it was even higher. This is the kind of information the Left wants kept in the dark. There’s no telling what the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity will conclude. But based on what a growing number of studies are discovering, don’t be surprised if it finds that significant voter fraud exists to the extent Just Facts suspects.

Top Headlines9

    Judicial Watch: Susan Rice’s unmasking documents of Trump team now sealed at Obama Library. How convenient. (CNS News10)

    Shake-up underway: Sean Spicer leaving White House podium for behind-the-scenes role. (The Washington Times11)

    Humor: Trump picks Alex Jones as new press secretary. (The Babylon Bee12)

    ISIS setting up support networks to move terrorists to Europe and Asia. (The Washington Free Beacon13)

    Jihadi shot dead during terror attack in Belgium. (The Guardian14)

    Poland shuts border to Islamic migrants to keep terrorists out. (CNS News15)

    67% of Hispanics in U.S. 15 years or more are functionally illiterate. (Washington Examiner16)

    Philando Castile dash-cam footage released. (National Review17)

    Colin Kaepernick: The cops are pretty much like fugitive slave patrols, you know. (Hot Air18.)

    Chelsea Clinton takes first step toward political run. (The Washington Free Beacon19)

    Policy: The constitutional crisis that almost was. (American Enterprise Institute20)

    Policy: North Korea must pay a massive price for Otto’s murder. (Hudson Institute21)

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report22.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
The Supreme Court to Vote on Gerrymandering23

By Louis DeBroux

In somewhat of a surprise announcement, the Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a Wisconsin case to determine whether gerrymandered congressional district maps24 violate the Constitution’s 1st and 14th Amendments. The Court has traditionally avoided such cases, deeming them the purview of the political branches. The outcome could have a tremendous impact on the American electoral process.

Those who are not political or history wonks may be unfamiliar with the term “gerrymandering.” The term was first used in the March 26, 1812, edition of the Boston Gazette. A portmanteau of “Gerry” and “salamander,” it was used to describe the Massachusetts state Senate districts that were drawn by the Democratic-Republicans under Governor Elbridge Gerry, in which his party successfully created election districts that stayed in his party’s hands despite losing the state House and governorship. One of these districts resembled the shape of the mythical salamander.

In the Wisconsin case, a dozen plaintiffs from across the state claimed “Republican legislative leaders authorized a secretive and exclusionary mapmaking process aimed at securing for their party a large advantage that would persist no matter what happened in future elections.” A three-judge panel ruled last year in the plaintiffs’ favor, declaring the Republican redistricting plan was partisan enough to effectively disenfranchise some voters. The state of Wisconsin has appealed this ruling to the Supreme Court.

Enoch: A Man of Faith

“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24)
 
Surely one of the most godly, as well as interesting, characters who ever lived was Enoch. He is one of only two who lived before the Flood (Noah also, Genesis 6:9) of whom it is said that he “walked with God.” He is also one of only two individuals who never died (Elijah, 2 Kings 2:11). Little is known about him, but the Bible reveals him to be exemplary among men and special to God.
 
Notice that he was, first of all, a man of faith. “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; . . . he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is [i.e., that God exists], and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:5-6). Enoch had ample faith in the fact and work of God, which yielded a close walk with God. He also had faith in the caring character of God that rewards the diligent search for Him on His terms with sanctification, fellowship, and eternal life. This faith, we are told, pleased God.
 
We find in the little book of Jude a description of Enoch’s ministry. Enoch’s faith impelled him to denounce strongly the false teaching and ungodly living of his day, prophesying the coming return of, and judgment by, the Lord (Jude 1:14-15).
 
Some have suggested that Enoch’s ministry is not yet over. All men die, for “it is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27), and Enoch has not yet died. Perhaps he is one of the two tribulation “witnesses” (Revelation 11:3) whose messages are so much like those of Enoch and Elijah who will be martyred, resurrected, and taken up to heaven directly from Earth (vv. 4-12). At any rate, Enoch is certainly one of the great heroes of the faith whom we shall meet some day. JDM

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Salesmen And Soldiers
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


It is true indeed that salvation is bestowed by grace and received through faith — entirely apart from works, religious or otherwise. But it is equally true that it costs to embrace the truth and costs even more to stand for it, rather than selling out. This is why Proverbs 23:23 exhorts us to “buy the truth and sell it not”. In this sense we are not to sell the truth. Yet in another sense we are salesmen of the truth, urging men to buy it.

As we do this we find that there are those who would actually seek to hinder men from buying the truth. Yet it is not primarily they who oppose our efforts, but Satan and his hosts.

    “FOR WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES, AGAINST POWERS, AGAINST THE RULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD [age], AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS [wicked spirits] IN HIGH PLACES” (Eph. 6:12).

This is why God’s salesmen must also be “good soldiers of Jesus Christ” (II Tim. 2:3). We must make the glorious message known despite the opposition. We must “put on the whole armour of God” and meet our adversaries with “the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God”(Eph. 6:11,17). When they would shut our mouths we must pray for ourselves and each other:

    “…that utterance may be given unto me, THAT I MAY OPEN MY MOUTH BOLDLY, to make known the mystery of the [Paul’s] gospel.

    “…THAT THEREIN I MAY SPEAK BOLDLY, AS I OUGHT TO SPEAK” (Eph. 6:19,20; Rom. 16:25, 26).

This, by the grace of God, is our prayer and our resolve.

[__________________________________________From Grace Gems:Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.Everything is FREE and Public Domain.http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm___________________________________________]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

The time is short--our obligations are unspeakably great--and Heaven will make amends for all!

(John Newton's Letters)

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows." John 16:33

Every step we take, brings us nearer to our Father's house! We shall soon be at Home--where the wicked cannot trouble, and where the weary are at rest.

How wisely the Lord varies His dispensations!

They are not all painful--lest we should be too much cast down.

Nor are they all pleasant--lest we should forget what and where we are.

Nor do our troubles come all at once. They are parceled out at different intervals, that one wound may be well healed before another is inflicted.

The Lord has wise reasons for all that He does--and we shall, before long, know them more clearly. In short, He does all things well! May we even now be thankful and yield a sweet submission to His holy will. He has a sovereign right to dispose of us as He pleases--and He has promised that He shall work all together for our good.

He has promised us peace in Himself--but in the world, He bids us to expect many trials and sorrows. The same or equal or greater afflictions--are common to all His people. We would never say, "This is too hard!" if we considered that we are sinners, and therefore always suffer less than we deserve.

The time is short--our obligations are unspeakably great--and Heaven will make amends for all! Surely then we should cheerfully, yes thankfully, take up our crosses, and follow our Lord--since we are assured that if we suffer with Him and for Him, we shall also reign with Him. Time flies apace, and past troubles will return no more. Every pulse we feel, beats a sharp moment of the pain away--and the last stroke will soon come. Then sorrow and sighing shall flee away--and joy and gladness shall come forth to conduct us Home! That time will come--yes, it is drawing nearer every hour!