You Get Rid of Religion...and You Can't Hire Enough Police

I believe it important to share Clay Christensen's profound video clip every once in awhile. It's only 90 seconds but its ever-relevant, ever-challenging. Watch it; reflect on it; share it.

"Why Protest Outside An Abortion Chamber?"

October was an unusual month for us and I share a few of those happenings in this edition of the Vital Signs Ministries news letter. But the primary feature of the letter is a brief essay which explains the 5 purposes served in a Christian's peaceful, prayerful protest of abortion chambers. 

Check it out at this link from the VSM website.

The Vital Signs Christmas Card Party!

VSM's Quarterly

Letter-Writing Party.

The 2025 Christmas Card Edition!

 Where and when?

On Saturday morning, November 22 at 10 at the Hartford home. Please let us know if you'd like to be a part of this festive, yet profoundly important, ministry.

The Targets

1) Brethren imprisoned for their faith in Jesus

We will create 3 Christmas cards for each of the 13 believers listed on the

Voice of the Martyrs website. We will divide the letter-writers into 3 groups on the morning of the brunch  with each group signing one of the 3 cards going to each prisoner. 

2) Other Prepared Cards

We will also have a few other cards that we will ask for everyone present to sign. For instance, we will be sending Christmas cards to certain activity directors in senior care facilities where we present “When Swing Was King,” thanking them for their assistance and encouragement. To have such cards signed by several people will be a special treat for them.

3) Advocacy

Take your pick of topics to address to political officials in the Senate and Congress and state: The sanctity of life? Religious freedom? Election integrity? Sexual sanity? Freedom of conscience, speech, and assembly? We will have some fact sheets and suggestions for you at the VSM brunch.

4) Thank-You Christmas Cards to the “Good Guys”

Take your pick. There are Christian ministries, political leaders, journalists, Christian schools, businesses that respect the Judeo-Christian heritage, and more. 

Making Prayer a Crime?

“So, are you praying?” asked the British policeman to the woman who had been standing quietly across the street from an abortion business in Birmingham.

“Well, I’m not saying anything.  But, yes, I’m praying in my mind.”

“So, you are praying?” the policeman repeated.

“Well, yes.”

“Then you’ll have to come to the station with us, ma’am.”  And he put Isabel Vaughn-Spruce, a local leader of 40 Days for Life, under arrest.

Tragically, denials of what have historically been the sacred freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, and conscience are happening more and more as leftist tyrants and their all-too-willing toadies in the press, schools, business, and government bureaucracies ramp up their intolerance of the ideals of Western civilization, Christianity, and Christians.

We have, of course, been dealing with this sad injustice for awhile now. Bakers, innkeepers, and florists are denied the freedoms of religion and conscience. Coaches cannot pray with their teams (no matter how willing the student/athletes are to do so) and valedictorians are not allowed to mention Jesus to their classmates. Wearing a Christian T-shirt gets you thrown out of the mall, the school, the public library, the company picnic. And on and on. 

Indeed, the arrest of Mrs. Vaughn-Spruce provoked a vivid reminder of a similar situation I encountered a few years ago outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.  It was the night before the March for Life and Claire and I were in town with three of our Omaha colleagues for the event.  

But on the night before the March, we had gone to spend a few minutes in prayer outside the U.S. Capitol, the Senate and Congressional offices, and now we were at the Supreme Court.  It was late.  It was very quiet.  There was no one besides the 5 of us on the whole plaza. But just a few seconds into our corporate prayer, one of the Supreme Court police (yes, they’ve got their own) interrupted us and told us that we couldn’t pray there. Though incredulous and angry, I was calm, respectful, and very courteous in my response…as was he. Here’s how it went:

“Officer, thanks for checking on us. But let me ask, did I hear you correctly that we aren’t allowed to pray here?”

“That’s right.”

“Good grief. May I respectfully ask by what authority you make this remarkably un-American demand?”

The Supreme Court policeman was a bit disconcerted.  “Look, I know it doesn’t seem right but they’ve told us not to let crowds gather here or to let anyone do any demonstrating.”

“Officer,” I spoke gently, “are you considering five people a crowd, especially when we’re the only ones in this whole plaza?  And do you really interpret the five of us quietly standing here a demonstration? And I haven’t even mentioned you telling us we can’t pray!”

“I know it doesn’t seem right, sir. But I’m just following orders.”

“Okay, let me ask you this -- when I saw you coming across the plaza, it looked to me like you were already determined to chase us away.  But what if we were simply tourists enjoying the sights of D.C.? Would you have ordered us to leave?”

“No, of course not; that would have been fine.  But I could tell that you were praying by the way you had your heads bowed.”

“Wow; that’s interesting. So, let me get this straight; you’re suggesting that it wasn’t the prayer itself that bothered you. It was seeing us in a posture of prayer.”

“Yes, I guess so.  Because the way you looked, anybody could see that you were praying. And that’s I when I could get in trouble.”

“Got it. But I’ll bet you’ll agree with me that with all the murders and the rapes and the robberies in this city, you’ve got to feel at least a little silly for telling us that praying in this empty place at night is the crime you’re determined to prevent.” He looked kinda’ crestfallen at that and so I followed up quickly, “Look, I’ve got an idea. You and I are not going to settle here tonight the Constitutional legality of our freedom to assembly. And I have no desire to get you or me or any of my friends here in trouble. So, here’s my suggestion.  Why don’t you walk away and leave us alone for another few minutes.  I promise we won’t get on our knees or bow our heads or intertwine our fingers.  We will look just like tourists -- tourists that are simply appreciating the beauty of the Supreme Court lit up at night and thinking about the things it has traditionally stood for…things like, say religious freedom and other stuff!  Then you walk back by here in ten minutes and we will be gone. What do you say?

“I guess that would be okay.  ‘Cause, you know, I don’t want to be a hard-case about all this.  Still, I’m pretty sure that when I walk away, you folks will probably start praying again.”

