It’s nothing new to see radical Leftists invoke the name of the Lord to defend their outright satanic beliefs. Radical Leftists often tried to use the Bible to defend the institution of slavery and to defend segregation. Radical Leftists try to use the Bible to defend the mass genocide of babies in the womb. So it’s not surprising to see a BLM communist invoke the name of the Lord to defend the destruction of the United States.
 
In a recent interview with Martha MacCallum, Hawk Newsome, communist leader of the Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, did exactly that in his defense of the riots.
 
MacCallum brought up the following quote from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and asked what Newsome thought of it: “Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout, ‘White Power!’ when nobody will shout ‘Black Power!’ but everybody will talk about God’s power and human power. Do you agree with that?”
 
Newsome then had the gall to say the following: “I love the Lord. And my lord and savior, Jesus Christ, is the most famous black radical revolutionary in history. He was treated just like Dr. King. He was arrested on occasion, and he was also crucified or assassinated. This is what happens to black activists, we are killed by the government.”
 
If he truly was a Christian, he would know not to compare Jesus with anyone, let alone “black radical revolutionaries”. Christ was NOT a black radical revolutionary.
 
Throughout the interview following that statement, Newsome tried to make the point repeatedly that Jesus was not white. Considering He was in the Middle East, I imagine He might not have been, but if He were white, black or whatever else, He is still the Lord and our Savior, so true Christians would still follow Him. Considering how adamant Newsome was about saying Christ wasn’t white, as though that matters, I don’t believe for one second that he would follow the Lord if He had been white.
 
But that just addresses the “black” part. Let’s address the “radical revolutionary” part. Jesus never set out to overthrow the government of His time and repeatedly made note of that. Jesus said in Mark 12:17: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” He didn’t call for an overthrow of Caesar (as the Pharisees believed and tried to trap Jesus into admitting as much). He didn’t call for a toppling of Rome. He made note that His Kingdom is not of this world, so He was NOT a revolutionary at all.
 
Next, and perhaps most importantly, Jesus was not killed by the government like a “black activist”. To insinuate Jesus was a “black activist” is a damnable insult. Jesus was killed by a BLOODTHRISTY MOB that DEMANDED His blood. Even Pontius Pilate said he found no guilt in Jesus. Luke 23:4 says: “Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ‘I find no guilt in this man.’” Later on, it even says that Herod, who was the ruler in Jesus’ district of Galilee and also had the ability to judge Jesus, found no guilt in Jesus for what He was being charged with.
 
But the crowd insisted that Pilate would punish Jesus and would instead release Barabbas, who was, as verse 19 says: “a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.” Similarly to the mob of today, the mob that called for the death of Jesus would rather have a horrible criminal and dangerous person be released than someone who is innocent.
 
Pilate further insisted on releasing Jesus but the crowd chanted: “Crucify, crucify him!” Soon after, Pilate relented and bent the knee to the mob, giving them what they wanted, and ordered the death of Jesus.
 
So Jesus was not killed by Rome. He was not killed by the government. He was killed BY THE MOB THAT DEMANDED HIS BLOOD BE SPILLED. He was killed because a government figure bent the knee to the mob.
 
That Newsome does not know this is not at all a surprise to me. HE ISN’T A CHRISTIAN! Christ is nowhere to be found in his heart, else he wouldn’t believe what he believes or say what he says!
 
Later in the interview, Newsome says that he wanted “black liberation and black sovereignty… by any means necessary.” Does that sound like something a Christian would say?
 
Blacks in the U.S. ARE ALREADY LIBERATED AND HAVE BEEN FOR A CENTURY AND A HALF! And of course, it’s hard to ignore the call for “black sovereignty”, which is, of course, black supremacy. The guy is no different or better from the neo-Nazis who call for white supremacy instead.
 
The guy demands black liberation when he claims to be a Christian. A Christian IS ALREADY FREE BECAUSE OF THE WORKS OF CHRIST AT THE CROSS! He wants black sovereignty or supremacy. That is not equality at all and shows us the type of person he is. Christ’s people will rule and judge the world alongside Him.
 
Revelation 20:4 says: “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
 
There is no black sovereignty. There is no white sovereignty. There is no human sovereignty. The only sovereignty that exists is strictly the Lord’s and we all have a single path to salvation.
 
That Newsome believes Jesus to have been equal to a black activist destroying property, setting fires, assaulting people and killing people is outright blasphemous and I hope he repents. What he said is nothing short of an insult to the Lord and a threat to this country, which he intends to destroy to bring about black supremacy.
 
