Blog Replies Volume 2

Blog Replies 2 (TO READ IN BOOK FORMAT, OR TO PRINT THIS ARTICLE)

Comments sent to various Blog sites  –  Volume 2

 

These additional replies are given in order to give you some new ideas, some new evidence, and some new beliefs in regards to reoccurring, moral topics on blog sites.

These comments have been presented as examples which the American Christian could use either to inform the general public, or else to defend biblical teaching and its correct practice.  Notice that these comments intentionally have avoided the taking of any political stand!  They have addressed the introduction of any immoral or unbiblical position.

–  In regards to an announcement of any new, military weapon         .           2

–  In response to a protest of the inclusion of a New Testament               .       3

–  A spiritually fit military    .           .          .           .           .           .                  .      4

–  The moral problem of mass-shootings                        .           .           .               4

–  Regarding a shooting massacre in Las Vegas  .           .           .           .              5

–  Requesting that the public pray for the victims          .           .           .             6

–  How was David able to defeat Goliath?           .           .           .           .              7

–  The President calls for a day of prayer after a hurricane      .           .            8

–  A thorough prayer concerning this hurricane             .           .           .            8

–  A Prayer in a U. S. Presidential Cabinet Meeting       .           .           .            10

–  Governmental punishment        .           .           .           .           .           .            10

–  Draining the political swamp in Washington D.C.      .           .           .           10

–  Our country is a house divided             .           .           .           .           .             11

–  God is in control  .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .              13

–  Wrongfully calling for a political solution to a moral problem     .             14

–  “Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are evil religions.”          .           .            15

–  Recent archaeological finds and the Bible       .           .           .                .      16

–  “Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments.”            .            16

–  Christmas and the ancient Roman celebration of the solstice         .           16

–  Correcting Thomas Paine’s teaching on biblical books        .           .              17

–  “What would be wrong with homosexuality?”          .           .           .            18

–  Abortion would be against human rights        .           .           .           .           19

–  “Abortion no different than Numbers 31:17-18.”    .           .           .               19

–   Womanhood is abused by non-Christians     .           .           .           .             20

–  The immoral media        .           .           .           .           .           .           .              21

–  Black on black crime and killing in the inner cities      .           .           .        21

–  The President’s State of the Union address     .           .           .           .            22

–  What exactly would be going on religiously in America?    .           .           22

–  Who would be the truly wise?   .           .           .           .           .           .            23

–  In regards to a professor who doubts that God is male        .           .            23

–  The Church of Sweden adopts a new handbook         .           .           .           24

–  A church official criticizes publicly a U. S. political policy  .           .            24

–  Seeking cooperation from Rome          .           .           .           .           .             25

–  A movie about Jesus        .           .           .           .           .           .           .             25

–  There would be no aliens from or living on other planets  .           .            26

–  A moral problem requiring a theological solution   .           .           .             26

– Preventing school shootings    .            .            .           .          .            .              27

In regards to an announcement of any new, military weapon.

As a country, we indeed have been blessed with advanced technology.  For example, just think of how far we have advanced in these last, few decades!

Just the same, stop, and ask yourself:  “In the last, few decades, just how far has our nation advanced morally?  Has it gotten any better?”

The answer, frankly, will be no.  It has declined significantly.

For example, while even the lowest animal knows when to stop fighting, our government, consisting of graduates from our finest schools, does not.  It wants to maintain a perpetual campaign of fighting, killing, and bombing in a series of undeclared wars, which are neither in the interest of our national security, nor merely “to honor our commitments to our allies,” but bluntly, for the wanton use of national power to get its own way, and for the profit of the munitions makers, for which the taxpayer gets the bill.

So what good would there be to an advancement in weapon’s technology if that technology would not be used morally?

Indeed, this moral decline of our people, both high and low, needs to be addressed with a theological solution.

* * *

In the Civil War years, Dr. Gatling, the inventor of the gun which bears his name, was afraid to release the secrets of his rifle because of its increased killing power.  Finally, as he wrote to a friend, he permitted the manufacture of his gun since experts assured him that it was horrifying enough to end all wars.  Nevertheless, though the Gatling gun has been replaced since then by far more devastating devices in the race to invent bigger and surer ways of killing more men, wars have not ended.

Indeed, the truth is that in any country where the smartest scientists, the most money, and the largest businesses are devoted to the bombing and blasting of mankind under the theme of preventing war through a strong defense, that country with a large military power will assuredly use it actively.

     In response to the news that a group has protested to the inclusion of a New Testament in a POW/MIA display put on by the U. S. military.

To be sure, years ago – decades ago – when our nation was still a predominantly Christian nation, such concerns as these which have been raised by a minority of non-Christians either were not even attempted by them, or were treated as this admiral has treated them.

However, now that more and more children and grandchildren have turned their backs on the creed of the biblical gospel:  the gift of the forgiveness of sins through the work of Jesus Christ, to where authentic gospel-Christian have become merely a small minority, yet still larger than the Buddhists, Muslims, etc., there is this point:  “Why even display this Bible at all if the vast majority of Americans ignore it?”

The correct reply to this question is the one which I hope motivated the military makers to include the Bible in these POW/MIA displays, namely, that it is a fact, regardless of how many Americans are willing to accept it, that the words of the Bible have God’s pledged power in them to exert divine strength upon the hearts of its readers to support and to strengthen them throughout their ordeals, as God intended them to do.

For instance, when the Japanese began to blast Corregidor, their bombs soon struck a chapel built there by Philippine Christians.  Everything in it was destroyed except a large, old-fashioned, pulpit Bible, which escaped burning.  Later, a lonely American soldier, examining the ruins of the little church, discovered the unscathed copy of Scripture on the charred reading desk.  He took the heavy volume into the Malinta Tunnel, the underground hospital ward for Corregidor’s wounded defenders.  Later, when our half-starved, outnumbered forces there had to surrender, each survivor transferred to a prison camp was permitted to carry only one blanket.  Instead of his blanket, the soldier took the Book, wrapped in canvas.

After a long journey on nauseating prison ships, on long marches, and on overcrowded boxcars where he almost died of thirst and suffocation, he was settled at last in the horror camp at Cabanatuan.  A church was organized within the barbed wire, but no pulpit Bible could be found.  Then the young soldier had the joy of bringing the Bible, for which he had sacrificed so much, into that crude, war prison house of God.  The “American Bible Society Record” related, “Weeks, months, years, passed slowly by; here the Book… bore constant testimony to the presence of One who cared.  Hundreds upon hundreds of half-starved men ravaged by beriberi, malaria, and dysentery raised their haggard faces to the Book, while Sunday after Sunday they listened as the chaplains explained its messages of cheer and hope…. During this period 1,500 prisoners were baptized.”