I smiled.  “But, officer, even if we were so bold to do that, you wouldn’t know.  Nobody would know.  And why? Because you came over here and warned us against assuming a posture of prayer. Mission was accomplished. I promise we won’t do that.  And, like I said, we’ll just be here a few minutes more.  How about it?”

The fellow paused a moment.  “Okay, goodnight, folks.”  He finally walked away and left us to finish our prayers (abstaining from a prayer posture, of course) before we headed back to our hotel. It was a memorable night, for even though we managed to escape penalties for praying in the public square, it was a clear warning of what was coming. And, as I suggested, that incident came back in a rush when I watched the video of Mrs. Vaughn-Spruce’s arrest.  “So, you are praying?  Then you’ll have to come with us.”

My friends, because of the accelerating hatred of the world for God and because the Church has cowardly surrendered so much of her responsibilities to live holy, separated lives as well as to lovingly speak truth into the culture, this is going to keep happening. The powers that be will tell us -- “Sure, it’s fine to have your religion. We will graciously allow that. However, your religion must be a totally private (even secret) thing that finds no expression whatsoever in the public square, the schools, the marketplace, politics, the local library, etc. And, as long as your convictions give way before the ideals (and compulsory orders) of Science, Progress, the State, and the “enlightened elite,” you can feel as many religious feelings as you’d like. ‘Cause, you know, we don’t want to be a hard-case about all this.”  

Lord, have mercy. Help us to hold on tight to a heavenly perspective regarding the trials of living all-out for You. Please be our strength and shield as we pursue godliness in our personal lives and as we undertake the light-bearing responsibilities we have been given as Your ambassadors.

There Are Wolves in the World

"Brothers and sisters, there are wolves in the world — ravenous, treacherous, and relentless wolves in the world. These beasts are also proud, wicked, and full of bloodlust. And, make no mistake, their frantic passions are ever-increasing to kill and devour, to spread panic and despair..."

The rest of the September letter from Vital Signs Ministries is right here.

Denny & Claire Join Nebraska Right to Life at the State Fair

Earlier this week, Claire and I enjoyed once again the opportunity to help out Nebraska Right to Life by manning their information booth at the State Fair in Grand Island. We took the Monday evening shift and the Tuesday morning opening shift and, as always, we were honored to partner with the excellent pro-life champions of NRL. And an added blessing this year was having friends join us for the outreach – Ralph & Carolyn Tate on Monday night and Virgil and Becky Patlan for the Tuesday morning shift. That was great. 

Among the highlights of these shifts were a lot of wonderful conversations with teenagers -- teenagers from Nebraska Christian School, from a community of special needs kids in Hastings, several musicians from a variety of the high school marching bands who were at the Fair that day, from a nearby high school which was using the Fair as a field trip, and more. 

But we also had plenty of profitable visits with adults, including people wanting the free fetal models we were offering, Christians who wanted to come by and thank us for being there at the Fair, a number of curious vendors who had booths in the building, a goodly number who agreed to sign our petition urging Congress to completely defund Planned Parenthood ASAP, and many casual conversations with people who were drawn by our pro-life information, video, fetal models…and our winsome selves!

Thank you, Father, for the opportunity to serve You and the cause of “the least of these” through this important outreach. And please protect, encourage, and use for Your wise purposes all who will be serving at the NRL booth for the rest of this year’s State Fair.

Letter-Party Update (With Examples!)

A couple of days ago, the Vital Signs Ministries quarterly letter-writing parties were held at our home with 7 letter-writers in attendance at both the morning and evening editions. And beyond those present, there are a couple more concerned Christians who will be using our information to write letters themselves in the next few days. (And we sure hope you might join them Just let us know and we will send you the target sheet and the appropriate address list.)

Our targets this time around? Here’s the prepared list:

1)) To the President, Cabinet members, Senators, and Congress: Abortion Pill...F.A.C.E. Act... Persecution of Christians...Confirming Trump’s nominees...   Pursuit & prosecutions regarding RussiaGate...Getting out of the United Nations...Border policies...Lawlessness...etc.

2) To the President, Cabinet members, Senators, and Congress: “Attaboy” messages: thanks, encouragement, prayer reminders (and reminders of unfinished business)

3) To friends, pro-life heroes, Christian ministries, and others: “Attaboy” messages: thanks, encouragement, prayer reminders

4) To the Nebraska Attorney General: Opposing abortion pills, the effect of abortion pill “shield laws,” lawlessness, and 7-OH (“gas station heroin”)

5) To the Texas Governor: Appreciation and encouragement for redistricting actions

6) To Disney/ABC and Steve Harvey: Protest of Celebrity Family Feud

7) To Chip & Joanna Gaines: Protesting their promotion of same-sex “marriage”

8) To Fox News: Enough of the establishment media and “bikini body” stories

9) To companies retreating from DEI & LGBTQ foolishness: Good move (so far)

10) To Congress, Nebraska AG: “Gas Station Heroin”

And how about a few sample letters from our efforts? Here you go...

