Folgen
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This world of ours has little joy, real joy. Perhaps there exists some sort of superficial happiness, but transient and really unfulfilling, but little more.
It seems that so much of our world is sad, hopeless in feeling, even hateful. Our world is angry, antagonistic, so very jealous and greedy, negative in so many ways.
I wonder, are you afraid, feeling uncertain and insecure, perhaps even from time to time hateful and angry, untrusting, are you? I wonder sometimes, how much of the joy of Christianity, rejoicing in the relationship with Jesus Christ, in possession of a thankful heart, the promises of the Son of God have been lost as the wiles of the devil seem to permeate this world.
The carpenter of Nazareth, the Son of the Living God, told us quite plainly that He came not only to forgive but to bring us who believe His JOY that our lives may be full, full of that joy. How tragic it would be if once we have met him, and believed in Him, that the joy of our relationship with Him should be tarnished, even eliminated by the ever-growing hateful things in this world.
And more. REJOICE, said He, and even more:
BE EXCEEDINGLY GLAD.
Let gladness permeate your heart, your mind, your emotions, your attitude, your entire life. Be happy, no matter what. For not only are you forgiven but you are born again into a brand-new life of joy, happiness, and rejoicing! I wonder if you take time every day, EVERY DAY, to rejoice, rejoice in Him and for the life you should have now, and you will definitely have hereafter. Do you?
The Apostle Paul tells us to give thanks, GIVE THANKS IN EVERYTHING, the good, the bad, the average, the day-to-day, IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS, thanks to God for His unspeakable gift. Do you? The strongest possession any Christian can have is a thankful heart.
And our Lord says that we should love our enemies. Is there anything harder to do in this world than that? When someone identifies as an enemy, comes at you, does you wrong, hurts you or ones you love, is there anything harder than to love that person? But, the love we have for Jesus Christ never fails, transcends everything, is stronger than anything and it is always there, always. Our God is love and we his people should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, even if that neighbor is our enemy so says the scripture. That essential principle, that basic tenet of Christianity, that emotional command, is the hardest thing for any Christian to do, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, IT IS THE MOST REWARDING! We should never accept the wrong, but we should always love the wrongdoer, thus saith the Lord. To carry a grudge, to return hate with hate, to get even, to make a wrongdoer pay, works havoc on the believer, even more so than the evildoer. Be glad, be happy says our Lord when you are persecuted for His name’s sake, when evil comes after good, and never forget, NEVER that ultimately:
GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN!
Even, says HE, if you weep now, you will laugh sooner or later. YOU WILL LAUGH, you will be happy. Never forget that. You will laugh, you will be happy as David says in the Psalms, even as our Lord laughs at the wicked. Full belief in the love of God in Jesus Christ can do nothing but make one, the believer, be glad, rejoice, be happy and LAUGH!
The smile, the facial smile, the real smile is a rarity today. The heavy heart makes for a sad face. The happy heart, the loving heart produces a cheerful face as Solomon tells us in Proverbs. Our Lord confirms that when he tells us that we should:
BE OF GOOD CHEER!
Life is short, so very short, and any hour of any day spent glum, sad, angry, jealous, or hateful is simply the waste of a part of THE DAY WHICH THE LORD HAS MADE! The spirit of the loving God is at the ready to help, to remind you of this part of your life which you are wasting. Be glad, says the spirit of the living God, and rejoice, and always remember, says the Lord:
I AM COME THAT YOUR JOY MIGHT BE FULL!
I AM COME THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE AND LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY!
And more. James tells us that the happy heart breaks out in singing, singing songs of love, praise, and joy. David confirms in the Psalms when he tells us to be glad and sing for joy. Even if you can’t carry a tune, sing anyway. Sing songs of praise every day, let your heart sing, be cheerful, be glad, be happy, and never let any part of this sad world, this world hateful, angry, jealous, and itself without joy, bring you down. NEVER!
When the rich man met the Lord Jesus Christ, He sold everything he had, and he did so with JOY. Nothing mattered to him but the joy he found in Jesus Christ. Never forget, my fellow Christians, that a cheerful heart is good medicine. It heals like nothing else, and also remember the wise words of Solomon in Proverbs that:
A CRUSHED SPIRIT DRIES UP THE BONES!
Avoid at all costs the dry bones of Ezekiel. Every day, even all day, you can live with the joy, the happiness, the rejoicing that our Lord provides, which is only a taste of that JOY TO COME!
So, in everything give thanks. In the testings, the trials and tribulations, the sicknesses, the losses, the betrayals, the hateful, the persecution, give thanks, be grateful, for our Lord who never left the Apostle Paul when he suffered in the dungeon all alone, will never leave us. The key to claiming that promise, says the Apostle Paul, is to give thanks:
GIVE THANKS IN EVERYTHING.
And that is especially so when the trials, the tribulations, the persecutions, the hurt and the pain are the worst. When life is at its worst, our Lord is at HIS BEST.
Now abides safe in Him, hope in Him, and the love because of Him. Never let go of a cheerful heart any hour of any day. That is what the Lord of the abundant life wants for YOU! -
Do you tell your spouse the truth? ALWAYS?
That would be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, do you?
When you communicate with spouse or children, or any family members or friends, or even in the workplace, or church, or social gatherings, do you tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth all the time? ALL THE TIME?
And, do you expect others to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when they communicate with you, do you? To tell the truth always, all of it, to everyone under every circumstance, is an extremely difficult task, if not impossible. Our communication, our cultural exchanges, our personal expectations are difficult, partial at best, and seldom if ever contain the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. More often than not, we leave out or add in. We communicate Half-Truths. The definition of half-truth is that only about half of that is true, if that. So often, we communicate with the so-called WHITE LIE. Interesting, is it not, how we give colors (black-white-gray) to falsified communication? The truth, knowing and communicating the truth, is a difficult process.
Perhaps it is a journey to know, believe, and communicate the truth. No matter, it is the obligation, the duty, of a Christian to be truthful, to know and communicate the truth. THOU SHALT NOT LIE (bear false witness) say the commandments and affirmed by our Lord. When we communicate with others in word or deed, it must be with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to the very best of our human abilities. That is especially so in family circles. The lie sets an example, a very bad one, especially in family circles, with spouses and children. If a parent expects a child to tell the truth, then that parent better tell the truth as a matter of course, regularly and all the time, and without exception.
Pilate, the governor who passed judgment on Jesus, asked the age-old question, perhaps one of the most important questions (issues) ever asked:
WHAT IS TRUTH?
He had his answer from Jesus of Nazareth, who told him bluntly and point blank:
I AM THE TRUTH. I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE!
That message was for all of us. Jesus told the world of that time and all of us since, that he was ONE WITH THE FATHER, in other words, God himself. That was either the biggest lie of all time, or the most profound truth, one or the other. But, said He, that is the ultimate truth and to know exactly what Jesus was, who He was, was the ultimate spiritual and divine truth. Do you know that and do you believe that?
But what is the definition of truth? It is extremely difficult to define. Truth is based on fact, that which really happened. It is reality, truth is, unvarnished. It is what actually happened, what was accurately said, things not subject to interpretation or question. Truth is moral, good, and right. It is honest and reliable. Truth, real truth is not subject to question, doubt, or interpretation. It comes from the deeds and the words of an honest person. It creates no doubt.
The exact opposite is the LIE. Amazing, is it not, how the lie pervades our culture, our society, our government? Our political world, worldwide and especially in America, is corrupt, knows not the truth, cares nothing about the truth, and in fact boldly proclaims that we live in the day and age of:
POST TRUTH.
Our leaders, almost all know more than mere politicians, power, money, and fame- hungry individuals seem to care little or nothing about the truth. They lie to us with impunity. Many pastors do the very same thing by perverting the Word of God, watering down hard scriptural truth, and failing to set the truthful and moral example which this world of ours so desperately needs. The lie, the lack of truth, pervades business, even the medical world, education, and in fact almost every aspect of our society. The lie goes on in both word and deed. Hypocrisy, saying one thing and doing another, seems part of our everyday life. We exaggerate, and we compromise. We would rather be liked than tell the hard truth or stand up, tall and strong, for what we believe. We seem to have little regard for the conspiracy factor, that we may be equally guilty of not dealing with the lie, the false, the hypocritical, when it is our spiritual duty to do so. The journey to know, believe, and tell the truth is long and difficult indeed, is it not?
So often, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, straight and without exaggeration is unpopular and such a person is often disliked. Recall how hated Jesus of Nazareth was when he confronted, challenged, and convicted so many with the message of the eternal gospel. But he boldly proclaimed himself to be the truth and he told all humankind that to know Him (Me) was to know the truth and that truth would make any believing person:
FREE.
Free from guilt, free from sin, free from inhibitions, weakness, and anger, FREE! And that freedom would give us courage, courage to stand for the truth so that we would not be ashamed or afraid, or anxious, or intimidated. Rather, we would be confident, actualized, energized, and filled with the Holy Spirit who would give us the words, structure the beliefs within us and make us the new creatures our Lord intended, his disciples who would joyfully pursue the journey of truth lifelong. That same Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, would govern our conscience, structure our mind and our thinking, and live inside as a warning system. That same Holy Spirit would be our guide, our leader in:
KNOWING THE TRUTH.
That very same truth which would make us free.
So, the answer to Pilate’s question WHAT IS TRUTH? Is provided in a nutshell by our Lord. Jesus said:
I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.
To know him, really know Him, is the only real way to really know THE TRUTH. As you grow in the knowledge, belief, and love of your Savior, you come to know the truth in the most ultimate and satisfying way, and HE is the end goal of our ultimate journey in the search for truth. The more He lives within your heart, the more you know the truth. There is nothing more wonderful in life than to live the life of truth. No matter this world, the lie of Satan which seems to pervade everything, and almost everyone, you can know the truth, and that truth, that ultimate truth, is contained in two words:
JESUS CHRIST. -
Fehlende Folgen?
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Do you believe that the Resurrection happened?
That a man, Jesus of Nazareth, actually rose from the dead, do you? We celebrate this unnatural, God – motivated event, the greatest in human history next week. But again, do you actually believe that this Resurrection, physically, bodily actually happened?
The Apostle Paul says that if you do not believe, then your faith is in vain. That is, if this Resurrection never really happened, Christianity is predicated on a false premise, no better than any other so called religion and in fact maybe worse. Unless Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He was no more than a good moral teacher, and perhaps more magician than miracle worker and by no means the Savior of the World. Again, the words of the Apostle Paul:
IF CHRIST BE NOT RISEN
YOUR FAITH IS IN VAIN
But he did. So we believe, and in fact base our lives, our future fortunes on this miraculous event. But Christian faith is based on:
THE EMPTY TOMB.
Witnesses saw him. They touched him. They heard him speak. They dined with him, another supper after THE LAST SUPPER. They listened to him, heard his voice and believed. They saw an ascension. They felt the power of God the Father in his person. And if ever there was doubt, it was gone. And all who believed could say with the Apostle Paul:
FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST!
The power of this Resurrection consumed them, became them and out they went to testify, to witness, boldly proclaim, never the same again and wishing the same for others. The power of the resurrected Christ, the coming of the Holy Spirit produced a movement among mankind never before and never like it again. They went, these empowered believers:
INTO ALL THE WORLD TO PREACH THIS GOSPEL
to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. But to all men and women everywhere.
But think of this man, this carpenter from Nazareth whose ministry was a short some three years before his Crucifixion. He was a worker of MIRACLES. He, the God – man, was possessed with power over nature. He commanded the seas, he raised the dead, he healed the sick, he restored sight but all of that, miraculous as it may be, was not enough.
He was a great teacher, endowed with divine wisdom. His teachings, those parables would live ‘til the end of time. He brought a special divine wisdom. But that was not enough.
He introduced a new social order. John the Baptist came fasting but HE came eating and drinking. He came that our joy, the happiness of the new believer should be full. That life in HIM should be merry, abundant for the earth was his and he gave it to us. But that was not enough.
Some who came before him did these things. And so, for him to be special, one-of-a-kind, GOD WITH US, there came the trial by heathen men. Then came THE CRUCIFIXION, that horrible, brutal, excruciatingly painful death on the cross and the shedding of all that innocent blood. There had to come that event of NO GREATER LOVE. For we were taught in that Crucifixion that there is no greater love than that a man or a woman should lay down his or her life for someone else, for a friend. THAT WAS NECESSARY, the shedding of the blood of this innocent man for the REMISSION of all sin. The Crucifixion, this supreme redemptive act was absolutely necessary for without it, all that HE was or did was not enough.
The blood of a sinless man must be shed in remission of the sins of sinful men.
Even he, on that cross, felt forsaken even as we at times do. But this radical, lifechanging event was absolutely necessary in order to change the course of human history, to change the nature of all mankind. Think of all that the next time you partake of the wine and the bread.