That is why the Bible could and should be put on display at a POW/MIA exhibit.

The Marine Corps is quietly rolling out a new initiative aimed at building Marines who are fit spiritually as well as physically.

In coming months, discussions about spiritual fitness and making moral choices will be part of the curriculum at the Corps’ Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Virginia, and at corporals’ and sergeants’ courses around the service.

Gentlemen:

Since this initiative will not be based purely and solely on God’s biblical commands and promises, it will fail utterly; for it simply will amount to delusional, wishful thinking, mumbo jumbo, and superstition.

Why?  It is simple.  There is no biblical command or assurance from God that valid “personal values” or actual “spiritual fitness” could exist without God’s biblical direction, means, or divine assistance.

Rather the divine Savior of the whole human race has pointed out, “As the branch could not bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither could you, unless you would abide in me” (John 15:4), noting that, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19), since all men by nature have “an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” which is “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12 & 13).

Just the same, he notes, “I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5), and pledges,  “A new heart will I give you” (Ezekiel 36:26).

This is the instruction which these Marine chaplains should be teaching.

The moral problem of mass-shootings

The problem of mass-shootings is an immoral problem requiring a moral solution.  That is to say, to stop mass-shootings, there has to be a moral change in the hearts of our citizens so that none of them would want to commit such an atrocious act.

To be sure, the government has a duty to protect its citizens from the immoral acts of others.  Yet its biblically-appointed duty is not to offer moral solutions.  That is the job of biblical churches.

Thus gun control will not be an adequate solution, for immoral people simply will resort to other methods:  pipe bomb attacks, gas attacks, etc.  Moreover, our law enforcement could not be everywhere, nor would it do to lock everybody up.

Realize that back before the mid-1960’s, our country did not have this problem of mass-shootings; nor did we have metal detectors anywhere, safety caps on ketchup bottles, nor people sticking pins in Halloween candy!  Why?  As John Adams once put it, it was because we were still “a moral and religious people,” living in a golden age of Christianity that, sadly, had begun its fall by church members leaving to pursue worldliness and immorality.  Before then, moral people simply did not even think of doing such evil things.  In addition, as it happened to Solomon’s nation, God also saw to it that our land had civil rest.

Thus the advocation of gun control will not be an adequate solution, but a band aid solution, for immoral people simply will resort to other means, pipe bomb attacks, gas attacks, etc.

If gun control advocates truly were serious and wise, they could and should call for the only adequate solution to dangerous, immoral behavior:  to rechristianize our nation.

Simple problem, simple solution.

Yet how many people would see this, and then would have the will to do it?

God teaches in his Bible that times of calamity should be times of repentance for the people.  God sends calamity upon a people for their gospel unbelief and its accompanying sins.  “Hear, O earth!  Behold, I certainly will bring calamity on this people… because they have not paid attention to my words” (Jeremiah 6:19).  How would things stand in our country with respect to the preaching, the reading, and the reception of the authentic, biblical gospel?  The vast majority will have nothing to do with it.  Imagine that:  God’s merciful gift to mankind to save their souls from eternal ruin and punishment, and they reject it!

Indeed, “You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction.  They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return” (Jeremiah 5:3).

Regarding the shooting massacre in Las Vegas on 10/2/2017

After something like this massacre would occur, it only would be natural for Americans to ask Gideon’s question, “If the Lord would be with us, why then has all of this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13.)

Think about this for a moment!  What should be the answer?  What would you say?

The biblical answer is that the Lord is no longer with us, but against us.  Indeed, the Almighty himself replies, “You have forsaken me and served other gods.  Therefore, I will deliver you no longer.  Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen!  Let them deliver you in your time of distress!” (Judges 10:13-14.)

To be sure, God not only will leave a godless society to its own self-inflicted misery, but he actively will punish it (“I will punish”, Isaiah 13:11) as well, using any means at his disposal.

Indeed, characteristically the Almighty has used lawless, godless people to punish other lawless, godless people, threatening, “The entire world is guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).  “Unless you would repent, all of you will perish likewise” (Luke 13:3).

Understand that since he is the ruler of the universe, nothing could happen on its own.  He informs us, “I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all of these things” (Isaiah 45:7).

Thus it was God who was behind this recent massacre.  Realize that at any point he could have stopped it; at any time he could have prevented it.  But he did not?  Why?

It is because by not repenting of its sins, and by ignoring his gospel, America has, in spirit, defied God’s graciousness, spit in his face, and stabbed him in the back.

Would you think that the Almighty will sit still for this?

So what would be the smart thing for you to do?  It would be to put yourself on the Lord’s side.  How?  by repenting and believing his gracious gospel! (Mark 1:15.)  Then rely on his protection pledges!  Do it!

Requesting that the public pray for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting massacre.

Ask yourself:  why did the Almighty not stop this massacre?

Would it be because his hands were tied?  For instance, right now would he be pacing back and forth in heaven, shaking his head, being at a loss as to what he could do about the whole matter?  Think about it!

Furthermore, if many Americans would base their thinking on the presumption that the Almighty was powerless to stop this massacre, what good, then, would it do to pray to him now?  Such an act simply would be wishful thinking, indeed, it would be plain superstition to presume that God could fix things now, but that he could not have fixed them in the first place.

Thus the heart of the whole problem is this:  Many who have called for prayers for this massacre have no idea of any sort of promise on which they could base their assurance that praying will do any good.

Moreover, the vast majority of Americans are not even churched.  Why would they even want to pray?

Nevertheless, even if they would make an effort to pray, to whom would they pray?  What is more, how could they be ever sure that they were not “calling the wrong number?”

This again goes to the heart of the problem:  What assurance would they have that their prayers ever would be heard; that they even would be heard by a divine being?  Or has the concept of praying today simply been reduced to a description of wishful thinking and of happy thoughts?

Furthermore, of the minority of Americans that are churched, not all are Christian.  Of those who are, many are Christian in name only; for the vast majority of clergy and congregations today reject that Jesus “is the true God” (1st John 5:20); that he was “declared to be the Son of God with power” by his bodily “resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).  In the face of such flagrant rejection of his person, and of his saving resurrection, would the Lord Jesus even honor the requests of those who deny him so insultingly?  What would you think?  What does he himself clearly threaten?  Consult Matthew 7:23!