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you, President Trump for all the ways you are making America great again! However, I do want you to pursue further and faster getting rid of the FACE Act and stopping the distribution of the deadly abortion pill. In our ministry we are working hard every day to help moms and their babies and seniors who have been discarded by our society; we are asking you to please help us in that enormous but oh-so-critical mission. Thank you, Mr. President. CH

Dear Secretary Kennedy,

Thank you very much for opening an investigation into abortion pills. Unlike medicines which help diagnose, cure, or prevent disease, these pills kill innocent babies as well as endangering the lives and damaging the health of the mothers. Please continue to lead a thorough investigation to uncover and reveal the truth about abortion pills. As a Christian, I thank God for and pray for you. Thank you for seeing if the pills can at least be regulated if not banned. Thank you very much. Sincerely, IS

To Nate Grasz and the team at Nebraska Family Alliance who are continuing to fight the good fight,

Thank you is not adequate but, nevertheless, thank you for all you are doing to stand for righteousness in these days. God sees you as you honor Him. Thank you for continuing to seek Him for wisdom and discernment. He will continue before you, guide, and strengthen you as you serve Him. Thanks to His work through you, great things are happening in Nebraska. With love and respect. MR

Dear Tractor Supply,

I am so pleased that you changed your unfair DEI policies and got back to hiring people who are best at what they do. We have a Tractor Supply store near us and I will enjoy ending our boycott and going back to shopping there. Thanks again. Good move! CH

To Director Gabbard,

I want to thank you for your hard work in declassifying documents that demonstrate the high crimes that have been committed by our intelligence agencies against the American people and against President Trump. This is incredibly important work that you are doing and we can but imagine the fierce headwinds that oppose you -- spiritual and natural. I want you to know that I am very grateful and I pray for you regularly that you would have divine strategy and courage and guidance. I also pray that God will guard your heart soul and body. Regards, JM

Dear Disney/ABC,

Okay, so I do not watch your channels. Well, not since the days of Fess Parker portraying Davy Crockett anyway. And I suppose I still feel a bit disappointed because my sleeveless shirt didn’t fit the dress code of Disneyland back in 1968. However, it is now on grounds of morality that I will be speaking to family, friends, and fellow church members about the debased nature of your programs in recent years. I have cautioned folks before, but this most recent travesty was really over-the-top. I’m referring to the episode of Celebrity Family Feud in which profane innuendos were exchanged between the supposedly Christian host Steve Harvey and an all-transgender team who were trying to win money for prostitutes! Good grief! When I first heard of this, I figured it was some kind of spoof, something cooked up by SNL or the Babylon Bee. But alas, I discovered it was all too true.

And so, I will be encouraging my friends to drop ABC, drop Disney, drop any plans they might have had for your amusement parks and merchandise, and to pass the word along to others. Please reverse course. You have already shamed Mickey and Minnie and Goofy and all the rest by your bizarre actions, so please stop it. And reverse course. DH

Dear President Trump, 

I want to thank you for your tireless efforts in the many areas that you are trying to build back America, including fighting against the satanic influences that are staining and endangering our country. We pray for you and your entire cabinet that God will bless your efforts. I especially applaud your support of Israel since they are the most obvious indicator that God is in control of history and that His plan (as shown in the Bible) is heading towards its ultimate climax. God bless you and your family. Ephesians 2:8-9 JL

To the John Deere Company, 

This letter is to express my appreciation for your company’s decision to retreat from the DEI and LGBTQ foolishness you had been following. Your changed position will certainly prove to convince consumers that supporting your company once again is a good thing -- and it will result in financial success for your company as well. Thanks again. Respectfully, MW

Dear Secretary Hegseth,

Thank you very much for defending the United States. Especially thank you for supporting Israel, stopping Iran, and containing Russia. I’m a Christian and a Republican...and I pray for you and others in the government. Please continue to support a strong stand for our ally Israel and defend them against their enemies. Please also do what it takes to stop Putin in Ukraine. Thank you for stopping so many extreme terrorists and, in doing so, making the United States and the world a safer place. Sincerely, IS

Dear Vice-President Vance,

Thanks for your bold, inspirational leadership. You are providing our nation -- and the world -- the kind of honest, courageous, and relevant service we have so long needed. Stay the course!

A few of the issues that most concern me? Much stricter regulation of the abortion pill... the repeal of the FACE act...the diligent pursuit of lawbreakers including the lying schemers behind RussiaGate...the complete and permanent defunding of the mega-abortion corporation, Planned Parenthood...serving as the best advocate of persecuted Christians (both here and abroad)...and getting a real grip on the lawlessness that so sadly marks our nation nowadays. Thank you for your attention to these matters. DH

Dear AG Mike Hilgers,

I’m writing to express my concern over the sale of “gas station heroin” (7-hydroxymitragynine, aka 7-OH) in some retail outlets in our state. The incredible risks to our youth need to be addressed quickly. Thank you. JL 

PS: I am also very opposed to abortion pills and their distribution in the state. What can be done about that?

Governor Pillen,

I have recently become aware of a new opioid threat to our community. 7-OH,  a derivative of the kratom plant which is reportedly 13 times as potent as morphine! This product is sold and marketed to children in the form of candy flavored gummies. I’ve asked Attorney General Hilgers and want to ask you as well -- is there anything we can do about this product? The thought of our young people being harmed by this is just too much. I hope we can do something...and soon! Regards, JM

Texas Governor Greg Abbott,

Thanks for your strong leadership for conservative values and the rule of law in your state. It is so refreshing to have governors stand up to the whiny, America-belittling, America-blaming Democrats. Keep it up! We are praying for you. CH

Dear Mr. Lindstrom,

As citizens from the district you represented well when in the Nebraska Unicameral, we are very interested in your candidacy for Nebraska’s 2nd District in the U.S. Congress. However, we were disappointed that we were unable to find anywhere on your website a strong and clear statement regarding your pro-life position. Did we miss something? Or perhaps, are you missing something; namely, the chance to underscore your pro-life positions which we know would attract and energize the pro-life organizations, churches, and communities which will be necessary for your successful candidacy? Sincerely, DH

An Open Letter Regarding Pro-lIfe Measures & Leftist Propaganda

Versions of the following letter are being sent to Senators Fischer and Ricketts, Congressman Bacon, President Trump, and Vice-President Vance. I encourage you to consider writing similar advocacy correspondence.

