Teddy Kennedy’s Legacy, Part 1 – Mary Jo, Advancing Hate Crimes Law, the Homosexual Agenda & Abortion

Sam and gregjaye respond to comments made recently by a reader of this blog, peter wassink, to the article, "Senator Kennedy Schemes to Pass “Hate Crimes” Law"

What is "pro-homosexual hate crimes language"? I think you mean language that in its description of hate crimes includes the crime of attacking or even killing people for their sexual orientation. I wonder if you could explain why you think such a crime is not a hate crime. Something doesn't quite add up in your position.

You want to see this crime category dropped, and as an argument for this you suggest the murder of Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime at all.

You seem to argue that this crime category does not exist?

So are you saying that there are no people that want to hurt gay people because of their sexual orientation?

As history learns us, violence towards groups in our society often originates from fear. Are you saying there are no people that fear homosexuality?Because that is not true, many people in America fear homosexuality, you yourself are an example, you seem to have great fear for the 'homosexual agenda'

I believe fear of homosexuality comes from a combination of ignorance and sexual
insecurity.

I'm a straight guy from Amsterdam and from experience i can tell you homosexuals are people just like you and me.

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Actually, all crimes are. in one way or another, hate crimes. First, it is hatred for God and secondly, it is hatred for the other person. Capital punishment, however, is not a hate crime. In some situations God calls for it. Homosexually is one of those circumstances. If a particular society accepts the homosexual life style as an acceptable way of behavior and does not stop it, then clearly according the truth found in God’s Word, the Judeo-Christian Bible, that society will be destroyed.

People are not at all afraid of the homosexuality itself, but rather the ruin God can bring on a society for not having stopped the practice of homosexuality in the society. The promise of God is this, “The land in which that society lives will cast out the people of the land.” The promise is sure and non-homosexuals do not want to be cast out of the land in which they live.

Love, must be sincere; hate what is evil. Homosexuality itself is evil and those who do not hate it do not love. God says woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Righteous people are an abomination to the wicked, and the wicked people are and abomination to the righteous.

God said: He would put hatred between the children of Satan (the serpent in the Garden of Eden) and the children of Eve.

Hate crime legislation, in actuality, is the children of Satan outlawing the children of Eve. If you approve of hate crime legislation you are going to hell. So that is why Edward Kennedy died this week and unless he had a bedside conversion and repented of his sins and turned to God, he went to his eternal reward, that is to hell and is now in torment.

Rev. Wright's Prayer of True Repentence

T.D. forwarded to us the contents of an email he received. I will reproduce it below correcting the prayer to the orginal. This message may have been circulating in cyberspace for quite some time (since 1996 I discovered). However, it is just as applicable today, if not more so, then when the prayer was first uttered 13 years ago . . .

There just might be hope yet!

A Pastor with GUTS!

Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people.

When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate (on January 23, 1996), everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

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“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.

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"We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

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“We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

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"We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism.

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"We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

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"We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.

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“We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

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"We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.

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“We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

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“We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

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“We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

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“We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

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“We have abused power and called it political savvy.

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“We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

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“We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

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“We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

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"Search us O God and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

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"Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by you, to govern this great state.

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"Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the name of your son, the living savior, Jesus Christ.

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"Amen."

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India , Africa and Korea.

The (late) commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,' and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called 'one nation under God.'

Third Party Candidates Unite part 2

This is a response to the comment made on my recent post entitled “Third Party Candidates Unite”. This is Greg’s comment (abbreviated):

Matthew, Matthew -I can't believe you wrote, "...I don’t endorse any of them either, but I would rather have any of them as president than either of the two republicrats." Are you serious, my friend? Did you really mean to say that you would rather have hard-core liberals [who favor abortion and homosexual "rights"] C. McKinney or R. Nader as President than either the Democrat, who himself is a hard-core liberal - I can understand that - the three are three peas in a pod, but to prefer them over Republican McCain? That is a little too much for me.. . . I would never want either Obama, McKinney or Nader - and their pro-death, pro-homosexual agenda which to me - transcends any other issue - the war, immigration, education, the economy or anything else.

To say “I would rather have…” is presumptuous and irrelevant because God in His infinite wisdom knows better than I what would be best, especially when it comes to choosing between those who are far out of his will. God knows what will happen in the future and we don’t know who will repent and who won’t. But this does not mean that we are left without guide as to how we should vote. We need to pay attention to ALL of what the Bible says.

In light of the fact that McCain voted no on ENDA and hate crimes legislation, and voted yes on DOMA, I would say that you have a valid point. (I think I am safe assuming that both Nader and McKinney take the opposite position on these issues.) One of the most important principles in my political philosophy is that government should not do anything that encourages sinful behavior. But one should consider that murdering babies and sodomy are not the only two sins that governments encourage.