This man is no Christian at all, and just because he professes to have faith, that does not mean he actually possesses it. It’s clear, from this single interview, that he does not speak as one who has Christ in his heart. He has hatred – Satan – in his heart.
 
Christ was not a “black radical revolutionary.” He was not a black activist. He was not even killed by the government. He is the Lord. He is the King. He was killed to satisfy a mob. Newsome is part of the mob we see today, making demands and threatening destruction and unruliness if the demands are not met.
 
Newsome speaks more like a radical terrorist than a Christian. He should look inside his own heart and be afraid of what is in there. He should repent of the blasphemous things he said and believes. But as a radical Leftist, I don’t really expect him to do such a thing.
 
Who knows, though? Maybe the Lord will bring wisdom onto Newsome and get him to repent. I won’t judge Newsome because it’s not my job to do so. But what he said and currently believes is damnable and I will condemn it to Hell.
 
Matthew 7:21
“’Not everyone who calls out to me, “Lord, Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.’”
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

During and following the chaos that were the riots “in response” to the death of George Floyd, a new mantra has been adopted and attempted to be popularized by the Left: defund the police/abolish the police, with the second being the crazier of the two.
 
Without police, criminals are free to do literally whatever they want. Even with a private police force (which I would assume such businesses would spring up due to demand for protection), the only people who would benefit from such a service would be the ones who could afford it (i.e. the rich, depending on how the system works and how much it would cost to hire such a force for a particular problem/crime). Abolishing/defunding the police would lead to far more black and brown deaths because such people tend to statistically be poorer (just ask Joe Biden, who considers all black and brown people to be poor) and black-on-black crime tends to happen a whole lot more too.
 
And yet, this is something the Left is now espousing, from Ilhan Omar to Bill de Blasio to Eric Garcetti. Even the Minneapolis City Council is set to vote to dismantle the police in the city. Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender went on Alysin Camerota’s show recently to talk about this idea.
 
Camerota asked the logical question of: “What if in the middle of the night, my home is broken into? Who do I call?”

Bender answered: “Yes, I hear that loud and clear from a lot of my neighbors. And I know – and myself too, and I know that that comes from a place of privilege.”
 
Basically, you are a stinking, privileged person if you call the police after someone broke into your house or if someone raped you or if someone killed someone you love. This is the sort of insanity that these Leftists espouse, and proudly so.
 
The people demanding that cities defund their police forces are most often people who would call the police themselves if they find themselves in trouble and tend to be people who would not be negatively affected whatsoever by such a decision.
 
For example, former ESPN commentator Chris Palmer initially had no problem with the rioters and arsonists burning down inner city businesses and housing development units, even egging them on tweeting: “Burn that s**t down. Burn it all down,” but as soon as they showed up at his doorstep, he cried: “They just attacked our sister community down the street. It’s a gated community and they tried to climb the gates. They had to beat them back. Then destroyed a Starbucks and are now in front of my building. Get these animals TF out of my neighborhood. Go back to where you live.”
 
So when the rioters destroyed a housing development meant for people who couldn’t afford housing, and must now live longer on the streets or in unsavory places, Chris Palmer was completely fine and wanted the destruction to continue, but as soon as the rioters presented the slightest of inconveniences or threats to him, he calls them “animals.” See, the revolting poors aren’t supposed to revolt against people like him, in his mind. The revolting poors are supposed to revolt against, well, themselves and the other rich people in the country.
 
As soon as the peasants turned their pitchforks on Palmer, he was shocked and chagrinned by the idea that they would be so barbaric and animalistic. The guy is a hypocrite, no doubt, and a typical Leftist. As soon as the mob became a liability, he was against them. A former Argentinian president, President Peron, used terrorists to regain office after having been ousted a couple decades before, and as soon as he regained power, he went after the terrorists who helped him because they were making demands of him that he didn’t want to fulfill.
 
People aren’t people to the Left, just means to an end. Black lives don’t matter to the Left, only insofar as they can make it a catchy slogan and get the black people to vote the way they are “supposed” to.
 
Which is why it’s not surprising to see them espouse the insane belief of “defund/abolish the police.” The wealthy Leftist elites will not at all be affected by this since they get their own security forces to protect them. But if the idea gets enough people to vote for them in November, even at the cost of many people’s lives, it will all be worth it.
 
However, we all know how insanely dangerous such an idea is in practicality. With Minneapolis announcing they would be voting to disband their police force, they are telling any and all criminals that the city is theirs for the taking, as long as they don’t bother their “betters” in the Leftist elites.
 
If people want actually effective and good solutions, I have two, with one being honestly less likely to happen than the other.
 
