Despite the fact that we recently had the Democrats hosting the first day of the Impeachment Circus, little news came out of it (just like with the Mueller hearings) other than things that are to the detriment of the Democrats (regardless of what people deep in denial might say about this). So, I turn my attention to another piece of recent news: The Salvation Army being defamed by hateful Leftists who pressured a spineless celebrity to threaten to pull out of their halftime show during the Cowboys-Bills Thanksgiving Day game.
 
Singer Ellie Goulding had initially partnered with the Christian organization that helps the homeless and the poor to sing during their halftime show for the Cowboys-Bills game on Thanksgiving Day. But angry Leftists bashed her for helping out The Salvation Army (Goulding had also been volunteering with them in New York) because they accused the organization of having an “anti-LGBTQ” agenda. In other words, Leftists hate that a celebrity would help out a Christian organization, so they throw out this accusation, which is the same one they use for Chick-fil-A, and just like with the chicken sandwich restaurant, it’s nothing but defamation.
 
Goulding, like many other celebrities, caved to the outrage mob and gave the following statement: “Upon researching this, I have reached out to The Salvation Army and said that I would have no choice but to pull out unless they very quickly make a solid, committed pledge or donation to the LGBTQ community. I am a committed philanthropist as you probably know, and my heart has always been in helping the homeless, but supporting an anti-LGBTQ charity is clearly not something I would ever intentionally do. Thank you for drawing my attention to this.”
 
In other words, she did NOT make any research on this and is taking the word of outright liars as the truth, threatening to pull out of the show if The Salvation Army does not quickly make a contribution to the LGBTQ community, aka extortion.
 
The reason I say she did not make any research is because she herself said that The Salvation Army was anti-LGBTQ when they are not.
 
The Salvation Army began in East London in 1865. It was a Protestant church and is now commonly known worldwide as an international charitable organization with the aim of ministering to the needy and bringing the Gospel to the streets. The Salvation Army’s website has a whole section regarding their helping LGBT homeless people. They explain how 40% of homeless youth in America identify as LGBT, nearly 33% of homeless transgender people are rejected from emergency shelters (not associated with The Salvation Army) and that LGBT Americans have a higher chance of being poor.
 
“The Salvation Army USA serves more than 23 million Americans every year. In every ZIP code of America, services are offered without discrimination… When a transgender person seeks help from us, we serve them in the same manner as any other person seeking assistance,” read their site.
 
Even the Prairie Pride Coalition, a gay rights organization in Illinois, advised locals in their community to go to The Salvation Army for help. The Salvation Army also provides people with shelter, job training, and help with substance abuse and food insecurity.
 
To say that The Salvation Army is anti-LGBTQ is a despicable lie. It’s a Christian organization and as such, they have the OBLIGATION to serve, as followers of Christ are called to serve, those around us who need help. That isn’t to say that they promote or support the LGBT agenda or anything of the sort. But doing so isn’t necessary for an organization to do good. Not that hateful bigots on the Left will see it that way. In their eyes, if an organization doesn’t kowtow to their every whim, it should be considered illegitimate in people’s eyes and should be defamed and destroyed.
 
As I have said multiple times in the past, no Christian or Christian organization (at least no true Christian) hates gay people. Why? Because hate is for evil; for Satan. We hate evil because God hates evil. We recognize that homosexuality is a sin and that it’s evil, which is why we do not endorse it or support it. But everyone is a sinner, including Christians, and if we were to discriminate against anyone who was a sinner, literally nothing would ever be done because there isn’t a single person on this earth who isn’t a sinner.
 
Jesus dined with sinners, not because He agreed with their sin or because He was accepting of their sin. Far from it; He dined with them because He did not want them to sin any longer. He forgave the adulterous woman not because He was okay with her sin but because He called on her to not sin any longer. He healed the blind and the lepers, who were considered to be that way because they sinned, not because He agreed with their sinful ways but because He loved them and called on them to not sin any longer, having them recognize Him as the Son of God and do what’s right in God’s eyes.
 
One doesn’t have to be accepting of homosexuality to be charitable to a homosexual. One doesn’t have to agree with the LGBT agenda in order to help the LGBT community where help might be needed.
 
God loves us despite our sin, not because of it. Likewise, we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, love our neighbors and even love our enemies, hard as that last one might prove to be. The Salvation Army, being a Christian organization, knows this extremely well and shows that in their good works. For anyone to defame them is utterly shameful, but not something I can be surprised by considering who is doing the defaming.
 
The Left hates Christians, hates God and hates anyone who would dare disagree with them. The Salvation Army, being a Christian organization, is one of their targets for defamation and destruction.
 
But The Salvation Army had a very good response to such defamation:
 
“We’d like to thank Ellie Goulding and her fans for shedding light on misconceptions and encouraging others to learn the truth about The Salvation Army’s mission to serve all, without discrimination. We applaud her for taking the time to learn about the services to the LGBTQ community. Regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity, we’re committed to serving anyone in need. Every day, we provide services such as shelter for the transgender community and resources for homeless youth…”
 
The Salvation Army knows that they are not what the hateful Leftists claim they are and are not afraid to fight back against such shameful defamation and ludicrous accusations.
 
As Christians, we are called to witness the Truth of the Gospel to everyone. I don’t know for certain if that is what they do in these shelters still, but I certainly hope they do, as that is what they are supposed to do.
 
But to reiterate, as Christians, we are called to serve and not to judge or discriminate against those who sin. We are, ourselves, sinners and we will be measured by the same rod with which we measure others. When it comes to LGBT people, we are called to rebuke them for their sins with love and try to help them to receive Christ. Same as we would adulterers or criminals or other kinds of sinners, we are to rebuke and help them receive Christ if possible.
 
2 Corinthians 5:21
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

How would you feel if your brother or sister or any close family member whom you loved was unjustly taken from you? A slew of emotions would flood you, among which would be sadness, grief, shock, perhaps anger. These are the emotions that Botham Jean’s family likely went through after September 6th, 2018, when the young black man was shot and killed inside his own apartment by Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who entered his apartment, mistaking it for her own and believing Botham to have been an intruder.
 
Roughly a year and a month after the tragic shooting, Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison on the charge of manslaughter. Many believe the sentence should be considerably more, with some believing it to have been a premeditated killing simply due to the racial differences between Guyger and Botham and the fact that she was a police officer, but the sentence for manslaughter in Texas usually carries with it a term of 2 to 20 years in a state prison and a fine of no more than $10,000, so ten years is right down the middle (and Texas doesn’t use “voluntary” or “involuntary” in their legal code, so the charge is simply manslaughter).
 
However, despite the fact that Guyger did kill Mr. Botham Jean, in the court room following the sentencing, Botham’s younger brother, Brandt, got to say a few words to Guyger. And they are words that I believe she needed to hear, as do many people in this world.
 
Brandt said, full of emotion in his voice, “I wasn’t ever going to say this in front of my family or anyone, but I don’t even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that’s exactly what Botham would want you to do. And the best would be to give your life to Christ. I’m not going to say anything else. I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that Botham would want you to do. Again, I love you as a person and I don’t wish anything bad on you.”
 
He then proceeded to ask the judge: “I don’t even know if this is possible, but can I give her a hug, please? Please?”
 
After a bit, the equally as emotional judge granted Brandt permission to hug Guyger. This action was met with gasps and loud sobbing as well from those present in the courtroom.
 
What’s more, after Brandt hugged Guyger, Judge Tammy Kemp also proceeded to hug Guyger, with Guyger whispering something inaudible to the judge. The judge quietly replied to Guyger: “Ma’am, it’s not because I am good. It’s because I believe in Christ. None of us are worthy. Forgive yourself.”
 
This is considerably different to what happened outside the courtroom, where there were angry chants regarding the verdict of 10 years that was handed to Guyger, with chants of “no justice, no peace” being heard throughout and even the mother of another young black man who was slain by an Arlington police officer in 2017 crying and asking: “How many of us does it take to get justice? What about my son? What about Botham Jean? How many of us is it going to take before you understand that our lives matter?”
 
While those who are not most affected by the killing of Botham Jean were angry about the verdict (justice was done, regardless of the emotions behind it, as 10 years is in the middle of the range of possible prison terms in the penal code), those who were most affected by it, namely Botham’s younger brother and even parents showed nothing short of grace towards the woman who took away their loved one.
 
