Scott is absolutely right. Christians should be very concerned about political authorities using power to shut down speech they don’t like. The best way to oppose lies is our public confession of the truth.
Pulling out a baseball bat convinces no one of nothing.
https://www.conservatibbs.com/p/jimmy-kimmel-and-threats-to-free
A presbyterian practice that needs to be restored Annual home visits by pastors and elders - Warhorn Media
God’s empowerment of women is creating them life-givers. God created women mothers. Some women aren’t given children by God, but they’re still mothers. Mother Teresa.
Don’t be fooled by talk of “empowering women” thru making them prime ministers/judges/governors/police who exercise authority over men. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, just as God decreed.
Not the hand that hammers the gavel.
Women are anything but empowered in China where they earn money, but refuse motherhood. Any true empowerment of women in China and Japan and Taiwan and South Korea and Germany and United States would start with dignifying and loving mothers and their motherhood, which would necessarily require saying “no” to the majority of women who despise and denigrate motherhood.
China itself is a dying country because, for many decades, it despised and denigrated motherhood, and killed most of its babies. Now it has no babies. Just old people.
So very sad.
Christian faith and literacy are inextricably bound. We are people of His Word. Puritan New England had highest literacy world’s ever known. Christians read the Bible. Italy’s Waldensian children learned to read in horse stables.
Rome chained Bibles to church lecterns. Protestants spread Bibles and literacy everywhere. Now though, we’re all returning to a preliterate culture where images are everything. Back to Rome we go. (HT to Andrew H) https://www.derekthompson.org/p/why-everything-became-television
"I recently experimented with a new personality but I decided I liked the older me better. 
"I often go back to this quote I read 15 years ago in Death by Music by Rukun Advani: ‘It was that oscillation between feeling traumatically low and excitedly high that sank me in gloom, making me sceptical about living out life with an emotional gas regulator, always checking on how much feeling to let flow, how high to keep the flame without burning other people or burning out, how much of myself to express without feeling vulnerable, exposed, misunderstood.’”
https://thetapstories.com/category/comics/most-popular-comics/
I’m trying not to be too snarky about this, but when Democrats get done dancing in Charlie Kirk’s blood and trying to get Two Bullets elected AG, what are we planning to talk to them about?
Free speech died a slow death over the last 10 or so years with precious few left-wingers offering even tepid objections.
So now what? Of course Christians will proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We do that with or without free speech. What else?
That’s the one thing Christians, pastors or not, haven’t done and don’t do. If, by “Gospel,” we mean what the Apostle Paul included when in Romans 2 he wrote, “according to my Gospel.” Likely most of it in America, at least, has been self-censorship. Love,
Just sent this to our children, fathers and mothers of the grandchildren:
Dear Family, this fall and spring semester, Andy Halsey, Daniel Coughlan, and I are teaching a zoom class on the Pilgrims Progress. Abt 17 students in Taiwan and the US are participating and tonight Lucas will explain (at the appropriate section in Pilgrim’s Progress) why he chose the email address “lucas@beggarsborn.com.” He declined for reasons we all understand quite well, but with impertinence, I pressed him and he agreed. The class is junior and senior high students. Love
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached against the sin of God’s people, then called them to repentance:
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene… you nailed to a cross. …Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:22ff).
How did God’s people respond?
“Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men, brothers, what are we to do?’”
Peter called them to repent and be baptized, then ended his sermon: “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation!'”
Peter did not say, “Save this corrupt generation,” but “Save yourselves *from* this corrupt generation.”
There’s a life and death difference.
Would it be fair to say that the 'problem with Christian nationalism, is that it has become about saving this ‘corrupt generation’ before calling people to save themselves from this ‘corrupt generation’?
And on a related note: you cannot hope to deal with the sin, rebellion and injustice in the world unless you are first dealing with the sin, rebellion and injustice in yourself. I would like to say this to much of the white conservative community, especially the explicitly Christian elements.
That said: not only the white conservative community. I recently came across some sentiments from LeCrae, where he was going on about the call to justice, especially as it affects the Black community, and his frustration that white conservatives aren’t interested in listening to those concerns. Now, I think I understand where he is coming from on the issues of injustice that do face the Black community and the Black Church. They aren’t trivial. But at the same time: our priority as Christians isn’t justice, or not directly anyway. Our priority is the Gospel, and its preaching. Put another way: Jesus’ message of the Kingdom starts with the Gospel, although it doesn’t end there.
Thoughts?
Hard to overemphasize impact of preceding order of worship and music on preaching of God’s Word. Liturgy and music also prepare sheep for preaching of God’s Word. When first ½ of worship subverts fear of God, preacher is hamstrung.
Unless that’s what he wanted.
“Our results demonstrate that testosterone induces a ‘red shift’ among weakly affiliated Democrats, providing evidence that testosterone affects political preferences.”
For many years she was Anthony Weiner’s wife while being Hillary & Bill Clinton’s righthand man.
She’s moved on to be wife of George Soros’s son, Alex.
Huma Abedin
Keep looking for Colts or IU football headlines…
Silence.
Help me, here.
Reminds me of a joke I learned when I was in seminary in MA.
Old money son embarrasses his mother by matriculating at Land Grant uni out in Midwest. Tells his mother he’s bringing his girlfriend home for Thanksgiving.
Mother greets them at the front door on Thanksgiving and says to her son, “Charles, please introduce me to this lovely young lady.”
He responds, “Mother, this is Cindy.”
She responds, “Welcome to Boston, Cindy. And where are you from?”
“Iowa,” she says.
Charles’s mother responds, “Dear, dear; here in Boston, we pronounce it ‘Ohio.’”
If you have concrete to repair… https://www.youtube.com/@MikeHaduck
Marriage counselling works w/husband & wife to help them understand one another. Husband is to live w/wife in “understanding way,” and wife w/husband.
True marital love lives and breathes sympathy & empathy. They are fundamental to Christian marriage. https://amzn.to/3JsObCd
Good theme song for opening of new $300,000,000 White House ballroom
