Top Ten Hints for a Successful Marriage

Top Ten Hints for a Successful Marriage

Here are ten practical exhortations to keep your marriage sharp, happy, and as effective a ministry as it can be.

10) Take Nothing for Granted.

Routine can be comfortable, but it can also wreck spontaneity, passion, gratitude, and fun.  So be careful.  Cultivate a spirit of appreciation for one another. Understand that true love isn’t mere sentiment.  It is action and thus requires time, effort, and dedication.  My friends in Belarus have a saying that fits here: “A wife isn’t a guitar.  You can’t play with her awhile and then hang her on the wall!”

9) Build Up Your Marriage Partner.

Discover the compliments that are especially meaningful to your spouse and use them often.  Expressions of gratitude, affection, and praise should be business as usual between the two of you...including in public. Billy Sunday, the major league infielder turned evangelist once advised husbands, “Try praising your wife...even if it does frighten her at first!” Convince one another that you are their best friend and their biggest fan.  Don’t worry about their ego getting too big -- life will take care of that.  For your part, you can’t be too much of a cheerleader for your spouse.

8) Hang Out with Godly People.

The company you keep is a far more important factor in a successful marriage than most people realize.  Don’t underestimate it. Develop friendships as a couple with people who take seriously the things of God.  Such friendships will be of immeasurable help in providing accountability, inspiration, assistance, and, as the Scriptures put it, the “stimulation to love and good deeds.”

7) Keep the TV in its Proper Place.

Don’t be fooled.  People do become what they watch and listen to.  And modern television (and other media) presents an awful lot that is contrary to the spiritual values you’ll need to keep your conscience clean, your adventure with Christ active, and your romance pure and strong.  Furthermore, don’t let the TV steal time that could be better spent in other ways.  TV can sometimes be an innocent friend, but it can more often be a powerful distraction - even a tyrant.  So beware the power of the tube. And, of course, this warning applies to the computer, social media, and your "smart" phone too.)

6) Never Criticize Your Spouse in Public.

And I do mean, never!  Anger, mockery, sarcasm, embarrassment -- these shouldn’t be part of your relationship, period. But when these things occur in front of an audience, it can create loads of hurt, a lot of resentment, and it can severely damage the trust, respect, and intimacy that every strong marriage needs.

5) Pray.

Become comfortable in praying together...not just in crises or during church services or with the kids at bedtime.  Rather, pray together throughout the week as an expression of your union as a couple with God.  And pray with a willingness to take the actions God directs you to.  Also, developing a pattern of praying together will be a tremendous help to the next item in the list.

4) Fight Fair.

Conflicts and confrontations are going occur.  That’s natural and it’s no big deal if you observe some basic rules -- rules that are simply applications of the vows you took on your wedding day.  Examples? No rage, no threats, no leaving the house, no name-calling, no whining, no comparison to others, no unfair exaggerations (as in “You always” or “You have never, ever”), no dredging up the past, no bringing in your spouse’s family, and so on. The purpose of the argument should always be kept in view and that is seeking a unified, mature, spiritually sound solution to the problem -- not creating wounds, getting your way, or getting even.

3) Serve God as a Team.

You don’t need to always be involved in the same things or be under each other’s feet, but you should always have a lot going on between you, including activities that require teamwork.  Foremost in this area for most couples will be parenting. If and when that ministry comes along, both of you must embrace it.  But there are also household chores, the budget, social interaction, Christian ministry, avocations, and so on. Make sure you are in fellowship and growing together, not apart.

2) Forgive.

Forgive frequently and genuinely.  Forgive before being asked to.  Forgive not only for love’s sake and for your own peace of mind, but forgive over and over because Jesus Christ, as evidenced by the ongoing effects of the Cross, forgives you over and over.  One of the most important ways to express your appreciation of the life Jesus gave to pay the penalty of your sins is to lean completely into His grace. You can thereby forgive others, especially the one He has blessed you with as a life partner.

1) Keep Falling In Love.

You mustn’t be content with your album of wedding photos.  Make your marriage an existential, active, even a celebratory relationship.  And that comes not only from spending time together but from your personal spiritual growth. Robert Browning, one of Western civilization’s most romantic poets, nevertheless took a practical view of what’s most essential in marriage. “Success in marriage,” he wrote, “is more than finding the right person, it is being the right person.”  Dedicate yourselves to developing your relationship with Christ as individuals and you will improve your relationship at the same time.

The Top 5 (January 25)

1) "Making Inauguration Day Personal" (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- No, the new president is not a perfect example of leadership. Until the government is on the shoulders of Jesus, that will always be the case. Nevertheless. President Trump’s experience, convictions, specific proposals, and the team he has assembled around him are more than sufficient to give American Christians hope -- hope for a renewal in our nation of law and order, of a respect for God and for religious freedom, and a resurgence of our most noble ideals and principles.

And, by God’s authoritative power and enduring grace, He has brought this day to pass. May President Trump and his administration now make the very most of it. And may you and I pledge to continue in prayer for God’s purposes to be fully realized in and through these men and women.

But can this inauguration day perhaps also serve as an inauguration day for you and me as well? A day where the Lord invests us with a bold new purpose, enacted in practical ways? Of course! So, how about joining hands (as it were) and expressing to our Lord the following common prayer?

2) "Will Democrats Vote for Infanticide Once Again?" (Frank Pavone, LifeNews.com)

From the article -- This bill has nothing to do with limiting access to abortion, but it’s precisely the Democrats’ obsession with abortion that explains their opposition to this bill. It’s a terrifying logic: For them, choice prevails over life. The baby in the womb is targeted for death, and death it shall have.