One solution is the country, as a whole, turning to Christ. Each instance of police brutality, whether perpetuated on someone like George Floyd or Tony Timpa, is an instance of Christ not being in a police officer/officers’ heart(s).
 
It is understandable that an officer of the law will have to use force in certain situations, sometimes even lethal force. However, in situations like with George Floyd, the force we saw used was excessive (and the guy was clearly enjoying himself). Excessive use of force is not right, is not just, and is not indicative of a person seeking to embody the teachings of Christ.
 
A true Christian will not seek and savor the opportunity to abuse a brother/sister or a neighbor. A true Christian will seek to do right by people, even those who commit crimes; punishing them as they ought to be with the right sort of punishment. George Floyd had a history of crimes and he was being arrested for a reason. Punishment needed to come his way as a result of his criminal actions (slight as they might have been). Delivering justice is necessary. Delivering excessive punishment is unjust. It’s why we have the 8th Amendment, after all. What happened to George Floyd, apart from being murder of the third degree (at most, given the evidence, and there is a chance that he walks if overcharged, which will likely incite more riots, which is probably what Leftist Keith Ellison wants), was also a violation of his 8th Amendment rights.
 
With the country turning to Christ, not only would you see a great downtick in police brutality, but also in crime itself. However, it is irrational to expect that the entire country, all 300 million+ of us, would simultaneously turn to Christ. Even if there is a Christian revival that comes out of this (and I do hope there is one because this country and the world in general desperately need the Lord), that won’t mean that everyone will become a Christian and all crime will stop, or even that all police officers will be good.
 
Which is why I say that, if there is a Christian revival in this country soon, that won’t outright end all police brutality, only stifle it. I’m afraid injustice cannot be eliminated in an imperfect world, and it certainly cannot be eliminated by an imperfect people. There is only one place in existence where there is no injustice and that is Heaven.
 
No amount of legislation, no amount of having discussions (especially if that leads to communism, which is antithetical to justice) and no amount of reform can eliminate immorality and evil in people’s hearts. Even in Christ, we are still an imperfect people. So there will not be an elimination of injustice in this world. Not absolutely.
 
However, there is another solution that can work and be a bit more pragmatic in this instance (not to say the country turning to Christ wouldn’t be a viable and effective solution, but I cannot expect the entire country to do that).
 
Eliminating police unions will stifle police brutality as well and I think that is a bit more of an achievable goal than the entire country turning to Christ (much as I would want that to happen).
 
Police unions, like teacher’s unions, protect the people who should not be protected. They mask the actions of the bad ones and keep justice from being served equally under the law.
 
There is a great article at The Washington Examiner that talks more in-depth about it, pointing out how even in the instance of the George Floyd killing, it took the MPD FIVE DAYS to just arrest Chauvin, the officer who killed Floyd, let alone the other three who were complicit to his murder. If you know where a murder suspect is, the police will arrest them pretty much immediately… unless a police officer is the murderer, it seems.
 
Even the president of the city’s police union was livid at the fact that the officers were fired EVEN AFTER THE EVIDENCE OF ONE OF THEM KILLING A PERSON AND THE OTHER THREE BEING COMPLICIT IN MURDER WAS WIDELY KNOWN TO EVERYONE.
 
Keep in mind as well that Chauvin has 17 complaints reported against him, only one of which received any sort of punishment at all in the form of a reprimand letter (which is the equivalent of a slap in the wrist). The guy is a problematic cop who has gotten away with almost everything he has done because he is protected by his union.
 
Allow me to quote some things from The Washington Examiner that will make your blood boil if you didn’t know this already or hadn’t read it before:
 
“[I]t’s concerning that [Chauvin] faced a complaint, on average, almost every year he worked for the Minneapolis Police Department (he was a cop for 20 years), and he never faced any meaningful consequences… Police unions [use] the protections they’ve collectively bargained into the disciplinary appeals process to slow down the justice system when officers begin to face scrutiny.”
 
“One study found that 70% of the 656 union contracts evaluated by researchers allow officers to appeal to an ‘arbitrator’, or a third party, who has the power to determine disciplinary action or dismiss it altogether. And here’s the catch: About 54% of these contracts gave the unions the power to select the arbitrator. In other words, if the union appeals an officer’s case and the appeal is approved, it can choose an arbitrator who will make the case disappear.”
 
How else do you think officers like the one who refused to protect people getting shot in the Parkland high school can REGAIN THEIR JOB despite being entirely unfit to serve?
 
Police unions protect bad cops from accountability, which in turn leads some cops to basically act like they can do whatever they want free of consequence, which in turn leads to situations like FOUR COPS THINKING THE SLOW KILLING OF A MAN IS PERFECTLY OKAY.
 