Not one of Botham’s family members would’ve been at fault for being angry with Guyger. Not one of them owed forgiveness to her; she certainly didn’t deserve it. But that’s what grace is all about. That’s what mercy is all about.
 
Mercy wouldn’t be mercy if forgiveness were owed. If forgiveness were owed, that’d be justice, not grace. Grace – mercy – is doing what is right to someone who does not deserve it in the least.
 
It’s giving your enemy food and water to eat and drink. It’s forgiving someone for the wrong they did to you even when they do not deserve it whatsoever.
 
Asking for forgiveness is difficult. But forgiving someone else, even more so.
 
When we do wrong and we know we do wrong, it can be hard to ask for forgiveness, knowing full-well that we do not deserve it. But when someone wrongs us, it can be even harder to forgive that someone.
 
It takes a lot to be willing to forgive. It’s one of the most amazing aspects of God and one of the rarest in Man.
 
Brandt didn’t need to forgive Guyger. No one needed to forgive Guyger. No one had to show her grace. It would’ve been easier for Brandt to have shared with Guyger the pain he felt for what she had done, blaming her in the process and reminding her of what evil she had done. It would’ve been easier for him to have lambasted her and shown anger and hatred towards the woman who had taken away his big brother, whom he loved dearly. He easily could’ve withheld forgiveness from her and not a single person in that courtroom would’ve thought he would’ve been unjustified to have done so.
 
But Brandt believes in the God who forgives sins almost no matter what they might be. He believes in His Son, who died on the cross for the sins of the people who might believe in Him. He believes in the Son who died in our place, who died because our sins put Him on that cross. He believes in the Father who forgives those who forgive others.
 
Forgiving others, difficult as it is, is the righteous and right thing to do. No, no one in that courtroom would’ve thought Brandt would’ve done the wrong thing if he had withheld forgiveness. No one apart from God.
 
But God knows Brandt’s heart and that his soul belongs to Him. Brandt understands the importance of forgiveness and showing grace to those who do not deserve any of it.
 
When Jesus taught his followers how to pray, he shared the following: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
 
This is the Lord’s prayer and notice the importance of forgiveness here. It’s not simply the Father who forgives us of our debts, or our trespasses, whichever version you might often use. We are equally as tasked with the challenging task of forgiving others who have trespassed against us or done us wrong.
 
Jesus, in Matthew 6:14-15, then explained to His followers: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
 
We are tasked with showing grace and mercy just as our Father shows us grace and mercy in His forgiveness of our sins. If we do not forgive others’ sins against us, why would our Father forgive us when we do not show the same mercy?
 
Now, don’t get it twisted. Forgiveness has to be actually meant. If you do not forgive others in your heart, then it doesn’t matter what you say to them. Before Brandt could show this kind of grace and mercy to Guyger, he first had to forgive her in his heart, otherwise it would’ve meant nothing.
 
Simply saying “I forgive you” but holding within your heart unforgiveness isn’t going to fool God. For anyone who might try and argue “oh, Brandt had to forgive her otherwise God wouldn’t have forgiven him. How fair is that?” keep in mind that, again, forgiveness isn’t about being fair or about being just. No one is ever owed forgiveness. No one is owed mercy. No one is owed grace.
 
Because if anyone was owed those things, that would be justice, not forgiveness, mercy or grace.
 
What Guyger deserves is unforgiveness and the lengthy prison sentence she received. She was shown grace that she did not deserve when Brandt forgave her.
 
It’s in this same manner that God forgives our own sins. Now, don’t misunderstand, it still takes faith in Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior to be forgiven, but in order for us to be forgiven, we must also be willing and able to forgive others too.
 
It’s part of being a Christian and Brandt understands this. Seemingly, so does the Judge, which was also rather unexpected.
 
Brandt wants Guyger to turn her life over to Christ that she might be saved. This is grace.
 
For those who are Christians, they know exactly why Brandt forgave her. It was the right thing to do, not the just thing to do.
 
If more people showed this kind of grace, the world would be considerably better. Not perfect by any means, of course, but better.
 
God bless Brandt, his family, the Judge and Amber Guyger. I hope that she takes Brandt’s words to heart and the Holy Spirit reaches her.
 
Matthew 18:21-22
“Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.’”
 
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Author: Freddie Marinelli.

I have long made the argument that climate alarmism is nothing short of a religious cult following and deeply devoting its members to a “truth” they cannot prove and call those who do not believe “deniers”. However, you would hope and expect Christians to be able to understand what a sham this is and how dangerous it would be to fall for this fake gospel. And yet, people like the Pope and the Church of Sweden have fallen away from Christ and succumbed to the cult of climate change.
 
But while the Pope might be idiotic regarding this, at least he hasn’t been as heinous as to be heretical about it (from what I can tell, at least). No, the Church of Sweden has gone as far as to do that.
 
Back in December of last year (so admittedly, it has been some time, but it’s still necessary to point this out), the Church of Limhamn tweeted the following (which has obviously been translated): “Announcement! Jesus of Nazareth has now appointed one of his successors, Greta Thunberg.”
 
Before I rebuke these guys for saying this, the reason this is being talked about right now is because it resurfaced after its most recent support for the teenage climate puppet, and following an announcement by the Church of Sweden Malmo that they would be ringing their church bells in conjunction with last week’s Global Climate Strike:
 
“In conjunction with the Global Climate Strike, church bells ring and we gather in prayer for the future of the earth. We pray that we believe that man is responsible for nurturing and managing Creation so that children are given the opportunity for a future. We pray that we know that climate change affects the most vulnerable – poor, children and women. We pray that we believe in man’s ability to change and change.”
 
The church’s site also reads: “When the Amazon burns, we gather to fight for Mother Earth together. WELCOME!”
 
So, it’s pretty obvious that these people have abandoned the teachings of Jesus Christ in favor of New Age heresy that preaches man’s role in affecting the climate of the entire planet.
 
The fact that these people say they “fight for Mother Earth” ought to be a sign as to the kind of heresy these people practice. Earth isn’t our “mother”. We live on it and it is part of God’s Creation. To elevate it to the status of “mother” would be to equate it to God and His importance as Father.
 
But as inappropriate as this might be, I have a bit of a bigger issue with the Church of Limhamn’s December 2018 tweet.
 
How in the world could any self-professed Christian even allude to there being any “successor” to Christ? And take note that they aren’t just elevating the teenage climate puppet to Christ’s level. They said “one of [Jesus’] successors.” This indicates a plurality and I only have to wonder who else these people may have elevated to Christ’s level.
 
This goes even beyond idolatry. This is committing one of the most heinous acts one can commit: heresy. One could even make the case that this is blasphemy, the unforgivable sin, but no one can argue against this being heresy, at least not honestly.
 
These people are putting words into Jesus’ mouth by saying He is appointing someone, let alone the teenage climate puppet, as His successor.
 
These people are making the same mistake as the churches of Galatia did in the early life of the church.
 
If you’ve read the book of Galatians, you know that Paul primarily addresses the fact that the churches had turned away from the gospel of Christ, which he had shared with them, in favor of different “gospels”.
 
Galatians 1:1-10 says the following:
 
“Paul, an apostle – not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead – and all the brothers who are with me. To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
 
The churches of Galatia, after Paul had preached to them and shared with them the gospel of Jesus Christ, quickly turned to other “gospels” that were contrary to the gospel of Christ. In a similar manner, the Church of Sweden is doing the same thing. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been shared with them and they have the Scripture readily-available and yet, they turn away from it and turn to other “gospels”, namely the “gospel” of man-made climate change.
 
Man-made climate change is what Man believes nowadays. But regardless of whether it’s that or it’s believing in Baal or the gods of Babylon or any other, let not one Christian turn away from Christ’s gospel in favor of another because no other saves, regardless of its promises.
 
Man-made climate change stands in contradiction to both science and Christianity. For you see, to believe that Man has such a great power as to influence the climate is to believe that he can wrestle away control of it from God.
 
Apart from the fact that there is no scientific evidence to support the idea (no, man-made climate models don’t count, specifically when shared by the highly-corrupt IPCC), it is very disingenuous, maybe even blasphemous, to suggest Man could have any power that even closely matches or even outdoes God’s.
 
It stands in direct conflict with the basic Judeo-Christian principle that God is Lord of all. For if Man could wrestle away power from God in any aspect, God would not be sovereign and would not be God.
 