3) "Brussels: Is the Capital of Europe Crumbling Before Our Eyes?" (Drieu Godefridi, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- When President Donald Trump compared Brussels, Belgium to a "hellhole" in 2016, the statement caused quite a stir, especially in Europe, and was treated with that mixture of contempt, ignorance and denial of reality typical of a certain "elite" in the European Union. Trump had made these remarks in the context of discussions on immigration and security, and suggested that Brussels had changed for the worse over the years, mainly as a result of uncontrolled lawless migratory submersion.

While the facts proved him right at the time, it might be said in 2025 that the Lebanonization of Brussels shows that his judgment was visionary.

4) "Her name is Emily Damari: The left will never live down the shame of staying silent on the racist kidnapping of a British Jew." (Brendan O'Neill, spiked!)

From the article -- Her name is Emily Damari. Go and say it to people. Let them know that a British citizen was kidnapped by Hamas and that British ‘progressives’ said nothing. Let them know that this British-Israeli was brutalised by Jew-killers and it made not so much as a dent in the conscience of Britain’s bourgeois left. The people who cry ‘black lives matter’ and ‘trans lives matter’ and ‘Muslims matter’ could not bring themselves to utter these three poxy words: ‘Emily Damari matters.’

And for 5) let's go with three articles dealing with the government's "massive fail" in education: 

* "Teachers union webinar encourages teachers to oppose Trump, make students in US illegally 'feel less afraid': National Education Association president spoke at DNC, called Trump 'tyrannical'" (Rachel del Guidice, Fox News)

* "NY teachers unions pump school spending to highest in the nation at $36K per kid — yet they rank low in reading and math: report" (Carl Campanile, New York Post)

* "Five predictions for higher education in 2025" (Gabrielle Temaat, The College Fix)

A Jan. 22 Open Letter to President Trump

(Of course, we encourage your letters and emails of a similar nature.)

A Jan. 22 Open Letter 

Dear President Trump,

Congratulations on what was a most dramatic and encouraging inauguration!

You are making America stronger and fairer and more efficient -- and doing it with much needed speed. Thank you, Mr. President. (Yes, it’s terrific to be able to say that again!) We will continue in our frequent and fervent prayers for you, your family, and your efforts to make America great again.

And, to that noble end, Mr. President, we would like to urge you (on this the anniversary of Roe v Wade) to quickly enact the following policies -- each one representing a key priority for the reversal of the Biden administration’s wicked worship of abortion.  

1) The immediate release of all pro-life advocates who the Biden administration had thrown in jail because they dared pray in front of an abortion mill.

2) The defunding of Planned Parenthood.

3) The reinstatement of the Mexico City policy and the cutting off of all other funding to anti-life agencies and programs.

We have so appreciated your quick, decisive moves to move our nation back from the brink of disaster to which the Biden administration had brought it. But, Mr. President, please now mark these 3 items as immediate priorities as well.

Thank you.

Denny & Claire Hartford
Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha, Nebraska

Making Inauguration Day Personal

The vast majority of faithful American Christians have long wanted this day to dawn; that is, the inauguration of President Donald Trump. And many (no, not all) prayed earnestly and expended substantial effort to bring this hope to reality. We did so for two reasons. 

1) Because it meant an end to the shameful, sinister administration of Joe Biden and the malevolent minions who pulled his strings. After all, this a wicked administration had doubled down in the gleeful killing of preborn children; continually mocked God and attacked basic rights of Christians; invited (and generously enabled) foreign drug lords and sex traffickers to invade our communities; forced girls to shower with boys; lied daily to the American people while weaponizing government agencies to persecute those who fought back against those lies; playing the patsy to terrorist nations; celebrated (and again, enabled) sexual perversion; failed to intervene in the increasingly violent anti-Semitism that has swept American cities and college campuses; and so on.

And 2) The inauguration of President Trump means a critical new chance for the United States to reverse this evil, suicidal plunge into deeper decadence, lawlessness, and economic ruin. No, the new president is not a perfect example of leadership. Until the government is on the shoulders of Jesus, that will always be the case. Nevertheless. President Trump’s experience, convictions, specific proposals, and the team he has assembled around him are more than sufficient to give American Christians hope -- hope for a renewal in our nation of law and order, of a respect for God and for religious freedom, and a resurgence of our most noble ideals and principles.

And, by God’s authoritative power and enduring grace, He has brought this day to pass. May President Trump and his administration now make the very most of it. And may you and I pledge to continue in prayer for God’s purposes to be fully realized in and through these men and women.

But can this inauguration day perhaps also serve as an inauguration day for you and me as well? A day where the Lord invests us with a bold new purpose, enacted in practical ways? Of course! So, how about joining hands (as it were) and expressing to our Lord the following common prayer?

“Father, thank You for rescuing America and the world from the disaster of a Kamala Harris presidency. Thank you for being merciful to America in giving Donald Trump both a strong electoral and popular victory. Thank You for taking away control of the Congress and Senate from the party that loves abortion and giving it to the Republicans. But we entreat You now to guide these political officials, guard them, inspire them, oversee them, and move them to willingly serve Your righteous standards -- in their personal lives as well as their public responsibilities. Furthermore, we pray that You quickly bring those who do not know you as Savior to a thorough conversion of heart and faith.

“We pray especially that the new administration diligently pursues the priorities of justice, the sanctity of life, and religious freedom. And we ask that those who would seek to thwart Your purposes (wherever they be, whatever their ideologies or political labels) would find only failure and disappointment. Indeed, may their failure be a challenge to their souls, encouraging them to reconsider the empty meaning of their lives.