I often wonder about this man, this carpenter from Nazareth. Sinless was he, so we are told and believe, but a man nonetheless. I wonder about his humanity, what he looked like, how he acted, his personality, his ability to laugh and cry. We know he wept but we can only assume he laughed, because he loved the joy of life. We know his heavy heart and enlightened mind, his teachings serious and weighty. But surely he laughed, saw the humor in life and in mankind for his teaching parables can often be ironic or even sardonic. We can perhaps believe that even as he loved mankind, surely he laughed at their hypocrisy and pretenses.
Was he, I wonder, subject to headaches, or on occasion a stomach upset. Surely he was tired. We were told he could be angry which means he ran the gamut of human emotions. I wonder how often he bathed or who may have trimmed his hair. I wonder how he prayed in all those private moments when he was alone with his FATHER. I would trade any of the four gospels for a recording of his thoughts and words in private, with his disciples, in prayer, comments on sunsets, or howling winds, or even the sporting events of the time. How wonderful it would be to know more about this MAN, this carpenter from Nazareth who was crucified for the sins of the world.
But then he died. And the earth shook. The sun hid its face. One Joseph of Arimathea took his dead body and laid it in a tomb, over and done for every man before or since.
But not this one. For then came the third day:
EASTER.
The greatest day in the history of mankind. RESURRECTION DAY. UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE. And so we celebrate Easter and we who believe in the Resurrection say boldly to all mankind:
HE IS NOT HERE
HE IS RISEN!
The natural man receives not these things of the Spirit. They are folly, mythological, just flat out untrue. From dust you came, says this natural man and to dust you will return and there will be no more. Not so, says the carpenter from Nazareth, the resurrected Christ of Glory, NOT SO. Even as I rose up from the grave, SO WILL YOU! Those who believe in me will live with me eternally. You are wrong, natural man, dead wrong for you have failed to understand or believe in the greatest event in human history. But the natural man continues to say that CHRIST IS NOT RISEN, and the natural man laughs at Christians and with a look in the eye boldly says:
YOUR FAITH IS IN VAIN!
Ah, but not so says the Christ of Glory. I am by the power of God alive and I have triumphed over death and the grave. And so will you if you believe in the crucified Christ and the resurrected Christ of Glory. It is as the philosopher and theologian Pascal said the supreme wager in all of life:
Do you believe in the resurrected Christ or not?
You will make the wager of a natural man or a spiritual man. You will BELIEVE or you will not.
Do you believe, do you believe in that Resurrection? If you do, and you should, then your faith is not in vain. -
Up the carpenter went to Jerusalem, a very special man soon to be crucified and then, in mighty triumph, wondrously resurrected from the dead.
He dined with his disciples, a last loving supper with them to celebrate his body and his blood. The communion, the meaning of the Living Christ had begun.
They found him, the Romans and the Sanhedrin did, they tried him, found him guilty although no man so convicted had ever been more innocent and sentenced him to death, the cruelest and most brutal death possible, a public crucifixion.
They nailed him to that wooden cross. Ironic is it not that a man who lived and worked with wood died on wood.
But before he died he uttered unforgettable words:
MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?
WHY?
Stunning, shocking words, almost impossible to believe. Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of Glory, the SON of the Living God believed that this God the Father had forsaken him! It is impossible to know how he felt, how awful that death must have been for him. For, in that crucial moment, when worlds collided, when heaven and earth met in a tumultuous and cataclysmic way, when the most powerful earthshaking event in all of human history was about to take place, the one whose life was taken so that he could give life to all others felt forsaken! He felt abandoned by the God who sent him for this mission. He was in that sense like us, a man, a human being with emotions and feelings as we have. On that cross, he was like us.
And it was in that dark moment as though God had departed, forsaken this man. It might well have been that this holy God could not look upon the ultimate and tragic event. For on that cross, in the blood and body of that person, in that death unto sin were in fact the sins of the world, all of them and all of ours. Perhaps God had in fact withdrawn until that ultimate act was finished and when done, there would be propitiation, remission, which would take away the sins of the world. Perhaps the agony, suffering and meaning of that event needed to occur all by itself.
Our Lord knew what would happen. He knew what he would have to do, what God required him to do, what his mission was. And yet, he asked as a man:
LET THIS CUP PASS FROM ME
Saying, in effect that he could only wish that he would not have to go through this monstrous ordeal. But then came the realization, that eternal realization that it was not up to him, whether or not this fate, this mission would go away and he uttered the ultimate words of submissions:
NOT MY WILL BUT YOUR WILL BE DONE, FATHER
This crucifixion I endure because you would have me do it.
And so our Lord, the carpenter who made living things from wood was to die on a deadly wooden cross. He would die in pain, excruciating pain, in agony, awful agony. He would die exposed physically, body naked and mutilated and subject to ridicule. He would die with ultimate humiliation, mocked by so many. He would die blood, sweat and tears everywhere, the worst possible death the Romans could deliver. And all the time innocent, guilty of:
NOTHING
Small wonder he said:
LET IT PASS, PLEASE LET IT PASS!
And so he died, the blood, the remission for our sins, for us complete. But, on that third day came the most miraculous, wondrous event this world of ours has ever known. There came on that third day the resurrection, the back-to-life of Jesus Christ, our living Savior and the Prince of Glory. From that brutalized dead body of a carpenter came the resurrected and risen Savior of the world. The power, the ultimate universal power of God Almighty at work.
The tomb where he was buried was empty and that is the CRUX of Christianity. If Christ be not risen, says Apostle Paul, then our Christian faith is in vain, worthless. Of all men we who believe in a Christ not risen are most miserable. Then we are of all men deceived and spiritually deranged. Christianity says Paul without the risen Christ is worthless. Yet it seems so difficult to believe. Coming back to life after death is just simply not humanly possible. Except that, ALL THINGS are possible with God, all things including the resurrection of the dead. But the tomb was empty, no body found, as witnessed 2,000 years ago by three women Mary, Mary Magdalene and Salome. They came to this tomb of Joseph of Arimathea to anoint the body of the crucified Christ only to find the messenger of God, an angel who pronounced the three most important words for every believer in the risen Christ:
HE IS RISEN
Go and tell, the disciples, and Peter, and start the spread of that Gospel, the good news to all mankind the world over. Hallelujah and praise the Lord.
So we sing on Easter Sunday:
CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY!
HALLELUJAH!
Let us sing with praise and worship for that man tried and convicted, crucified, dead and buried was in fact, hallelujah, raised from the dead, resurrected by the power of God, eternal life in him and because of our belief in him, eternal life for us.
We know, we believe that Christ is risen and we who are Christian are one with him. We pray that the love and forgiveness of the Christ of Calvary shall be the portion, the salvation of all mankind even as we sing in praise now and for eternity:
CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN
HALLELUJAH! -
That, says the scriptures, THE CROSS is an:
OFFENSE.
The meaning, the thought, the application of the cross is indeed an offense to the NATURAL MAN. That is, the man or woman who has no belief in Christianity. This natural person, man or woman, is offended by the notion of the cross. In fact, this anti-Christian person is offended by anything about the cross, including the blood of Jesus Christ.
For Christians, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, was the act of the son of God who laid down his life for mankind, for the sins of man and woman, and without, says the scriptures, this shedding of blood there is:
NO REMISSION FOR SIN.
None at all.
But the concept of sin generally and the need of humankind to accept that propitiation for sin is offensive, even mythological. Some critics, atheistic, even go so far as to call the crucifixion and the shedding of blood:
BARBARIC.
They go back to the Old Testament, to the very book of Genesis, where there was a sacrifice of an animal, the shedding of that animal’s blood as atonement, remission for sins, declaring that to be barbaric as well. But, again, for Christians, without the shedding of blood, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, there is no remission for sins, none at all. Sin and blood, and of course crucifixion, say the natural man and woman, is ridiculous mythology and stokes the passions of these anti-Christians in this day and age, perhaps as never before.
But sin, the coming short of the glory of God is indeed a reality. In fact, it is everywhere in deed and in heart. Evil is a reality, and there really is no cure for it, except ONE! And that is the saving grace of our Lord clearly manifested to us at Calvary, Golgotha, THE CROSS. Thank God for the cross and Christ!
Jesus of Nazareth was tried before Pilate, and the verdict was:
I FIND NO FAULT IN HIM!
But the mob cried out:
CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM!
Pilate, politician that he was, honored the tradition of the time, to release a prisoner to them and Pilate chose Barrabus over Jesus, so much for justice.
To Calvary, he went. Weakened as he was, Simon of Cyrene was conscripted by the Romans to carry the cross of Christ and the Golgathan drama began. Nails were driven into his hands and feet, and there he hung, suffering, parched with a terrible thirst, the crown of thorns on His head causing his blood to drip and his spirit to yearn for the end. He felt all alone, even abandoned by His Father, as he took upon himself the sins of the world, of you and me. In that lonely state, he cried out:
MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?
But then, mercifully, it was over. And his parting words were:
IT IS FINISHED!
That ultimate act of redemption was accomplished once and for all, for all mankind, for you and for me. There were those at the time who saw the event, witnessed the horrible act of Roman crucifixion, and watched the innocent Jesus of Nazareth suffer. They witnessed his body taken down from that cross, and the man Joseph, wrapping it in fine linen and laying the precious body of Jesus Christ in that very own and special tomb.
That was Friday, but then came Sunday. On the third day, this son of the living God, with the power of God, rose from the dead, and accomplished the greatest event in human history:
THE RESURRECTION.
Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph or’e his foes. He arose the victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. Blessed are we, by the millions and millions, who have never seen but who believe, nonetheless.
BLESSED ARE WE!
And we are indeed, for Gentile and Jew, anyone for that matter, all humankind, can have the incredible benefits of the crucifixion and the resurrection, a life of reconciliation here and life eternal there. Death is destroyed, for there now is no more death. We who believe will live eternally with Him so that the life we now live is redeemed, cleansed, and forgiven by His BLOOD. And we will be raised like HIM in our very own resurrection morning to know HIM and to live eternally with HIM.
Thank God for that third day. Life here and now is one of joy, unspeakable rejoicing, praise, worship, and thanksgiving because of this great offense, the cross of Jesus Christ, the crucifixion, and the resurrection.
So, my fellow Christians, on Easter Sunday and every other day, may we praise God for Jesus of Nazareth, and:
THANK GOD FOR HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFT! -
Hollywood is increasingly finding Jesus - and the results could be profound.
Those are the words of Billy Hallowell, writer for the interesting publication THE WASHINGTON TIMES.
Finding Jesus in the world of Hollywood can always be suspect for such a finding may be superficial and could be the finding of a Hollywood Jesus and not a Biblical Jesus. Nonetheless, it can be hoped that the real Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ of Glory is what is being discovered by Hollywood and Hollywood-ers and that the corrupt culture of Hollywood, and the entertainment business generally, may in fact, at least to some extent, be:
BORN AGAIN.
What a blessing that would be, would it not?
Coming out of Hollywood and the entertainment world, says Hallowell, is an “agonizing stream of debauchery and hedonism.” Indeed, it is, and if that stuff is not aggressively anti-Christian, it at least cares nothing about morality, much less Christian values. Perhaps there is a revival of some sort in Hollywood, and maybe the entertainment world and business generally, and we who believe in the real Jesus Christ can only hope that such a revival and Christian enlightenment can be based on strong and solid biblical truth, fostered by the Holy Spirit, and result in real transformation, not only of the individual but the industry itself. How good that would be.
We can only hope and pray that the so-called stars, actors and actresses who wish to be famous by the tens and tens of thousands, can indeed have a real born-again experience, experience real salvation, and bring to the entertainment field the love, charity, and sense of forgiveness which only true Christianity can offer. That and only that would really make a difference. And I for one do pray that that is the Jesus which this so-called new Hollywood is finding. If so, the results could as Hallowell says, really be profound and work for real change in what is probably otherwise a god-less industry.
Our culture does indeed reel with division, hatred, mistrust, and anger. If we can find leaders, men and women of character, faith, and real morality, that indeed would make a great difference in our once-great country.
So many of these actors and entertainers have indeed achieved fame, notoriety, and of course money, and the more of that, the less it seems of meaning and value. So many actors, entertainers, sports figures, and personalities of all sorts, keep looking and hoping until there is a real finding of the ultimate happiness, Jesus of Nazareth. Faith and belief in Him, the salvation provided by Him, is the ultimate answer, the ultimate happiness, and it would be wonderful indeed if the entertainment world would find the REAL HIM.