America, if you would want your prayers for victims, or for anyone else to be heard, then get right with God first!  For what are you waiting?  Or what would be your excuse this time around?

How was David able to defeat Goliath?

Even the best baseball pitcher could not throw a strike every time.  No one could be that good.  Yet the size of Goliath’s forehead, that was unguarded by his helmet, was a much smaller area than a strike zone.  Thus it was the Lord that guided that single stone to go, not to the nose or to an ear, for instance, but to the most vulnerable spot on Goliath that was not covered with armor.

Hence see the truth in this:  “Unless the Lord would build the house, they will labor in vain who would build it” (Psalm 127:1)!  Years before David had put himself on the Lord’s side through repentance and gospel faith.  As a result, the Lord was for him, not against him, and blessed him when he carried out his God-appointed duties, even if it would take a miracle.

May you also learn this lesson!

On 9/1/17 President Trump calls for a day of prayer in the aftermath of a Texan hurricane.

For all I know, the President has been the only public official so far who has called for a day of prayer regarding this calamity.  John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States, officially summoned our people to set aside a day to humble themselves before the Almighty.  So did Lincoln, and other Presidents in times of divine punishment.

Furthermore, back then they did it correctly, that is, biblically, for they called for a day both of humiliation and of prayer, not just of prayer, in order to humble themselves under the obvious anger of the offended Deity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who sent Hurricane Harvey as a punishment to get America (consult Luke 13:2-5), not just Texas, to repent of its rejection of the soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ, and of its sins of unbelief.  Yet have you heard of, or seen any signs of, widespread repentance going on in the aftermath of this storm?  What more would it take to get this land to repent, and to return to its Savior?

This willful stubbornness compels the Lord to complain, “Why should you be stricken again?  You will revolt more and more.  The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints” (Isaiah 1:5).

Remember:  “If God would be for us, who could be against us?” (Romans 8:31.)  Nevertheless, if he would be turned against us, “There is none that could deliver out of your hand” (Job 10:7).

A thorough prayer concerning the Hurricane Harvey devastation published on 9/3/17.

Dear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the only true God of heaven:

In the past you have shown such mercy and patience with our people.  It has had your Bible in abundance.  You waited patiently, giving them time to repent, to give up their fascination with worldliness and unbelief, to turn away from the false preachers who preach wealth, earthly success, and themselves, and to return to you in true gospel faith.  As the orchard owner in the Bible who waited patiently for his tree to bear fruit (Luke 13:6), so you have waited for our people to bear fruit, that is, to show their repentance and faith of the heart by leading a godly life, urging, “Return to me!” (Malachi 3:7.)  Indeed, year after year you have waited, but nothing has happened.

Then you have tried minor irritations and troubles to get them to give up their worldliness and unbelief.  Still, nothing happened.  After that you tried more pronounced afflictions (Amos 4:6-10; Ezekiel 5:12), at times more frequently; at other times, for a longer duration.  In amazement you wondered how a people could be so stubborn and senseless; why it would prefer the course of misery to possessing your protecting peace for body and soul.

To be sure, after men stubbornly would refuse to repent and to believe, you will remind them that nowhere have you promised that you would remain patient forever.  Instead, you will threaten to punish the unbeliever, not just beginning on Judgment Day, but already in this life.  As the Bible points out, “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11).  “His soul hates the wicked” (Psalm 11:5).  Therefore, you have promised, “I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity” (Isaiah 13:11).  “All nations that forget God will be turned into hell” (Psalm 9:17).  To be sure, you have kept your threat (1st Kings 8:24). Your recent affliction has caused appalling destruction, in which the anger of God, indeed, was revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Romans 1:18).  You will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7).  You are righteous in all your holy ways (Psalm 145:17).

Awaken sinners to the realization that as long as they would refuse to humble themselves, you will continue to send even more devastation!  Convict the world of sin, of a lack of righteousness, and of their overhanging judgment (John 16:8), for “the entire world is guilty before God.  No man is righteous before him” (Romans 3:19).

To those who have escaped with their lives, which would include the rest of the country, your warning goes out:  “Unless you would repent, all of you likewise will perish” (Luke 13:3).  To those sufferers who would count themselves as members of some church, but who would lack a true, biblical repentance and gospel faith; who would have fattened themselves on worldliness and will not diet; who would have become addicted to the flesh-pleasing, faith-killing creeds of their church and will not reject them, the same warning goes out:  “Repent!” (Matthew 3:2.)

Just the same, to those sufferers whom you know to be true repenters and gospel believers, this devastation was not meant to be a punishment, but a demonstration of your deep love.

Nevertheless, in their antagonism in the face of the clear words of Scripture, some people would still object:  “How cruel to say that God will punish with death and destruction!  How libelous to call the churches in the area of this recent destruction worldly and unrepentant, faithless and without the fear of God!”  Yet the pages of your Old Testament reveal that many nations have said the same thing, in effect, but were subsequently punished by you with the same death and destruction.  Indeed, just how much more punishment of this area and of the rest of this country will it take before the citizens would finally wake up to the importance of repentance, and pray, “Deliver us from evil”?  Sadly, their punishment is a matter of their own making.

Thus may we humble ourselves, be warned to repent, and believe the gospel at all times!  Amen!

A Prayer in a U. S. Presidential Cabinet Meeting

This prayer is heartening to read.

Just think of it:  a prayer subscribed to by an American administration, with requests made to the true God of heaven –  the biblical Triune God!  May this not be a one-time occurrence!

To be sure, this also was a positive way to pray.  That is, while Mr. Carson in his prayer acknowledged the political opposition, and the very real danger that it poses to wreck our country through a bitter division, still it was his will and commitment that this could be averted.

Now if only the political opposition would pray this same prayer (in good faith), there indeed could be good grounds for hope for our country; for with God all things are possible.

Governmental punishment

Biblically, any government will not be violating the commandment “Love your neighbor!” when it obeys God’s commandment given to government:  “Punish evildoers!  Protect your citizens!”

This is God’s command to all governments, whether heathen or Christian.  Indeed, any government would be remiss in its biblical duties if it would do otherwise.

Those who would advocate that a government should be remiss in its biblical duties, will display a willful blindness not only for the biblical meaning of “Love your neighbor!” but also for the biblical duties for which God has instituted governments.

Draining the political swamp in Washington D.C.