“We pray on this inauguration day for the peace of Israel and also for the spiritual awakening of all the people of the Middle East, Jew, Muslim, indifferent, or otherwise lost. Yea Lord, may people throughout the world realize early in 2025 that they are loved by the God who sent Jesus as a sacrifice for mankind’s sins. Lord, Your grace reached us when we were dead in our sins. We had nothing to offer you but our critical need of salvation. Therefore, we appeal to Your mercies as we ask our forever family of born-again saints increase and increase all the more in the coming year.

“And now to our own inauguration day. Father God, let us begin anew. Help us to see the urgency of stepping up our sanctification standards as we move into a new era of personal growth and Kingdom service. Help us, dear Lord Jesus, to pursue the exhortations of Ephesians 4: 22ff; namely, to rid ourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit and rather to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, putting on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

“And finally, let us learn with new understanding and zeal to make habitual the directives of Ephesians 6:10 ff. ‘Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints.’”

My friends, it is Inauguration Day for President Donald Trump. Let’s make it an inauguration day for us as well!

The Top 5 (January 18)

1) "12 Disgraceful Acts Biden Has Committed (So Far) On His Way Out The White House Door" (Shawn Fleetwood, Federalist)

2) "Can Trump Make America Safe Again? The new administration should return federal law enforcement agencies to their original missions." (Heather MacDonald, City Journal)

From the article -- Fighting largely phantom white supremacy was just one of the Biden administration’s obsessions that diverted it from the core duty of government: maintaining law and order. The Trump administration should reverse all identity-based policies from the Biden era and refocus federal law enforcement agencies on combating crime and illegal immigration. Doing so will guarantee an improvement in public safety.

The Biden administration made race and ethnicity the key factor in crucial criminal justice positions. By March 2022, 48 percent of Biden’s picks for U.S. attorney positions were black, though only 13 percent of the U.S. population is black.

This disparity would be worrisome enough in its own right: turning any irrelevant characteristic into a selection criterion guarantees an inferior pool of candidates. But given the academic skills gap, such a large racial preference means an even larger sacrifice of meritocratic standards. Twenty-two percent of black law graduates never pass the bar exam after five tries, for example, compared with 3 percent of white test takers. State bar associations are lowering pass scores on bar examinations in the hope of qualifying more black attorneys. Black LSAT scores and law school class rankings are at the bottom of distribution curve.

Two-thirds of Biden’s judicial nominees were “persons of color.” Biden placed more black females on the U.S. Courts of Appeal than all previous presidents combined.

3) "The LA fires are the horrifying consequence of Democratic misrule: Blue states’ embrace of progressive fads over good governance was bound to end in disaster." (Joel Catkin, spiked!)

(See also --- James B. Meigs' article in City Journal, "California’s Policies Laid the Groundwork for Wildfire Danger" and Steven Malanga's article also in City Journal, "L.A.’s Total Leadership Failure."

4) "8 Bombshell Findings In Florida’s Grand Jury Report On Big Pharma’s Covid Shots" (Shawn Fleetwood, Federalist)

From the article -- Following its investigation, the grand jury ultimately declined to charge any individual or entity in the case after the jurors “did not find any statute that [they] believed would be an appropriate vehicle for a criminal indictment based on the facts” in its final report. The grand jury did, however, note that such a conclusion does not absolve entities of engaging in unethical behavior.

“We want to be abundantly clear that this does not mean we believe the actions of these sponsors were always appropriate, or that the statements they made turned out to be factually correct,” the report reads. “It just means that those actions and statements are not sufficient bases to support criminal prosecutions.”

Despite the lack of criminal charges, the jury did unearth numerous major findings in its report that shine a light on deceptive behavior and actions surrounding the development and promotion of the Covid shots. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the analysis.

5) "The Total Collapse of the Washington Post: This ideological puritanism will run the newspaper into the ground." (Ellie Gardey Holmes, American Spectator)

From the article -- It makes complete sense that the Washington Post is the paper that is collapsing in America today. If there is one sentiment uniting Americans right now, it is that the culture of woke repression that has reigned supreme for so many years — keeping Americans on edge and fearful of being canceled by the mob — has come to an end. People want more freedom of speech, open spaces to consider policy, and a richer diversity of thought.

The paper where woke writers scream “Comply!” to their colleagues and readers no longer has any business being one of the country’s top newspapers.

The Top 5 (Plus) (January 11)

1)  "Andrew Breitbart, Mark Zuckerberg and the Two-Way Politics-Culture Street" (Josh Hammer, Jewish World Review)

From the article -- Breitbart, a native Angeleno who frequently inveighed against the fetid rot in his nearby Hollywood, was a culture warrior to his core. He correctly observed — and lamented — the immense power that comes with left-wing dominance of Hollywood, Silicon Valley, the academy and sundry other formative civil society institutions. The message of the Breitbart Doctrine was simple: Win the culture, and you win the war. If you control America's key opinion-sculpting institutions, then you will eventually control opinion itself. And that, in turn, will inevitably translate into victory at the ballot box.

In all this, the sage of Brentwood was correct. But what if the Breitbart Doctrine wasn't actually complete? What if it was missing half the picture? While politics is downstream of culture, it ought to be self-evident that culture is also downstream of politics. For millennia, Western rulers have understood that political (and judicial) power and rhetoric can, and do, affect the culture and the ways that people think.