One of the problems the people in this industry face is that the Call of the Christ echoes loud with a summons to not be of this world, but to be transformed. To be a real Christian says the scripture, is to be in the world but not of the world. Hollywood inhabitants do not seem willing to place their all on the altar, to be willing to give up fame, fortune, money, power, influence, and stardom to follow the babe of Bethlehem and the carpenter of Nazareth. But that is evidence of real faith and that is the only way that their lives can be transformed and the industry in which they live itself can be transformed.
Recently, Hollywood has produced some very interesting Christian respectful and Jesus-oriented movies and other products of a higher moral order. What example is the film:
JESUS REVOLUTION.
To the astonishment of Hollywood executives and businesspersons, that film was a box office hit, drew strong reviews, and made very good money. That, said Hallowell, sent “shockwaves” through Hollywood.
Then there is also the TV series:
THE CHOSEN
that is cinematography well done, copy and storylines which are in virtually every way biblically authentic, and well watched by millions of viewers. If such programming does in fact honor Jesus Christ in a real and uncompromising way, thank God and thank Hollywood. That would mean more of this programming being produced and made available. If that in any way spreads the gospel and results in the salvation of souls, again PRAISE THE LORD. Hallowell firmly believes there is a real revival in Tinsel Town and he may be right.
Now comes our celebration of Easter, the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord, the real Jesus, and I for one do hope and pray that anything which comes from Hollywood which in fact respectfully and lovingly represents the real biblical Jesus would be of enormous value to our angry, hate-filled, and divisive country at this critical moment in time. Jesus states clearly that HE is the way, the truth, and the life. It is HE who has come to give us life more abundant, that our joy might be full, that our rejoicing may be great in Him and that true and real happiness can only be found in Him. Amen. Amen and I hope you feel and believe the very same way, do you?
Hollywood has always been ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, perhaps even anything too moral, never acknowledging the fact that this gospel is the power of God unto salvation and the only force in this world which can really transform in a fundamental and eternal way the lives of human beings. If anything, ANYTHING in Hollywood can be changed, born again, and its self-produced change for the better, may God be praised. We should pray indeed that Hollywood and its inhabitants, the actors and actresses of the world, continue on the path to find the real Jesus so that indeed as Hallowell well states:
THE SPIRITUAL RESULTS CAN BE PROFOUND! -
What a joy it is to be a Christian, a real Christian. A biblically based Christian. A Christian who believes as a life-long credo:
FOR BY GRACE ARE YOU SAVED THROUGH FAITH
AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES,
IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD
NOT OF WORKS
LEST ANY MAN OR WOMAN SHOULD BOAST.
That, my friends, is the real gospel, simply put as the real gospel is. The grace of God is almost undefinable, without boundaries, limits, magnificent, perhaps the chief characteristic of God the Father Almighty.
The faith that saves NONES, is a simple one as well. It is faith just like that of a little child. Children, the strongest evidence of what faith means, loving, trusting, hopeful, single-minded, uncompromising, and unconfused. That is the kind of faith by which salvation occurs and lasts a lifetime. What a shame that child-like biblical faith is challenged, so often not preached in the pulpit, and is exactly what the NONES need and are undoubtedly looking for.
I have little confidence in surveys, surveys of any kind, the best a survey can do is highlight an issue, a problem, a way of thinking, but when sampling the opinions of a few hundred people leads to conclusions drawn sometimes for millions, the inadequacies and inaccuracies of those conclusions are painfully evident. Now comes the most recent Pew poll.
The more educated those NONES were, those who are so-called atheists or agnostics, that is the more intellectual the none-believer was as a result of education, the more it seems they believed in themselves, their own thinking, their own determination of truth, and ultimate values (if any) and the less they were willing to accept the absolute truth of any religion, and especially the gospel of Jesus Christ. The educated were more critical. They were especially critical of religious institutions, churches, denominations, and what they termed overly zealous religious people, whatever that means. These NONES thought the pulpit was weak, pastors compromised, and the power of the message missing. In many cases, they were probably right about that, but instead of looking around that, or deeper into the truth of the gospels, they simply wrote off religion and any concept of salvation, especially salvation by grace and faith. Rather than the God and the Christ of the Bible, these so-called educated NONES
constructed their own version of GOD, which had little or no relationship or similarity to the God of the Bible. They chose for themselves what they wanted to believe and discarded the rest. They happily acknowledge the fact that we live in the age of POST-TRUTH, the end of the age of absolute truth and the end of any kind of formal religion with claims to such a truth. These new NONES were part of the WOKE generation and they relished their easy god and their very own made-up religion. They embraced the fact that this new wokeness had strong elements of Marxism and although anything from the pen of Marx was totally contrary to the truth of the gospel, incorporated those Marxist generalities into their religious thinking and beliefs. Nothing could be more anti-Christian, REAL CHRISTIANITY and it is nothing more than a brand new and powerful insidious way in which the powers of evil attack the powers of righteousness and those with simple, child-like, bible-believing faith approach their beliefs.
Paul reminds us that these end times will bring forth many false teachers, false beliefs, compromises to the real gospel, and challenges to the concept of salvation by faith through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is happening big time, my fellow Americans and fellow Christians. Avoid it and them like the plague.
Many believe that the church has become infected with theological liberalism, woke-ism, even Marxism, all of which denied the resurrection, the bible’s authority, miracles, the virgin birth, and salvation by faith. Reconstruction and redefinition are the new rages with regard to religion generally and especially and hurtfully, the very real and wonderful Christian church. As one theologian said:
‘MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS HAVE GOTTEN DISILLUSIONED WITH CHURCHES, RELIGIOUS LEADERS, AND PASTORS WHO ARE CLEARLY ABANDONING THE BIBLE.”
What people want, and especially the NONES, is truth, loving truth. Searchers for this loving truth, this real truth, want more than anything:
AUTHENTICITY.
The real, the real gospel. Real truth, uncompromised. So many in this generation hunger for faith, hope, and love, all of which are the essential components of the gospel of Jesus Christ. To know HIM is to know Truth, absolute truth. And there He is, ready to be known, accepted, and believed in. What an opportunity to present the gospel to this incredibly compromised, needy, day and age.
David Closson, of FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL, said the following:
WE DON’T NEED TO DRESS THE GOSPEL UP. WE DON’T NEED THE LIGHT SHOW, THE ROCK BANDS. I THINK THERE IS SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL (AN UNDERSTATEMENT TO BE SURE). AND IF CHURCHES AND CHRISTIANS REALLY PUSH INTO THEIR COMMUNITIES, I THINK THEY WOULD FIND A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD BE READY TO HEAR THE GOSPEL AND TO RESPOND TO IT.Amen. Go ye into all this generation with the power of the gospel, the real gospel, and watch, you just watch the real results, the saving results which will be produced by your life and your testimony by:
THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD ALMIGHTY! -
Inevitable, was it not my fellow Christians, that artificial intelligence, the so-called AI would step into the pulpit?
This people-replacer, so say the experts, can be either friend or foe. It can either be an aid to the pastor in terms of preparation and time, like the concordance, the wrap-opt, the microphone, and existing sophisticated bible research software; or say the foes, AI can actually write the sermon for the pastor. If the sermon originates from a non-human source, why bother to go to church at all?
The potentiality for AI use can be addictive to any pastor, to any Christian preparing materials looking for a shortcut, unwilling to invest the time for real human preparation, a God-required responsibility of any pastor, at least to this point. It is, in the words of one Jared Bridges, where:
AI IS COMING FOR YOUR PASTOR!
The real problem occurs when this brand-new technology doesn’t nearly aid the pastor in doing his responsible preaching, but instead does it for him! To be sure, AI indeed saves time, and to some, that saved preparation time can allow the pastor to “reroute that time to other ministry goals.”
One pastor stated:
‘When I need examples or applications for a sermon, I go to ChatGPT for ideas.”
Having been called upon generative AI can produce applications for a sermon, not from a mind and heart dedicated to the things of the Lord but from the code base and algorithm of the AI chatbot itself. So, the question may be, is the chatbot born again, has the chatbot experienced salvation, is the chatbot led and influenced in preparing the materials by the Holy Spirit, does the chatbot have a soul, does the chatbot pray and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit before it tells the pastor what to say?
So then, if any pastor, any preacher was to use AI methodology in sermon preparation, in outline, priorities, applications, and illustrations, that is a shortcut which allows them to avoid hard work, the hard work of preparation, the pouring of a spiritually led, Holy Spirit led heart and mind to the testimony to be given to those who hear. Says the scripture, study to show yourself approved, laymen and pastor. Study don’t shortcut. Be a workman or woman for God. WORK! Work in preparation for the delivery of the sacred Word of God to a congregation entrusted to you. Then and only then will that workman, the Lord’s workman never be ashamed of anything written or prepared, delivered in the power of the gospel to those who hear. There are no shortcuts in the work of the Lord, NONE!
The more AI is used, the more a pastor trusts a soul-less AI with known biases to interpret the meaning of the Word of God. By its very title, ARTIFICIAL, much of what AI produces is indeed soul-less, a matter of fact, and any sensitive hearer of the word can discern the fact that the material does not come from the heart and mind of a human being nor does it contain the real wisdom, love, and emotional impact of the Holy Spirit. There is absolutely no way that a chatbot can interpret the real meaning, the real spirituality of the Word of God, NO WAY!
But that doesn’t stop the founders of Pastors.ai, or ChatGPT, or SermonAI among others. They continue to produce materials, outlines, suggestions, illustrations, and applications drawn from sources everywhere and unknown. But the sites always produce the following disclaimer:
‘Since an AI generates these thesis statements and outlines, please use them with caution. Notably, AI likes to make things up so don’t trust anything it says at face value.”
So, that is the bottom line. In sermon preparation, pastor, AI is untrustworthy, and should not be taken at face value, so perhaps the real issue is not don’t trust it, but the real issue is:
DON’T USE IT!
To be sure, AI can write sermons. They can do the work of a pastor however worthy or trustworthy. In fact, with sermon.ai, the sermon it can write for the pastor is written at the level of an honorary doctorate, so they say. In fact, AI has the capability of writing that very sermon in a different voice. It uses the illustration of voicing that sermon in the voice of none other than:
BILLY GRAHAM.
Can you believe that? If I were Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham organization, I would get the lawyers ready to stop that nonsense.
So, my fellow Christians, do we want a sermon prepared by a machine or a human being empowered by the Holy Spirit of God, which? AI simply cannot do the soul-transforming work required of a real sermon honoring our Lord. Machine sermons cannot fully bless a congregation and this shortcut for the pastor severely curtails his own spiritual development. Lose-lose, don’t you think?
There are no shortcuts in the work of the Lord. We need to fight the fight to the end, run the race to the finish line, press on for the prize, work for the night is coming, study to show ourselves approved, and in all of that, in the call of our Lord, there are no:
SHORTCUTS.
We the Christians, the congregations must hold our preachers to a much higher standard, a standard which is set and strengthened by a heart generated by love and grace and not generative AI, not generated by a prompt. We need heart-open pastors, not automated ones, not spokesmen weak in the flesh but mighty in the scriptures. We need the power of the Holy Spirit in sermons, not the applications and prompts of AI. Another sign of the end times, don’t you think?
So, pastor, we your congregations, say study to show yourself approved, be a workman rightly dividing the word of truth. Spend the time in the book and the things of the Lord and teach us sermon after sermon of HIS faith, hope, and love. -
Study to show yourself approved unto God. Workmen and workwomen who know what they’re talking about, know what and in whom they have believed, and consequently are not ashamed because they really know how to understand, digest, and explain the precious INSPIRED WORD OF GOD:
OUR BIBLE!
What a pleasure, what a privilege, to be a Christian, especially in this dark day and age. Christian faith does not only make us a life better, but in itself is that which is:
DIFFERENT AND BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE,
anything else in this life. So, to learn more about it, to become a better, more knowledgeable Christian, intellectually and spiritually, should be priority number one in our life. -
LOVE IS THE GREATEST.
Even greater than faith, or hope, or any other thing.
We celebrate the love of Valentine’s Day and appropriately so. That loving celebration is fun, romantic, even emotional. It is a day set aside once to live love and to express our love to all, but especially so to someone special.
Love is a word difficult of definition. In fact, it has many component parts. Love is complex, defining itself, manifesting itself in so many different ways. But love is a force without which we can not live, or live right. It is the stuff of life, and without it, life is mere existence, sterile and harsh. Love is the force, the resource of God, an energy which produces the highest and best relationships with OTHERS, and, as we love ourselves, allows us to live life at its highest levels.
TO LOVE AND TO BE LOVED IS THE GREATEST HAPPINESS OF EXISTENCE. So said Sydnie Smith.
Love out and in is a daily process which produces the greatest happiness. It does indeed. Nothing feels better than to give love, share love, and experience love. NOTHING.
If you had no one to love, you would never be hurt. But, you would never grow. You would never venture outside your own self-centered needs and perceptions. Your heart would never be cracked open so that God could enter it. To love and love unconditionally is to take risks, and especially the risk of rejection. But nothing energizes and cleanses like love.