As far as people like the teenage climate puppet go, we have known for a very long time to watch out for false prophets. She is one of the many, many people prophesying that the world will end in a decade or so and that there is currently no future for children as a result, so to call her a false prophet, particularly when supposed Christians are elevating her to the level of “successor to Christ”, whatever that’s supposed to mean, is not exactly inaccurate in my mind.
 
Why would anyone be willing to listen and take seriously such false prophets? Because we seem like ignorant bullies if we don’t? Paul himself raised the question: “for am I seeking the approval of man, or of God?” To bend the knee to this Satanic line of thinking, to accept what these people are saying simply because of the kid’s age is to try and appease Man, not God.
 
And if we were to do so, we would not be servants of Christ.
 
I hope that there are people within the Church of Sweden that are seeing all of this and are spiritually disturbed by it. And I certainly hope the Church of Sweden turns back to the gospel of Christ and not continue down this heretical path, lest they find themselves in the same place as the vast majority of mankind will.
 
I pray that these people will return to Christ and not commit this heresy any longer, submit to another “gospel” or further attempt to please Man as opposed to God.
 
And while the Church of Limhamn did ultimately apologize days later for the tweet, that apology also came with a defense of it, saying: “Our sense has been to talk about Jesus Christ in our own way.” A poor defense on its own, considering the tweet focused more on Greta than it did about Jesus, but any defense of the tweet is an indication that they are still not under the understanding of what they did wrong, so I pray that wisdom and revelation comes their way.
 
1 John 4:1
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
 
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Author: Freddie Marinelli.

In this world, seculars and Christians find two distinct ways of being happy. Christians find joy in Christ, even when they find themselves going through a period of tribulation. Christians understand there is a purpose and meaning to life – to serve God and enjoy Him – and find comfort through difficulty in prayer, a direct connection to the Lord.
 
Seculars, on the other hand, believe in making your own happiness and finding your own meaning in life apart from God. That is naturally a bad idea, as we cannot divorce ourselves from God, much as we might try. The fact we have a conscience, have aspirations, dreams, and other logical abilities that are not shared by animals points to our relationship to God, as we were created in His own image.
 
But those who try and stay as far away from God as possible tend to find themselves unhappy, unfulfilled and without any meaning and purpose in their life. It is for this reason that seculars encourage people to “find their own meaning and purpose in life.” Separate from God, they don’t have much in the way for hope. It’s also why they attach themselves to causes like the climate change movement. It’s utterly unscientific, but it gives people meaning and a purpose, as misguided as it may be. As a result, they get attached to it and will defend it, even against reality.
 
But the side effect of encouraging people to “find their own meaning” in life is that people find themselves without meaning and are told to find it basically on their own. They sink themselves in drugs, alcohol, sex and other carnal desires, not knowing they are sinning and not knowing that that is not the purpose for their existence.
 
It’s no surprise, then, that Galaxy Chocolate, in running a study of generational happiness, found the millennial generation the least happy generation in Great Britain. Granted, for the most part, the reasons they give are working too much (Brits work the second most amount of hours in Europe, only behind Greece) and that they are stressing over money and employment, but there is another important aspect to this entire thing: secular vs. Christian beliefs.
 
A poll from early August found that nearly 90% of millennial Brits believed their lives have no meaning or purpose. The poll also found that 84% believed they were failing to “live their best life.” And across every age group, 51% believed the purpose of life is to be as happy as one can be, 37% believe the purpose is to make others happy and 31% said that it was simply to do good.
 
These numbers are depressing, but make sense when you consider that the amount of Brits who consider themselves Christians is at its lowest recorded level: 38%, and only 1% of millennials say they belong to the Church of England.
 
Christ is fading away from Brits’ lives, so is it any wonder the younger generations are feeling miserable? As I talked about in an article about why young people are drawn to socialism, it is the socialization of the economic system in America (and subsequently blaming it on capitalism) that has allowed younger generations to fall through the cracks and wish for radical change to the status quo. But for as much as the American economic system has been socialized, it is dwarfed by the socialization that has been occurring in Europe.
 
The very existence of a European Union should be a warning sign of globalism having been on the rise in the past few decades. The governments of Europe are trying to replace God (whether or not they admit it), but fail spectacularly in every single aspect, but especially for the purpose of joy. Because the government cannot provide joy to anyone. Have you seen any European politicians? Most of them are bitter, angry and resentful. They can’t even bring joy to themselves, so of course they would not be able to bring joy to others.
 
And it shows plentifully in this survey. The younger generations are being taught that their life has no meaning because of “evolution” and that they have to find their own meaning in life. In doing so, they get attached to the first thing they can find: climate activism.
 
The fact that some people have confessed their sins to plants is an indication of the kind of religious cult the climate change movement is. They find a meaning in such activism… but they don’t find joy.
 
Climate activism brings the opposite of joy and happiness. Back in January, the climate change movement’s youngest puppet, Greta Thunberg, gave a speech in front of the World Economic Forum where she said “I want you to panic” and that “I want you to feel the fear I feel every day.” Obviously, the Left is abusing her if she feels this much fear over something that is not exactly a problem. But she gives away the entire point of climate activism: it’s not about hope or happiness or joy for a better future. It’s about fear and panic and dread.
 
The girl is 16 years old and I believe she legitimately fears what she has been taught. Why? Because of a distinct lack of Christ in her life, let alone her heart.
 
Aside from the logical and scientific reasons to not panic about climate change, the reason I don’t believe the world is in the kind of danger the Left says it is (apart from the fact these people have no credibility in my eyes and it’s largely a political ploy to attain more power) is because I trust God and His plan for the world.
 
I know that He is sovereign over the entire universe. I know that everything happens for a reason. I know that He has already sent His own Son to die on the cross for the elect, that whoever might follow His Son might not perish but have everlasting life. If God’s plan for the judgment of the world were about burning the planet to a crisp slowly over time, then it becomes all-the-more important to try and find the elect and help them to find salvation in Christ.
 
Of course, I have biblical reasons for not believing that to be how the world will be judged and ended, but the point remains: God is sovereign and holy, holy, holy. No evil is found in Him.
 
I know God’s character enough to understand His love for us and to trust Him no matter what, even if that is tested sometimes in life. But people like Greta, or like the other 62% of Brits, they don’t know God in this way. They either actively avoid Him or have been taught to ignore Christianity as “fanatical” or “mythological” or “unscientific” or “bigoted”.
 
As a result of being so separated from God, they feel like their lives are meaningless and worthless. Even worse, they find meaning in things that are bad for them and only further poison the soul. Climate activism is one of the most toxic ideologies out there currently, but it gives people a heavily-misguided purpose.
 
The first of the Shorter Catechisms in the Westminster Confession of Faith is to answer what the chief end of Man is. The answer is “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
 
This is the purpose God has put into our lives. This is the meaning of life. We are to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We might go about it in different ways in as far as how to accomplish it goes (for example, some people were meant to preach in church, others to write articles, others to lead countries, others to do business. All different professions but that all should seek to glorify God and enjoy Him forever), but this remains the chief purpose of Man.
 
This is the type of faith that is either completely absent in most young Britons (and generally many young people) or is outright replaced by the cult of climate change.
 
So I ask again: is it really so surprising to find these types of numbers in generations of people who are mostly ignorant to God? Is it really so surprising to find so many young people without meaning and a purpose in their lives, feeling inadequate and without hope?
 
I’ve already said time and time again about the need for America to return to God if we wish to continue to be blessed by Him. This can also apply to literally any nation on Earth. If God is to save the Queen, God needs to be a considerable part of British life.
 
It’s no surprise that the countries that are faithful to God tend to be so successful. America and Great Britain (and others) succeeded against the Godless Nazis (yes, there is no denying the contribution of the equally-godless Soviets, but they happened to have chosen the right side at the time. They were really no different, ideologically, from the Nazis apart from particular details. They were not exactly friendly to Jews). America, Great Britain and the Vatican, led by an actually good Pope in John Paul II, succeeded against the Godless Soviets in bringing down the USSR.
 
Abandoning God tends to be a self-imposed death sentence against a nation and this is not realized until after the fact. Trusting and having faith in the Lord, though it does not mean absence of trouble, means taking God’s side and being by His side on particular matters.
 
Nations may rise and fall, but God lives forever.
 
1 Corinthians 2:5
“That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
 
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Author: Freddie Marinelli.