2) "American Free Speech vs. European Censorship" (Drieu Godefridi, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- But then, you might ask, why can't the two concepts of expression -- free in the USA, censored in Europe -- coexist, each in its own way, on our respective continents?

The problem is that the European Union has an imperialist conception of its regulation. The EU does not regulate Europe; it seems to think it regulates the world. True to the rich German and French legal traditions, the EU sees itself as a kind of legislative model for the planet. Not only is the EU taking the initiative to regulate sectors that were not regulated before, it also seems to expect the rest of the world to follow suit.

Better -- or worse, depending on your point of view -- the EU is backing up its global regulations with sanctions no less global. Apple was recently hit with a landmark $2 billion EU antitrust fine. Breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA) are punishable by penalties calculated as a percentage of revenues -- not profits -- received by the company concerned not just in Europe, but all over the world. In the case of companies such as Meta (Facebook) or X, we are talking about EU fines running into billions of dollars. Since they seem not to be able to innovate -- anyhow, they haven't -- they tax Americans, who have.

3) "The Biggest Peacetime Crime -- and Cover-up -- in British History: The serial rape of thousands of English girls went on for many years. Few in power cared. Then Elon Musk started tweeting." (Dominic Green, The Free Press)

From the article -- Britain now stands shamed before the world. The public’s suppressed wrath is bubbling to the surface in petitions, calls for a public inquiry, and demands for accountability. The scandal is already reshaping British politics. It’s not just about the heinous nature of the crimes. It’s that every level of the British system is implicated in the cover-up.

4) Video -- Victor Davis Hanson cuts through the leftist spin on the horrific southern California fires. (My note -- Guys, we need to do what we can to communicate these critical truths to our friends and family who are going to hear only the Democrat excuses, spins, and misdirections from the old guard media.)

See also -- "How the Los Angeles Fires Became So Devastating: A climate scientist explains the causes and offers potential ways to reduce future risk." (Patrick Brown, City Journal)

5) "Carter Hagiographers Are 100% Wrong" (David Strom, Hot Air)

From the article -- I appreciate the impulse to not speak ill of the dead--and I am not going spend a piece ranting about just how awful Carter was. As a man, he was probably above average for a politician, but as a president, he was every bit as awful as people remember and even more than most seem to think. 

Carter's domestic record will garner the most negative attention and his foreign policy the least. This has his legacy exactly backward. Domestically, Carter was dealt a bad hand, and he played it poorly, but later in his term, he made moves that freed some parts of the economy. That is about as nice a thing as I can say about him...

But on the international stage, Carter was nothing short of a disaster. His defenders will point to the Camp David Accords--which no doubt helped stabilize Israeli-Egyptian relations--but they soft-pedal his real legacy: an Iran that for nearly 50 years has been exporting terror and destabilizing the Middle East and the world. 

The current chaos in the Middle East is Jimmy Carter's legacy most of all. The Iran-Iraq war? He did that. Hamas? Thank Carter. The Houthis? Carter. Hezbollah? Jimmy did that, too. 

See also -- "The Under- and Over-Estimated Jimmy Carter, RIP" (Steven Hayward, Power Line)

6) "Trump and the Panama Canal: Why He Should Invoke the Monroe Doctrine" (John Too, Civitas Institute)

From the article -- Trump clearly intended to do more than merely complain about the fee structure that Panama imposes on US shippers. He was undoubtedly aiming at China, which in recent years has sought to fashion a hold on the Canal – a scenario that Trump regards as a disturbing threat to US national security. Indeed, Trump’s warning may have carried an even deeper message, implicitly suggesting that his Administration would consider reviving the Monroe Doctrine. In short, Trump’s statements may convey powerful signals about his overall strategic intentions, both in this hemisphere and globally.

7) "Remember The Snail Darter? It Was Never Real" (David Strom, Hot Air)

From the article -- As with all such construction projects, the Tellico Dam was controversial. A lot of people didn't want it built, but they had few tools to stop it. Political support for its construction was substantial--Congress eventually passed a law specifically to enable its construction. However, the opposition found a new tool in their toolbox with the passage of the Environmental Protection Act. Conveniently, during its construction, a local zoologist "discovered" a new species of darter fish, which he dubbed the "Snail Darter," which the EPA rapidly declared a protected species. 

And voila!, the lawsuits began, and construction of the dam was stalled...Congress did eventually pass legislation that allowed the construction to move forward, but the whole fiasco meant increased costs, massive delays, and the ignition of a political firestorm over the Environmental Protection Act. Did it go too far? Well, certainly, in this case, it did. There is no such thing as a snail darter. It was a convenient fiction. 

Think of this as the equivalent of the New York case against Trump, which turned a (if you stretch it) single misdemeanor committed many years ago into 34 felonies through legal maneuvering and facts created out of thin air. The desired result was specified, and a case was built to get that result regardless of whether the facts supported the conclusion. 

An Unforgettable NFA Breakfast

Claire and I enjoyed a very inspiring morning down in Lincoln where we were blessed to attend the Nebraska Family Alliance breakfast with their very special guests being the 6 N.U. athletes whose late-minute pro-life TV ad was so profoundly valuable to the defeat of Amendment 439, the abortion extremists’ effort to enshrine unlimited abortion into the state constitution. Indeed, the testimonies of these noble, courageous young women was a momentous and memorable treasure to all of us in that large audience. Thank you, ladies. You were terrific! And thank you NFA for a most stimulating program.