If you want to really stifle police brutality, don’t defund or abolish the police (because that is literally one of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard), eliminate the police unions that serve to protect the bad cops from being held accountable.
 
Unions in general are communist bullcrap, regardless of profession. Eliminating police unions is something, I think, most people could agree with, almost regardless of what ideals they hold.
 
Isaiah 40:31
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

This is something I have said before, but it bears repeating: the Left HATES Christians, hates Christianity, hates Jesus and hates anyone who follows Him, believing such people to be nothing but foolish and naïve science deniers who believe in fairy tales. They loathe our worship of the Lord and view it with nothing but contempt and mockery.
 
That is the precise response some Leftists in the mainstream media had to President Trump appointing Vice President Mike Pence to lead the Coronavirus Task Force and to Vice President Pence praying alongside the CTF in a photo (above).
 
The New Yorker, after President Trump appointed VP Pence to lead the Coronavirus Task Force, shared a cartoon of the Vice President with the caption: “We remind everyone that the first defense against this outbreak is vigorous handwashing and repentance.”
 
Days later, a contributing writer for The NYT Magazine tweeted out the picture of Pence and the CTF praying, stating: “Mike Pence and his coronavirus emergency team praying for a solution. We are so screwed.”
 
Do you see how little these heathens think of Christians and those who pray to God? Funny how they would never dare say the same if they saw a picture of Muslims praying to Allah about the same thing. They would applaud their commitment to their religious beliefs, but when Christians pray to the Lord, we are mocked. Not that this comes as any surprise.
 
These godless people do not understand the power of prayer. They outright mock it whenever a mass shooting occurs (which is nowhere near as often as they would want us to believe) and people offer prayers for those affected. They are devoid of any sense of reverence to God in their unbelief, somehow believing that everything came to be out of pure chance, and have the nerve to claim that we are the illogical ones for believing in God.
 
Verses such as Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God,” and Mark 11:24: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours,” and others that highlight the power of God through prayer are utterly meaningless to these people.
 
They legitimately believe that we came from MONKEYS despite all of the massive holes in Darwin’s theory and even its origin, and yet, do not believe in the God of the Universe.
 
It’s worth pointing out that, obviously, prayer is not the only thing the vice president and the CTF are doing. Unlike what some Leftists might sarcastically suggest, they are not “praying the virus away”, or at least, that’s not all they are doing. They are praying to the Lord, who has total and absolute control over everything that happens, that He give them strength in dealing with this, wisdom in how to tackle it, and success in minimizing the influence and effect of the virus so that as many people may survive it and so that this can be put behind us.
 
The seventh question of the Westminster Confession of Faith asks “what are the decrees of God?” The answer is: “The decrees of God are, His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.” This means that God has, for His eternal purpose and His own glory, preordained whatever comes to pass, such as a coronavirus outbreak. It wouldn’t happen if God did not ordain for it to happen. That is not the same as saying God caused it or it’s His fault, because God is the Healer, whereas Satan is the destroyer. However, He has allowed it and the Vice President, as well as the others in that picture, understanding the power of the Lord, are praying that He give them the tools to deal with it and that He would allow for this virus to be defeated.
 
And while I know that the Westminster Confession of Faith is a Presbyterian document, I don’t think too many Christians would disagree with the notion that God is absolutely in control of everything that happens, because if even one molecule in this universe were not under the complete and utter control of God, He would cease to be God.
 
Unfortunately, this is where many on the Left and general unbelievers would retort with “if God is so good then why does He allow these things to happen” which can be difficult sometimes to explain. I couldn’t imagine trying to explain to someone who has suffered throughout their life why God, who is so good, or is regarded by Christians as being so good, would allow for such suffering to happen. The best I could imagine myself doing would be pointing out the story of Joseph, how he was betrayed by his brothers, hated by them, thrown into a pit, be rescued by them only to be then sold into slavery, be falsely accused of trying to have sexual intercourse with his master’s wife and be thrown into prison for years and how if anyone had any “right” to be angry at God, it was him, and yet, he never abandoned his faith in God. Eventually, as we all know, through the path that he took, despite how rocky it was, Joseph became the second-leading ruler of Egypt only behind Pharaoh, and saved millions of lives as a result of that appointment.
 
The point of that is to say that, even when things are at their bleakest and we wonder where God is, we have to remember that God is there, working behind the scenes, for our good. Some may look at what’s happening with the coronavirus and mock Pence and the others for praying to a God who would allow this to happen, but the VP and other fellow Christians know the goodness and the love of God, know who He is and that He wouldn’t allow for this to happen for no reason. Whether that reason be an individual one where someone with the virus or someone who has family with the virus turns to the Lord and repents of their sins, or a larger reason, such as forcing companies to understand the perils of being so dependent on a communist nation that can’t do jack to protect itself and turn away from it to keep their businesses from being hurt like that in the future. I mean, 80% of our medicine comes from China! Maybe this will force some businesses to reevaluate their desire to work with the Chinese and focus on other countries (if not the U.S.).
 