Dear Senator Fischer,

I wrote last week on behalf of Vital Signs Ministries here in Omaha, asking for your energetic support of the pro-life priorities which remain after the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill” -- the complete and permanent de-funding of the mega-abortion profiteer that is Planned Parenthood, repeal of the F.A.C. E. Act, a serious scaling back of the poisonous abortion drugs that are killing millions of preborn children as well as severely injuring so many of those children’s mothers, and increased conscience protection for those who refuse to perjure their souls by supporting in any way such blasphemous actions as abortion or sexual perversion.

Thank you, Senator Fischer, for your prayerful attention to those concerns.

However, I also wanted to send along my concerns about a few other important issues, issues that are of grave concern to conservatives across the nation. 1) Would you please co-sponsor and work for the passage of S.669, Disengaging Entirely From the United Nations Debacle Act of 2025 or the DEFUND Act of 2025.

And 2) Would you please join in the move to reverse the historical revisionism, leftist ideologies, and anti-religious trends which have marked the progressives’ control of the Smithsonian, the National Art Gallery, and the National Park Service?

Again, thank you.

The Latest Word...On Letters

No, we don’t wait for P.A.L. Nights (Vital Signs Ministries quarterly series of letter-writing parties) to express through letters and cards our education and advocacy, our gratitude and encouragement, and our protest. Indeed, our letters represent an important -- and continual -- opportunity to shine our lights for Jesus Christ, to be a preservative seasoning in our culture, and to “do justice” in practical ways. So, they are too valuable a witness to lay idle in between those letter-writing parties. Of course, we look forward to our P.A.L. Nights (we have actually have added morning editions nowadays) and we sure hope you plan on joining us for our next scheduled letter-writing parties on August 5.

As I said, however, we make it a regular part of our week to engage in a bit of “correspondence outreach” and, from time to time, I share examples here on Vital Signs Blog. Here are 3 of the latest. (And note -- When most relevant, I provide links to articles that give you fuller picture of the situation that prompted my letters.)

1) Dear Nebraska University,

Just a quick note to add my disappointment and protest of the contemptible bigotry demonstrated by the drag performance mocking the Catholic mass for which the university rewarded a doctoral degree from the Glenn Korff School of Music. Though not a Catholic, I find it deeply troubling for such an intentionally blasphemous program to be sponsored by the university.

Catholic group demands U. Nebraska ‘held accountable’ for drag show mocking Mass (Gabrielle Temaat, Catholic Fix)

2) Dear National Park Service,

 Please stop the programs of ideological fix the foolish historical revisionism you’ve begun with the Mellon Foundation and others regarding as in the changes in the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. These plans, as currently expressed, show a terrible lack of concern for historical accuracy as well as for the good of the Republic.

A Woke Jefferson Memorial?: The National Park Service should halt current efforts to make the memorial’s once-excellent basement museum into a condemnation of the author of the Declaration of Independence. (Jeffrey H. Anderson, City Journal)

3) Versions of the following letter were sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson, members of the Nebraska delegation, and President Trump.

Dear ------------------

Well, the "Big Beautiful Bill' has passed. Thank you for your efforts. However, that bill failed to address many of the yet-critical disasters created by previous administrations. And I'm appealing to you to finally make these things true priorities in the next phase of legislative action.

1) The complete and permanent de-funding of the mega-abortion profiteer that is Planned Parenthood. 

2) Repeal of the F.A.C. E. act.

3) A serious scaling back of the poisonous abortion drugs that are killing millions of preborn children as well as severely injuring so many of those children's mothers.

4) Increased conscience protection for those who refuse to perjure their souls by supporting in any way such blasphemous actions as abortion or sexual perversion.

Where Did It All Come From?

There are really only two options in the end. Either there is a personal God Who made everything (carefully, purposefully and in keeping with His moral character) or everything is mere meaninglessness, an absurd collision of matter and chance to which the only authentic response is despair.

How incomparably sweet then that the revelation of Holy Scripture corresponds to the overwhelming evidence of the world, the moral conscience, and the universal longing of the human heart in acknowledging that God is there…and He is not silent.

Praying for the U.K.

In reading about the ongoing troubles in the United Kingdom of late (especially their horrid troubles involving violent crime, the wholesale repression of free speech and Christian expression, the government's embrace of abortion, and increasingly ugly anti-Semitism), I decided to write a few of our friends in in that country. And because it underlines specific prayer points that might stimulate others to uphold our brethren there, I decided to print it.

Just a quick word from your old friends in the States. It is first of all, a word of thanks for your ongoing testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ -- a testimony of faith, integrity, and wise investment in His everlasting Kingdom which has stimulated so many to “love and good deeds” in Christ’s Name. We are grateful to be among that company. 

Secondly, we send a word of encouragement regarding the increased lawlessness and speech restrictions you have been encountering. I would love to join in the optimism that believes such conditions will be only temporary. After all, such policies are so blatantly unjust and reveal such remarkable hypocrisy and irrationality that one might expect them to collapse from their own weight of folly. But alas, as we know all too well, such assessments often clash with the realities of a modern culture that is immersed in what our dear brother Francis Schaefer would have called “stupid-wicked.” Furthermore, the Scriptures describe the earth’s “last days” to be full of disdain for Christian doctrine and values, and we may be seeing these prophetic Scriptures coming to pass in our day. 

Therefore, though we are fervently praying that the UK (and Europe) may yet come out of this tailspin, the encouragement we send you is of a deeper, stronger quality. It is simply this: Jesus is the Lord of our salvation; He is the conquering King Who sustains His children in all troubles; and He is the Lord of hosts who defeats evil and death even as He ushers the redeemed souls (with their glorified bodies, of course) to the paradise He has carefully prepared for them. It’s a paradise where they will live victoriously, harmoniously, and amid peace and beauty and marvelous splendor forevermore! Hallelujah! 

Appreciating these grand promises are of the utmost importance for us if we desire to withstand the attacks launched at us from this polluted and pernicious culture. And we need to embrace those promises in order to effectively, consistently hold high our Lord’s banner as the standard of hope for all who have yet to bow the knee and receive Christ as Savior. And as the darkness deepens, our light shines all the more brilliantly.