Profound words about love by a poet unknown. To love another, large or small, is the only real way that one can grow as a human being. The risk of loving produces the risk of hurt but even hurt toughens and matures love. The risk of loving another allows one to VENTURE OUTSIDE and to experience. Doing that allows your very own heart to be CRACKED OPEN so that love in its purest sense could enter, that is God Himself. Loving is always risky, and especially the risk of rejection. Rejection hurts but it is part of the loving process. The risk of love is worth it because nothing energizes like love, and nothing cleanses like love, NOTHING.
Charles Dickens said that a loving heart is the truest wisdom. Knowing life at its best, the most real and the truest wisdom can only be produced by a loving heart, a heart cracked open and wanting more love.
Robert Schuller said that in the presence of love, miracles happen. Love itself is a
miracle and the loving miracle produces other miracles. Miracles can and should
happen more often and they can and will happen when:
LOVE IS AT WORK
True love allows us insight, real insight into the character and persona of another:
“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, I CATCH GLIMPSES OF THE YOU GOD CREATED, THE
TRUE YOU. I SEE YOUR IMPERFECTIONS AND FAILURES, BUT I CHOOSE TO SEE
PAST THEM TO THE REAL YOU. LOVE CREATES A PLACE WHERE YOU ARE FREE
TO BECOME YOUR COMPLETE SELF.”
What a marvelous statement. Perhaps we can only really know another not completely
but only with glimpses and those glimpses made possible only because of love.
We are all riddled with imperfections and failures, are we not? We can see past things
in our desire to find the real person, the real you. Love breaks down those barriers
and produces eyes that truly see.
Benjamin Disraeli the great English Prime Minister said that:
“WE ARE ALL BORN TO LOVE. IT IS THE PRINCIPLE OF ITS EXISTENCE AND ITS
ONLY END.”
Born to love, genetic, all that we really are, the very highest principle itself of existence.
And, its only end, like the highest and greatest spiritual commandment that we should
love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor
as ourselves. In fact, we are known as Christians, followers of the Christ:
IF YOU HAVE LOVE ONE FOR ANOTHER
Love said another is tough, practical, and active. Love is washing the kitchen floor
over and over again. Love is scrubbing the toilet and doing the laundry. Love is taking
out the garbage and cleaning the refrigerator. Love is smiling when you are tired,
finding reasons to laugh even when you are angry, volunteering for a dirty job, working
hard, and making the world a better place.
Powerful and profound. Indeed, love is practical. Love is very much in the scrubbing
of the toilet. Love is there from the one who takes out the garbage. Love indeed
delights in the dirty jobs for when you do for the least of these, you do it unto HIM.
And yet more insight into the God of all love:
GOD SAYS TO US, IN LOVE, I HOLD YOU IN MY MIND. I REMEMBER YOU. I HOLD
ALL OF THE PIECES OF YOU. THE PAST WOUNDS AND THE PRESENT. AND IN
LOVE, I KNIT THEM TOGETHER INTO THE PERSON I LOVE, THE PERSON I
CREATED TO GIVE ME JOY:
YOU.
Held are we in the mind of God, remembering us even as we remember Him, all of our
various pieces, wounds, wrongs, and problems no matter. God knits them together
and all become the mosaic, the person God loves, the individual and special you.
Love frees us of the weight and pain of life! True love always lightens life’s heaviest
burdens. True love is a force far more powerful than the weapons of any enemy.
Life is a flower of which love is the honey, so said Victor Hugo. Love is knit into the
very cells of our bodies. It is written into our DNA. It is encoded in the chemicals that
make plants green. It is that which makes the sky blue, the substance of the song of
the birds in summer, the whisper of the wind in the trees, the silence of the snow as it
falls. Love is the voice of God calling to us endlessly and passionately through all HIS
marvelous creation.
There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear. The more one loves, the less there
is of which to be afraid. Love secures and drives our insecurity. Love at work is the
most powerful force and energy of all.
Take away love, said Robert Browning, and our earth is a tomb. Without love, life is
like dead, lifeless, even meaningless. And, if you wish to be loved, LOVE. Any time
that is not spent on love is time wasted.
True love is a durable fire in the mind ever-burning, never sick, never old, never dead,
from itself never turning, so said Sir Walter Raleigh. The durable fire of love burns
unquenchable, always alive, always energizing.
The great artist Vincent Van Gogh said:
“THE HEART THAT LOVES IS ALWAYS YOUNG. LOVE IS A MARVELOUS
BEAUTIFIER. LOVE IS ART AT WORK. I ALWAYS THINK THAT THE BEST WAY TO
KNOW GOD IS TO LOVE MANY THINGS.”
Indeed, all of art is love at work and there really can be no great art without love. It
beautifies and brings out the best in everything.
Here, the words of Thomas Merton:
“THE BEGINNING OF LOVE IS TO LET THOSE WHO LOVE BE PERFECTLY
THEMSELVES, AND NOT TO TWIST THEM TO FIT OUR OWN IMAGE. OTHERWISE,
WE LOVE ONLY THE REFLECTION OF OURSELVES WE FIND IN THEM.”
The more we are perfectly ourselves, living to our highest and best, the more and
better of us there is.
Love cures people, the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. Love conquers all
things, so said the ancient poet, Virgil.
Love allows us to believe so fully and firmly in God even when He is silent!
The great thinker-theologian Soren Kierkegaard profoundly stated that when one has
once fully entered the realm of love, the world, no matter how imperfect becomes rich
and beautiful. It consists solely of opportunities for love.
It is love, said Thomas Mann, not reason that is stronger than death. And that love,
stronger than and which conquers death is the love of the Christ on the cross and the
resurrection which followed.
To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others, said Francois Mauriac. Life is
replete with invisible miracles which can only be revealed by love at work.
If you love somebody, tell them, so said Rod McKuen. The telling unleashes the energy
and the power of love.
The heart has its reasons which reason alone can not understand, so said the thinker
Blaise Pascal. Love is a dimension in life different from and beyond reason itself. The
more the mind the less the heart and consequently the less love. Reason no matter
how wise can never understand love.
The great theologian Paul Tillich said that the first beauty of love is to listen. One who
loves wants to listen more than talk, listen to every word, every expression of thought
and emotion which comes from the one loved. Listening, really listening in a caring
way, may very well be the highest attribute of true love.
For those who love, time is eternity. Love is God’s finger on man’s shoulder. Love is
like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a
winged heart and to give thanks for another day of loving. Love is a symbol of eternity.
It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an
end.
Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson said:
“TIS BETTER TO HAVE LOVED AND LOST THAN NEVER TO HAVE LOVED AT ALL.”
Love indeed is risky, the risk of rejection but a life lived without true love is a life never
really lived at all.
I love you, says Anna Corbin, as you are, not as you wish to be. I love you for the real
person you are, not the imaginary perhaps I fantasize you could be. I love the real,
amazing, utterly unique YOU.
Love in the ultimate, unconditional, love so REAL.
If you love until it hurts, really hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love said
the wonderfully loving Mother Teresa. True love at work drives away the hurt.
Looking back, said one, I have this to regret. That too often when I loved, I did not say
so. Love uncommunicated is love aborted. It is there but never shared. More time is
spent judging people which leaves less time to love them.
Zelda Fitzgerald said that nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much love
the heart can hold. There is no limit to love, none whatsoever. Love is there, always
and love takes up when knowledge leaves off. In fact, love is the supreme knowledge,
superior to all else.
Love’s greatest gift is its ability to make everything it touches sacred. Love at work
produces the holiest of the holies. The great English statesman William E. Gladstone
said the following:
“WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE TIME WHEN THE POWER OF LOVE WILL REPLACE
THE LOVE OF POWER. THEN WILL OUR WORLD KNOW THE BLESSINGS OF
PEACE. POWER KILLS LOVE AND WITHOUT LOVE, THERE IS NO PEACE. THERE IS
NOTHING MORE POWERFUL BEFORE AND EVER AGAIN THAN LOVE.”
The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said the following:
“WE ARE SAVED BY THE FINAL FORM OF LOVE, WHICH IS FORGIVENESS.
FORGIVING AND FORGETTING ARE THE HIGHEST ACTS OF LOVE RESULTING IN
OUR SALVATION. THERE WAS ONE, YEARS AGO, DRIVEN TO THE CROSS BY THE
LOVE OF MANKIND PROVIDING IN HIS DEATH THE LIFE AND THE LOVE WE LEAD.
THE CROSS WAS THE FINAL AND FORGIVING FORM OF LOVE.”
The crucifixion of the Christ on the cross was indeed the ultimate act of love.
The great writer C.S. Lewis said the following:
“TO LOVE AT ALL IS TO BE VULNERABLE. LOVE ANYTHING AND YOUR HEART
WILL CERTAINLY BE WRUNG AND POSSIBLY BROKEN. LOVE BREAKS DOWN ALL
BARRIERS, OPENS WIDE THE HEART, EXPOSES TRUE INNOCENCE AND RISKS THE
WRINGING AND THE BREAKING OF THIS MORE PRIZED POSSESSION. REAL LOVE
DEMANDS THIS, CONSTANTLY.”
Sir Arthur Pinero said that “those who love deeply never grow old. They may die of old
age, but they die young at heart.”
That deep love here and now is but a prelude to the perfect love there. In fact, they are
one love contiguous and continuous. Love is both earthly and eternal. Love never
dies. For there is only one real happiness in life and that is to love and to be loved.
The great writer Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
“NEVER SELF-POSSESSED OR PRUDENT, LOVE IS ALL ABANDONMENT.”
True love is pure risk, always. Love at work risks hurt to the self and rejection by
another. But the risk at work is what makes the word of love so special.
Vulnerability, openness, risk but so great reward.
Hear then the marvelous words of the great poet William Wordsworth:
“A PERSON CAN BE SO CHANGED BY LOVE AS TO BE UNRECOGNIZABLE AS THE
SAME PERSON. LOVE TRANSFORMS, REGENERATES. LOVE PRODUCES CHANGE,
EVERYWHERE AND IN EVERYONE. LOVE BETTERS WHAT IS BEST!”
The great philosopher Plato said that love is the best friend of human kind, the helper
and the healer of all ills that stand in the way of human happiness. In fact, love and
compassion are necessities, not luxuries and without them, humanity can not survive.
And for some real definition of the word love, hear the words of Saint Augustine:
“WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE? WHY, IT HAS HANDS TO HELP OTHERS. IT HAS
FEET TO HASTEN TO THE POOR AND NEEDY. IT HAS EYES TO SEE MISERY AND
WANT. IT HAS EARS TO HEAR THE SIGHS AND SORROWS OF HUMANKIND. THAT
IS WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE!”
Amen and amen. Hands and feet at work, eyes and ears to see and hear human need.
Love at work is what love really is.
Love comes supreme and most innocently from a child. A child’s love is pure,
uncomplicated, unconditional, fully trusting. Such innocence opens deep the world of
feeling and emotion and it is a return to that childlike love and that ability to love
which alone can make complete the adult version of that child. May we all be wise
enough to return to the innocent love of a little child.
And so my friends, my fellow Americans, we the Crawford Broadcasting Company wish
you all of the love possible on Valentine’s Day and during Valentine’s week. May love
in all its forms permeate your life and may you know the supreme love of the One who
laid down His life for you. Live love every day and know the real and true meaning of
life.
And finally, the profound words of poet Emily Dickenson:
“IF I CAN STOP ONE HEART FROM BREAKING
I SHALL NOT LIVE IN VAIN
IF I CAN EASE ONE LIFE THE ACHING
OR COOL ONE PAIN
OR HELP ONE FAINTING ROBIN
IN TO HIS NEST AGAIN
I SHALL NOT LIVE IN VAIN!”
Love is the greatest! -
The greatest of all things is LOVE.
The greatest, says the Apostle Paul, agreed upon by the world’s greatest thinkers, artists and poets is:
LOVE
Love is best.
The Bible book 1 Corinthians 13 is Paul’s finest expression of love by far. Read and read again those marvelous apostolic definitions of love. One of the meanings of this powerful force is spiritual devotion, a reasoning, intentional spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God’s love for and in us. To really know what love is, says Paul, can only occur as a result of a meaningful (loving) relationship with God Almighty. The longer, the deeper the relationship, the more the meaning of love becomes clear.
Love is good. In fact, good is defined by love. For no mere mortal can do good without love. One may intend to live right, perhaps following the Ten Commandments and other great moral precepts. But mere intention, the act of the will is not enough for it lacks the energy, the conviction, the power of LOVE.