People who do not know the Lord look at us Christians in contempt and think of us as monkeys who believe in fairy tales. They think prayer, despite the power that it has, is completely worthless. But God, as previously stated, is the one in control. It is through Him that anything at all happens. And God is delighted when His children pray to Him, asking for salvation of their soul or simply to be strong in the face of trouble.
 
We pray, not because we are without hope, but because we are full of hope, knowing the goodness of God. We humble ourselves before Him, bowing our heads to Him in prayer. The simple looks at these actions and thinks little of them, while God looks at them and is delighted.
 
Do I know what will happen with this coronavirus? No. I am not God, after all. However, we know from Romans 8:28 that “God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we will obey the Lord and trust that He will deliver us from earthly perils, and that even if He doesn’t, we will not be shaken in our faith.
 
Those three were threatened to be thrown into a blazing fire so hot that it killed the Babylonian guards that were trying to put them in there. The only thing that burned upon being thrown into the fire was the rope that bound them together, with Nebuchadnezzar questioning why there were four people in the cauldron and not three, with the extra person looking like one who was like “the Son of God”.
 
We trust in the Lord and His ways, knowing that they are greater than ours, and thus, we pray to Him both in times of great need and of great abundance; in times of suffering and times of joy. I am so glad that Vice President Pence is a man of faith, one who knows God and His goodness, and leads his CTF team in prayer while searching for ways to mitigate the problem.
 
God is good; remember that.
 
Psalm 34:17
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.”
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

This is not a sports website or a basketball website by any stretch of the imagination. What happens in the world of sports or the NBA is largely irrelevant to this website unless it has something to do with immoral business dealings by the league with authoritarian communists or when a basketball player asserts that there is vast racism in this country when there largely is none. Some topics relating to sports are relevant to this website, but many are not.
 
But it should come as no surprise to long-time readers of this website that I, personally, am a big basketball fan and have been for years. I stay in tune with many of the things happening in the NBA from trades, to free agent signings, to individual player stats to win columns, etc. Basketball, though not close to the level of politics and theology, is a big passion of mine. So hearing the news of the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest players to have ever set foot on the basketball court, has honestly both shocked me and left me in mourning, at least to some extent.
 
Of course, I never met the guy or knew him personally and he certainly never knew I existed, but that does not really matter. The whole basketball world, from the fans to the players to the coaches and those in the executive offices and lower on the corporate ladder, is in mourning over this extremely unexpected and horrific event.
 
The fact that it was not only him, but also his 13-year-old daughter and 7 other people apart from them (9 total, with another 13-year-old apart from Kobe’s daughter, at least according to TMZ) also perished in this incident makes it all the worse because of the potential of those lives. Kobe’s playing career ended in 2016, but he was not done with the game. Gianna, Kobe’s daughter, had dreams of continuing her father’s legacy and enter the WNBA, likely dominate in that league as her father did for so many years in the NBA.
 
All loss of life is tragic, particularly when it comes in this manner. No one in Kobe’s family could’ve possibly prepared, even a little, for last Sunday. But I hope that in this grief and time of mourning, the Bryant family, as well as the families of the people who likewise perished aboard that helicopter, come closer to God and that He would bring them closer to Him, so that they might seek His comfort and, if not quite yet saved, that they might be saved.
 
As far as Kobe and Gianna go, I would like to believe that they are playing for Heaven’s basketball team now. The reason I say this is because of the various sources saying that the guy, and his family, were/are all Catholic.
 
Now, if you are indeed a long-time reader of mine, you know my irks with the Catholic Church and the doctrines they teach. They emphasize a relationship with the Church as opposed to Christ and have many other doctrinal problems, let alone political and social problems that have plagued the Church for centuries (Dictatus Papae, anyone?). However, that does not mean that the entirety of the body of that church is cast off from God’s sight and presence. For all the problems within the Catholic Church (problems that are not exclusive to the Church), there are, indeed, some among the Church who are saved, provided they put their salvation on Christ and not the Church.
 
Kobe Bryant and his family, I believe, are among those who have been saved. Why do I say this? Well, while Kobe has been raised Catholic (which alone does not necessarily save someone), after the rape allegations were made against him, he sought the counsel of a priest who advised him to let God control that situation. Kobe said of that meeting with the priest that “that was the turning point”, supposedly in reference to him trusting his life to the Lord.
 