A rather interesting, but not exactly unheard of, phenomenon of supposedly “Christian” people denouncing their faith has made some news recently, with a former pastor and a songwriter of a popular Christian band both having made public announcements declaring they are no longer Christians. This has led John Cooper, songwriter and lead singer of the Christian rock band “Skillet” (which I was not aware they were Christians, but have downloaded some of their songs in the past) to write a rather lengthy Facebook post calling out the supposed “Christians” for publicly denouncing their faiths.
 
Cooper began his post: “What is happening in Christianity? More and more of our outspoken leaders or influencers who were once ‘faces’ of the faith are falling away. And at the same time they are being very vocal and bold about it. Shockingly they still want to influence others (for what purpose?) as they announce that they are leaving the faith.”
 
“I am stunned that the seemingly most important thing for these leaders who have lost their faith is to make such a bold new stance. Basically saying, ‘I’ve been living and preaching boldly something for 20 years and led generations of people with my teachings and now I no longer believe it. Therefore, I’m going to boldly and loudly tell people it was all wrong while I boldly and loudly lead people in to my next truth.’ I’m perplexed why they aren’t embarrassed? Humbled? Ashamed, fearful, confused? Why be so eager to continue leading people when you clearly don’t know where you are headed?”
 
Skipping a little bit, he continued: “As if someone is courageous simply for sharing virally every thought or dark place. That’s not courageous. It’s cavalier. Have they considered the ramifications? As if they are the harbingers of truth, saying, ‘I used to think one way and practice it and preach it, but now I’ve learned all the new truth and will start practicing it and preaching it.’ So the influencers become the voice for truth in whatever stage of life and whatever evolution takes place in their thinking.”
 
“[A]s these influencers disavow their faith, they always end their statements with their ‘new insight/new truth’ that is basically a regurgitation of Jesus’ words?! It’s truly bizarre and ironic. They’ll say ‘I’m disavowing my faith but remember, love people, be generous, forgive others.’ Ummm, why? That is not human nature. No child is ever born and says, ‘I just want to love others before loving myself. I want to turn the other cheek. I want to give my money away to others in need.’ Those are bible principles taught by a prophet/Priest/King of kings who wants us to live by a higher standard which is not an earthly standard, but rather the ‘Kingdom of God’ standard. Therefore, if Jesus is not the truth and if the Word of God is not absolute, then by preaching Jesus’ teachings you are endorsing the words of a madman. A lunatic who said ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.’ He also said that he was alive before Abraham, and to see him was to see God because he was one with God. So why then would a disavowed Christian leader promote that ‘generosity is good’? How would you know ‘what is good’ without Jesus’ teachings? And will your ideas of what is ‘good’ be different from year to year based on your experience, culture trends, [popular] opinion etc. and furthermore will you continue year by year to lead others into your idea of goodness even though it is not absolute? I’m amazed that so many Christians want the benefits of the kingdom of God, but with the caveat that they themselves will be the King.”
 
There was more to this post, but I think you get the idea. John Cooper is, rightly, calling out the former “Christians” who have “fallen away” from the faith.
 
The only thing I have to disagree with him on is that these people haven’t “fallen away” from the faith; they never truly had it to begin with.
 
Hebrews 6:4-6 says: “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”
 
Those who have come to the faith do not leave the faith, and if they proclaim to be Christians one day and proclaim to no longer be Christians the next, they never were one to begin with.
 
Similarly, 2 Peter 2:20-22 says the following: “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: ‘The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.’”
 
There is a significant difference between being ignorant and being wicked. Someone who is ignorant knows nothing of the Lord, not His blessings, nor His character, nor His love, nor His authority. But it is better for someone to be ignorant to the truth than for someone to be knowledgeable to the truth and still deny it. Those are the wicked ones, those who have made proclamations of faith but then make a proclamation to effectively return to sin.
 
Specifically, the two “Christian” people that are being talked about here are former pastor Josh Harris, who said he was leaving the Christian faith and divorcing his wife, having felt guilty with the way gay people were treated and feeling guilty over what the Bible teaches on homosexuality; and Marty Sampson, who is a songwriter for Hillson United, a Christian band, and who recently said: “I’m genuinely losing my faith… and it doesn’t bother me… like, what bothers me now is nothing… I am so happy now, so at peace with the world… It’s crazy.”
 
These two were never Christians in the first place. They are of the world and gladly remain with it until the end. The fact that the songwriter said he wasn’t bothered over losing his faith doesn’t surprise or shock me because I would have to believe he had any faith whatsoever in the first place for this to affect me like that. He was never in Christ to begin with. He is clearly comfortable in the world’s sin, has no problem with it, and finds a peculiar delight in it. That isn’t ignorance; it’s wickedness.
 
These two former “Christians” were never Christians in the first place. But in doing this, they are effectively doing what Christ warned people not to do: be ashamed of Him, particularly in the presence of Man.
 
Mark 8:38 and Luke 9:26 basically teach the same thing: Mark 8:38: “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Luke 9:26: “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
 
But Matthew 10:32-33 makes the most damning statement for these two former “Christians”: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
 
These two are the types of people Christ often talks about, who say “Lord, Lord” but whom Christ never knew. They are comfortable in their sin and even feel a sort of liberation, but what they have done is publicly announce their enslavement to sin and to the devil.
 
These two former “Christians” are the worst type of sinners: they know perfectly well who is the Lord and who is the Savior, but they deny Him. They know perfectly well and have no excuse not to know who Jesus Christ is, but Christ is not their Lord. Satan lords over them, it’s just taken them this long to essentially admit that.
 
All Christians know what Christ said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To understand this and still deny it, following another way, accepting another “truth” and living another life is utter wickedness that does not deserve to exist in the Kingdom of God.
 
In this, the former “Christians” have signed away their souls to the devil, and upon their deaths, will suffer under him in Hell.
 
We are saved by grace through faith alone. If one lacks that faith, he or she is not saved. He or she who lacks faith is not saved but will die the first and also the second death, perishing in the lake of fire and sulfur.
 
Not to mince my words here, but unless Christ really goes into these two’s hearts, the only place they will go is straight to Hell. But as that is Christ’s decision to make, I don’t quite know what will happen to them. One thing is for sure, though: those who embrace the world will perish alongside it.
 
1 John 2:15-17
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions -is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
 
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Author: Freddie Marinelli.

Throughout my time writing all of the articles I have written, I have expressed that the solution to pretty much all of life’s problems is to have faith in the Lord, who is in control of all things. That isn’t to say that turning to Christianity will make all your debt disappear or make you more money, but that is to say that Christ can be a magnificent source of comfort for the distressed, and going beyond that, can serve as a fantastic example of great moral character for people to follow.
 
And in the wake of mass shootings becoming fairly regular (not quite as much as people think and claim, but they are certainly more regular than they used to be), I have explained that a large part of the reason why these things happen with such frequency is that we no longer have a moral center and we live in a post-Christian America.
 
Guns have been around for centuries. And yet, mass shootings were far less prevalent decades ago. So no one can realistically claim that guns are the reason for shootings because there largely didn’t use to be anywhere near as many. They still happened, but were considerably less frequent.
 
So when a shooting happens, the biggest culprits that I can see are both mental health issues and the lack of a moral center in this country. And it appears as though Oprah Winfrey agrees with me on this.
 
Oprah was on her way to debuting her new show, “David Makes Man”, when “Extra TV” reporter Renee Bargh asked Winfrey what she thought of the shootings and what was the cause for all of this violence. Oprah replied: “I think what people are missing is a core moral center. Churches used to do that… It was a central place you could come to and there was a core center of values about a way of living and being in the world. Until we can return to that, however that is, in whatever form, we will continue to be lost.”
 
I was rather surprised to hear this coming from Oprah Winfrey of all people. With her being a notoriously Left-wing celebrity, I didn’t think she would resonate with anything regarding the church or Christianity. The fact that she has argued that you can be a Christian and a supporter of gay rights or abortion makes me think she really wasn’t a Christian at all.
 
But regardless, what she said is actually spot-on and perfectly right. The lack of Christ in people’s hearts leads them to evil. That isn’t to say Christians can’t do evil. We are all sinners and sin is evil, so Christians can, in fact, do evil. However, no Christian who understands what it means to be a Christian would ever commit such a heinous crime as a mass shooting or even a murder that wasn’t in self-defense. And as we live in a post-Christian America, seeing all of these shootings and all of this evil take place makes sense.
 