There really is no definition of love, no simple one. Words like affection, attachment, emotion, even ultimate feelings are inadequate. So, Paul says let’s begin by defining love as PATIENT. Love is longsuffering because love is eternal. We live in a world fundamentally impatient, Type A, a world of pressure and intensity. Life as it is in the 20th Century and the people who live that life cause us to be impatient, frustrated, even angry. But if one loves and lives by the power of love, one says Paul is PATIENT. That is, no matter the circumstances, one is patient because patience is inherent, a spiritual genetic component of one who loves.
Love is kind, says the open-hearted Apostle Paul. Love is gentle, easy. It avoids meaningless confrontation and struggle. Love thinks on those things which are good in gentle ways, avoids strife and is slow to anger. Our world is hard, feisty and confrontational, so often without love. But love at work is the antidote to harsh things in life. That easy love soothes. It strokes. It forces its way into the heart and opens it. Love replaces the harsh with hugs. It cares about others first and about the things of God even more. There is no gentle or kind without love.
Love, God’s love in us, does not insist on its own rights or its own way. Love is not self-seeking. The natural man without love is selfish, self-centered, and egotistical. A loving person is giving, open, and caring. These standards are extremely high, and virtually impossible for any human being to accomplish without, says Paul, the love of God.
Love even allows us not to take account of the wrongs or evil done to us by others. Love allows us to forgive and forget. Love allows us to love an enemy rather than to seek vengeance. Love allows us to move past righting wrongs. We can lovingly forgive even as a loving God forgave us.
Love rejoices when right and truth prevail. Real love is straight, a kind of tough love structured by what is right and true. Love deals with problems in the present, and deals with them straightforwardly as truth would have it. Love can discipline and correct in truth without hurting. True love never compromises. How wonderful and joyful it is to lovingly live in truth at all times. For to know the truth of love is to be set free and allows us to live a life rejoicing and praising.
Love protects and defends. It guards the hearts and minds of the young. It trains up children in the way in which they should go. It shows them the way of the Lord, the path of righteousness. Love protects and defends home and family. Love guards against false prophets and the lie. Love tolerates no evil, only the good.
Love is loyal, says Paul. Love is trustworthy and trusting. Love makes character predictable, reliable, steady, and dependable. Love produces bonds unbroken, full trust unto death.
Real love, says Paul, always hopes for the best, especially the best in others. No matter the evil or inconsistencies in others, or the uncertainties in life, hope for the good is always love’s objective. Love, real love is contagious. In the presence of love, real love, others participate and share and begin to feel that real love themselves. Love at work creates the belief that all things will work together for good for those who love each other, and especially those who love God. That, says Paul, is an absolute truth for:
LOVE NEVER FAILS
It endures now and for all eternity. It overcomes the greatest evils in this world which combined, can never destroy love.
But the Apostle Paul in his great treatise 1 Corinthians 13 also tells us what love is NOT.
Paul tells us that love is not talk no matter how eloquent. Words are not love and may even have difficulty communicating or defining love. No matter how eloquent the tongue, even the language of angels, words are like sounding brass and tinkling symbols, hollow and meaningless. Even, says Paul, if words are those of the angels themselves, they are worthless without love.
And Paul says that even the gift of prophecy, knowing the future, discerning the divine will and purpose without love means nothing. Even moving mountains with all power and energy means nothing without love.
One can not even give to the poor without love. One can not even be willing to die, offer a body to be burned, or lay down a life for another without love, for all such acts no matter how charitable are meaningless without love.
Love is not envious. Love is not jealous of others, what they are or what they have. Love desires the best for everyone. Love rejoices when the best things happen to other people. Love never craves or lusts. It is content no matter the circumstances.
Love is not controlling, says Paul. It lets go. It never holds on. Love never demands and always reasons with an open heart. Love is never possessive. Love is always ready to share, give and understand.
And love never boasts or brags. Love is not proud or puffed up. Love has no ego. Love cares little for power, fame or possessions. Love is in the doing for by their loving fruits we shall know them. Love wishes to be known and loved by God and not man. Love reminds that it is not about me but about HIM.
Love does not behave unseemly. Love allows one to live modestly, humbly and joyfully. Love builds and sustains character. Love has its own rules and standards, instinctive even genetic, which controls and directs behavior instinctively. By their fruits, by their actions, it is easy to know one who loves.
Love is not easily angered says Paul. Not that one never gets angry, but that anger is slow to wrath. No tempers, no rages. Life can not be lived on the defense. Love calls for rational and reasonable responses and reactions, for a fiery tongue does nothing but damage. When one is possessed, and consumed by love, that loving person can not be easily provoked. Anger, even righteous anger does very little good.
Perhaps so very importantly Paul reminds us that love does not keep any record of wrongs. We, the humans, have such long memories when things go wrong, when we are wronged. We may in some sense forgive, but it is so very difficult to forget. But love, says Paul, keeps no record of these wrongs, love has no balance sheet, no list of spiritual assets and liabilities. Love is owed nothing for all it gives, even for major acts of forgiveness. It requires no payback or retribution for any harm done, no matter the wrong. Love truly forgets and presses on for only the good things in life. Love holds no grudges, none whatsoever. There is no get-even, no aggression, nothing defensive about real love at work. Real love allows anyone to love an enemy, the worst of them no matter the wrongs, so says Paul. Love allows us to do good to those who persecute us, defame us, slander and abuse us. That is real love. Easy it is to throw up one's hands and say impossible, all of it just plain impossible. And perhaps all such things are impossible at the human level only, that is without the love of God at work in any life. We are told that God is love and the more of the love of God in our lives and hearts, the more we can live by love and in love. We now see imperfectly, we now understand love imperfectly, as Paul says, but we will know when we see the source of all love FACE TO FACE. Then we shall know that perfect love which passes all understanding. To stand in the HOLY PRESENCE, the source of all love is to know completely. Love is a process as is learning to love, here and now. But love will be fully completed in the dawn of that eternal day.
And finally, Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13 that there are three great things, the very best of all things in this life, namely:
FAITH
HOPE
LOVE
No matter how important faith is, and it surely is, that is the conviction and belief with respect to man’s relationship to God and divine things, love is greater. And no matter how strong the force of hope, the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation, as important as that is, love is greater.
The greatest of all things is LOVE, that is, true affection for God and man, affection growing out of God’s love for and in us.
The greatest of all things is love because LOVE NEVER FAILS! -
SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD.
Those are the words of the Apostle Paul, inspired by the God for whom we should study, to his brother, his son Timothy.
And to you and to me and to all.
Once the heart is redeemed, cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, then comes the mind, the ability to think and to reason in a Godly way, on Godly Christ-like things and to learn how to train up that mind, make it fully effective, and use it to the best of your ability:
FOR ALL THINGS GODLY AND CHRISTIAN.
Many of us fail to do that. To train the mind, to really STUDY is difficult, time-consuming, a matter of real priority and commitment, difficult at first, especially when we begin to run the mental race and fight the mental fight of faith, which God requires.
But there is no substitute for the study of scripture, none whatsoever. We cannot simply digest THE VERSE FOR THE DAY, or read a chapter a day as though it were enough. Daily devotionals may help but they seldom rise to the level of the scripture demand, the Godly demand, of real and true:
STUDY.
So, the scriptures tell us clearly that if we do not learn how to study those 66 books, our way, with the special and individual intellect which God has given us, each of us so very different, we will not be approved by God as worthy disciples functioning for HIM with all of our might, and to the best of our abilities. It is our Christian duty to learn how to think, to use the mind, to reason, to testify, to tell all what we believe, not as someone would, not as anyone else would, but the very best of us, you and me.
We cannot be compared to another. Most of us are not scholars, theologians, biblical analysts, or teachers of the Word. We are lay people, saved by grace, therefore fully desirous of serving our Lord but only to the best of our individual talents, capabilities, and intellect. We are not the Apostle Paul, nor Billy Graham, nor the Pope, nor Charles Spurgeon. We are different. We have our own mission, our own priorities, our own abilities as God has given them. We study to show ourselves approved unto God in
terms of the abilities He has given us to do just that. THAT AND THAT ONLY, NO MORE!
But we need to constantly learn how to THINK. Scripture tells us that it is our Christian duty to think on the good things in life, the good things offered to us by our Lord, the blessings, the positive, and to grow intellectually and spiritually, grow every day, to improve the mind, the brain, the ability to reason, which God has given us. So that, when the right opportunity arises for us, for you and me, we are ready, READY to give an answer, to explain who we are, what we believe, and why, and how we have been transformed. That, for most of us, is not standing behind a pulpit or on a street corner, or even necessarily talking to strangers. We can do all those things through Christ who strengthens us if that is the right thing for us to do, but that might not be our gift, our talent, and the way our mind, redeemed by the blood of Christ, requires us to live, and grow, and learn, and become fortified as better Christians mentally in every way.
We should be what God intends us to be and not what any man or woman wants us to be or thinks we should be. We should be ready to give a reason for what we believe, what God has laid on our mind and heart, and how with aggressive, committed, prioritized study, we learn and grow in THE WORD OF GOD.
Alone, by ourselves, the study we do is only partial. We need, in fact, we must have the guidance, the inspiration, the explanation of:
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Therefore, before we enter the Word of God, before we STUDY, we must through prayer invoke the intercession, the intellectual partnership of the Holy Spirit. We must ask that the Spirit awaken us, stabilize our focus, make every inspired word of God meaningful, and know that every word in those 66 precious inspired books is the words, THE WORDS, of eternal life. They are indeed precious, unique, the words of the living God, and it is those very words that we must study, constantly study, so that our mind can be trained up in the way in which it should go, and when the wiles of evil and the culture of this world try to bring us down, plant doubt, or guilt, or spread diabolical disinformation, we know and only have believed, that knowledge dominates our mind and we will not go astray, mentally or spiritually. The mind, the brain, the intellect, firm in the Lord, cannot be changed by the forces, the evil of this world. It stands on the rock and any such attack only strengthens belief, and to the extent we are intellectually capable, our mind is totally infused, injected, energized with the Word of God and intellectually:
WE WILL NOT BE MOVED!
So then, we can come together and reason, the mind at work in the things of the Lord:
COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER.
So that, whenever we are with one or more, whether in the household, among friends, in study groups, at church, anywhere and everywhere, if the opportunity arises, we are ready to reason together and offer a reason which God has given us, which the Holy Spirit has given us, to explain who we are (Christian) and what we believe, the truth of scripture and our Lord Jesus Christ.
You matter. You are endowed with the ability to think. You can, no matter who you are or what education you have had, learn how to STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED! But that takes work, commitment, time, and energy. Will you put the work in that is necessary to train your mind and really STUDY? Will you today allow the Holy Spirit to show you how? -
We who believe live in a day and age of so-called:
PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY.
Progressive means that Christians today are subject to new interpretations of scripture, a redefinition of what Christianity is all about, a resetting of Christian values, morals, and priorities, and most of all, a battle with a foreign and antagonistic culture like never before. The Bible, always presumed to be the inspired word of God, becomes more of a moral guide rather than statement of absolute truth. The Bible is subject to mankind’s interpretation and even an individual’s sense of right and wrong, rather than the infallible standards of scripture. Christian believers have, now more than ever, ITCHY EARS, a far greater propensity to compromise and accommodate the current culture, rather than standing up for scripture, our Lord, and the absolute truths of the Bible.
That is why the Apostle Paul in II Timothy says that even then, some 2000 years ago, the ITCHY EARS of believers have wandered into myths, forming a religion based upon THEIR TRUTH, not that of God Almighty. If such a trend prevails and those progressive, woke changes continue to occur, that will indeed portend the very end of Christianity itself.
There is strife in the church. Denominations compromise and individual churches move on, especially when woke prevails. Christian fracturing becomes every day a more serious problem. When any church or Christians therein bow to the world’s standards and interpretations, true believers come apart and are separate from them refusing to bow to woke in any way.
The bottom line for woke is that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Wokers thrive on the penance of this so-called age of POST TRUTH, compromise, the religion of the individual, and changing standards of morality and truth as individuals define them. The Apostle Paul clearly indicates this is dead wrong and, in fact even more so, a critical sign of the END TIMES.
An essential question, says Joseph Backholm, of the CENTER FOR BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW, is the following:
“The Question seems to be whether or not God actually wants us to repent or mostly just wants us to be happy and comfortable.
In short, the new and progressive approach to Christianity attacks the concept of sin, the very reason itself for repentance, and wishes to do away with sin and the need for repentance, and instead of a redeemed mankind, one which is merely happy and comfortable. These woke changers simply do not believe that sin exists, but rather that the concepts of right and wrong are in flux and constantly changing. They have forgotten the Biblical admonition:
BE SURE YOUR SINS WILL FIND YOU OUT!