One could also assume that his faith had influence over his family as well, possibly giving Gianna, Kobe’s oldest daughter, the opportunity to trust the Lord with her life as well. Now, I will say that I do not know for certain whether this is the case, but for my own sake, without having substantial evidence to convince me in one way or another, I believe Gianna did also make it into Heaven alongside her father (and I hope whomever else in that crash that perished also received the Lord Jesus into their hearts and repented of their sins before this).
 
It is this faith that saves us and this faith that tells us the meaning of life. I’ve already mentioned this to some extent in a previous article relating to British youth being “the least happy generation”, but the answer to the meaning of life can be found in the shorter catechisms of the Westminster Confession of faith, particularly in the first one (though I will mention all the ones I consider to be relevant for this).
 
The first shorter catechism found in the Westminster Confession of Faith asks the question: “What is the chief end of man?” The answer to this question is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
 
Again, I’ve already mentioned this once, but to reiterate: this right here is the meaning of life. We are created in God’s image so that we may glorify and enjoy Him forever. This is how every Christian should try to live: doing everything for the glory of the Lord.
 
The seventh shorter catechism asks the question: “What are the decrees of God?” The answer reads: “The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.”
 
With this, we know that God is in control and that nothing is a surprise to Him. He already knew and foreordained everything had happens, knowing the day and the hour in which we all pass.
 
The 20th shorter catechism asks the question: “Did God leave all mankind to perish in the state of sin and misery?” The answer reads: “God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.”
 
God, in all of His wonderful love and grace, has given to us a Savior and Redeemer so that we would not have to suffer His wrath and perish due to our sin.
 
The Lord has put purpose into our lives and that purpose is to glorify Him. This is not a purpose that is exclusive to those who believe (though belief in God is a prerequisite, otherwise one would not glorify a being that they do not believe exists) but a purpose given to each and every single one of us. We are to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
 
God also already knows whether or not this is something we will strive for and, not only knows it, but has preordained it. He has elected some of us to believe and be saved by the works of His Son Jesus at the cross.
 
And in all of His ever-lasting love for us, who do not deserve such love and grace, God has given us a path to salvation through His Son Jesus. And while the Westminster Confession of Faith is a Protestant document, many of the doctrines it teaches are fairly universal. God loves us. He has given us a purpose to glorify Him, doing everything in His name and for His glory, and ultimately, we shall enjoy Him forever. This is not merely a Protestant thing – it is a Christian thing.
 
This, I hope, is how Kobe lived his life and I hope he is, indeed, enjoying God forever, having been saved by the Lord Jesus.
 
I also hope this is how the other passengers lived their lives, or at least tried to, and can all now enjoy the Lord in Heaven.
 
John 4:24
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli. 

It is always unfortunate to see when supposedly Christian organizations, be it Chick-fil-A or “Christianity Today” switch allegiances in support of Satan, but that is basically what occurred recently when the editor-in-chief attacked Trump’s morals and character and demanded that Trump be removed from office because of what LYING LEFTISTS have alleged about him.
 
Mark Galli writes: “The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.”
 
Do you want to know what else is profoundly immoral? Lying to people and bearing false witness.
 
Trump did NOT attempt to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to “harass” and “discredit” one of his political opponents. He asked Zelensky about an investigation Ukraine previously had of Hunter Biden and the company he worked for, Burisma, because the guy was making $50k a month in a job he did not qualify for and even ADMITS wouldn’t have gotten without his dad being Vice President of the United States. He asked about an investigation into Burisma that ended because Joe Biden bragged about WITHHOLDING AID TO UKRAINE IF THEY DIDN’T FIRE THE PROSECUTOR INVESTIGATING HUNTER.
 
He asked about the very real possibility of THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION abusing power to protect the former VP’s son. He asked about Crowdstrike and their involvement with Ukraine officials in an effort to further investigate foreign involvement in the 2016 presidential election.
 
To say that he attempted to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit an opponent is not only a massive lie, but defends the false witnesses during the impeachment hearing. HOW IS THAT MORAL?!
 
The answer is that it isn’t and this guy should know better, but he doesn’t.
 
Further, he asserts that Trump “has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals,” as though that speaks poorly of him. Do you want to know who has been convicted of crimes (or will be on trial for it)? Paul Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign advisor for a few months before being fired, likely because Trump found out about his ties to Ukraine and his illegal business dealings; Michael Flynn, who was arrested and charged with lying to the FBI, even though Comey admitted he didn’t think he lied and simply did not remember things correctly, and even though the FBI held an interrogation of him under false pretenses where he didn’t have a lawyer because he didn’t think what he was going to say would be used against him in a court of law; Roger Stone, who was arrested and charged with procedural crimes (same as Flynn, though with more charges) and Michael Cohen, who violated campaign finance laws himself and lied about it.
 