Also noteworthy was that the audience this morning included more than half of the state senators of the Unicameral which started its session earlier this week. We were pleased to get better acquainted with to two of those senators who sat at our table -- Beau Ballard from District 21 (northwest Lincoln) and Stan Clouse, Kearney’s former Mayor who is beginning his first term in the Unicameral for District 37. Also at our table were Gary & Sue Bunjer, longtime friends and colleagues, especially in our mutual involvement with Assure Women’s Center.

Why A Pro-Life Witness Outside Abortion Businesses?

Claire and I and many of our close friends have participated in a peaceful, prayerful pro-life witness and sidewalk counseling outside abortion mills for over 40 years. Here are 5 quick reasons why.

1) The presence of peaceful, prayerful pro-life advocates outside an abortion clinic has a profound and ongoing effect on those with abortion appointments, on the abortionist and his/her employees, on the people walking or driving by the business.  It provides effective (and memorable) messages regarding the wrongness of abortion, the availability of alternatives, and the offer of forgiveness of abortion sins through the mercy of Christ’s gospel. 

2) A pro-life witness outside an abortion business means that men and women -- even those who ultimately decide to commit the abortion -- will forever remember that someone was there to plead with them, “No, don’t do this. Please let us help you and your baby.”  They will retain in the memory of their abortion experience that someone was standing up for their child…and for the mother herself -- for her spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. Such memories provide a persuasive incentive for repentance, to seek forgiveness and healing from the God Who delivered His Son to die for mankind’s sins.

3) Being regularly at an abortion clinic and coming face to face with the persons availing themselves of the demonic opportunities for child sacrifice fuels, as nothing else can, one’s commitment to fight against abortion on all other fronts. Political action?  Spiritual intercession?  Crisis pregnancy work?  Pro-life education?  Chastity campaigns?  Efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood?  Medical ministries? Use of the arts to rebuild a culture of life, love, and justice? 

All of these (and more) are profoundly stimulated by a person’s being there at the very doors of death, being regularly reminded by just what the stakes are in this fight.

4) Pro-lifers outside abortion mills save lives by dissuading people from aborting their children...even when they are not aware of their impact. For instance, a winsome pro-life witness challenges the consciences of would-be abortion clients, oftentimes encouraging them to forego their appointment and drive on home. Even clients inside the place will sometimes change their minds and leave.  And, of course, among the dozens or hundreds or thousands who drive by and see peaceful protestors who carry beautiful pictures of babies and signs with such kindhearted messages as “Choose Life,” “Mother and Child: Love Them Both,” and “Life: What a Beautiful Choice,” there will be countless numbers of people who will be moved to reconsider their opinions on abortion. Do you not expect that the Lord carefully tends those seeds of truth thus sown? Do you doubt that people will take what they’ve seen and heard into future meditations, conversations, and especially, abortion temptations? Oh yes; the presence of pro-life advocates outside a place where preborn boys and girls are barbarically destroyed will provide illumination and spiritual conviction that goes far beyond what we can imagine.

5) Because my honor as a Christian is at stake.  Where such brazen, violent injustice is occurring, how can I refuse the opportunity to testify against it?  Think about it -- what does it mean to the reputation of the Church (not to mention her sense of moral priority) if children are brutally murdered in our neighborhoods without us even raising our voices in principled protest?  How much is our evangelism and discipleship tarnished and weakened if we do not take seriously such charges as Jeremiah 22:3 and Isaiah 1:16-17: “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.’” And “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend the orphan. Plead for the widow.”

Fewer and fewer American Christians bother nowadays to go in front of abortion mills to pray and give pro-life witness. That is an ominous warning of how far we have been cowed by the world around us.  We have become indifferent, callous, distracted, and wimpy. Nevertheless, the grace of God remains available to us all -- grace that forgives and cleanses, grace that yields wisdom and strength, grace that yet can bring personal and cultural revolution.

Our marching orders are quite clear. We read them in the Scriptures already listed. And we read them in many others, like Psalm 82:3,4: “Vindicate the weak and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.  Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” And Proverbs 24: 11,12: “Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.” And James 1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Giving public witness to the sanctity of life in this darkened and depraved culture is certainly not an easy thing.  But it remains extremely high in the values expressed by our Lord. And that’s why we do it...and why, by the grace of God, we will continue to do it. 

Wanna’ come along and join us?

Who Will Speak Up for the Unborn Child?

This afternoon Pastor Doug Russell from Herman Community Church sent over a link to "Who Will?", a 1989 recording by DeGarmo & Key. Though a veteran pro-life activist for more than 40 years, I had never heard this song. But  boy, I'm delighted I finally got round to it. Thank you, Doug, for your VERY encouraging remarks and for sharing this inspirational song. I couldn't help but do the same.

   

It's in his image they're created

Each one a precious gift of life

How can we steal away their future?

What gives us the power? What gives us the right?

Who will stand up for the children?

Who will fight the battle for them?

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

They long for life with every heartbeat

They speak with tiny hands and feet

But who will help our nation hear them?

It is up to you and it is up to me

Who will stand up for the children?

Who will fight the battle for them?

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

Who is gonna be the voice

For those who have no say or choice?

My heart tells me what I must do

It is up to me and it is up to you

Who will? (we will)

Who will? (we will, we will)

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

Who will? (we will)

Who will? (we will, we will)

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

Who will stand up for the children? (we will)

Who will fight the battle for them? (we will, we will)

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

How Present Scientific Knowledge Makes Darwinism Laughable

According to Richard Milton, who wrote Shattering The Myths of Darwinism, the chances of forming protein and self-replicating DNA randomly are as likely as 'winning the state lottery by finding the winning ticket in the street, and then continuing to win the lottery every week for a thousand years by finding the winning ticket in the street each time' (in other terms, one chance in 10 to the 65th power).