While I understand the meaning of this concept, “Draining the swamp,” this description actually will not offer an effective solution, or rather a control for the problem at hand; for while it refers to getting rid of something undesirable, it still would make no allowance for replacing it with something desirable, would it? Rather a different metaphor would have to be used to describe accurately what would need to be done.

That illustration will be this:  “The muddy stream that fills the swamp would have to be cleansed at its source.   Merely dipping out water from the muddy stream along its banks will not cleanse the stream at all.”

What this means is this:  If you would want a bad person to begin to act in a moral manner, you would have to change his heart – the source of his actions- first of all in order to get him to act morally.

In politics it would have to work this way:  In the first place, someone in authority, such as the President, or a state governor, would have to fire all those in the governmental bureaucracy who were not a “moral and religious people,” as John Adams once described a citizenry, and replace them with a moral and religious people.  Yet there are problems with this.  First of all, it is almost impossible to fire a civil servant.  Secondly, the one in authority would have to hire only moral people, provided that he could identify them, find them, and that they would be interested in being hired.

In regards to our elected officials, the old, Latin maxim still holds true:  “As the people are, so will the government be.”  In other words, if the elected representatives would be bad morally, it will be because the pool of citizens from which they come, and which elects them, also will be bad morally.  Thus the swamp is bad because the stream feeding it is bad since the pool from which it originates is bad.

To be sure, the vast majority of American citizens are unchurched, and not a “moral and religious people.”

Furthermore, of those who are churched, the vast majority of their churches preach nothing but radical politics, social justice, health and wealth, or coexistence creeds, to the conspicuous absence of biblical morality, that is, the Ten Commandments.

Therefore, realize that in order to clean the muddy stream at its source, not merely for political reasons, that is, not merely to make our pool of citizens moral, from which our civil servants and elected officials could originate, but for the infinitely more important purpose of obtaining from the Almighty our deliverance from our guilty, sin-stained past, and a reconciliation with our offended God, we need to rechristianize our nation, beginning with a reformation of our churches, and with mission work among our people!  This is the only biblical way that has God’s promise to bring about a moral change.

See to it!  Pray and act now!

Our country is a house politically and morally divided.

In his “house divided” speech of 1858, Abraham Lincoln used the metaphor of our Lord Jesus (consult Matthew 12:25) to point out the sharp, political division of our country into two camps.  The original metaphor had warned that such a house “will fall.”  Indeed, just two years later the North and the South were killing each other.

Would anyone deny today that our Union likewise has become a “house divided”; that currently there are no efforts being put forth by either side to reconcile; that this disunity, instead, is becoming more bitter and intense, and one day, like a pot coming to a boil, will blow the lid off, and that both sides will start killing each other?

Ladies and gentlemen, we are headed for another civil war, for not only are calming efforts not being promoted, but daily the flames of spite and hatred are being fanned willfully by what people say.

Yet I would ask you:  Would you really want to go to war? Would you really want to see this happen?  Then say something to promote peace instead!

* * *

In his famous “House divided” speech given back in 1858, in which he purposely used that biblical metaphor with which the common man would have been familiar (consult Matthew 12:25), Abraham Lincoln pointed out the sharp, political division of the Union into two camps, which subsequently led to a secession and to civil war.

To be sure, this same observation could and should have been given back in the 1760’s, when the same phenomenon occurred in our land between the Tories and the Whigs, which also led, subsequently, to a secession and to war.

Again today the same phenomenon has occurred:  our Union is no longer united, but bitterly divided, and becoming increasingly so with every passing year.  See it!  Admit it!

In fact, realize that there is no turning back!  America once again is headed for a secession and for civil war.  Indeed, whenever a nation has rejected God’s soul-saving gospel, as America has, the Almighty has kept his threat to punish with devastating war, as he has done already twice before to us through secession and war.

So what should you do to prepare? start to stockpile ammunition?

The only prevention for this is the moral solution:  a change of hearts, which only a genuine Christianity consisting of repentance over sins and a belief in the soul-saving gospel promise could effect, according to God’s biblical pledge.  Yet even this has been rejected by the vast majority.  Just the same, this is what God still wants you to do.

Furthermore, realize that whenever factions would go to war, “War is not a calamity which men can bring upon a land and people without God’s will but at all times a great chastisement of the great angry God himself” (C.F.W. Walther)!

* * *

[“House divided” – a maxim of our Lord that is the opposite of “strength in unity.”  Noah Webster (1828) on “divide” – “to disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant.”

A house divided could not stand, that is, a household that is not supported by all of its members, but rather is opposed by one or more sub groups, will not achieve its goals but will have them frustrated.  The idea is of a revolution:  of at least two previously united groups now spending their efforts solely on destroying each other, not on accomplishing a constructive task together.]

* * *

As I have noted, our country is divided, bitterly divided, with political passions running high

Moreover, this is coming slowly to a head as it did before the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War.  As then, so also now, it merely will take one provocation over one, political point of contention over which our citizens are arguing, just one spark, so to speak, to set ablaze the dry tinder of political passions for yet a third, internal war.

This provocation will not be the “straw that broke the camel’s back” analogy, which men have used to describe a breakdown in patience with one another.  Rather God has used the “spark that sets a forest ablaze” approach to begin wars.

Thus realize that right now God is in a punishing mode toward our country, and, for that matter, toward the rest of the world!  He threatens in his Bible to become this way whenever a nation willfully would neglect him, his promise of salvation, and his Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind.  After minor punishments would fail to discourage this neglect, he finally will resort to the sending of an all-out war, using an event as a consequence of and subsequent to some point of contention being argued about passionately, using men to carry out his war on other men.

Would this sound far-fetched?

Gun control, for instance, is an excellent example of a current, point of contention which easily could result in an event which could spark a civil war.

Yet, to avoid the slaughter of a third, internal war in this country, return to God, accept his pledge of sin-pardon, and accept the Savior who accomplished it:  Jesus Christ!  If we would neglect to do this, we must pay a heavy price.

God is in control

This losing, political candidate is to be commended for declaring, especially right after a heavy reversal, “God is always in control.”  This maxim is entirely biblical.

Indeed, realize that the Almighty repeatedly remarks that he sends reversals to his Christians from time to time specifically for their spiritual good, no matter whatever else may be effected!

Remember:  conservative American politics is not your savior;  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is!  To be sure, even having the soundest, most moral politicians in America never will get anyone into heaven.