We have taken God out of our schools and out of our lives; God and His Word are relentlessly mocked as either being a “crutch” for unintelligent or weak people or being a bunch of nonsense and crazy stuff, or legends at best. Following that, morality was changed from objective, God-centered truth to subjective, society- and individual-centered belief. Unsurprisingly, this has led people to decide what is moral in their own eyes and according to what they believe and to attempt to argue against it is, ironically, considered morally wrong.
 
Because who are you to judge someone’s actions and preferences? Who are you to decide what is right and wrong for someone else? What people fail to realize here is that these questions wouldn’t even be asked if God were still a part of people’s lives because they would know just who judges people’s actions and preferences and who decides what is right and wrong.
 
But in this (seemingly successful) attempt to make morality subjective, the flood gates of evil and immorality are opened. It’s why we have had the sort of political path we’ve seen as of late. For decades, people have tried to argue that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality. Taking God out of people’s lives, starting from the schools, has allowed for the restructuring of what is considered “moral”. In today’s age, people adamantly argue there is really nothing wrong with being gay, with being transgender, with having sex before or even outside of marriage, and we are beginning to see more people argue that there is nothing wrong with having sex with a child or having your child be transgender at the age of THREE.
 
To argue against such lunacy brands YOU as the bad guy and the immoral one. So in all of this redefining of morality, you find people who commit mass murders and shootings more and more often. One of the things that have been deemed as moral is to allow for women to kill their own unborn children for any given reason. In this, life becomes utterly meaningless, and people find a “justifiable” reason in their minds to kill someone else as a result. “If life in the womb is meaningless, why would life outside it be meaningful?” is what people subsequently ask.
 
And before you try and tell me that murder has been around for far longer than abortions have, allow me to reiterate my overall point: THOSE THINGS ARE IMMORAL! Yes, murder was around long before abortion. Both are immoral and an abomination. What I’m saying is that abortion gives some people license to go out and kill others through the same sort of logic. Life is now meaningless, so who cares if people are shot and killed?
 
But of course, abortion isn’t the only thing to blame for this. The idea that we are all one massive cosmic accident (despite how utterly illogical that is) and that we are descendants of apes with no predetermined destiny or purpose for living also gives way for people to rationalize murder because life doesn’t ultimately matter.
 
All of these things come from taking God out of people’s lives, beginning in school. God is the arbiter for morality. Having created everything and being holy, holy, holy, He is the only being capable of determining what is moral. But if you eliminate God in people’s lives and leave them to determine was is moral for themselves, you get what we are currently seeing: evil running amok.
 
From men forcing women to wax their genitals to parents allowing their children to dress in drag and dance in front of grown men to justifying the murder of the unborn to even rationalizing and justifying a Hollywood movie about hunting down and killing people who disagree with you, when you take God out of a country’s soul, that soul begins to decay rapidly.
 
I believe I have said this before, but if there’s one thing I can agree with Joe Biden on is that we are definitely in a fight for this country’s soul. We are fighting for the country’s soul to belong to God while the Left is fighting for this country’s soul to belong to Satan. So like Oprah said, until we can find God once again, until we repent of our sins as a nation and beg for God’s blessings once again, we will be lost and vulnerable to the Devil.
 
These sorts of tragedies will continue happening until we return to the Lord as a country. No amount of gun control or mental health laws or red flag laws (which can easily be exploited, so unless there is a way to keep that from happening and keep it from targeting law-abiding gun owners, Christians and conservatives, red flag laws are a terrible idea, in my opinion) will fix this. Even CNN admitted that stronger background checks wouldn’t have stopped either the El Paso or the Dayton shooters from doing what they did, so that isn’t a solution either.
 
The solution, as with many other problems, is having faith in the Lord. We have seen what happened to the nation of Israel in times when it was faithful to the Lord – times of great victory and dominance over opposition – and when it was not faithful to the Lord – defeat after defeat at the hands of the enemy. No nation whose back is turned to the Lord will be blessed by Him. Our nation has been richly blessed by Him precisely because we had been faithful to Him, having slogans like “In God We Trust” and “God Bless America” and “One Nation, Under God” in our pledge of allegiance. But in recent time, all of those things have been attacked in one way or another, leading our nation to turn its back to God.
 
We cannot rightly ask God to bless this country when we have our backs to Him in such a way. So as a result, God brings curses to our country in various different forms, including these shootings and plenty of other things.
 
Until we return to being One Nation Under God – until we can Make America God’s Again – we will only continue to see such evil occurring as often as it is, perhaps even more so. I just pray that we do, one day, return to the Lord as a nation.
 
2 Chronicles 7:14
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
 
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Author: Freddie Marinelli.

For those of you who have read my articles for some time, you know that my favorite sport is basketball. Outside of that, I don’t know much else about other sports or the players, unless they are household names like Tom Brady or Babe Ruth. So forgive me if I don’t know much about former New York Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera.
 
What I may lack in understanding of his seemingly stellar career I have tried to make up for in understanding his devout Christian faith and seemingly right-wing views, especially when it comes to the State of Israel.
 
As such, I feel it is necessary to defend him from a pathetic man considering himself a journalist attacking the man for holding such beliefs.
 
Over the weekend, Rivera was unanimously elected into the baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first player to ever achieve such a feat. Regardless of such an accomplishment, and regardless of the kind of career he had in the Major Leagues, a writer by the name of Robert Silverman chose to attack his beliefs and suggested he should be put to shame for having such beliefs.
 
“… over the past three years, he’s also served at the pleasure of a racist president, taken part in thinly veiled propaganda on behalf of a far-right government in Israel, and gotten chummy with outright bigots and apocalyptic loons. None of this will be inscribed on his Hall of Fame plaque. It should, even if much of the sports world would very much like to pretend none of it exists.”
 
Right off the bat, this guy shows some serious lunatic behavior and wording. Let’s start from the beginning of that shortened paragraph. “Served at the pleasure of a racist president…” From the way that sounds, it’s as though Rivera was scouting the Southern Border and shouting out towards Trump, armed with a shotgun, that some illegals were crossing the border. What it actually refers to is Rivera participating in a listening session about the opioid crisis. Nothing partisan, much less racial, about that topic. Taking part in “thinly veiled propaganda on behalf of a far-right government in Israel” is merely supporting a right-wing government in the only Jewish nation on Earth, which continually wins elections in a… wait for it… Democratic manner. But from what it sounds, it’s as if Rivera was writing the Nuremberg Laws.
 
And for having the audacity to listen to Trump talk about fighting the opioid crisis and supporting Israel, his Hall of Fame plaque, a plaque about his BASEBALL CAREER, ought to highlight that this man is not willing to bow down and submit to the Left’s ever-so tolerant views.
 
Later down the article, Silverman regurgitates Leftist talking points about how the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) was slaughtering innocent Palestinian protesters, all-the-while ignoring the fact that most of the people the IDF killed were Hamas terrorists, who own the region of Gaza and use human shields to get the IDF to kill innocent civilians and blame it on Israel, something the far-Left media happily follows.
 
And what is perhaps the last straw for Silverman, Rivera *maybe* supports Trump.
 
“Beyond Rivera’s pro-Israel activism, even though he’s never publicly given his endorsement, the Hall of Famer’s actions make it clear his sympathies lie with the Trump administration, which has backed all manner of far-right policies when it comes to Israel.”
 
What? You mean actually following through on the promise many US President have made in the past about moving the embassy to Jerusalem is considered a “far-right policy”? Actually defending Israel against theocratic fascists who have repeatedly stated their intentions to wipe them off the face of the Earth is far-right policy? Supporting Israel’s right to EXIST is far-right policy?
 
Does this guy have any idea as to why we Republicans, conservatives, Christians support the State of Israel? Funny enough, he does know why:
 
“But the vast majority of Evangelical Christians also believe in a particular messianic biblical prophecy: Jews must rule the Holy Land before Christ can return. Whether Rivera ascribes to those beliefs entirely is unclear, but his support for Israel and the Israel Defense Forces is a matter of public record. He has traveled to Israel on multiple occasions, possibly beginning in 2013.”
 
The beginning part of that quote is what we’ll focus on for now. Of course, that is only one of many reasons why we support Israel. The fact that Jews must rule Jerusalem for Christ to return is, I think, the main one. But there are plenty of places in the Bible that show us just why we Christians support Israel.
 
Psalm 102:12-16 reads: “But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations. You will arise and have pity on Zion, it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come. For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust. Nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. For the Lord builds up Zion; he appears in his glory…”
 
Psalm 122:6: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! ‘May they be secure who love you!’”
 