No, I’m afraid that these closing days of our spiritual pilgrimage will not be very easy or comfortable. After all, the challenges posed by aging and marginalization, the sadness resulting from disappointments and bereavement, and the grievous changing of the world we once knew into one that is more crude, corrupt, and cruel must undoubtedly make for some difficult days. Yet, in the Lord’s noble plans and by the Spirit’s empowerment, they can yet be our very best days as we intensify our relationship with our returning King -- and as we seek to share wisely and winsomely His glorious, liberating light to others.

We are stepping up our prayers for our brethren across the globe (including those tempted by timidity and carnality here in the United States) but Claire and I wanted to write our pals in the UK to let you know we have a special interest in your well-being and your ministries. We have been asking God 1) to protect you from the evil one, 2) to lift burdens from your hearts and strengthen your faith, 3) to answer the prayers of your hearts concerning your family, and 4) to grant you peace and health and triumphant joy.

Finally, we want to remind you that if you’re ever looking for a little respite, a little re-charging of your spiritual batteries, we have a guest room here that is all ready for you! And with it comes a well-stocked kitchen and even a dependable vehicle by which you could “tool around” the lovely city of Omaha, Nebraska! Indeed, we would love to have you visit.

Stay the course, dear friends. Our redemption most truly does draw nigh.

Are Prayers About Politics Important?

In addition to a Christian’s prayers of worship and gratitude, prayers for spiritual guidance and empowerment, prayers for gospel breakthroughs and victories in one’s daily spiritual battles, and intercessory prayers on behalf of loved ones, should we even consider prayers touching politics and culture? Are such pedestrian, secular matters “spiritual enough” for our prayers? 

Well, let’s hear from the apostle Paul:

“Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior...I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” (I Timothy 2:1-3, 8) And...

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phillipians 4:6,7)

Well, there you go! This is why I have begun to occasionally post prayer targets relevant to our cultural moment. (See Vital Signs Blog posts “For the Watchmen on the Walls: Prayer and Advocacy Priorities for 2025” (December 13); “After the Election -- Round 2 (Including My Top 10 Pro-Life Requests of the New Administration)” (November 21); and “After the Sigh of Relief: 7 Post-Election Observations” (November 8) as examples.)

To join me in this prayer project takes only a minute or two -- just about the time it takes to read through the list.  So, now that you get the idea, I hope you’ll join me in this prayer opportunity. 

* The Islamic jihadists and the Communists are stepping up their violent persecution of Your Church, Lord. Please stay the hands of the wicked even as You pour out Your abundant grace and power upon Your people. Also, we entreat You to push back the increasing attacks on Your people in the West too.

* Revelations of just how odious and corrupt the Deep State has become continue to shock and alarm Americans. Lord Jesus, as You cleansed the Jerusalem Temple of malevolent men, please clean out the “bad guys” working on America’s destruction from the secret, sorted halls of power. Bring to light the darkness and decadence of these villains. And rally more and more citizens (especially church leaders) to oppose the demonic schemes of this Deep State.  

* As if the Russia/Ukraine war wasn’t enough...and the evil machinations of Iran and other Arab terrorists against Israel were not enough...and the saber rattling of such evil regimes as China and North Korea were not enough --- now we have India firing missiles at terrorists in Pakistan! Dear Father God, bring peace to our troubled world. Most of all, we pray that the Prince of Peace Himself will enter the hearts of many, many people as they see the effects of sin in the world and turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and saving faith.

* Freedom of speech is under terrible attack not only in Communist and Islamic nations, but even in places like the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. Lord, please clear the paths of freedom and come strong against the father of lies who is so intently fighting against truth -- truth of any sort and any degree -- being broadcast. And, speaking of lies...Lord, please  dismantle the “establishment media” and especially let Your people begin to connect to healthy, honest news sources.

* Thank You Lord for the increased revelations about the squalor, illegality, meanness, and barbaric bloodshed practiced by Planned Parenthood. Please bring these strongholds of abortion to total ruin. And bring the lies that are promoting and protecting the killing of our preborn kids (including those dying horrific deaths by cruel and poisonous pills) ever more to the devastating light of Your truth.

3 Requests of President Trump

Dear President Trump,

I want to again express my ongoing appreciation for your principled efforts to “make America great again.” You have shown the United States -- and the world -- just how absolutely inept and corrupt has been the Deep State. 

More important, you have boldly, patriotically taken the first steps to bring us out of that dismal swamp. Yes, the despots who inhabit that malevolent morass are desperately fighting back, but we are among the millions who are praying that you stay the course...and that even more Americans (including Democrats) will awaken to the critical cultural war that is directed against you and your team. Don’t give up, Mr. President. Stay the course and may God weaken the hands that would keep our nation in bondage to “the baronial bureaucracy” and tinpot judges.

Let me also use this brief note to make 3 appeals -- two of them quite serious and the other related to your service as Director of the Kennedy Center. Here they are:

1) Would you please increase your efforts to defund Planned Parenthood? And please do so ASAP!

2) Please know that Nebraska conservatives are greatly embarrassed by our 2nd District Congressman’s sudden desperation to be petted by the “cool kids” of the establishment press. His petty, naive, and poorly presented criticisms of you and your administration’s efforts to right the ship of state have been odious. We apologize for him. However, I do ask that you mark Don Bacon as one of those sort-of Republicans who need a strong conservative opponent to face him in the next primary.

3) Okay, about the Kennedy Center matter. What about a program celebrating the recent collaboration with Marty Stuart’s unparalleled collection of country music memorabilia and the Country Music Hall of fame? It was a truly noble and historic action on Stuart’s part and it would make an excellent opportunity to show off this all-American genre of music. Why not bring to Washington, D.C a celebration that would feature Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives alongside with such other beloved performers as George Strait, Ricky Skaggs, Dolly Parton, and the Oak Ridge Boys?