Just the same, the Son of God also has pledged, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things [earthly matters] will be added to you,” including good political representatives.

Note this!  Do as he says!

Wrongfully calling for a political solution to a moral problem

In 1857 the Boston scholar, George Ticknor, wrote to an English friend that American politics is “completely inexplicable.”

Indeed, one reason for this is that some Americans at times will turn a purely political matter into a moral issue.  That is to say, they will turn a matter of indifference into a matter of right or wrong. Furthermore, this is not an honest mistake done out of zeal, but is a deliberate deception.  In other words, some will turn this matter into a moral issue because they want to be justified in defending it to the death, and to be able to demonize those who would not agree with them.

So it is with the above article, as it is with many articles that appear on this site.  Yet voting is a political matter, not a moral issue.

Just the same, the reason why this country has gotten into a pronounced, lawless political situation today, not to mention the lawless societal, business, and marital situations, is because America has fallen away from biblical Christianity and the moral transformation of the heart which it brings.  As a result we no longer have a moral or religious people in this land, but a people who make up their own morals.  Moreover, such people will be prone to make bad political decisions, intentionally or unintentionally, not to mention bad societal, business, and marital decisions.

Ask yourself:  From where did the corrupt heads of government come? They came from the pool of citizens.

Thus the citizenry, the pool from which those in government, the military, and the police have come, is itself lawless and unethical.  “As the people are, so will the government be,” the Latin maxim goes [Ut rex, ita, grex].  Yet the above article fails to consider, to mention, or to address this.

For instance, a vagabond could steal a ride on a boxcar, while a college graduate could steal the whole railroad.  What would be the difference, since their intent would be the same?  The difference would be this:  their opportunity and their know-how.  That is all.

No? Notice the “Me first!” attitude among the citizenry! For example, see how many citizens willfully and persistently break the clearly posted speed limit!  Why?  It is because they have no will to be moral.  They think that they are above the law.

All of America has a severe moral problem, not just the notorious citizens in the headlines. In fact, the chief moral problem is America’s willful and stubborn refusal to admit that it has a moral problem.

Thus things are not going to get any better in government until the citizens morally get better.

Just the same, the author of this article urges his political solution:  No longer vote, but secede (which still would have to be done by political voting, however)!

Nevertheless, he is addressing merely a political symptom, not the underlying problem itself:  to change the corrupt heart to become moral.

How could this be done?  There is only one way.

It would be called “mission work.”  That is to say, fearless preachers such as Jonah, Elijah, and John the Baptist will be needed in America to indict this land of its sordid departure from the Lord, and urge it to return to the Lord in repentance of its sins, and of faith in his gospel promise of pardon.  Nothing less will do.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are evil religions, currently Islam is the worst of the three.

God’s holy words in his Bible command men neither to hate nor to murder.  That is a fact.

Just the same, if a doctor would prescribe a prescription, but some of his patients would fail to take it, this will not be the doctor’s fault, will it? but the men who would refuse to out of weakness, out of foolishness,  out of stubbornness, or for selfishness reasons, for instance.

Furthermore, God has commanded nowhere that the once Holy Land must be made accessible, that pilgrimages to it must be made, or that crusades must be undertaken.  Nevertheless, governments have a duty to protect the lives of their citizens.  I will leave it to the past writings of the leaders of the crusades to justify their own political undertakings.

Finally, God’s holy gospel words in his Bible transform the hearts of men to want to promote mercy, justice, and saving-faith in his salvation promises.  In fact, read about all of the moral transformations that actually have taken place, for example, of the South Sea Islanders who renounced cannibalism, or of the African tribes who gave up atrocities, and come to the conclusion yourself that genuine Christianity is indeed a religion of peace when truly gospel-transformed men practice it!

Recent archaeological finds and the Bible

To be sure, archaeology and ancient, historical records as well always have verified and, subsequently, vindicated what the Bible has recorded about earthly events.

Just the same, the best source for being convinced of the Bible’s narrative is the Bible itself, for it has the divine power to overcome your doubts, and to convince you of its truthfulness as you read it.  You have God’s own pledge for this.

Indeed, no other book has this ability.

“Where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments.”

This remark is so imprecise it is unbiblical and unacceptable.  It sounds as if the writer puts no faith in the source for this knowledge, does it?

Yet the original source for this knowledge is the unbreakable, dependable Word of God.

Therefore, this sentence should read, for instance, “Where God himself states for a fact that he gave Moses the Ten Commandments, hence everyone could and should rely on this fact with absolute, divine certainty.”

Obviously, this writer, like many liberal members today calling themselves “Christian,” rejects the divine inspiration of the Holy Bible; namely, that the Holy Spirit exercised an exceptional influence by which he guided his chosen men to write only what he wanted them to write, in the precise manner and in the very words which he chose to be written.

Hence you could and should rely with divine certainty on whatever the Bible reports, because it is the Holy Spirit himself who is speaking to you.

Do so!

Christmas and the ancient Roman celebration of the solstice

The year of Christ’s birth was first fixed by Dionysius Exiguus, a monk of Scythia, who lived in Rome at the beginning of the 500’s A.D.  Thus all of the years since then have been designated as years A.D., that is, “anno Domini,” the Latin for “the year of the Lord,” such as 2017 A.D.

The observance of Christmas on December 25 was not introduced until 353 A.D.  The chief pastor at Rome, Julius I (336-352), had the imperial archives of Rome searched for the exact date of the birth of Christ.  A subsequent pastor of Rome, Liberius (352-366), then fixed the celebration of Christmas for December 25.

Justin Martyr (died 150 A.D.) writes:  “Christ was born in Bethlehem, as may be gathered from the census records.”  Another writer, Tertullian (155 or 160-220 or 230 A.D.), testifies that in the census of Augustus the Roman archives have provided the most reliable testimony of the birth of the Savior.

Thus it has been a fallacy to contend that Christians had set the date of Christmas for December 25 merely to counteract either the Roman festival of Saturnalia on December 17, or the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti on December 23, in order either to upstage them, or to keep their people from participating in them.  If this were true, they would not have set the date of Christmas for two days later, after both these festivals were over.  Furthermore, why would the Christians have waited until 353 A.D. to counteract these two festivals?  By that time the heathen influence throughout the Roman Empire had been weakened considerably by Christianity.

Therefore, in spirit, join the shepherds who said, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass.”