So, says our Lord, and the Apostle Paul, Christian believers, true believers, are obligated, indeed have the duty to stand up to the evil of woke and progressive Christianity and defend the faith, our Lord, and His scripture. It is, says Christian author Eric Metaxas, this new form of evil that must be confronted. We cannot compromise, accept, or be silent. We must speak out against it. Metaxas says the following:
SILENCE IN THE FACE OF EVIL IS EVIL ITSELF!
Indeed, it is. Not standing up, not speaking out, is a form of compromise, and in essence, is condoning, accepting, and not confronting the evil as it is. As Paul says in Ephesians, we the church are called to stand against the culture as we engage in the spiritual fight regarding the principalities and powers of this world. That is our duty, His command, and if we do not stand and confront the evil of woke, we disrespect HIM and we fail to do our duty as Christians.
Any denomination or church which changes or modifies in any way spiritual beliefs, Biblical beliefs, and postures themselves as politically correct, and with the times, seeing itself as loving and not confronting, cannot change the non-changing and absolute truth of scripture, and the eternal truth of God’s word. That word, those principles will never change, and:
“ANY CHURCH THAT CHANGES THE MESSAGE TO FIT THE TIMES, IS PREACHING A FALSE GOSPEL.”
So, my fellow Christians, man or woman, remember the words in the book of James:
“BLESSED IS THE MAN OR WOMAN WHO REMAINS STEADFAST UNDER TRIAL.”
Never giving up, never compromising, willing to lay all on the altar, believing without woke interpretation the true and absolute truth of scripture, never deviating from that and always ready, willing, and able to defend that. What a joy, what a privilege, what insight into eternal truth is ours to be a Christian, a true follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a joy to abide in Him and as 1 John 2 states:
“WALK IN THE SAME WAY IN WHICH HE WALKED.”
More than ever, HE asks you to do that so that you can be salt and light to this world, emphatically resisting the progressive, woke, secular culture of the times and standing for Him.
As Joseph Backholm further states:
“WE HAVE TO DECIDE WHETHER WE ARE TRYING TO SHAPE OUR MINDS AROUND GOD’S WORD OR WHETHER WE ARE TRYING TO SHAPE GOD’S WORD AROUND OUR MINDS.”
The former produces actual Christianity, the latter produces so-called progressive Christianity.
I pray that you stand for actual, real, biblical Christianity, which now more than ever is what the world needs. -
Public schools in communities across the country have failed to educate students.
Have they ever, with very few exceptions.
Public schools have failed and are continuing to fail to educate students. The worst part about all of this is that there really is no solution in sight. It really seems as though public education will only get worse.
Years ago, parents and taxpayers lost control. Perhaps that loss was gradual. Perhaps parents were in default, indifferent, and many others feeling simply helpless. They lost control, these parents did, to what Matthew Hennessey, Wall Street Journal Deputy Editorial Editor, called:
THE EDUCATION BLOG.
The blog was a quasipublic syndicate of teachers unions, government bureaucracies, brand-name credentialed institutions, and the woke and progressive media. They were determined to keep control of education and, of course, to get as much money to do that as they possibly could.
In one sense, there was a public-parental awakening. That occurred in 2020, the year of Covid, and in the year of lock-downs and lock-outs. Schools were closed, education occurred online and virtually, and parents, perhaps many of them for the very first time, were forced to pay attention to what education in those public schools was really like. Millions did not like what they saw. What they saw, in so many ways, was:
WASTED TIME
WOKE-INFUSED CURRICULA
POOR INSTRUCTION
among others and so many of them, by the millions, decided change was in order, rather necessary. They decided they liked the freedom and convenience of homeschooling. They liked it so much, these parents did, they saw the benefits and they kept homeschooling alive even after the lockdowns and the virtuality ended.
But, the progressives, the wokers woke up. They saw what was happening, real education, good education, quality education, and they realized the real threat to the public education they were committed to foist upon the American public. They saw the end to their control, these wokers did, and their money, and the threat of taxpayer's dollars being utilized elsewhere, and as wokers do when their backs are to the wall, they attacked. So many of these radicals preached the message that education wasn’t about helping young people reach their full potential, but rather:
TO SOCIALIZE CHILDREN INTO RESPONSIBLE CITIZENSHIP.
In other words, to WOKE them, change them, do away with so many traditional American values, and of course, water down individual freedom, family, and most importantly:
FAITH.
Millions of parents fought back.
Hear the words of MSNBC personality Melissa Harris-Perry, who said the following:
“SOCIETY HAS TO SHAKE OFF THE ANTIQUATED NOTION THAT PARENTS HAVE SOME SPECIAL CLAIM ON THEIR CHILDREN. INSTEAD, WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT KIDS BELONG TO WHOLE COMMUNITIES.”
Can you believe that? Parents have no claim, no rights, and no ability to instruct, mold, or teach the very children they bear and bring into this world. Can you believe that? That really represents the views, opinions, and the values, the radically changing values, of the progressive educational wokers of today. That did nothing but give added impetus to the homeschooling movement.
And more. Teachers’ union member Randi Weingarten said the following:
“THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH PUBLIC EDUCATION THAT MORE MONEY WOULDN’T CURE.”
More money for more woke education, anti-American, anti-faith, anti-Christian, anti-classics, anti-fundamentals (reading-writing-Arithmetic) among others? More money to foster all of that?
Said Matthew Hennessey of The Wall Street Journal:
“THE EDUCATION BLOB AND MEDIA PROGRESSIVES SEE THE GROWING POPULARITY OF HOMESCHOOLING AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM THAT URGENTLY NEEDS TO BE SOLVED.”
These radicals are simply unwilling to give up their control of public education, the molding of the young American mind, and of course, the money, always the money to some extent.
Homeschooling is a great remedy for the ills of public education. It is the answer to the biblical admonition to:
TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE OR SHE SHOULD GO AND WHEN THEY ARE OLD, THEY WILL NOT DEPART THEREFROM.
Children when born are the responsibility, the privilege, and the duty of the parents who brought them into this world. That, says scripture, cannot be delegated, especially to woke-radical public education.
We, the Crawford Broadcasting Co., and our charitable entities believe in and support the homeschooling effort. We are proud sponsors and benefactors of:
HOME SCHOOLING LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION
HSLDA
That is one good work, determined to fight any attempt of big unions or progressive education, to take away, eliminate, or water down homeschooling. We urge you to know more about this good organization, and more importantly, HOMESCHOOLING ITSELF. Whether or not you do it, or know others who do, it is a movement worthy of your time, attention, and financial support, for real American education can occur, and so can faith-based training, and the morals, values, and standards of Christianity. If public education cannot be reformed, then homeschooling, especially by Christian parents, is a viable, worthy alternative, and perhaps in some cases:
THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE. -
If you were born, human being created by God Almighty, between the years 1997-2012 you are a member, like it or not, of the newest generation in America:
GEN Z.
You would be of the age 11-26.
Therefore, you are so informed, you and your Gen-Z compatriots have little if any interest in RELIGION, whatever that means. In the extreme, perhaps that means you have no interest in faith, or no faith in your life. Do you?
I personally know a multitude of young, wonderful people that age, who are strong, passionate:
PEOPLE OF FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.
Do you?
And more, you Gen-Z’er. You have little interest in patriotism, so these progressive pundits say. You are not willing to protect and defend your country, your freedoms, your constitution, in fact, your way of life. If you are 30 and under, is that you? Do you have little concern, love, passion, or commitment to your country, to the America in which you are blessed to live? Is that you?
Some of the most Passionate Patriots I know are THE YOUNG, 30 and under. They know what the real America is all about and are willing to do whatever it takes to protect this country, its freedoms, and their way of life, in any way possible. Is that you?
Don’t you just despise generalities like that?
And, you Gen-Z’er, you have little or no interest in marriage and virtually no interest in having children. Is that you? I know any number of wonderful people 30 and under who are married with children, raising families with the blessing of God, and I am privileged to have any number of them in my very own company. Do you eschew marriage and do you, man or woman, not wish to have children of your own? Such generalizations for millions of young people are ludicrous, inaccurate, false, and even
fraudulent and perhaps politically purposeful in a very negative way.
And even more. You are supposedly a member of a generation that has a very poor
work ethic, cares more about self rather than others, and is negative, critical, and
indifferent to the norms of society, and the morality of the past. Is that you?
Again, I know dozens and dozens of human beings, God-created, 30 and under, who
are exactly the opposite.
The real YOUNG PEOPLE of today are people of faith. They have strong faith in Jesus
Christ, living out that faith in a passionate young way. They are patriots believing in
the real America, working to change and solve its problems, all the while protecting its
fundamental concepts of freedom, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equality, and
justice for all. They are married or will be. They will then have children, God willing.
The real young Americans, the real Gen-Z’ers are workers, people of strong work ethic
and commitment, workmen and work women, worthy of their hire. Those are the Gen-
Z’ers I know, and like, and respect, and have the highest hopes for turning over my
America to them and not the stereotypes, negative and demeaning, individuals who
woke, progressive, radical, anti-Americans described and categorized in such negative
ways.
You and I, human beings, all, were created by the God of the universe, the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, as unique individuals. There is no human generalization or
categorization which can apply to any of us. Every human being thinks differently,
more or less. Believes differently, more or less. Lives life differently. Works and plays
differently. Worships differently. EVERY HUMAN BEING IS DIFFERENT! He or she is
not Gen-Z, not millennial, not baby-boomer, not a member of the so-called silent
generation, but a unique, specially crafted, INDIVIDUAL, different from any other and
striving to be better in every way. Those are the young, the 30 and under I know,
respect, and believe in. If you are of that age, privileged to be young, with many more
years of productive life to live, I pray that you are:
YOU.
That you will be all that you can be and that you will never fall victim to some
generation, age, or category classification. Just like so many of those RIGHT young
people 30 and under whom I know so very well, productive, faithful, patriotic, believers
in marriage and children, and with a work ethic as good as anyone anywhere. I
personally thank God for every individual male and female in my company, 30 and
under, who brings fresh vision, commitment, passion, the dynamic of youth, and the
love for:
GOD AND COUNTRY,
the twin pillars of the right, ethical, and moral life. If you are 30 or under, I pray that
is you. We should be about the business of encouraging the young, educating and
edifying, for they are the ones who will replace us, live in a world and an American
society far different from ours, face challenges not before faced, and be responsible to
our God with risks and rewards intensified as never before. They will battle an enemy
internal, determined to destroy and seize power, control, and demand conformity.
Their faith in God and Country will be challenged like never before. The courage the
young will need will increase day by day and it is absolutely critical that their vision be
clear, bold, and steadfast, just like that which so many young 30 and under in my
company exhibit and live by.
The young who inherit America must have a new grit, a rekindled passion, and a
mental fortitude that allows them to endure intimidation, threat, even violence, and of
course criticism, backlash, slander, and opposition. They will be tested like never
before, tested like we of previous generations never experienced.
Thankfully, I know many, many young people 30 and under who are that way,
TOUGH. They are ready for the fight of faith. They are anxious to run the race and win
the prize. In them, there is no quit, no give-up. They will not be bullied or intimidated.
They know in whom they have believed, and they are persuaded that HE IS ABLE and
together, they are invincible.
They, the real young, are biblically guided. They are Holy Spirit-led. They know right
from wrong. They learn, grow, and work for the night is coming. This generation of
young Americans has the God-given potential to be the best of any, THE BEST! It has
to be because the challenges have never been greater. I have seen enough of the right
thinking, right living, and right believing young Americans, 30 and under, young
human beings, GOD-CREATED to whom I’d gladly turn over my beloved country and
to whom I pledge my allegiance as they FIGHT THE FIGHT OF FAITH. I only wish I had
the years they have to serve God and Country.
Encourage them, WE THE OLDER. Support them, give to them. Guide them. Advise
them. Share wisdom. For in them, ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD, in the
purpose and rule of God, and for the incredible America in which we and they have
been privileged to live.
Categories and stereotypes are dead wrong, DEAD WRONG! There is purpose,
meaning, and individuality for every human being, no matter the age. YOU ARE YOU!
May every privileged young person 30 and under be all that he or she can be as God
intended. The more of them I know, the better. The more of them who work for CBC,
the better. For, my fellow Americans, there is only one category that matters. And that
is whether one is fully committed to Jesus Christ, born again, saved by Grace. That
category is real Christian:
GEN-JESUS.
No other category matters, none. -
We live, my fellow Americans, in the greatest nation in the history of mankind. There is not, nor has there ever been, a nation like:
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Never.
It is a nation conceived in freedom. It treasures and fosters democracy. It is a constitutional nation, and it is a nation where, as Dr. Martin Luther King so well said, if in fact its citizens live up to its constitution, treasure it, believe in it, and enforce it, all men and women who are created equal can live a life to the fullest.
AMERICA. What is America to you? Do you understand your country, your nation, its history, its purpose and meaning, the reality of the:
REAL AMERICA?