The human body develops from an ovum the size of a dot, yet this speck of biological material contains vast encyclopedias of information — huge dictionaries defining every molecule and convoluted recipes to make every chemical moiety, or component. Conception sets in motion domino-like changes in this speck so that it becomes a human being — a multitrillion cell organism with 200 different kinds of cells that make five million different proteins...

(Geoffrey Simmons, What Darwin Didn't Know: A Doctor Dissects the Theory of Evolution)

Manifest the Life of Jesus! Happy Epiphany!

The holiday that is Epiphany (January 6) highlights and celebrates the public manifestations of Jesus as Messiah, as the Divine King of the Israel, as the long-promised Light to the Gentiles. The primary historical events thus celebrated are the first manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles (the Magi from the East acknowledging Jesus’ divine royalty with their worship), the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God (the Almighty Father’s blessing on Jesus at His baptism by John), and the manifestation of His miracle-working credentials as the long-awaited Messiah (turning water into wine at the marriage at Cana). The word itself, by the way, derives from the Greek epiphainein and can be translated manifestation, revelation, appearance, and to shine. It is used in in 2 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:11,13; 1 Timothy 6:14; and a couple other passages

The earliest reference to Epiphany is in 361, when Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote about it as an established observance, marking it, along with Christmas and Easter, as one of the 3 major “holy days” in the early Church. And for many Christians in the world, Epiphany remains a major event...including us! Now the ways that Claire and I celebrate Epiphany Eve and Epiphany are different from Christians in Eastern Europe, Russia, Greece, Ethiopia, and elsewhere. We do not, for instance, chalk doorways, go in for public processionals, tuck gifts away in children’s shoes, or escort a replica of the Ark of the Covenant to a lake! But we have, like many Christians of the East, served to our guests fancy pastries and a King’s Cake, sung carols together, and shared prayers and blessings for the New Year. Meaningful traditions of our own devising have included putting away the figures of our main nativity scene (with each guest giving a quick devotional relevant to that character), sharing a resolution or two about the new year, and listening to Dylan Thomas’ own reading of his masterful poem, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”  We have found these things personally inspiring as well as effective in stimulating others. Happy Epiphany!

The Top 5 (January 4)

* "The Under- and Over-Estimated Jimmy Carter, RIP" (Stephen Hayward, Power Line)

From the article -- Carter presents layer upon layer of difficulty to untangle. Carter’s one-time speechwriter Patrick Anderson observed that in Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, neighbors said of him that after an hour you love him, after a week you hate him, and after ten years you start to understand him.  (Anderson added that anyone who didn’t have a personality conflict with Carter, didn’t have a personality.)  Anderson also described him as a combination of Machiavelli and Mr. Rogers.  The Washington Post’s Sally Quinn observed: “The conventional image of a sexy man is one who is hard on the outside and soft on the inside.  Carter is just the opposite.”  Fellow Southern Baptist Bill Moyers said “In a ruthless business, Mr. Carter is a ruthless operator, even if he wears his broad smile and displays his southern charm.” Part of the mystique of Carter was his careful and successful positioning as someone “above politics.”  He gave off an air that he is too good for us, or certainly better than the rest of his peers in politics.  Carter exemplified the paradox of taking pride in denouncing the sin of pride.  He also displays a talent for combining self-pity and self-righteousness, sometimes in the same sentence. He was a maddeningly contradictory figure.

On this topic see also -- "The Sainting of Jimmy Carter by “Christianity Today” Is a Farce" (J.D. Rucker, Liberty Daily)

* "UK Labour Party Blocks Inquiry Into Prime Minister’s Conduct as Prosecutor in Pakistani Sex-Groomer Gang Cases" (Jarrett Stepman, Daily Signal)

From the article -- Author J.K. Rowling wrote, “The details emerging about what the rape gangs (why call them ‘grooming’ gangs? It’s like calling those who stab people to death ‘knife owners’) did to girls in Rotherham are downright horrific. The allegations of possible police corruption in the case are almost beyond belief.”

Sam Ashworth-Hayes, a Telegraph columnist, has been posting details of the sex-grooming cases and the failure of authorities to do anything about it because they feared it would inflame “racial tensions.”

* "Germany’s New Morgenthau Plan" (Victor Davis Hanson, Daily Signal)

From the article -- There is a tragic footnote to the aborted horrors of the Morgenthau Plan. Currently, Germany is doing to itself almost everything Morgenthau once dreamed of. Its green delusions have shut down far too many of its nuclear, coal, and gas electrical generation plants. Erratic solar and wind “sustainable energy” means that power costs are four times higher than on average in the United States.

Once-dominant European giants Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes are now bleeding customers and profits. Their own government’s green and electric vehicle mandates ensure they will become globally uncompetitive. The German economy actually shrank in 2023. And the diminished Ruhr can no longer save the German economy from its own utopian politicians. The German military is all but disarmed and short thousands of recruits. German industries do not produce enough ammunition, tanks, ships, and aircraft to equip even its diminished army, navy, and air force.

* "Broken Windows Policing Is Still the Best Way to Fight Crime: The law enforcement approach has taken its hits from critics in recent years, but facts—and history—are on its side." (John McMillian, City Journal)

From the article -- Put another way, Broken Windows policing, when properly implemented, is not meant to crack down aggressively on people for every possible minor offense. It is much more flexible. Its goal is simply to demonstrate that urban areas are “under control” and that various types of unconstrained disorder will not be tolerated.