“Be this as it may, they decided by vote which of the books out of the collection they had made, should be the WORD OF GOD, and which should not. They rejected several; they voted others to be doubtful, such as the books called the Apocrypha; and those books which had a majority of votes, were voted to be the word of God. Had they voted otherwise, all the people since calling themselves Christians had believed otherwise; for the belief of the one comes from the vote of the other.”
– Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

Concerning the quote at the end of this article by Thomas Paine regarding an act of voting by any men on what would be or what would not be the Word of God:

The action of the Council of Trent (1545-1563), in which the Roman Catholic Church declared by a mere decree what books should comprise the Bible, and also anathematized all those people who would refuse to accept all the books contained in the Vulgate as anti-Christian, was a presumptive usurpation of authority.  The Bible has given no such authority to any man or to any group of men.

Rather, the collection of biblical books has been done in this manner:  What we call “the Old Testament” was a collection of sacred writings that were compiled together not by a vote, but simply on account of their obvious divine nature as books which were inspired by the Holy Spirit.  What is known as the “Apocrypha” was never included in this collection because of its obvious non-inspired characteristics.

What we refer to as the “New Testament” writings were compiled in the same way.  Indeed, the church of the new testament was not a new church with a new religion, but a continuation of the one true church.  To this enduring church the same Spirit of God who had spoken through Moses and the prophets graciously granted a continuation of his inspired Word through a period of about five decades.

After this period the early, Christian churches took exacting care to distinguish between the genuine, inspired writings from those simple, pastoral writings of ministers, and from spurious writings which had a religious narrative.

Furthermore, each Christian church claimed the right of satisfying itself in this matter.  By the year A.D. 250, the Christian churches commonly had satisfied themselves as to what comprised the New Testament.

Just the same, today, when an average layman would read an inspired book of the Word of God, the divine, powerful words themselves will impress upon his mind that this book has been divinely written.  Any reading material written by man simply will not do that.

“What would be wrong with homosexuality?”

What would be wrong with homosexuality, regardless of what the state has legislated, or what a part of society believes?  It will be this.

First of all, animals have enough sense not to practice it.  They understand the proper use of their reproductive organs.

Moreover, my edition of Black’s Law Dictionary terms “sodomy” as “a carnal copulation by human beings with each other against nature.”

Indeed, by doing things against nature homosexuals will pay a biological price.  For instance, they will breed the HIV virus as a matter of course, whereas a monogamous husband and wife will not.

Secondly, homosexuals also will pay a moral price.  The definitive dictionary on morality, the Bible, rejects the idea that homosexuals are normal and well-adjusted moral beings, but reading their minds, defines them as having “vile passions,” “a debased mind,” “leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful.”

Since their moral compass is off, they will generate any number of off-course, moral problems for themselves and for others, as any vice will.

Furthermore, the Creator has put into every person a conscience along with his divine, moral law.  Thus a homosexual’s own conscience, like a judge, will convict him of moral wrongdoing.  As a result, he will have to live with the stress of a guilty conscience.

Thirdly, God clearly condemns it.  See above.  This is why he specifically destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; why he commanded homosexuals to put to death in the ancient, civil code for Israel, and why he threatens to punish such men on Judgment Day.

The personal remedy for this is to confess it before God as a damnable sin, to ask for forgiveness, and to request a divinely-created, new heart which will desire moral activity.

Abortion would be against human rights

A clergyman argues that abortion is “against human rights.”

Rather, political legislation is what determines human rights.

Nevertheless, it should be pointed out to the conscience of this nation that abortion is murder, plain and simple, which the Almighty outlaws in his Fifth Commandment.

Moreover, our nation should be warned publicly that such flagrant murder eventually brings down God’s severe punishment on the whole nation.

“Abortion would be no different than what happened in Numbers 31:17-18.”

It would be good to keep in mind God’s declared will in regards to the men, women, and children of Midian, as well as to the rest of the human race, whose release from eternal punishment has been purchased by Christ’s holy blood.

First of all, God “desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” regarding Christ’s saving blood (1st Timothy 2:4), declaring, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11).

Just the same, when nations such as the Midianites in Numbers 31 want no part of the true God of heaven, the Almighty responds with divine punishment which he, the holy Creator, has every right to inflict on whom he will, by whom he will.  He threatens, “I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity” (Isaiah 13:11), whether men, women, or mocking children. Consult 2nd Kings 2:23-24 for the latter!

Indeed, remember that the Fifth Commandment:  “You shall not murder,” was made for humans, not for God; and that the annihilation of specific, idol-worshiping nations by Israel was expressly ordered by God, just as he later used the Babylonians to annihilate the Assyrians!

If you would believe that such annihilation in the Old Testament was unfair, realize that your argument is with the Almighty!

Furthermore, marriage has God’s blessing and encouragement.  Sex slavery does not.

Womanhood is abused by non-Christians

Womanhood has been honored, protected, and restored to its place intended by her Creator only when a society has practiced biblical morality.

It was the introduction of Christianity into Europe by missionaries that brought biblical morality into those lands.  Before this time, the Celts with their Druid superstitions, the Germanic tribes with their heathen worship, even the Romans and Grecians, were disgusting morally. Yet without the elements of biblical morality introduced by Christian missionaries into Western Europe, when the powerful gospel words transformed these heathen into people headed for heaven, Western values not only would be useless and repugnant, but they actually would attack good morals.

For example, the Greek Plato, the study of whom is considered primary in a college course on Western Civilization, taught that like the animals, men should share their wives.  Likewise the Greek Socrates, held up to our college-aged youth as an exalted thinker, preferred to talk with the town prostitute rather than his own wife.  The description of ancient Roman society in the writings of Ovid and Horace is appalling.  The Roman Seneca declared, “All things are full of vices and crimes.  Innocence is not rare.  It no longer exists.”

Yet I would invite you to look more recently to our own age.  Look at pop music, for instance!  In the 1960’s popular musical groups were singing the praises of prostitutes to our young people, glorifying promiscuous sex, exalting the use of hallucinating drugs to the sound of catchy tunes, and even extolling Satanism in the 1970’s, not to mention the gutter filth that has been hailed on the American screen as well as in English literature,

and has been paraded ceaselessly before our eyes by the incessant merchandizers of decadent pop culture who recognize that the easiest way to separate us from our money is to appeal to the lust of our sinful flesh.

Hence women today only will be respected and behaved toward morally when the society in which they live is Christian.

The immoral media

Have you ever wondered why the media is so immoral?

It will be simple.