Isaiah 2:3: “… ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
 
It is important to note Isaiah is most notorious for being a very accurate descriptor of the first coming of Jesus and it is also important to note that one of Jesus’ titles is “the Word of God”, as John wrote in the beginning of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
 
And Luke 1:32 reads: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David…”
 
So there is plenty of reason for Christians to be supportive of Israel apart from, you know, THEM BEING THE CHOSEN PEOPLE OF OUR GOD!
 
It’s not surprising to me at all if Rivera also believes this and it’s not surprising that he would, as a Christian, support Israel.
 
Rivera, in an interview with Sports Spectrum in 2010, expressed his Christian views and credited God for allowing him to create a deadly pitch in 1997 which would be a staple of his career moving forward: “It came from the Lord. Nobody taught me that but Him. It’s been tremendous since the first time that I used it. It’s been effective, so I thank God for that.”
 
Rivera also said: “I believe in Jesus Christ, and I cannot move without His direction. That doesn’t mean that I’m a perfect man. Now I wish I could tell you that I’m perfect, but I’m not. But I’m always trying to please the Lord, and that’s my goal.”
 
So it’s pretty clear to me that the man is very much a man of faith and places his entire faith and being into Christ’s hands. He follows the Lord, supports the people and State of Israel and does not bad-mouth the current President of the United States. For this trifecta of decency, he is marred as having essentially committed a capital crime against the Left, something that Silverman essentially accuses him of in his hit-piece.
 
Now, I’ve read my share of moronic pieces. Last week I even covered a moronic piece on Disney’s “The Lion King”, defending it from the accusation that it was some sort of fascist fantasy, but this I feel far more inclined to cover not simply because of the idiotic reasons behind the piece, but because of what exactly is being attacked.
 
I really couldn’t care much about someone saying “The Lion King” was fascistic apart from the stupidity of the claim because I’m not much of a Disney fan anymore. To remain objective and fair, I defended the movies (original and remake) but this is an entirely different matter. This is an attack on a Christian for the charge of BEING A CHRISTIAN!
 
Sure, Silverman throws in his support of Israel and his silence on the current President (because silence is violence, apparently), but it’s largely an attack on the guy’s overall views and beliefs, which stem from being a Christian.
 
As I said in an article last week, there is no reason for a Christian to not support Trump. You can disagree about his personal choices and his choice of words regarding various subjects, but there’s no disputing the fact that this man, flawed as he may be, loves the Lord and loves this country. Most Christians, certainly true Christians, will support President Trump, particularly over the borderline (or actual) Satanists on display in the Democrat Party. If Rivera is, himself, a Christian, it stands to reason he would support Donald Trump, at least in terms of his policies.
 
Of course, no one could blame Rivera for not being so outspoken about any support he may have of the POTUS. The media will attack him for NOT SAYING ANYTHING, so could you imagine what they would attack him for if he were to endorse the President? They intimidate and bully people into silence and even THEN they continue to bully and intimidate. Again, no one blames him for not speaking out about his potential support of Trump, but that is also in part due to the fact that Donald Trump isn’t the end-all, be-all of good fights.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I think supporting Trump is pretty crucial to our country, but for a man of faith, he will be far less ashamed of supporting the Lord. If someone is attacked for being a Trump supporter, not much happens. They may be targeted for attacks that last a week or so and their reputations might be a little stained in the eyes of people who don’t support Trump. However, if someone is attacked for believing in Christ, that person is blessed.
 
Matthew 5:11-12 says: “’Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
 
If we are attacked for our support of Trump, it doesn’t really matter. We deal with it and fight back. But if we are attacked for our faith in the Lord, we are blessed by Him. All things considered, I don’t care if Rivera never says he supports Trump because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that he follows and loves the Lord Jesus and speaks and acts as God asks us to. He isn’t ashamed, clearly, of expressing his faith and he shouldn’t be.
 
Of course, that doesn’t make what Silverman is doing any better. The guy is attacking a Hall of Fame baseball player for holding beliefs that are antithetical to his own. That’s vile and disgusting and should be considered an example of what garbage journalism has become. But for Rivera, if he is attacked for his beliefs, specifically for his Christian beliefs, that is one of the best things you can do for him. And for any Christian, really.
 
Don’t misunderstand, Christian persecution is still terrible and an injustice, but if we are to be attacked for any given reason, let it be for our faith in the Lord, who is sovereign over all the universe.
 
This is the mentality of a Christian; the mentality of someone like Rivera. If we are to be persecuted for anything, let it be for the right thing.
 
Ephesians 5:11
“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
 
And please make sure to check out our free weekly newsletter. As the name suggests, it is a newsletter that comes completely free of charge. What you get is a compilation of the week’s articles sent right into your inbox. So make sure to check it out today!
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

This Saturday marks a very important anniversary for our country: the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. 50 years ago, the United States embarked on a historical adventure to reach and set foot on the moon before the communist Soviets, who had managed to reach outer space before us on April 12th, 1961. Despite that, the Apollo 11 Eagle lunar module set an even bigger milestone, allowing for Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to be the first people to reach the moon, Neil being the first to set foot on it, Buzz being the 2nd and Collins staying behind to tend to the ship.
 
And while the entire expedition was iconic, virtually everyone who knows the minimal amount on this subject knows of the legendary words: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” However, other words could’ve also become rather iconic with those.
 
Buzz Aldrin, after the module had landed on the moon, sent the following message back to ground control: “I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way.”
 
That message was sent to ground control, but NASA went on to censor this: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing,” quoting from the Gospel of John, in the 5th verse of the 15th chapter. Aldrin would then open “two small packages containing consecrated bread and wine from his church in Texas,” according to The Daily Wire. Aldrin would later recall: “In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup.”
 
One of the first things to have been done on the moon, apart from setting foot on it and walking on it and planting the American flag on it, was the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, with the bread signifying the body of Christ and the wine signifying the blood of Christ, both of which were given up for our sins.
 
Do you have any idea just how important and magnificent it would’ve been to see and hear Buzz Aldrin lead that Sacrament ON THE MOON?! And yet, that historic moment was taken away from us, indeed from mankind, because of militant Leftist atheists.
 
You see, NASA had been fighting a legal battle against a woman named Madalyn Murray O’Hair, a militant atheist who was widely considered “the most hated woman in America” (wonder why) who, seven months earlier, had sued NASA for allowing Apollo 8 astronauts to read from the Book of Genesis on Christmas Eve during a broadcast sent from lunar orbit.
 
So because a militant Leftist atheist was annoyed that anyone would enjoy hearing the Book of Genesis THE DAY BEFORE WE CELEBRATE THE DAY OUR LORD WAS BORN, NASA eventually kowtowed to the woman’s will and censored the Lord’s Supper broadcast that Aldrin had given, robbing generations of a deeply important and incredible religious moment on the surface of the closet thing we have come to the heavens while alive.
 
Due to the misery of some people who can’t stand to see others enjoy the sincere joy and happiness of faith in Christ, the very people who were brave enough to send mankind to the moon wasn’t brave enough to stand up to a miserable, hateful woman who refused to allow others to think differently from her.
 
I get annoyed and agitated when these hateful bigots try to bully government officials into getting rid of the 10 Commandments on the grounds of government buildings or when they try to get rid of Christian symbols in places like cemeteries, etc., but this honestly tops all of these things. What I would’ve done to hear Buzz Aldrin reading from the Gospel of John and perform the Lord’s Supper WHILE ON THE MOON! To have heard and seen it, even if just on a YouTube video half a century later, would’ve been ecstatic. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
 
And yet, because some miserable people hate the Lord and will bully others into also hating the Lord, we were robbed of that glorious moment. These people’s hatred knows no bound, does it?
 
Do you want to know what is rather ironic? The verse immediately following the one Aldrin quoted says the following: “If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
 
It’s extremely easy to see the contrast between those who remain in Christ, such as Buzz Aldrin, and those who do not remain in Christ. Those who remain in Christ, as Buzz Aldrin does, bears much fruit. He is widely famous for being one of the biggest American heroes alive and is pretty much universally loved. Those who do not remain in Christ, such as Madalyn Murray O’Hair, do not bear any fruit and are like the branches that are thrown away and wither up. As it stands, Buzz Aldrin, if he still remains in Christ today, will bear far more fruit once he joins our Lord in Heaven. But as far as Madalyn goes, she passed away (murdered, tragically) in 1995, having led the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit which challenged mandatory prayer and Bible reading in Baltimore public schools in 1963, which led the way for getting God out of the classrooms.
 