That’s it for now, Mr. President. And again, hang in there. America -- and the world that would be free -- are counting on you!

“The Earth Is the Lord’s” -- Arbor Day vs Earth Day

In 1872, right here in the state of Nebraska, a journalist turned politician began a campaign that he hoped would help stabilize and beautify the rather sparse landscape of his state.  The man was a Nebraska City resident who believed that such a campaign would be a good idea in other places too.  And it was.

J. Sterling Morton’s call for tree husbandry was answered by the National Agricultural Convention meeting in St. Louis that year and by numerous municipalities, newspaper editors, and thousands of citizens.  The result was that the very first Arbor Day, April 22, saw almost a million trees planted.

But though J. Sterling Morton was a tree planter extraordinaire, he was not a tree hugger.  His attitude towards the natural world was the traditional one; namely, that the earth was the Lord’s and man, acting as God’s servant, was to effectively oversee nature, to subdue it in a rational way, to beautify it, and properly benefit from it.

Morton was thus acting in accordance with the biblical mandate -- the program originally given to Adam in the garden of Eden -- a call to responsibly appreciate, nurture, and enjoy the created things with which God had adorned the earth.

And most of the people who answered the challenge of Arbor Day were operating in the same spirit.  They were planting trees because trees were good things.  They bore fruit that man could eat.  They helped with soil conservation and provided protection from wind.  And they were pretty.

These people understood that trees were pleasant and productive plants, but they were for man’s use.  They were good things, not fellow souls.

Indeed, J. Sterling Morton (a conservative Democrat who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Grover Cleveland and whose son became a prominent Republican who was Secretary of the Navy under Theodore Roosevelt) was a faithful Episcopalian.  His understanding of the monumental difference between man (created in the express image of God) and nature (created for the enjoyment and benefit of man) was part of the basic Christian worldview.

The kind of conservation ethic he represented was rational, healthy, far-seeing, and well-rooted in sound environmental ideas.  It was the same enlightened conservation ethic of farmers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, of visionaries like Johnny Appleseed, and conservation champions like Teddy Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell, and other sportsmen who led the way in establishing our national parks and wildlife refuges. It was part of the longstanding tradition of taking care of the environment for man’s use -- not for nature’s sake.  It was the perspective of the farmer, the rancher, the hunter, and fisherman that we all be responsible and take care of the environment in order that man -- both in the now and in the future -- may be best served.   

Thus, Arbor Day was (and, by the way, still is) a responsible event, one that calls for individual volunteer efforts rather than government coercion.  In fact, the people associated with Arbor Day are decidedly apolitical.  “The only stand we take,” says an official with the Arbor Day Foundation, “is that it’s a great thing to plant trees.”  No demands for government intrusion.  No insistence on group think.  No call for Nanny State regulations and taxes. No worshipping Gaia or Mother Earth.

What a dramatic difference this is from the “holiday” that has tried to bully its way over and past Arbor Day, the extremely political, propagandist, and manipulative event that pirated the same day, April 22, and now tries to crowd out the very memory of Arbor Day. That event of course, is Earth Day. Or as the United Nations calls it -- International Mother Earth Day. To be sure, this newly-invented, politically-charged “holiday” is often dominated by socialist (even pantheistic) tenets and, therefore, absolutely ignores who the true heroes of American environmentalism are; namely, those hunters, fishermen, and other genuine conservationists mentioned earlier. 

And, of course, International Mother Earth Day also ignores the innumerable passages in Holy Scripture which deal with God as the Creator and Sovereign King of the earth...and those which testify to the glory of Almighty God that is revealed in His creation...and those which exhort men to carefully serve as responsible stewards of the natural order...and the eventual destruction of the earth which occurs not through man’s ecological failure, but rather by the holy judgment of God. 

The last item, by the way, occurs just before God creates a new heaven and, yes, a brand new earth. 

International Mother Earth Day vs Arbor Day? For the Bible-based Christian, the choice is an obvious and easy one.

A Weekend of Import

It was a good weekend highlighted by a stimulating Vital Signs Book Brunch on Saturday morning and an inspiring Palm Sunday church service at Aksarben Village Senior Living on Sunday afternoon. The brunch event saw Diane, Mary and Christopher, Ruth, Karla, and Claire and I discussing Randy Alcorn’s terrific Lord Foulgrins’s Letters over coffee and tea -- and pumpkin muffins and cream puffs and lemon tarts and chocolate chip cookies! This book, following the approach taken by C.S. Lewis in his classic The Screwtape Letters, presents remarkably enlightening and challenging theological truths in a very practical, even entertaining way. And, even though the book was originally published in 2000, its applications are remarkably relevant to today’s culture and to an individual Christian’s spiritual pilgrimage.

Randy Alcorn is a Bible-centered teacher in both his nonfiction works (Heaven; Happiness; Money, Possessions, and Eternity; Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?; Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments; The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving; If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil) as well as his also bestselling  fiction (Deadline; Dominion; Deception; Edge of Eternity; The Ishbane Conspiracy; Safely Home) and I appreciate all of his work. Nevertheless, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters is special. Yes, like Randy Alcorn, I’m a big fan of C.S. Lewis and I have long cherished Screwtape. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the great value of Lord Foulgrin’s Letters and I recommend it without reservation.

And then our church service at Aksarben deserves highlight status as well. Our YouTube music selections this week were quality plus -- Southern Raised doing an acappella rendering of “I Need Thee Every Hour,” The Isaacs singing “The Goodness of God,” and the Gracias Choir and Orchestra performing “Majesty.” My brief sermon covered Matthew 21: 8-15 (“The King Arrives in His City”) as we examined the difference between the expectations of the people for a "National Liberation Day” from Roman rule and what the Messiah actually offered; namely, a spiritual kingdom, forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of the Temple, and the healing of the blind and the lame. It’s an exciting passage of Scripture, indeed. And, as usual, our fellowship time afterwards was grand -- enjoying drinks and treats and visiting for 30-45 minutes or so. There were 15 residents yesterday at church and there were quite a few in the Vital Signs team to help: Allen, Ruth, Tom, Pat, and Mary. Like I said, a very good weekend.