First of all, there always have been those who would do anything to make a name for themselves; to be prominent in the public eye, gauging first in which direction the winds of power were blowing, and then, following that ideology.

Just the same, these and other sins, such as, to withhold the truth, to damage one’s good name, to sensationalize something minor, to mock, to name call, to be hypocritical, and not ever to apologize, are all sins by those who reject the divine Savior of the Bible and his accompanying salvation pledges which alone could transform anyone into becoming a moral being.

In brief, then, an unbelief in the gospel is at the bottom of their sins.  Change that, and things will get corrected!  In fact, it will be the only way.

Black on black crime and killing in the inner cities

Would there ever be a solution to this tragic state of affairs?  If so, what would it be?

“When the Son of God is received as the Redeemer of the race, He fulfills the promise of His Word, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee’ [Isaiah 26:3].  Take blood-soaked Africa, for example!  A nightmare of continued murder marked the Fernando Po territory and its filthy, slothful inhabitants whose speech was like the grunt of brute animals.  Then missionaries came with the Savior’s Gospel, and Fernando Po was a changed place, ruled by peace.  War tore South Africa.  A notorious Hottentot called ‘Africaner’ was the terror of the colonists.  Robert Moffat, missionary of Jesus, went straight to this chief of the black battle-land, although warned that Africaner would use Moffat’s skin for a drum and his skull for a drinking cup.  Africaner turned to his Savior, and the hideous wars stopped.  Tribal struggles and slave raids cursed Uganda.  The murder of infants and aged, sudden and ceaseless attacks on its villages made Madagascar a veritable hell on earth.  Witchcraft, killing of twins, and gory conflicts left Calabar a land of weeping and wailing.  But the Son of God came to Uganda, to Madagascar, to Calabar, and with Him came peace” (Walter A. Maier, The Airwaves Proclaim Christ [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1948], page 19).

The same could and should happen today in America if only true-to-the-Bible missionaries would be sent out, and only if the people would stop rejecting Christ’s soul-saving gospel.

Gentlemen, we need to work and to pray on this matter.

The President’s State of the Union address

In his first, inaugural address Lincoln correctly advised, “Intelligence, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him will adjust all our present difficulty.”

Later on:  “We know that the Lord is always on the side of the right.  But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.”

What exactly would be going on religiously in America?

This country now has joined the long list of nations throughout history that have gone through this terrible cycle:  a rise and fall of a golden age of Christianity. In other words, God will bring his merciful, sin-rescuing pledge to a land, move the inhabitants to believe it, and bless them materially with civil peace and prosperity.  Yet, usually by the third generation, citizens will begin to detest this promise, and reject it.

This is where we are now:  our country has “fallen away” from the gospel.  It has “backslid” and become “unfaithful,” as the Word of God puts it.  Oh, yes, there still are some churches in it with a sense of spirituality about them, but not the kind which the Bible clearly outlines for genuine repentance and saving faith, for they have become more lax in biblical teaching, and have relaxed their practice of the biblical commandments quietly and without fanfare, but intentionally. They have become worldly, and have rolled back biblical morality inch by inch.

Why?  It is because of peer pressure, or, as Scripture puts it:  of being a “men pleaser” (Ephesians 6:6).

How has this gospel-rejection played out in our country?  Just read about all of the dire news on this site alone!  In fact, do you really like living in all of this misery?  Yet this is what life commonly is like in a typical heathen, gospel-void society.

Yet there is no spiritual will on the part of the vast majority of Americans to return to God, to return to being a Christian nation once again. Indeed, there is a marked revulsion to and a studied hatred of the whole idea.

So what could and should Americans do?

It is simple.

Americans must sorrow over their grievous sins, quit them, and flee to Christ’s forgiving blood.   Otherwise, God will carry out his threat to punish us.

Who would be the truly wise?

This topic about one’s intellect is interesting, for today is the day on which the Christian church commemorates the Wise men who came to Bethlehem to adore the Christ child, their Savior from guilt and punishment.

Just the same, they were the exception, for due to pride most of those who have been gifted by God with a high intellect exult their own thinking above the Bible’s.  Indeed, in our own land, how many political leaders and professors making the headlines today refuse to worship the Christ child!

Hence do not mistake intellect for wisdom!

So, then, who would be the truly wise?

They will be those sinners, who in simple confidence, believe the Bible’s promise that the baby in the manger, Jesus Christ, the God-man, would deliver them from their sins’ guilt and punishment, and thus reconcile them to their heavenly Father.

Be truly wise!

In regards to a professor who doubts that God is male

Such an approach, as this professor has taken, breaks the hermeneutical rules which govern all communication between rational beings, including the Bible with its readers.

This is because her approach has been done in bad faith for malicious reasons. That is to say, it has been done to advance a selfish, predetermined agenda. Yet this is nothing new, nor surprising.

Just the same, contrast this with the following testimonies by men who, by reading the Bible in good faith, did not violate the hermeneutical rules.

In fact, these men served American universities in the past, not only as professors, but as presidents, who believed in the masculine, biblically designated Father, Son, and Spirit!

For instance, James Angell, the past president of the University of Michigan confessed: “I believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of man and the Son of God, that he came to earth on a divine mission to enable us to have eternal life.”

Charles Loose, past president of the University of Kentucky: “Jesus, the
Christ, has always been to me… God manifest in the flesh…and ‘the Lamb of God’, who by His atoning sacrifice on the cross takes away ‘the sin of the world’.”

John Coulter, past president of Lake Forest University: “I have always
held Jesus Christ up to my students as the Model-Man and only Savior.”

William Johnson, past president of Tulane University: “My opinion of Jesus Christ is… contained in the Apostolic Creed. I accept Him and trust His Saviorship to the very end. He is to me “the Way, the Truth, and the Life’.”

Cyrus Northrop, the second president of the University of Minnesota: “The Bible is the Guide Book to heaven showing us the way. Christ is the Way. ‘No man cometh unto the Father, but by’ Him.”

Imitate these men! Stand up, and be counted!

          The Church of Sweden has voted to adopt a controversial new handbook which says masculine references to God, such as “He” and “Lord” should be scrapped so as to be more “inclusive”.

A more accurate conclusion than the above quotes will be:  “The Swedish Church has ceased to exist as a genuinely Christian, that is to say, a genuinely biblical organization;” and “this new guidebook throws away the recognition of the only true God as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and, consequently, his way to salvation which only could save sinners’ souls.  Instead, it brings on an imaginary, unsavable worship system which is both anti-biblical and anti-Christian, and damns to hell all those who truly believe such a made-up creed.”