I don’t know if the Lord ever reached her heart at any point late in her life, but I have my doubts that He did. And because she did not remain in Christ as a result of the Lord not reaching her, it’s almost certain that she is now suffering eternal damnation in Hell (and for those who will call me “hateful” or “judgmental” for saying that she is likely in Hell right now, do me a favor and pick up the Bible. What does it say about those who are unbelievers? What happens to them? I’ll give you a hint: they don’t go to Heaven).
 
And while it is tragic that she was murdered (by a former employee of the organization she founded), what is even more tragic is that, while she had her entire life to find the Truth of Christ that is made patently obvious by the very existence of the creation itself, she spent her life challenging said Truth and suffered both the first and second death as a result (in all likelihood). As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, in chapter 1 verse 20: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.”
 
Man really has no excuse for not knowing the Truth of God and of the Gospel. The very world around us is the proof of a Creator. I always say we were not created by chance because chance has no intrinsic power to do anything. Chance is simply a mathematical calculation of a probable outcome or effect of a cause. It has no power to affect the effect because it is not a cause in itself. For someone to say and insist that the universe was created by chance is to say a nonsense statement because chance can’t DO anything.
 
The Truth of the Lord is made patently obvious to all, and so Man has no excuse. No one can tell the Lord, upon receiving judgment, that they simply did not know Him or of Him because everything around them points directly to Him as the Creator. For this reason, Madalyn had no excuse not to know about the Lord, especially in a country founded on Judeo-Christian principles that acknowledges the Truth of God. She challenged the notion of an existing God and tried to bully others into rejecting Him as well, but I have no doubt that she knows of Him now. Unfortunate that it is too late for her.
 
But returning to the religious moment that was taken away from us by a hateful bigot and a spineless NASA, while it is a tragedy that Buzz’s words were never heard by those paying attention to the broadcast (apart from ground control) and while his actions were never seen or talked about much, we all know that God was there to witness it, and I know He was smiling at the event.
 
Just knowing of this in the first place makes me angry that NASA allowed itself to be bullied as they were, but happy that Aldrin did what he did where he did it anyway. I’m happy that the moon got a little taste of the Word of God.
 
John 15:5
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
 
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Author: Freddie Marinelli.

Within the last few days, I (and likely others as well) have heard of two stories from two different campaigns: Beto O’Rourke campaigning IN MEXICO, despite the obvious fact that not one Mexican citizen is bound (or allowed) to vote either in the Democrat primaries or the 2020 election, and the other story of the Trump campaign trying their hardest to reach the evangelical vote.
 
While Beto O’Rourke is campaigning in Mexico (in what is obviously an attempt at securing illegal immigrant votes States-side), the President is trying to reach those of us who follow the Lord.
 
According to Axios, a Trump campaign advisor told them: “There is a significant evangelical outreach effort. It’s going to be state specific. It’s going to exist in important battleground states and focus on churches and areas where we can have an impact. African American outreach will be a component of that… It’s robust, and it will be well-funded.”
 
Another campaign official told Axios that “this is about finding voters,” and Axios reported that in 2016, Trump got 81% of the evangelical vote. As it stands right now, the Pew Research Center says that 69% of evangelicals think the President is doing a good job.
 
Governing.com also reported that evangelicals have moved closer to Trump since his 2016 victory:
 
“Exit polls showed that 75 percent cast their ballots for Republican candidates. That number includes evangelicals of all ages, but surveys taken shortly before the election showed that 78 percent of white evangelicals ages 18 to 29 identified as Republican. ‘Did we see white evangelicals moving toward the middle of the political spectrum in 2018? Clearly no,’ says Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University (and a Baptist minister). ‘White evangelicals are more Republican now than they were two years ago.’”
 
Burge also noted that the percentage of evangelicals rose in 45 states from 2000 to 2010, coming largely from a rise in Latino evangelicals in states like Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Ohio.
 
And back in May, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said that evangelicals and Trump are so close because “there’s a mutual respect. I think they have a good relationship because of the fact that he has delivered on the promises he made during the campaign.”
 
And there’s certainly a lot to that. As far as other Republicans go, the ones that do not keep their promises, like that snake Paul Ryan, seriously tick us off because he was essentially doing the Left’s bidding, which is far from good for the country. We respect Trump because he actually keeps his promises and is legitimately making America great again, despite all the hurdles in his way.
 
Now, I know what rather hypocritical Leftists will say about this: “how can evangelicals support Trump? He likes to grab women by their privates! He has had affairs on his wives and has been married three times! He is far from a man after God’s own heart!” To which I say: while the Access Hollywood tape of him saying what he said was definitely not a nice thing to say, it was locker room talk and he has never actually sexually assaulted or harassed any woman. While he has had affairs with his wives (his second wife was his mistress while he was married to Ivana), while there’s the whole Stormy Daniels thing (which I don’t fully believe anyway), and while those things are certainly sinful and not right, what is important to understand is whether or not Donald Trump has asked for forgiveness for his sins.
 
Which brings me to the last one, about him not being a man after God’s own heart. The biblically-illiterate Left will be quick to judge, but slow to understand, but David, while anointed as a man after God’s own heart by the Lord Himself, eventually sinned greatly by sleeping with one of his most loyal soldier’s wife, Bathsheba, and then plotted to send said soldier off to die in battle to keep his sins buried.
 
The story of King David would be seen as a massive fall from grace if it weren’t for the fact that much of the book of Psalms is about David’s recognition and repentance of his sins, begging for God’s forgiveness and eventually receiving it.
 
And that’s what is important: to be forgiven by the Lord. What Trump did decades ago, or even a few years ago, is irrelevant if he has asked for forgiveness from Jesus Christ.
 
What’s more, what he did in the past is greatly overshadowed by the atrocities the Left advocates for TODAY.
 
I’ll take a former adulterer who cares for this country and loves the Lord over a current advocate for death, lust, obscenity and evil who hates this country and wishes for nothing more than to see it turn into the antithesis of what the founders intended.
 
President Trump has flaws, yes, but that comes naturally as HE IS HUMAN TOO! And while there may be evangelical NeverTrumpers like David French who honestly can’t see past Trump’s former mistakes and judges him on those things as a result (not exactly a very Christian thing to do either), most recognize that if we were to wait for the perfect candidate to show up to run for President, we would literally have to wait for rapture to occur because no one is perfect apart from the Lord.
 
And believe me, Jesus Christ wouldn’t run for President of the United States, as He already is the King of all the Earth and Heaven.
 
The fact that President Trump is trying this hard to get the evangelical vote (which will almost certainly go to him over anyone on the Left who currently advocate for literally demonic things) shows us who he wants to be part of his base.
 
Evangelicals love the Lord, love this country and love Trump in that order. And the reason they (we, really, as I’m also a Christian) love Trump is because he ALSO loves the Lord and this country. Whatever mistake he may have done in the past is forgiven provided he has asked for said forgiveness (and I have no reason to believe he hasn’t).
 
The entire story of the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, is a story of redemption. From the moment Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord, God has provided salvation after salvation for His people – all of them with a similar theme: have faith in the Lord.
 
It was Noah’s faith that saved him from God’s wrath during the flood. It was Abraham’s faith that saved him. It was Lot’s faith that saved his family (minus his wife, who disobeyed God) from the judgment over Sodom. It was Moses’ and the Israelites faith that saved them from Pharaoh. And it is all of our faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins, that saves us from God’s judgment. Sola Gratia and Sola Fide. By grace alone, we are saved through faith alone.
 
Even the most spiteful of humans to ever exist can be saved if he or she were to place their faith in the Lord Jesus. Even every single person on the Democrat ticket who currently advocates for Satan’s wish list could be saved if they were to place their faith in Jesus Christ. Granted, that is not likely to happen as it stands, and it is up to the Lord to choose whom He shows mercy, so it is possible none of them will be saved (and no, Buttigieg is not a Christian, he is not saved, no matter how much he tries to say he is a Christian. Outward proclamation of faith does not always equal actual faith).
 
So it really doesn’t matter what Donald Trump did in his past. As long as he has repented of his sins, he has been forgiven by the Lord. As a result, I see no reason not to forgive him myself for those things. So as far as his reelection campaign goes, I, along with many other Christians, will be voting for President Trump.
 
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 
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Author: Freddie Marinelli.