NONE OF THESE DAMAGE TRUMP’S CHARACTER. They were all largely arrested, persecuted and subsequently prosecuted (some, not all) because of a rabid Left wanting to hurt anyone who was close to Trump. People close to Trump being sent to jail doesn’t make Trump a bad guy, otherwise we would have to claim that JESUS was a bad guy because John the Baptist, the Apostle Peter, and virtually every Christian who professed the faith were arrested and imprisoned.
 
Just because you or someone close to you is sent to prison, that doesn’t make you a bad or immoral guy. Plenty of innocent or good people have been sent to prison. Would this guy argue that everyone the Soviet Union imprisoned or executed was a bad person? How about Communist China imprisoning and executing people? They want to imprison the Hong Kong protesters who are fighting for freedom and liberty. Does that mean the protesters are immoral people?
 
Rome imprisoned and crucified our LORD AND SAVIOR. Clearly, the argument of “hiring and firing people who are convicted criminals” means absolutely nothing, particularly considering just WHO was persecuting them.

Not that I expect Galli to agree with me on this point anyway. Mark Galli is the same man who adored and lionized in the biography that he wrote of Karl Barth, a neo-orthodox theologian who excused Stalin's crimes against humanity due to the "intention" behind Marxism:

"[I]t is pertinent not to discriminate in our view of contemporary Communism between its totalitarian atrocities as such and the positive intention behind them," Barth once wrote. "And if one tries to do that, one cannot say of Communism what one was forced to say of Nazism ten years ago (this was written in 1949) - that what it means and intends is pure unreason, the product of madness and crime. It would be quite absurd to mention in the same breath the philosophy of Marxism and the 'ideology' of the Third Reich, to mention a man of the stature of Joseph Stalin in the same breath as such charlatans as Hitler, Goerin, Hess, Goebbels, Himmler, Ribbentrop, Rosenberg, Streicher, etc. What has been tackled in Soviet Russia - albeit with very dirty and bloody hands and in a way that rightly shocks us - is, after all, a constructive idea, the solution of a problem which is a serious and burning problem for us as well, and which we with our clean hands have not yet tackled anything like energetically enough: the social problem."

Basically, Barth excuses the atrocities that even he recognizes because it was for a "good cause". Hitler also thought he had a "good cause" and I will RIGHTLY talk about that monster in the same breath as Stalin. To see that Galli wrote Barth's biography and thinks highly of him (Barth also denied that the Bible was the Word of God and that the witness account of Jesus' resurrection was accurate, so the guy was not even a CHRISTIAN) makes plenty of sense, considering Galli is, in all likelihood, not a Christian either.
 
Galli then writes: “[Trump] himself has admitted to immoral actions in businesses and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud.”
 
Fellow Christians, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you that if you ever did anything immoral in your past, you cannot be saved whatsoever. Trump admitted to immoral actions in businesses and relationships with women. Clearly, there is no hope for Trump or any of us.
 
Trump does not remain “proud” of his past, otherwise, Melania wouldn’t still be married to him. There’s no doubt in my mind that he apologized to her and, more importantly, to God for his previous sins.
 
Thank the Lord that Galli is not God, otherwise, no one would be saved because there’d be nothing we could do. He chooses to judge Trump on something I’m certain GOD no longer does.
 
“His Twitter feed alone – with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders – is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused,” Galli wrote.
 
Hey, guys, apparently, it’s an impeachable offense if the President says stuff on Twitter that you don’t like.
 
Look, I don’t care if you like or dislike what Trump does on Twitter. But Trump does not “mischaracterize”, “lie” or “slander”. He points out the truth about people, he tells his side of the story (because the fake news media will lie about him constantly) and he will fight back against those who actually do slander him. And precisely because it is his way to tell his side of the story (basically his only way), virtually anyone who wanted to actually fight back against the Left and against the fake news media would do, say, and tweet the same exact things.
 
Laying down and accepting the libelous criticism you receive is not the Christian thing to do. Giving up to Satan is not the Christian thing to do.
 
Would Jesus do what Trump is doing? No, but if He were to run for POTUS, He’d be slandered and lied about EVEN MORE than Trump is. THE PHARISEES LIED ABOUT AND SLANDERED HIM IN HIS OWN TIME TO THE POINT WHERE THEY HAD HIM CRUCIFIED!
 