Do you? Right-thinking men and women thank God every day, EVERYDAY, for the privilege of living in America and being an American. Do you? Are you a grateful citizen, are you proud to be an American, and since this great country can do so much for you, remember the words of President John F. Kennedy, who admonished us to:
ASK NOT WHAT AMERICA CAN DO FOR YOU
ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR AMERICA!
That in my opinion should be the motto of every real American.
THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION. Please read it. Do your best to understand it. Study anything which helps you understand the incredible rights, privileges, and duties which are yours as a citizen and as an American. Think always about the First Amendment to that Constitution, perhaps the finest words, rights, privileges, opportunities, and expressions of freedom ever written in the history of mankind. The First Amendment of America’s Constitution allows you full and unabridged freedom of:
RELIGION
SPEECH
PRESS
ASSEMBLY
PETITION
These precious freedoms are the very best that can be offered to any human being and they are essential, priorities, GUARANTEED to every man and woman by this Constitution and its very precious First Amendment. Read it, know it, treasure it, and thank God for it.
RULE OF LAW. It is watered down, ignored, or even eliminated in this woke and radical, anti-American day and age. Lawlessness in the end times, says the scripture, prevails and runs rampant. That is happening today. Stand up, my fellow Americans, to lawlessness and insist upon the rule of law, insist upon the concept of:
JUSTICE FOR ALL.
There is risk in so doing, but the reward is well worth the risk.
RIGHT AND WRONG. There are those today that think there is no such thing as right and wrong. There is no absolute truth. This is the day and age of:
THE LIE.
We live in an age which many describe as:
POST TRUTH.
That is, we live in a culture where there is no such thing as absolute truth and consequently, the lie, that which is not truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, is the law of the land. WRONG, dead wrong. There is right and wrong, there is truth, and never forget in this great year 2024, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:
I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE!
I AM THE TRUTH!
Believe in Him and you will know the truth indeed.
STAND. Stand tall for America. Protect it. Founding Fathers were willing to die for it. Are you? Am I? Are there enough Americans left who are willing to do whatever is required to protect and defend the greatest land in the history of mankind?
So much of the world despises, even hates America. Perhaps that is because we live hypocritically, we do not stand tall for our ideals, our freedoms, and our way of life, and we are not consistent, constantly compromising, and so often not holding individuals and nations accountable for their actions. We the People need to redefine who we are as a nation, make those ideals, values, and standards clear, and stand for them no matter the cost, now more than ever in the great year 2024.
POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT. We the People need to be far more politically involved. Especially Christian citizens. We need to be active in government. We need to take positions of authority locally and to make certain our neighborhoods, towns, and
cities, are safe, law-abiding, and true to American ideals, its constitution, rule of law, and way of life. WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO STAND UP! We need to make certain right-thinking and right-acting men and women are elected to office, who will truly represent us, and even more importantly, our Constitution, rule of law, and all that America should be. WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT HAPPENS! If not, we need to speak out critically so, aggressively, withhold financing, and our vote, and where necessary, exercise the process of recall and do whatever we can to get elected or appointed officials unworthy of citizen trust out of office and authority. WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO STAND UP BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!
WOKE, THE PROGRESSIVE, THE ANTI-AMERICAN. They are everywhere, EVERYWHERE! They are determined to effectuate radical change or even in so many cases, the destruction of the American way of life. They would water down or eliminate much of our Constitution, curtail our freedoms, control family and education, and change the way we live, think, and believe. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN MY FELLOW AMERICANS, DON’T LET IT HAPPEN! Time is short. America needs right-thinking Americans in action now more than ever.
PRIDE. Be proud 2024 to be an American. Be proud to be a citizen of the real America, the constitutional America, with its freedoms, and be proud to stand tall as America beckons, asking you now more than ever to be a soldier in the fight for freedom.
Wear the flag, salute the military, proudly sing, and respect the National Anthem:
STAND UP FOR AMERICA.
Pray that God will bless America, convicted of its wrong doings, and once again make it the city on the hill, the shining light among nations, a country safe and protected for us today and for our descendants tomorrow. Let us proudly sing in 2024:
GOD BLESS AMERICA
LAND THAT I LOVE! -
With God, all things are possible. ALL THINGS!
Even an event like THE VIRGIN BIRTH.
Some 2,000 years ago, an angel was sent by God to the tiny town of Nazareth in the Galilee area. The area was small, the inhabitants few, and a popular saying of the day was:
CAN ANY GOOD THING COME OUT OF NAZARETH?
Perhaps not before, but after the visit by the angel Gabriel to an unknown Mary, from Nazareth would come the Savior of the world.
Mary the Virgin was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The angel Gabriel said to her:
GREETINGS, YOU WHO ARE HIGHLY FAVORED! THE LORD IS WITH YOU.
Gabriel went on to say:
DO NOT BE AFRAID, MARY. YOU HAVE FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD. YOU WILL BE WITH CHILD AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON. YOU ARE TO GIVE HIM THE NAME JESUS.
HE WILL BE GREAT AND WILL BE CALLED THE
SON OF THE MOST HIGH.
THE LORD GOD WILL GIVE HIM THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DAVID AND HE WILL REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER. HIS KINGDOM WILL NEVER END!
And, rightly so, Mary was troubled and she said to the angel:
“How will this come about since I am a virgin?”
To which the angel responded:
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL COME UPON YOU AND THE POWER OF THE MOST
HIGH WILL OVERSHADOW YOU.
So the Holy One to be born would be called the SON OF GOD.
The natural man scoffs at angels but the spiritual man knows that with God all things
are possible, including angels.
Mary, now with child, the Holy Ghost having come upon her, went to the home of
Zechariah and Elizabeth, relatives, and when she arrived, Elizabeth knew of this
Immaculate Conception and Elizabeth said to Mary:
BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN, AND BLESSED IS THE CHILD YOU WILL
BEAR!
Elizabeth knew that Mary would be the mother of her Lord and ours as well.
So, the world was about to change because of that event in Nazareth. Jesus of
Nazareth would soon be born in Bethlehem of Judea and this Nazarene, this SON OF
THE MOST HIGH would soon be known as THE SAVIOR, the Prince of Peace, the
Christ of Glory.
When Elizabeth had finished, Mary began her very own song of praise:
MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD
AND MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD MY SAVIOR!
FOR HE HAS BEEN MINDFUL OF THE HUMBLE STATE OF HIS SERVANT.
FROM NOW ON ALL GENERATIONS WILL CALL ME BLESSED
FOR THE MIGHTY ONE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR ME
HOLY IS HIS NAME!
Such powerful praise and adoration this Magnificat of Mary was. Mary, the virgin, so
humble in spirit, thought of herself as the HANDMAIDEN of the Lord, perhaps still
puzzled as to why she was chosen to bear the King of Kings, but willing and obedient
to do the will of God.
And the Babe of Bethlehem grew within her. Fiancé Joseph, of the lineage of David,
sought to put her away but again, an angelic message explained to him what had
happened, foretold the birth of this Son and the instructions to him that His name
would be Jesus. Thereafter, Mary would be wife and mother for Joseph. It is incredibly
difficult to imagine how this man 2,000 years ago would react. Nothing like this in
human history had ever happened before. He, Joseph was chosen to supervise and
support the birth of the Savior of the world. That would be impossible for any man to
comprehend but Joseph, obedient like Mary, accepted the angelic explanation and this
divine drama proceeded.
Surely, Joseph could see the remarkable changes in Mary. For those precious months,
Mary’s soul glorified the Lord. She told all that her spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
Surely that glorifying and rejoicing was well noticed, even participated in by Joseph.
Mary, the humble servant of the Lord knew what great things God had done for her
and she was perhaps the first to live in a brand new, revolutionary state of praise and
worship. Soon, that would be available to all mankind.
Then came the decree from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the
entire Roman world. Joseph, who belonged to the house and lineage of David therefore
went to Bethlehem of Judea to register with Mary, since Bethlehem was the City of
David. But the town was full and there was no room in the inn so that Mary and
Joseph slept in a manger. And there, in that manger, Mary gave birth to a son and as
a proud and loving mother, she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a
manger. Such were the humble circumstances of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the
Babe of Bethlehem, the Prince of Peace, and the Savior of the world.
AND THAT IS THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS! That birth of the Savior of the
world is what we celebrate at Christmas! This rabidly secular world of ours wishes to
de-spiritualize this event and take CHRIST OUT OF CHRISTMAS. We who believe must
never let that happen but rather band together in glorious praise and worship to the
Babe and especially to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let not, my fellow
Christians, the secularists abandon the Christ of Christmas.
So, Christ was born and there began the spreading of the Word:
AND THERE WERE SHEPHERDS ABIDING IN THE FIELDS
KEEPING WATCH OVER THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHT
AND LO THE ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO THEM
AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHONE ROUND ABOUT THEM
AND THEY WERE SORE AFRAID
BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM
DO NOT BE AFRAID
I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY THAT WILL BE FOR ALL PEOPLE
THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID
A SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU
HE IS CHRIST THE LORD
THIS WILL BE A SIGN UNTO YOU
YOU WILL FIND THE BABE WRAPPED IN SWADDLING CLOTHES
AND LYING IN A MANGER
AND SUDDENLY THERE WAS WITH THE ANGELS
A HEAVENLY HOST OF ANGELS
PRAISING GOD AND SAYING
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST
AND ON EARTH PEACE AND GOODWILL TO ALL MANKIND
How interesting that shepherds were chosen as the first to hear this angelic
enunciation. Shepherds were watchmen, observant, especially at night as they made
certain to protect their sheep. They knew the heavens, the stars and their movements.
They were familiar with the night and they could, like wise men and kings, identify and
follow the STAR OF WONDER, the star which shone brightly that night over the City of
David, the blessed Bethlehem of Judea, where the Prince of Peace was born.
And those shepherds left immediately and they found Mary and Joseph and the Babe
lying in the manger. And when they had seen him, they were the very first evangelists,
spreading the word of this miraculous and marvelous birth, the message they had
been told by the angel about this Babe. And that was the beginning of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. From then on, the shepherds glorified and praised God for all the things
they had heard and seen even as we who believe do so today. We well say today as the
shepherds and angels did then:
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST
AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOODWILL TOWARD ALL MANKIND
Men and women search today for truth even as the shepherds did. The search is
everywhere but the truth, the ultimate truth was revealed to mankind in a manger in
Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. Wise men and women, who truly seek him, will find him
there. Those who scoff, mock a virgin birth, the concept of angels, and the creation of a
God–man will never, ever know that:
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD
Nothing.
But to find HIM is a most joyous, wondrous discovery. It is an epiphany like no other.
The finding of the Babe is the finding of the world’s greatest treasure. The power, the
love, and the understanding which results from finding HIM is life–changing then and
forevermore. That finding allows us to become as a little child, open and transparent,
filled with love and compassion, fully understanding the GRACE of God and that
gracious gift which changed the world 2,000 years ago. That faith in the Babe of
Bethlehem is the key to entering the Kingdom of God, humbly trusting and believing
even as Mary did of old. Women become handmaidens of the Lord as Mary did. Men
become servants of the Lord as the shepherds did.
So that, on Christmas Day, we discover the greatest present, the greatest gift one
could ever find:
THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM
The gifts we give to others at Christmastime can never begin to equal the gift of God to
us. We should celebrate that gift FIRST and wherever possible, give the love of that gift
to others. That is what Christmas is all about and that should never change.
And we, like the shepherds should spread the news, the Good News. That is true
evangelism and we who believe must never let that message die not only at Christmas
but every day. The wise men of old found Him and the wise men and women of today,
the truly wise who search will find Him. For in Him, it is all that God is. And that, as
the angels well said, are indeed the glad tidings and the great joy for all.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son to all humankind so that those
who believe could have life abundant here and life eternal there. For those who
received this gift of God, there comes the power of God making them sons of God and
daughters, life all brand new. Women praise the Lord like Mary of old. Men glorify the
Lord as the shepherds of old. And that, and only that can bring peace to the world.
The message of that Babe is the only message which can spread the goodwill of God
and transform the lives of all mankind. May it be yours.
We the Crawford Broadcasting Company, all of us, wish you a very happy, merry,
blessed Christmas centered around the Babe of Bethlehem, and may the love of God in
Jesus Christ be your very special gift this Christmas season. Glory to God in the
highest and on earth, peace and goodwill for all.
CHRIST IS BORN! -
PEACE.
Peace, I give unto you. My peace. Not as the world gives. Mine is perfect peace. Let not your heart be troubled and do not be afraid!
The words of the BABE OF BETHLEHEM. The most reassuring words, the words, the promises, which this world needs now so desperately. All humankind craves peace now more than ever, and that peace is more elusive than ever.