In “Justice in New York”—an oral history compiled by professors at John Jay College of Criminal Justice—the late John Timoney, a high-ranking NYPD officer, justified Broken Windows on two grounds. “People deserve to have a decent quality of life, right? You shouldn’t have to watch guys drinking out in the street, pissing on the sidewalk, all of that.” And its corresponding crime reductions were significant.

* "As Biden & Co. leave, they’re doing their best to trash the country they claimed to serve" (New York Post Editorial Board)

From the article -- President Biden and his staff are going out guns blazing — all barrels blasting away to do as much damage as possible to America before they go. Just look at the dirty-laundry list Joe (or whoever’s actually making the decisions) has rammed through as his last days tick down. 

A Foxhole Christmas

Once again this Yuletide, Claire and I were treated to a surprise visit from old friends and pro-life colleagues Tom & Donna Kotchka. And once again, we learned that Tom had a dramatic recitation to delight and inspire us as he performed it in person -- just for the two of us! Last year, he graciously agreed to let me post here on the blog "A Shepherd on Christmas Night" which he had written and presented a few places around town and he did so again this year with his latest.

I regret that you weren't in our living room to hear this in person the other night, but here's the next best thing.

 

A FOXHOLE CHRISTMAS 
By Thomas Kotchka

For some, this evening holds a special significance. For me, not so much. That’s why I volunteered for watch duty here on the ridge, keeping watch for any activity on the valley road below. And not surprisingly, there’s been none. What surprises me is that Billy, from company K, also volunteered. Now if anyone at this outpost on the edge of nowhere would have significance for this evening, it would be Billy. Yet, when I arrived on station, Billy seemed cheerful, greeted me with his usual “Mi Casa, Su foxhole”.

After updating me on the activity on the valley road, nothing, Billy asked if I had any questions. “Well, Billy” I said, “it’s more of an observation than a question but, is it just me, or do the stars seem brighter tonight?”

Billy looked up at the sky, then answered “They’re brighter. Maybe because it’s stopped raining.” And then he added, sort of as an afterthought, “You know, Joe, this is the kind of night I imagine was over Bethlehem.”

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me, Billy. I almost forgot, it’s Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas.”

Billy dittoed the greeting back, and as he started to leave, I said “Billy, I know Christmas is about Jesus coming from heaven to earth. And you’re always saying that Jesus is coming again soon; so, do you think He might come, tonight?”

Without hesitation Billy says “Yep.”

“Really. You actually think He might...uh...show up tonight?”

“Tonight” Billy replied, “would be a perfect night.”

I thought a moment then said, “Well, pardon my $25 word Billy, I don’t get to use them too often out here, but isn’t it… IRONIC… that you’re in a foxhole with a long rifle waiting for the ‘Prince of Peace.’”

Well, Billy didn’t answer, just sort of shrugged his shoulders but I remembered something he had said, oh back around the Fourth of July. “Billy, didn’t you say your Dad fought in ‘Nam and his Dad in World War 2? Did they spend Christmas Eve in a foxhole waiting for the ‘Prince of Peace’?” Billy thought for a moment and said “I think they did. I guess it’s a ‘family tradition’.”

Family tradition. (Pause). Yeah, family tradition. “You know Billy, the wife and kids always go to Christmas Eve service. I never got into the church thing. Presents, a big meal, and a bit of the ‘Christmas Spirits’; that’s Christmas for me”. So, you know what Billy says? “Sorry.” “Sorry,” I says. “Sorry that I didn’t go to church on Christmas Eve?”

“No, no”, Billy answered, “sorry that you won’t have Christmas. If Christmas is presents, food, and a drink, then you’re going to have to rely on an occasional mortar round for a present, an MRE in a can as your feast, and the closest thing you’ll get to a drink out here is the Jim Beam ad on the back of an outdated TIME magazine.

“Well,” I says to Billy, “Christmas is for kids. Say Billy, when you were a kid did you believe in Santa Claus?”

Billy thought for a moment then said “St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Santa Claus, part legend, part story, maybe part true, but now mostly an advertising gimmick surrounded with elves and a red-nosed reindeer.” Then Billy says to me, “You know Joe, there is a Christmas story in the Bible; maybe you remember it from when you were a kid.”

“Don’t have to go back that far,” I answered, “My wife said her Dad always read the Christmas story to her and her brother and sister over and over and over until they had it memorized. She wanted me to do the same. I guess it’s a “’family tradition.’”

(In a changed voice) “’And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed’” --- (regular voice) “And old Caesar is still taking taxes from me. That was 2,000 years ago.”

(Changed voice again) “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace”... (regular voice)” Excuse me Billy for sounding cynical, but I’m not convinced that the “Prince of Peace” has done his job. How many wars have we had in the last 2,000 years, about 2, 000?”

“Actually”, Billy says, “it might be more. You see, the ‘Prince of Peace’ didn’t come to bring peace among neighbors but rather to bring us to peace with God.”

“Yeah, maybe” I said, “But Christmas is still for kids. I think adults grow out of Christmas. The way the world is, us being here, why there’s really not much to celebrate.” And you know what Billy says, he says, “Maybe you’re celebrating the wrong Christmas.”

“Wrong Christmas??! There’s only one Christmas, it’s tomorrow, the 25 th . It’s been like that for a couple thousand years.” (Short Pause) “Right?”