I’m not saying Trump is perfect, but those who whine about his Twitter antics miss the bigger picture and can, at best, be described as peacetime conservatives (if they are conservatives in the first place).
 
Galli then goes on to say how the impeachment hearings “made it clear” that Trump abused his power for personal gain and betrayed his oath of office. Allow me to return to the point about a false witness, because that is exactly what this guy and the “witnesses” during the hearings were doing.
 
The “witnesses” were not witnesses to anything. They did not witness Trump “abusing his power”. They were Leftist, elitist college professors who hated Trump. They were people who, at best, could only provide THIRD-HAND KNOWLEDGE about Trump and what he was doing. The hearings PROVED NOTHING which is precisely why impeachment became LESS popular AFTER the hearings.
 
Galli then ends by daring to say that Christians who support Trump should reevaluate their support:
 
“To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?”
 
A couple of points here. First, a “blackened moral record” means nothing if Trump is repentant of it.
 
King David had an affair with a married woman and then tried to cover up his immorality by sending the husband of said woman off to die at the frontlines of battle. Samson succumbed to temptation and slept with a woman who betrayed him and robbed him of the strength God had given him (temporarily). Saul of Tarsus hunted down and executed those who professed Jesus as the Messiah. Abraham got impatient with God and slept with his wife’s servant in order to have a child that was not promised to him. Solomon fell to idolatry. Peter denied Christ three times. Moses killed an Egyptian guard and fled justice for decades. Need I go on?
 
Look throughout the history of humanity and you will not find a single person who was free of sin, except literally Jesus Christ. EVERYONE has a blackened moral record, including me, including you, and including Galli. Romans 3:9-12 says the following: “What then? Are we Jews any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’”
 
President Donald J. Trump is a sinner. But guess what? SO IS EVERYONE ELSE! But that doesn’t matter if God has already forgiven us of our sins, through repentance. Only two people further condemn after repentance: Man and Satan. So it’s no wonder that Galli would continue to condemn Trump, despite his own iniquities.
 
If Christians “reverse course” on their support for Trump and await someone who does not have a history of sin, they will wait UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD. Only God is moral, only God is good, only God is without sin.
 
The second and final point I wish to make about Galli’s conclusion is that I find it interesting that Galli recognizes the evil that is abortion and yet, does not recognize that if Trump is brought down and defeated, that very evil will be unleashed and run amok worse than we have ever seen.
 
There isn’t a single person on the Democrat field that is against this evil of abortion. They all advocate and DEMAND abortion be easily-accessible, even in the third trimester and up until birth. Murder is the Democrat Party’s biggest agenda item and Donald Trump has been THE MOST PRO-LIFE PRESIDENT in recent history.
 
The Democrat Party is the party of Satan. With Trump out of the picture, they get to do whatever they want, pretty much. As much as I like Mike Pence and think he would make an excellent POTUS, he’s nowhere near as popular as Trump is. If Trump is removed from office, Pence likely would not be elected in 2020 and one of the Satan-worshippers would be.
 
This is what so-called anti-Trump “conservatives” and “Christians” fail to understand: get rid of Trump and the country belongs to Satan in the blink of an eye. This doesn’t just mean that abortion will be more rampant, but Christianity itself will be more heavily targeted and persecuted. For crying out loud, a man in Iowa was sentenced to 16 YEARS in prison for setting a pride flag THAT WAS HANGING ON A CHURCH on fire.
 
People might try and downplay the numerous conservative judges being placed by Trump, but it’s those conservative judges that can help Make America Great Again and keep injustice like that from occurring, because not only was that a clear violation of the 8th amendment, but also, the sentence was ADDED ONTO because it was considered hate speech by the Leftist judge, a clear violation of the FIRST amendment.
 
THAT is a far bigger threat to the constitution, the country and CHRISTIANS, than Trump asking for a foreign country to CONTINUE THE PREVIOUSLY HALTED INVESTIGATION THAT WAS HALTED BECAUSE OF AN ACTUAL QUID PRO QUO BY BIDEN.
 
Charging Trump with immorality when LITERALLY EVERY CANDIDATE ON THE LEFT WANTS TO BRING ABORTION-ON-DEMAND AND PERSECUTE ANY AND ALL DISSENTERS is not only incredibly stupid, but not exactly a Christian thing to do if Trump has repented of his sins, as I believe he has.

But again, I doubt Galli actually is a Christian, considering he holds the socialist and unbelieving Karl Barth in such a high regard. Mark Galli has no moral authority to say anything about anyone, let alone Trump or any Christian who supports him.
 
Romans 3:10
“As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one.’”
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

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.’”
 
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.

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.”
 
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.