And now this week? It is starting out fabulously also as the Lord allowed me to safely drive our seriously ailing Hyundai to the dealer to see if it can finally be fixed. Thank you, Father, for getting me here without serious trouble. And now I await Claire picking me up to head down to Lincoln for our “When Swing Was King” show at Legacy Terrace and then lunch at the Engine House with good friends Harold and Mary Dee Berry. 

The Top 5 (April 12)

1) “With Loss of Power in Congress, the Left Turns to Theatrics” (Victor Davis Hanson, Daily Signal)

From the article -- I’ve mentioned in other videos that there’s been a poverty among the Democratic Party of constructive criticism, alternate agendas to President Donald Trump.

In other words, without power in the Congress or the White House or the Supreme Court, they’ve turned to theatrics or performance art, street violence, the Teslas, cutting videos with potty-mouth senators, profanity, trying to disrupt Congress, keying Teslas, threatening people. This huge 1,400 protest—I shouldn’t say they’re huge, they were actually quite small. You know, “Hands Off.”

It’s kind of funny. I see these people in their late 60s and early 70s, mostly white people, and they seem to have the same signs, the same agenda, and they leave at the same time. They kind of look like my baby boomer group. And I always think back when I was at UC Santa Cruz in 1971 and I see these people. I said, “I would think you were the people that I went to school with. And you were doing that when you were 18, 19, and 20, and you haven’t changed. You’ve learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”

2) “Don’t Be Neutral on Abortion” (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Ministries)

From the article -- With all of this, however, what I find most revolting about MOD’s official statement is the shameful arrogance of using this weasel word in the first place. Really? Neutral on abortion? Neutral on the practice of poisoning and/or dismemberment of millions of living preborn boys and girls? Of course, the March of Dimes knows better than any the facts of embryology. They are also well aware of the horrific measures utilized to kill these little kids. And yet they have no inclination or time, no honesty or moral sensitivity to make a judgment on abortion -- the most barbaric and horrific crime in all history? This is utterly irrational...as well as immoral.

And yet, as remarkably stupid and depraved as the MOD’s posturing is, I am grieved to say that oh-so-many Christian churches in the West have followed a not dissimilar policy. Let’s face it -- for several decades now, abortionists have been torturing and murdering preborn boys and girls at an incalculable rate. And with barely a ripple of protest. Does anyone believe then that the Church’s response to this malevolent madness has been what God wanted from us?

Haven’t we tended to be weak and timid and compromising in our response to this evil? After all, this holocaust hasn’t been perpetrated underground; it’s not been a campaign of violence occurring across an ocean. The abortion mills are in our neighborhoods. And Planned Parenthood and its ilk are in our schools and libraries, in our Girl Scout chapters and social service agencies, and, due to immense government funding using our tax dollars, in our wallets.

3) “Catholicism on the Decline in the US: There is a crisis of belief in the Catholic Church. Will the priests and bishops of America remedy that?” (S.A. McCarthy, American Spectator)

From the article -- Less than two-thirds of Catholics said that they are sure that God exists. However, while nearly 90 percent of Catholics said that they believe in Heaven, less than 70 percent said that they believe in Hell. Only 21 percent of Catholics said that they consider themselves very religious, 55 percent said that they are somewhat religious, and nearly a quarter (24 percent) said that they are not really religious or not religious at all.

According to these numbers and Pew Research’s 2007 data, Catholicism is on the decline in America. Not only do fewer Americans identify as Catholic, but those who do are less involved in the practice of their faith. In 2007, nearly 60 percent of Catholics said that they prayed daily, as opposed to 13 percent who said that they rarely or never prayed; meanwhile, over 40 percent of Catholics said that they attend Mass every Sunday, as opposed to 19 percent who said that they rarely or never attended Mass.

With such low shares of the Catholic population practicing or really even knowing about their faith, it should come as little surprise that many self-professed Catholics have abandoned the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nearly 60 percent of self-professed Catholics said that abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances and less than 40 percent said that abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances; in 2007, 48 percent of self-professed Catholics said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 45 percent said that it should be illegal. In 2007, 57 percent of self-professed Catholics said that they support same-sex marriage. That share has risen to 70 percent today. The Catholic Church declares both abortion and homosexual acts to be grave sins.

4) “Teachers Need to Ditch Their Union: Teachers' unions are bad for teachers, students, and taxpayers.” (Larry Sand, American Greatness)

From the article -- When teachers join a union, they are joining three—their local, state, and national affiliates. And the bulk of their dues money is not going where they think it goes. The NEA currently siphons off $213 yearly, but most of the money goes to the state affiliate. In the Golden State, the California Teachers Association, the NEA’s state partner, grabs $816 yearly. There is no set amount for the local union; however, it is typically about $200 per annum.

How does the union spend the dues? As explained by Mailee Smith, Illinois Policy Institute’s senior director of labor policy, the NEA’s spending on politics and other contributions is more than four times higher than its spending on representation, with just 9% of its expenditures on teacher representation, which should be its core focus.

And just who benefits from the political spending? As Open Secrets discloses, in 2024, NEA spent $22,744,023 on politics, with 98.24% going to Democrats and a paltry 1.76% going to Republicans.