I would make three important counterpoints:

1. McCain has stated that he supports same-sex civil unions (gay marriage by another name).

2. McCain voted for embryonic stem cell research (not just legalizing it, but forcing taxpayers to pay for it), has stated that he believes that abortion should be legal in cases of rape and incest, personally sued the Wisconsin Right-to-Life, and was a member of the gang of 14. Furthermore, (and this one takes the cake) McCain did vote to increase Title X funds for healthcare organizations with no exclusion for abortion providers and Bush did sign it into law, resulting in more millions going to Planned Parenthood which they can legally use for abortions under this legislation. (I go into depth about this in an accompanying post.) The only way that he could be more pro-abortion is if he voted with Obama on the Born Alive Act (and I don’t know where Nader and McKinney stand on that one).

3. The four principles on which the four third party candidates agreed on are not insignificant issues from a biblical standpoint.

a) The Foreign Policy principle is consistent with teachings of Christ that we should try to make peace with other nations. Our current policy, which McCain supports, encourages the killing of innocent civilians. The lives our soldiers and the Iraq people are just as precious in God’s eyes as an unborn child. In reference to Babylon (which is modern day Iraq), Revelation 18:4 says, “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

b) The Privacy principle is not quite as important as the others, but at least this is a case where the Republican establishment has no respect for the Constitution. This violates the Biblical principle that one should obey the laws of the land.

c) The National Debt issue is also an important one. Passing debt onto future generations is a form of theft, which violates the Ten Commandments. Clearly, theft is not just armed robbery, but Jesus demonstrated that cheating people is just as bad and should not be tolerated. (Remember the moneychangers?)

d) The Federal Reserve issue is the same principle as the National Debt. Anyone who helps to perpetrate this fraud is guilty of theft.

I am not saying that people should vote for Nader or McKinney and neither is Ron Paul. I think that it would be FAR better for someone to not vote at all than to vote for Nader or McKinney. But the fact that they at least have taken a correct stand on the four principles is noteworthy and a step in right direction. I still support the idea put forth by votepact.org to get people to not vote for either Obama or McCain. I think it is worthwhile to ask people to take a look at what each of “the four” have to say just for the sake of hearing a different side than what the news media is presenting. Note that Congressman Paul CANNOT endorse Baldwin or Barr under Republican Party rules because they are running against a Republican.

Ron Paul is the type of person who will reach out to people to find common ground and work for good. But there is very little common ground between him and McCain/Obama. Some McKinney supporters actually crossed over and voted for RP in the primary and his influence on their supporters can’t be overlooked. His message that government involvement in the environment issue is part of the problem resonates with some in this group. A person who speaks against the government’s over-involvement in marriage and the classification of people by race, birth status (born or unborn), and sexual orientation will also resonate better with the Nader/McKinney crowd than some warmongering, pro-life-with-exceptions guy saying ban gay marriage and get rid of affirmative action. I do think that RP should be careful not to get too cozy with these two, and perhaps the title of this article is inappropriate. It is tempting to side with anybody who opposes the establishment, especially when progress can be made on ballot access and debate access issues.

Ralph Nader did co-found an excellent consumer advocacy organization, The Public Citizen, which informs people of various problems with various products such as pharmaceuticals (Worst Pills, Best Pills). Nader should stick to informing people in this way about these issues instead advocating over-regulation against them, so that people can still make their own choices. Both Nader/McKinney would have to repent of their positions on abortion and homosexuality before I could even think about endorsing them. If they are listening to what Ron Paul is saying, I wouldn’t underestimate the chances of that happening. (I am not holding my breath on that one, though.)

I could even vote for McCain or Obama if they would repent. But they have much, much more to repent of (I haven’t mentioned the half of it on this post). For an example of the type of repentance statement that I would be looking for, click here. But saying that you’re for same-sex civil unions and then saying that you’re against them in the same interview, doesn’t cut it with me. I am done with arguing over who is the worst among candidates that we both know that we are not going to vote for anyway. Such arguing is fruitless and we would be better off getting back to talking about candidates that we support or might support. This post is getting too long, so I’ll discuss Baldwin and Barr later.

Shining God’s Light on the Koran: The Friend of God

Sam continues his on-going series which contrasts the Judeo-Christian Bible with the Islamic Koran on a variety of topics. He aims the beam of the Biblical laser on the Koran to expose, to reveal what it really says. See his previous articles here.


Abraham, The Friend of God

Both the Koran and the Holy Bible agree that Abraham was the friend of God.

THE KORANIC ACCOUNT

And who has a nobler religion than he who submits to God, does what is right, and follows the faith of saintly Abraham, whom God chose to be His friend (1)?
Abraham was a paragon of piety, an upright man obedient to God. He was no idolater. He rendered thanks for His favours, so that He chose him and guided him to a straight path. We bestowed on him a blessing in this world, and in the world to come he shall dwell among the righteous (2).