A little over a month ago, the Alabama House of Representatives voted in favor of passing the most pro-life bill in the country, sending it to the Alabama Senate for a vote. Recently, the Alabama Senate voted 25-6 in favor of passing the bill, sending it to Governor Kay Ivey to sign into law, which she did a day after the passing of the bill.
 
Before debate was opened prior to the vote-taking of the bill, Alabama Sen. Clyde Chambliss began by saying: “When is a person a person? When does a life become a life? I believe that if we terminate the life of an unborn child, we are putting ourselves in God’s place.”
 
A great and significant statement to make regarding the entire issue of abortion, where Leftists often insinuate that a child growing inside the womb is not a person, a rather illogical assertion to make considering no one says the same about an unborn giraffe or elephant, for example. It is nothing but an attempt to dehumanize people so that the vast majority of people would be indoctrinated to believe what they are eliminating is not life but what equates to a disease.
 
But at the end of the day, we are talking about a person. Those who understand that tend not to favor abortion (unless you are a heinous Alabama Democrat who is 100% okay with killing babies in the womb), so the idea is to dehumanize the unborn.
 
The bill is also a sort of challenge to the fact that multiple Democrat states have either passed extreme pro-abortion bills or have discussed passing extreme pro-abortion bills wherein an unborn child is allowed to be killed up to even labor (and some have voiced their desire to allow for post-birth abortions).
 
As a reminder, the bill makes it so that abortion is considered a felony largely equating it to murder (because that’s precisely what it is) but does not hold the mother criminally responsible if she were to have an abortion (which is what some Leftists will try and lie to people about, saying that women would be thrown in jail for getting an abortion when that’s far from the truth).
 
The bill specifically states that “a woman who receives an abortion will not be held criminally culpable or civilly liable for receiving the abortion.”
 
The bill also explains that the only exception would be in the extremely rare case in which the mother’s life or health is in danger:
 
“In reasonable medical judgment, the child’s mother has a condition that so complicates her medical condition that it necessitates the termination of her pregnancy to avert her death or to avert serious risk of substantial physical impairment of a major bodily function. This term does not include a condition based on a claim that the woman is suffering from an emotional condition or a mental illness which will cause her to engage in conduct that intends to result in her death or the death of her unborn child.”
 
“However, the condition may exist if a second physician who is licensed in Alabama as a psychiatrist, with a minimum of three years of clinical experience, examines the woman and documents that the woman has a diagnosed serious mental illness and because of it, there is reasonable medical judgment that she will engage in conduct that could result in her death or the death of her unborn child.”
 
In other words, a mother can’t simply claim to have some sort of mental disease and therefore receive an abortion, rather there needs to be legitimate proof and medical analysis done to determine that there is serious mental health issues that could result in the mother engaging in behavior in which she would die or cause the death of her own child.
 
Of course, there exists the problem of psychiatrists misdiagnosing someone (willingly or unwillingly), but I believe this goes a long way towards protecting the unborn, as most (hopefully) psychiatrists likely won’t put their own beliefs ahead of their careers, reputation, etc. to intentionally misdiagnose a pregnant woman to allow her to have a “legitimate” reason for her abortion.
 
The rather funny and interesting thing about the passing of this bill is that a senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project (there is no freedom in bondage, as I always say) threatened the Governor if she signs it with a lawsuit, writing in an email to CBS News: “We will not stand by while politicians endanger the lives of women and doctors for political gain. Know this, Governor Ivey: If you sign this dangerous bill into law, we will see you in Court.”
 
I say that’s rather funny and interesting because that is largely the point of the bill. The bill is not simply to outlaw abortions in the state; that’s just the more immediate goal. The larger, overarching goal of the bill is to have this heavily challenged by these pro-abortion, pro-death Leftist lunatics that it might make its way up to the Supreme Court, forcing them to review the 1973 Court decision that declared abortion was constitutional (by the way, the entire court was filled with old, white men, but we don’t hear anything about how they are somehow unfairly making decisions about a woman’s body).
 
The mission here is to have the conservative (hopefully) Supreme Court review Roe v. Wade and overturn that horrible decision, leaving it up to the states to decide on their own abortion laws as the 10th Amendment allows.
 
As Rep. Terri Collins remarked (the woman who sponsored the bill) last week, “The heart of this bill is to confront a decision that was made by the courts in 1973 that said the baby in the womb is not a person. This bill addresses that one issue. Is that baby in the womb a person? I believe our law says it is.” And after the bill passed, she then went on to remark: “This bill is about challenging Roe v. Wade and protecting the lives of the unborn because an unborn baby is a person who deserves love and protection. I have prayed my way through this bill. This is the way we get where we want to get eventually.”
 
A very appropriate and wholesome response to the passing of the bill. The Left will go out of their way to mock prayer (as they often do after a tragic shooting takes place) but that only goes to show just who they are unashamed of siding with: Satan.
 
The redefining of humanity is evil. It’s what Hitler did to the Jews (and other classes of people) and what old Southern Democrats would do towards black people (and still do, considering the fact that black people are disproportionately targeted by Planned Parenthood). And while Leftists can (and often will) make the claim that the banning of abortion is somehow evil, I will never be convinced that giving a woman the “right” to kill her own child for whatever reason she comes up with (and she doesn’t even have to have a reason) is not evil in any way.
 
It is not women’s “healthcare” to kill a child. And despite what the Left says about PP clinics, they do not perform any sort of healthcare to women. They are very strictly a slaughterhouse for the children of women who are either so scared about their pregnancy that they fall prey to their claws or simply are entirely apathetic or ignorant to the life that is growing inside them. And for the fact that these people claim to be “pro-choice”, they sure make it their mission to discourage the mothers from simply giving their children up for adoption.
 
As I have said often in some of my latest articles surrounding this topic, there is nothing about abortion that is “healthcare” to women or “liberating” to them. It is no more a healthcare service than a demolition derby is a mechanic service for your vehicle. It is no more liberating than being enchained to your own sins.
 
And while I may sound like a broken record in saying this time after time, I believe it is a point that is seldom made. People will argue about what a woman’s rights are regarding this (so will I), what the definition of life is and a lot of aspects, but the topic of being enslaved to sin is one that, while attached to this, is hardly, if ever, covered.
 
A few days prior to the Alabama bill passing, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law a “heartbeat” bill, which prompted Leftist Alyssa Milano to insist that women go on a “sex strike” as a response. I did not necessarily cover it myself, but I did think it was deliciously ironic considering that is largely where the problem stems: sex outside of marriage.
 
If that issue were to be resolved, no one would ever even discuss abortion because there would likely be no abortions at all. But society has essentially made it so that those who wait for marriage (aka Christians) are mocked for such a decision. I, myself, was mocked for holding that belief on a Twitter debate recently surrounding the topic of the Alabama Senate passing this bill. But I did not feel ashamed or embarrassed. Why would I? I’m the one siding with the Lord and they are the ones siding with Satan.
 
But it is here where we often find Man’s true nature of evil. That which is of the Lord’s and those who follow Him are mercilessly mocked. In the natural, Man wants nothing to do with God because he does not wish to be told that he is doing something wrong.
 
When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, what did they do? Avoid God as much as they could. When Cain killed Abel, what did Cain do upon being questioned of his brother’s whereabouts? He lied to the Lord to hide what he had done.
 
And yet, they knew that what they were doing was wrong. They could feel it deep down. Why do you think so many women who have an abortion feel so depressed and sad about it? You often have some sort of feeling of guilt when you are doing something wrong, but in the natural, you are drawn to do it anyway.
 
The gentleman with whom I was debating felt that I was judging him for his stance. I was doing no such thing, merely offering the reasons as to why he was wrong and hoping God would send His Spirit to him that he might see the Light. But nevertheless, he felt judged, not because I was judging him (far from it, as it is not my job to do so) but because he himself felt, at least to some extent, that he was in the wrong – that he was doing something wrong. He likely won’t come to face that reality from just a random debate on Twitter, but I honestly hope it did at least something to help him out.
 
Regardless, as far as this Alabama Senate vote and signing of this bill by the Governor go, I am very proud of my state and look forward to the court challenges that will send it to the Supreme Court (if they actually decide to take it up and not stonewall like they have been for some other important cases).
 
Psalm 139:14
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
 
And please make sure to check out our free weekly newsletter. As the name suggests, it is a newsletter that comes completely free of charge. What you get is a compilation of the week’s articles sent right into your inbox. So make sure to check it out today!
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.