For some time now, having denied clear, fundamental, biblical teachings, which God has laid down in his holy Bible to inform the sinner of that divine salvation which God has given for man to believe in in order to be saved for heaven and delivered from damnation, the Swedish Church, spearheading the “falling away” from the Christian faith for selfish reasons, and followed in step by other Lutheran bodies worldwide just as radical, simply has reduced itself to a spiritual club whose members merely retain the name of “Christian.”

Thus, for example, any baby that would be baptized into the name of a trinitarian god called the “Sister, Brother, and Spirit” will be done so to an imaginary, made-up god.  As a result, no gospel faith could be started up in that infant by the Almighty since he will not recognize such a baptism.  It will be a slap in his face.

A Roman Catholic church official criticizes publicly a U. S. political policy

This is simply another instance in the centuries’ long list of instances in which the Roman Catholic hierarchy has wished to determine a political matter since, according to their creed, but not according to the Bible, they have the supreme right to do so everywhere.

In this case:  what is good policy for the Roman Catholic church is good policy for the U. S.  It is as simple as that.

Seeking cooperation from Rome

These representatives of these denominations may be seeking cooperation from Rome, but they are naïve, and ignorant of papal history; for the papacy is willing to take all that is offered him, and gives nothing in return.

For example, under the papacy, it is the belief and practice of the Roman Catholic Church that no religious beliefs other than her own have a right to exist.  This is why the Roman Catholic rulers of the past allowed no religious freedom or toleration of other faiths in their dominions.

Only where the Roman Catholic church is not in political power, and where her members are in a minority in a country, will she ever complain of the lack of religious toleration,  and will appeal to her constitutional rights.

What is more, understand that the papacy never has been a holy man of God!  His claims to his high office and its superiority over church and state matters are entirely unbiblical.

A movie about Jesus

The best account of the life of Jesus, the divine Son of God, is and always will remain the one recorded in the Bible.

Hollywood will never come close to an accurate portrayal, for Hollywood writers and directors try to impress your sinful nature as much as possible, not your intellect.

To that end, they will sensationalize, miss the mark, and just plain lie.

On the contrary, if you would read the Bible, the Holy Spirit has pledged to enlighten you, and to lead you into spiritual truth on the matter.

Look to the Bible, then, for truth and accuracy!

There would be no aliens from or living on other planets.

Realize the following:

(1) The Bible, the only source of infallible knowledge, speaks of the creation of the universe with the focus on the creation of earth as the temporary home of men until Judgment Day.

(2) The Bible speaks of the creation only of angels and of Adam and Eve, not of other beings.

(3) God the Son was sent only to this earth to save its fallen human race.

(4) On Judgment Day the entire universe will be destroyed.  Only the people on earth will be arraigned before God’s judgment throne.

(5) The sightings of spacecraft, aliens connected with these sightings, Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, etc., all are paraphysical events.  That is to say, these things and beings were visible, then they disappeared, that is, they became invisible at will, and could never be found or captured.

Who would be capable of such paraphysical abilities?  only supernatural beings.

Who would they be?  They would be only the created angels or the fallen devils.  The angels could and should be eliminated because they are holy:  they would not be involved in any form of deception.  However the fallen devils would be malicious enough to do so:  to deceive and to distract men from God and from his “one thing needful”:  his gospel salvation promises.

Realize this!

A moral problem requiring a theological solution

I am glad that you contributed your comments.  Keep it up!

First of all, someone would have to inform me as to how much the military today goes “by the book,” and how much unwise activity is excused.

Just the same, as you pointed out, “Where is the reverent attitude today?”

Be aware that there is a Latin maxim that goes, “As the people are, so will the government be”!  This could be expanded rightly to say, “so will the military be.”  That is to say, if a good part of the military would be disrespectful, it will be because a good part of society is disrespectful.

This is a moral problem, requiring a theological solution, as MacArthur pointed out in his speech aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay at the surrender ceremony.

Thus when more of our military personnel become moral, you will see an increase in duty, honor, and country.

How could this be done?  Only the God of the Bible has the power to move men to become truly moral.

*  *  *

  “After every school shooting, I am always asked the same question: What can we do to stop this from happening? The answer is simple: Help those who are hurting.

“School shootings will continue so long as we do nothing to address the emotional turmoil some students endure and the harmful ideation they fantasize as remedy to their grievance. We need to help those who are hurting.”

First of all, helping our neighbors in the way in which this author urged will be a good thing.  It will be a good work.

Just the same, realistically, there will not be enough time in the day for us to do this without neglecting our own children at home, that is, to use an analogy, to go around stomping out every fire that pops up in every home on our block without neglecting to keep our own homes safe from fire.

So what would be a better solution to this problem?

It will be if every father on the block would be a good parent, raise his children himself, and not to pass them off to a stranger at a day care.  To that end, have a stay-at-home-wife.  It could be done.

Moreover, raise your children morally.  For instance, turn off the nihilistic trash on TV, in the movies, and in video games.  Rule out selfish divorce.  Stay committed to your spouse.  Do not break up your home.  Find a different job, if necessary.

How could this be accomplished since everyone by nature is naturally selfish?

For example, could it be done if everyone would do what this author advised?  If this would be all that will be necessary in every case, then volunteers would have done it years ago in the inner cities of Chicago, Detroit, etc., to stop the gang shootings.  Yet the shootings continue because some gang members, who are “begging for you to notice them,” are also what is called “incorrigible.”

So what could control bad behavior, up to and including incorrigibility, and the intent to murder?

In the year 1947, the community of Bremen, Kansas, had not witnessed a single arrest nor one court action in thirty years.  (This community would have included stay-at-home moms, and no broken homes.)  Why?  95% of the community was made up of Lutherans.  In fact, their Christian day schools made public schools unnecessary.  Just think how safe that community must have been!  These citizens were naturally selfish people transformed into a moral people by God’s power contained in his powerful, life-changing promises in his Bible.  This same power has transformed South Sea Island cannibals into a moral people.  It has changed murderous, African tribes in the 1800’s into peace-loving people.  Consult missionary history.  Only this same moral change will stop the school shootings.

Remember:  Before the 1960’s, our land did not have these school shootings, and a host of other evils, as long as 40% of our population remained a “moral and religious people,” as John Adams once put it.

Since that time this percentage has dropped dramatically, while the severe consequences have increased.  Note the correlation!