5) “The Vatican’s Embrace of Sex Change Mutilation Suggests We’re at a Maccabees Moment” (John Zmirak, The Stream)

From the article -- All Christians face a Maccabees moment right now, but Catholics face it in a very pointed way: We actually have a high priest (pontifex maximus) in Pope Francis. Given his authority to teach and rule, his status is even higher than the chief priest’s in Jerusalem’s Temple: According to Catholic tradition, a pope stands almost in the same role that Moses did to the Israelites, as the trustworthy interpreter of divine revelation to the faithful.

Our current Moses isn’t handing down God’s commandments, alas. As Jules Gomes reported here a few days ago, Pope Francis’s doctrine cop, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s old job), has blown up a key Christian doctrine: God’s creation of human beings as men and women.

Up till now, the Catholic church has firmly and without wavering denounced the hormonal disruptions and surgical mutilations promoted by our psychological establishment to “treat” gender dysphoria by remaking the body to match the mind’s sad delusions. Now Fernández has ruled that there are exceptions to this teaching in cases of “strong dysphorias that can lead to an unbearable existence or even suicide.”

Here Fernández is simply repeating a favorite talking point of the transgender industry: that the grotesque procedures necessary to torture a male body to look female, or vice versa, are often the only alternative to suicide. Research has proved this claim false again and again, but don’t expect that to matter. Claiming that resistance to transgenderism threatens the lives of those who suffer dysphoria is key to winning a highly political battle. Fernández is on the Enemy’s side in that battle — and evidently Francis is as well.

“Don’t Be Neutral on Abortion”

In this month’s edition of the Vital Signs Ministries newsletter,

Denny talks about the March of Dimes’ “neutrality on abortion” and the extreme moral danger of Christians adopting the same attitude. 

Check it out at this link.

A Few Words from Sam (Sam Sorbo)

After hearing Kevin and Sam Sorbo speak the other night at a benefit for the pro-life outreach of Lincoln Pregnancy Center, Claire and I were not only impressed, we were inspired. Indeed, we've become fans and, from now on, we will be reading their books, checking out the movies produced by Sorbo Studios, and listening in to Sam Sorbo's podcast.

You might consider the same.

And, as a teaser, here are a few of the notes I jotted down as I listened to Sam's presentation. They are not necessarily direct quotes (I was writing down one line as I listened to the next!), but the ideas are nearly identical. 

* Lies bring death. And there are so many liars today with so few truth speakers. Do you know the truth? Then begin to share it! Share it boldly; share it often.

* Our culture denigrates the value of children. In our selfishness and hedonism (s well as our ZPG ideologies), we try to avoid them. If they show up, we murder them before they get a chance. We manipulate (and even surgically mutilate) children in the guise of “progressive sexuality.” We sell them to thugs to be abused in the most horrendous ways. And in our government school system, we make sure they remain ignorant intellectually, compliant to secular authority, and highly skeptical of religion.

* The Progressive State doesn’t want smart people. The Progressive State doesn’t want a free people.

* Instead of saying “pregnant,” let’s say the woman is “with child.” See the noble difference? (An example from her book Words for Warriors.)

* Don’t think of sacrificing for your kids as mere sacrifice, but as a noble, loving investment -- an investment in them and in the world.

* What do the government schools teach? Don’t ask. Don’t try. Don’t read. Don’t think. Therefore, don’t give your kids to the government schools.

An Open Letter to Senator Deb Fischer

Dear Senator Fischer,

Just a quick list of a few of the reasons I am writing you this morning...

* As you know, Senator, Planned Parenthood is NOT a charity nor is it an honest health care provider. It is, in fact, a mega-abortion profiteer which not only charges women for barbarically destroying their preborn children but which also sucks in an almost unbelievable flood of dollars from federal and state governments.

* Indeed, more than 1/3 of Planned Parenthood’s millions come from American taxpayers. And that amount is more than $2,000,000 a day!

* The scandal of Planned Parenthood’s lack of integrity and quality care is increasing as more women are maimed and even killed by shoddy and callous abortionists. My goodness, even the New York Times has begun to report on the botched abortions, the IUDs implanted in pregnant women, the delays in calling for emergency medical care when their patients are in life-threatening distress, and so on.

* And those vast amounts of money that Planned Parenthood draws isn’t going to help women. It is instead going to further the efforts of the Democrat party. Oh yes, except for the money needed for the exorbitant salaries of their leadership. Case in point? Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson’s yearly salary of $904,014.

Senator Fisher, as a dependable friend of the pro-life movement, you know this is the best chance the nation has had in many years to defund Planned Parenthood. So, let’s get this thing done, okay? Thank you.

Most sincerely,

Denny Hartford
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha, Nebraska

An Open Letter to Congressman Don Bacon

Dear Congressman Bacon,

I write this morning with a polite appeal for you to spend less time and effort on criticizing President Trump’s long overdue actions to save the Republic and instead pursue with greater dedication the conservative goals you have promised your constituency over the years. Yes, I know you might be enjoying these new opportunities to make a small splash with the liberal media by playing the contrarian to President Trump, but the tone and timing of your criticisms have been a very sad disappointment to those of us who have enthusiastically supported you in the past. 

We certainly wish you would concentrate less on being popular with the cool kids of the discredited “old guard” media and more on de-funding the mega-abortion profiteer Planned Parenthood, better protecting voter integrity and efficiency, and helping the President overcome the attacks of far-left judges in his attempt to make America more prosperous, more free, and more safe.

And, before I close this letter, may I quickly return to my request for greater involvement on your part on the pro-life issues that you have publicly pledged support for in the past. We would like to see inspiring, efficient leadership on this front. Why not take some of these new media opportunities to champion the cause of preborn boys and girls? Also, I note (again with disappointment) that you have declined to co-sponsor several very important pro-life measures in the current Congress. Among those have been H.R. 7 (No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025), H.R. 272 (Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2025), H.R.589 (FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025), and H.R.682 (Heartbeat Protection Act of 2025). Let’s remedy that oversight this week, okay?

Most sincerely,

Denny Hartford
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha, Nebraska