And now We have revealed to you Our will, saying: Follow the faith of saintly Abraham: he was no idolater (3).

When his Lord put Abraham to the proof by enjoining on him certain commandments and Abraham fulfilled them, He said: “I have appointed you a leader of mankind” (4).

His people argued with him. He said: “Will you argue with me about God, who has given me guidance? I do not fear your idols, unless my Lord so willed. My Lord has knowledge of all things. Will you not be warned? And how should I fear your idols when you yourselves are not afraid of serving idols not sanctioned by God? Which of us is more deserving of salvation? Tell me, if you know the truth. Those that have faith and do not taint their faith with wrongdoing shall surely earn salvation, while they follow the right path (5).”

Such was the argument with which We furnished Abraham against his people (6).

COMMENTARY ON THE KORANIC ACCOUNT

Abraham the friend of God, obeyed God and believed what God had told him. He did not worship any idols. He was thankful to God. We, the god of Islam along with the angels Gabriel and Michael, blessed Abraham abundantly with financial wealth, cattle, and servants.

The god of Islam claims to have tested Abraham with His commands and Abraham passed and was made a leader of many people.

In the coming world Abraham will be counted with the righteous.

Abraham argued with his relatives about worshiping idols. He implies that there may be some idols approved by god for worship with the statements: I do not fear your idols unless my Lord so willed, and you are not afraid of worshiping idols not sanctioned by god.

Salvation is something to be earned. This is done by not tarnishing ones faith with evil deeds. This concept of earning ones salvation came from the god of the Koran and the angelss Gabriel and Michael.

THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT

But you, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend (7).

And the Lord appeared unto him, (Isaac) and said, Go not down into Egypt: dwell in the land which I shall tell you of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for unto you, and to your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham your father; And I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto your seed all these countries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statues, and my laws (8).

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report (9)

But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (10).

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (11).

But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promise offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall your seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure (12).

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness (13)

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith, For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all (14).

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works (15).

You believe that there is one God; you do well: the devils also believe, and tremble (16).

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only (17).


COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT

Abraham the friend of God obeyed Him, kept His charge, His commands, statues and laws. As a result the promises to Abraham were given to Isaac.

Abraham had faith in God. When God showed him the stars and he believed God and his faith was counted to him for righteousness by God. When God told him to sacrifice his only begotten son, Abraham demonstrated his faith by his actions in sacrificing his son and was stopped by God.

Faith and grace go together. Salvation is by faith so that God’s grace may be extended to all people. The works of the law make void faith and grace.

COMPARING & CONTRASTING THE KORAN WITH SCRIPTURE

In the Koran the god of Islam promises to bless Abraham in this life. In Scripture God promises Abraham that he and his seed will be a blessing to the families of the earth.

According to the Koran a person earns salvation through faith and good works. According to Scripture one is saved by faith alone apart from any good work that may be done. God’s grace is extended to all people. What good work one does is the result of one’s faith and does not merit salvation.

In the case of Abraham: he was counted as righteous many years before the sacrifice of his son Isaac; which was a proof of his righteousness. In the Koran Abraham is considered as righteous after his death.

CONCLUSION

The god of the Koran is not the God of Scripture.

The god of the Koran with the angels Gabriel and Michael taught Abraham to say that one earns their salvation. In Scripture one cannot earn salvation for it is given by unmerited favor, grace. God’s grace is extended to all people but only those who receive it in faith receive salvation.

Perhaps you would like to receive this salvation, be righteous, and go to heaven. Jesus, who is God in flesh, was sinless and lived a sinless life. He took your sins and those of the whole world in His own body on the cross and received the wrath of God against Himself; being forsaken by God for those sins. He, Himself being infinite, was able to reduce those sins to zero and said, ‘It is finished’. He then gave up His Spirit and died.

This is the grace of God extended to all men and women. My writing this is God’s grace extended to you through me.

Jesus being a man was able to represent each human individual before God. He shed His blood on the cross and died. Three days later He arose from the dead and forty days later ascended to heaven. This you must believe for salvation, that's faith. Salvation, eternal life is a free gift to you from God; paid for by God.

You must repent of your sins by confessing to God that you are a sinner and invite Jesus into your heart. A sample payer is, “Lord Jesus Christ forgive me of my sins and come into my heart.”