In the end times, so say scriptures, there will be wars, rumors of wars, and physical brutality. Hatred among mankind will replace love. Jealousy, suspicion, lawlessness, and evil conduct will be how the world is. The peace of God in the person of Jesus Christ, THAT PERFECT PEACE, will be nowhere to be found, NOWHERE!
Israel battles Hamas, the proxy of the brutal land and its rulers, Iran. There is enmity between the seeds, Arab and Jew, so says the scripture. That enmity is nowhere more evident than what now happens in The Holy Land, The Promised Land. The very land where the Babe of Bethlehem was born, the Christmas ambassador of peace has really never known that peace now more than ever. We are admonished as Christians to:
PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.
We pray, and pray more, and earnestly so, but that peace eludes in every way. It should be obvious to all that only the Messiah, THE PRINCE OF PEACE, the Babe of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ himself the Messiah, can bring that peace. That will come only WHEN HE COMES.
War goes on. Hatred increases between Arabs and Jews, between Israel and Hamas. War goes on between Russia and Ukraine, war fostered by the evil dictator Vladimir Putin and civilians die, thousands upon thousands of innocent men and women, the elderly and children. They die without cause, craving peace, begging for it, praying for it, but it eludes them as the war-like hatred, the Christ-less hatred of mankind prevails. More of this will come. China will become a serious war monger and so will North Korea, and Iran, governed by men who dictate war, hatred, and killing, with no concern for human loss but only human destruction and more of it. The conduct of this world indicates clearly signs of:
THE END TIMES.
There would be nothing left of this world if those days were not shortened and the only one who can do that, THE PRINCE OF PEACE returns to take charge.
When He does, swords will be ground into plowshares. The prince of Peace will make certain there will be no more wars, NO MORE! But, only the Babe of Bethlehem, whose birthday we celebrate soon, can bring that peace, can change whole nations and bring them to the Holy City of Jerusalem, to learn how to cooperate, work together, and foster peace under His rule of love. Only HE can make that happen, no one else.
So, we who believe, believe in Him, His salvation message of love, healing, and PEACE. You should not worry or be afraid. Our Lord, the Prince of Peace, has admonished us:
LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED
NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID
BELIEVE IN ME! Believe in my promises. Believe that I come again and I, He says, will bring the peace, the eternal peace which all humankind craves. I PROMISE I WILL DO THAT. So again, don’t be troubled. Don’t let your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe in Me and that promise. BELIEVE! I will bring the PEACE OF JERUSALEM and I will bring (Shalom) peace to the whole world.
So, don’t worry. If God be for us, who can be against us? No one or nothing can. PEACE-SHALOM I give unto you, so let not your heart be troubled. Rather, praise God for His unspeakable gift, the gift of His Son, Jesus of Nazareth:
THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM.
So, like the Angels of old, as they made that unbelievable announcement to the Shepherds about this divine birth, let us say with those Angels:
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST
AND ON EARTH
PEACE AND GOODWILL TOWARD ALL MANKIND
And let us praise our God for that gift.
And let us worship Him as the angels do, those of us especially who believe in that Salvation message which came from Bethlehem of old.
And let us be thankful unto our God for his unspeakable gift. We cannot describe in human words the wonder, the magnitude, the depth of the love of that gift but we can now and evermore give thanks, and praise, and worship, and GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST! All the while we pray for that promise of peace on earth and goodwill toward all mankind, and for the soon return, THE SOON RETURN of the MESSIAH:
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
So, we thank you, Father God, I thank you for our Savior, your precious son:
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
THE PRECIOUS BABE OF BETHLEHEM! -
quit, we learned from our mistakes, and we always did our best, always with his unique and abiding strength and most importantly:
LOVE.
We, the Crawford Broadcasting Company, for 65 years, prayed for His blessing, even as we praised Him, and God our Father. The battles we faced were difficult and many still are, but praise and thank God, we never compromised, and stood steadfast every day of our broadcast life devoted to Him and the precious country in which He ordained we live.
We made mistakes but we always corrected them. We always did our best and found those to partner with us who always did their best. Anything we accomplished past, present, and future, was as a result of:PRAYER
PRAISE
PEOPLE PARTNERSThose three are the anchors of our company and always will be.
Faithful, prayerful people, God’s people, made this company what it is for 65 years, every success for God and Country is because of them and their calling. So many men and women devoted so many years, some virtually all of their professional lives in the service of our Lord and in Christian radio, Crawford Broadcasting style. There were and are men like Frank Franciosi (48 years), Nev Larson (57 years), Don Crawford Jr. (34 years), Mike Triem (30 years), Cris Alexander (39 years), Mike Cary (33 years), anchors, rocks like the Rock Of Ages, CALLED AND COMMITTED.
Then there were men like Mark Bostic, James Kilkenny, Bob Dutko, Terry Patilla, Neil Boron, and so many more for whom CBC Christian radio was more than a calling. It was LIFE itself.
So many women gave their all to our Lord in service through CBC. There were those like Paulette Peterson, Debbie Robey, Heather Hanger, Kim McMonagle, and many more who served with all their hearts, called and committed in so many ways.
So many served our Lord for years unknown to those who listen. A man such as Todd Stickler served our Lord through the ministry of KBRT for years and years. In all, my fellow Americans and CBC listeners, there are some 210 individuals, servants, called-ones who serve our company and give their all every day to bring you the very best Christian and Country programming possible. There seems no adequate way to thank them for all that they have done for this company, and for their Lord and the blessed country in which they are privileged to live.
We try every day with all our might to do what is:
RIGHT.
That is what is behind the operating philosophy of our company and its approach to money we call:
THE TAILORED PLAN.
We seek at all times to create economic and spiritual benefit for our listeners and no matter our mistakes, our human failures, our Lord has sustained us now for some:
65 GLORIOUS YEARS.
To the extent we have brought honor and glory to our Lord, we are blessed, satisfied, and fulfilled. To the extent we have done everything to protect the privilege God has given us to live in and be citizens of the greatest country in the history of the world, we are further blessed. This company began its mission in 1958 when, with the help of our Lord, WMUZ-FM Detroit was:
BORN AGAIN.
Even though there was no model to follow for Christian radio, we made our own with the wisdom and blessing of our Lord. We made mistakes, but we never quit. We were threatened but were never afraid. We were offered considerable sums of money to sell, but the gospel could never be purchased, it never had a price. We sought at all times to build trust with our listeners, to honor our Lord with integrity, and to the best of our human ability:
NEVER COMPROMISE,
NEVER!
We thought of our programming as:
REAL CHRISTIANITY.
We modeled our programming, our approach to our Lord, and our understanding of Christianity on:
THE BIBLE.
The precious, inspired, unique, infallible:
WORD OF THE LIVING GOD.
We were never WOKE, we never tried to interpret scripture to our advantage, and we required those who shared programming with us to believe and present the same.
All the while, we never shied from COMPETITION. We fought to be professional at every turn, we hired and trained men and women who wanted to be nothing but the best as they served their Lord, true professionals.
We offered employment opportunity to those who would present the most compelling programming for God and Country:
FOR YOUR BLESSING.
They are workmen and workwomen who are worthy of their hire, but the main reason, the main motivation in their lives is to love and serve the Lord God Almighty with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind, and:
THEIR NEIGHBORS, THEIR FRIENDS – YOU
faithfully every day and with all their might.
So, as we continue to do our best to serve GOD AND COUNTRY, beloved listener, please know how much we love and respect you, we thank you for your support, and your belief in our company and its purposes. Knowing there are still some few who knew us when we began our mission and made it possible for so many to listen today. In a world of rapid change, short-term in thinking and demand, inpatient and searching for immediate gratification, the Crawford Broadcasting Company stays long-term, committed to and redefining our purposes (never changing) and believing more than ever in the power, the unique communication abilities, and the special position in the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals of:
RADIO – AM & FM.
Thank you for listening, and with the help and blessing of our Lord, it is our prayer and hopefully yours that this company, the Crawford Broadcasting Company, will have many more years of service for you as we continue to serve with one purpose:
GOD AND COUNTRY. -
There is no greater privilege for any man or woman than that of being a:
PARENT.
To be the father or mother of a son or daughter is indeed life’s greatest privilege. But with that privilege comes great responsibility. Parenting, true parenting, and biblical-Christian parenting demands commitment, real commitment. When unto those parents a child is born, life’s priorities change, irrevocably change. No matter career, education, hobby or any other thing of interest, parenting becomes:
PRIORITY #1
So says the scripture. So says the Apostle Paul. And so says God the Father who, as the supreme example of father, sent his son to this world, to us, that we might know what the ultimate and eternal father-son relationship really is. That eternal father and son provides the perfect example of what parenting should be, heavenly and earthly.
TRAIN UP A CHILD. Train him or her in the ways of the Lord, believer father and believer mother. The God-given birth of that son or daughter becomes priority #1 for BOTH father and mother. So says our heavenly father. Building a Christian home with a Christian father and mother, structuring and controlling that home, is then, at birth priority #1 and always will be.
HOME, that sacred environment where there is Christian learning, loving, and listening is the very finest thing for any Christian parent.
That home must be guided by REAL CHRISTIANITY. Christian principles must apply. The morality of old and new testaments must be the Lonestar, the code of ethics and honor of that home. That is why it is critical, indispensable, uncompromisingly so that both mother and father be:
CHRISITAN - BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN – REAL CHRISTIANS.
For only real Christian mothers and fathers, true believing parents can:
TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE OR SHE SHOULD GO.
For, done right, when children are raised in a real Christian home by real Christian
parents (both father and mother) and where the love of the Lord prevails, only then can
both principles, that Christian code of ethics, last a lifetime. Only then can the child
become the Christian the parent is, like the Christian parent, and believe like them for
a lifetime. Children will never depart from the belief of real Christian parents no matter
what.
Children are remarkably sensitive. They sense hypocrisy perhaps even better than
adults. If any parent is ‘do what I say and not necessarily what I do,’ the child rebels,
acts out, disavows, and comes to believe that not only is the purported faith of the
parents hypocritical, but that all of Christianity itself is hypocrisy. So, when they are
old and ready to depart the home, leave their parents, and become adults on their
own, they want nothing to do with what they believe is hypocritical Christianity. The
parents, mother and father, have failed the child in the most negative way.
Our Lord and the Apostle Paul have told us so very clearly that there are three great
things in this world:
FAITH – HOPE – LOVE
And the greatest of these is LOVE. The greatest lesson any child can learn is Christian
love and that Christian love displayed between husband and wife, father and mother,
that real love that exists between father and son, mother and daughter, and each
parent for each and every child, equally, sincerely, and without compromise. The
ultimate expression of that love was the love between God the Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ. Real love, parent for child is like that and when it is, or when parents do
their very best guided by the Holy Spirit to saturate the home with Christian love, the
child learns the greatest lesson in all of life. Nothing can equal a home filled with
Christian love, Christian parents loving young Christian children with that very same
Christian love. It is the greatest teacher, and the most important lesson to learn in all
of life.
But that takes TIME. There must be quality time between parent and child. Nothing
expresses love more, teaches better than the love between father and son, and father
and daughter, and mother and son, and mother and daughter. NOTHING! That TIME
must be qualitative, one on one, open and transparent, and consistent. To be a real
Christian parent and train up that child in the way in which he or she should go
requires quality time as first priority and always. Nothing expresses better than time
spent together one-on-one. NOTHING!
The roles of father and mother are different, but they must be guided, as scripture
clearly states, by Christian principles, morals, ethics, and commandments. The
Christian home must be full of faith, hope, and above all LOVE. Real love. REAL
CHRISTIAN LOVE! That home environment is far more powerful than any church. Or
any pastor. Or any Sunday School. Evil human beings know that as well or perhaps
even better than the good, the Christian men and women. Evil men like Hitler and
Stalin knew the power of the home and the education provided by the parents or
parent SURROGATES. The training of that young mind, heart, and soul from the first
ability to comprehend, perhaps as early as age 3 or 4, is the most formative, lasting,
training and experience any child could ever have.
Home is where the heart is, so it is said. The real home is where the real Christian
heart of love exists, where both mother and father LIVE THE LIFE OF REAL
CHRISTIAN LOVE. When a child is raised in that environment, that child will be raised
right, and have every opportunity to live the very best possible life, the very life which
God the creator intended for that child, HIS CHILD.
A real believer should marry another believer. A real mother will want a real Christian
husband-father, and a real husband-father will want a real Christian wife-mother. And
every child will want a real Christian mother and a real Christian father and when he
or she is old, mature, an adult, and living as the Lord intended, that child will not
depart from the ways of the Lord, lovingly lived out by loving Christian parents:
PARENTS WHO REALLY AND TRULY LOVE THE LORD! - Mehr anzeigen