REFERENCES

1. The Koran, Page 73 Paragraph 4:125
2. The Koran, Page 196 Paragraph 16:120
3. The Koran, Page 196 Paragraph 16:123
4. The Koran, Page 22 Paragraph 2:123
5. The Koran, Page 100 Paragraph 6:80-82
6. The Koran, Page 100 Paragraph 6:83
7. The Holy Bible, Isaiah 41:8
8. The Holy Bible, Genesis 26:2-5
9. The Holy Bible, Hebrews 11:1,2
10. The Holy Bible, Hebrews 11:6
11. The Holy Bible, Hebrews 11:8,9,10
12. The Holy Bible, Hebrews 11:16-19
13. The Holy Bible, Romans 4:1-5
14. The Holy Bible, Romans 4:13-16
15. The Holy Bible, James 2:14-18
16. The Holy Bible, James 2:19
17. The Holy Bible, James 2:20-24

Pro-Life and Prolific

Does being pro-life mean being prolific as well?

On the 11/24/07 Mark Harrington Live radio show I heard Mark interviewing Charles Wysong, a pro-life activist from Tennessee. He gave three reasons why the pro-life movement has not seen abortion ended after 34 years of trying to reverse the flawed and flagrantly unconstitutional Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Here are the three reasons Wysong gave:

(1) LACK OF PRAYER. There is too little prayer, either public or private to end the vile practice of aborting innocent babies.

(2) FORSAKING GOD’S LAW. We violate the Judeo-Christian Bible which says, “They that forsake the law (God’s law) praise the wicked, but those who keep (obey) the law (God’s law) contend with them (the wicked).”

(3) ABORTION IS BEING PRACTICED IN THE CHURCH. “The beam is in our own eye and we have yet to remove it. The beam is this, we have deacons in our churches today who are taking or permitting their daughters to abortion clinics (for abortions).

"Furthermore, there is widespread use of I.U.D.s and birth control pills among Christian married couples. The result is that babies are being aborted at 1-2 weeks after conception by means of physical or chemical abortion. Life begins at conception. Here we (Christians) aborting these little babies simply because we do not want more of them . . . Christians ought to be prolific. Muslims are more prolific than Christians. This should not be the case.

"We are to live by faith, trusting God for our daily needs. But here we are doing all we can to keep children from coming into the world. God desires to see children come into the world."

What Wysong said was powerful. He identified the three keys to ending abortion: Praying for its end, knowing and obeying God’s Law and repenting from our own evil and sin.

If Christians in America begin to do these three things, we shall overcome and see abortion illegal once again.

Righting the G.O.P., Part 5

I (Sam) recently received a letter from the national Republican Party warning me of the necessity of stopping the Democrat’s ultra-liberal agenda. "What about the Republican agenda/' I asked myself. The GOP's agenda is flawed and is nearly as bad. Actually, that is why I am furious with the GOP. The reasons for my serious displeasure are outlined below and in my previous articles in this series, see: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.

It appears that President Bush is using the war on terror as a diversion while he destroys the sovereignty of the United States through establishing the North American Union (NAU). If Canada and Mexico want to be states in our union, the United States should require them to join in the same way that every other state did. This would mean that they would accept OUR Constitution, laws and customs and drop theirs.

I knew George Bush was not a true Conservative when I voted for him but I thought he and the Republicans were at least patriotic and that the President was a true Christian. Today, I think possibly President Bush is a traitor and wonder if he is really a true Christian. If I vote Democrat, America goes to hell one way, and if I vote GOP America goes to hell another way. I only see disaster for the future of this nation. Who can I really trust for the future? Only the Lord Jesus Christ!

The sure judgment of God on a nation begins with the disruption of the normal weather patterns, such as rain at planting and harvest and drought at the growing season. Or perhaps, too much rain in one place and not enough rain in another. This has been going on for 40 years. If the nation does not repent then God increases the judgment to foreign harassment. The United States has experienced many jobs going overseas, the import of foreign goods and loss of manufacturing, and now we are in the midst of a war on terror with troops deployed. Illegal aliens are invading the country in mass. If a nation does not repent after foreign harassment then it experiences loss of sovereignty. The North American Union represents a loss of sovereignty for the United States. The superhighway into Kansas City from a port in Mexico operated and controlled by foreign interests represents a loss of sovereignty. Having judges in America decide cases based on international law or the laws of other nations represents a loss of national sovereignty. If a nation still refuses to repent of its sins after this loss of sovereignty then it is eliminated as a nation. The destruction of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire for the sin of homosexuality is an example of total annihilation of a people for their refusal to repent from their sinful behavior.

I suspect the problems facing the nation are a result of our evil conduct and the nation is in need of repentance before God. I see neither Senator John McCain, nor Mayor Rudy Giuliani, nor Governor Mitt Romney providing the kind of leadership that will bring this nation to repentance before God. This is where change in America must start. America can go the way of all extinct nations and be destroyed, or it can repent and return to once again being a nation that honors God. Let us return America to the America of our Founding Fathers, but that will take individual and national repentance before Almighty God and appropriating His solution to all of our problems. That solution is found when we place our faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and live in obedience to God’s revealed Word, the Judeo-Christian Bible.

To be continued