“Well,” Billy says, “there’s actually three Christmases. There’s the commercial Christmas, starts before Thanksgiving and goes to the last ‘after Christmas sale’. It is focused on ‘stuff’ and has a ‘you deserve this’ promise. Oftentimes what’s left after the toys are broken and the batteries run down, is an empty feeling. And there’s the traditional, Currier and Ives type Christmas. It lasts a couple weeks around Christmas. It’s focused on families and being HOME for Christmas. It’s filled with holiday traditions and singing Christmas carols. It gives the cousins a chance to fight and the adults can catch up on the weather across town, across state, across the country. It’s a time to find out how little Tommy is doing in school and “Donna’s in college, why I remember when she was only this high”. But don’t mention religion or politics. It’s sort of like a 4th of July family reunion picnic at the lake, but you don’t have to play croquet with Uncle Fred."

"And the last Christmas is the one you’ve got memorized from the Bible. It doesn’t focus on presents or feasting but on why the creator of the universe set aside the privileges of Heaven to be born a human in a manager.” ‘In a manger’. Can you imagine that? Not a kingly palace but a foxhole-grade stable. It’s a Christmas that reminds us of our broken relationship with a Holy God and how God Himself set about to restore that relationship. You might say that Christmas is a celebration of God fulfilling His promise to send a savior.”

I thought a moment and said to Billy, “That must be the part that goes ‘Behold, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord’”? “That’s it,” Billy answered

“So,” I says to Billy, “no feasting, no reindeer, no Santa, --no presents?” “That’s right,” Billy answered, “No feasting, no reindeer, no Santa.”

“Wait, you said no feasting, no reindeer, no Santa, but you didn’t say no presents. Is, is there a . . .. a present?”

“You just need to unwrap it,” Billy says. “Ever see those signs at big sporting events on TV?”

“Yeah, the ones that say John something.”

Then Billy says “’For God so loved the world’, ---even Joe---, ‘that he gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him’ –even Joe— ‘should not perish but have everlasting life.’” 

I looked Billy right in the eye and said “You… you put that part in about Joe.” Shaking his head, Billy says “No, God did, because He wants to have a personal relationship with you.”

A personal relationship. A personal relationship with God. “You know Billy, I’m scheduled to rotate back to the States next fall. Maybe I’ll go to Christmas Eve service with the wife and kids. Might even look in to that personal relationship thing.”

Then Billy continued the Christmas story, “Then the shepherds said to one another ‘Let us… NOW… go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass’.”

Pause

“Suppose”, I said, “I could even look into that personal relationship next September when I get back to the States.”

“Or,” Billy said, “--maybe--even tonight.”

The Top 5 (December 28)

* "Europe Is Canceling Christmas: Moves in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Germany are a worrying sign of the West’s renunciation of its Judeo-Christian identity." (Itxu Díaz, Tablet)

* "Irish Times Op-ed: Christianity is a Hate Crime: The tone-deaf Christmastime argument of a post-Christian civilization." (Mark Tapson, Front Page)

* "Drag shows, Arabic Sesame Street, lonely rats: GOP senator details how Biden spent $1T on 'government waste' -- $10K was spent on a 'bearded lady' ice skating show, just one of numerous examples of frivolous federal spending highlighted by the Sen. Rand Paul" (Aubrie Spady, Fox News)

* "Walter Duranty Would Be Proud Of How The Press Covered For Biden" (I & I Editorial Board)

* "McConnell’s Record Is Nothing To Snort At -- REVIEW: ‘The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party’ (Tevi Troy, Washington Free Beacon)

The Top 5 (December 21)

* "Are the Years of Madness Ending?" (Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness)

From the article -- Never in U.S. history has a president-elect been welcomed as the real president before his January 20 inauguration. And never has the incumbent president so willingly surrendered his last two months in office and all but abdicated—to the relief of his nation and the rest of the world.

One reason so many are welcoming Trump’s return is the universally desperate hope that his election spelled an end to a collective madness at home and its ripples abroad during the last four years. And why not?

* "We may finally be recovering from the woke brain rot: For the first time in decades, the sane among us have the upper hand." (Lionel Shriver, spiked!)

From the article -- Whatever the more complex truth of the matter, it’s in our interest to promote the trope that woke is over. That woke has been vanquished. That woke is totally yesterday, hopelessly stale and played out. That the rest of us are all moving on to genuinely thorny questions that aren’t stupid. That we’ll no longer waste our time pushing back against petty amateur linguists who insist we call the portly ‘people living with obesity’. That, whatever our private reservations about the guy, Trump’s election marks a hard Before and After. That as Kamala would say, we’ve ‘turned the page’ and ‘we’re not going back’.

Because when you say something enough times (this is a gambit the wokesters themselves have mastered), you can make it true. Wokesters are highly suggestible. Furthermore, most of these folks don’t really care about social justice. They care about appearing to care about social justice. They care about other people’s esteem. They care about fitting in. They echo what everyone else around them says, because being a mindless copycat means other mindless copycats will like them and they’ll keep their friends and their jobs. And they care about social fashion

* "Beyond Green: Down with Al Gore once and for all! The case for a rational energy policy." (Michael Lind, Tablet)

From the article -- If progressives are to be believed, the world is facing a “climate emergency” that requires the rapid elimination of fossil fuels and massive, never-ending taxpayer subsidies for wind, solar, and related infrastructure. But despite being ceaselessly propagandized by alarmist climate change messaging, a majority of Americans do not believe that global warming will pose serious threats in their own lifetimes, by a ratio of 54-to-45.

* "The Democrats’ Anti-Israel Future: It all changed with Barack Obama." (Joshua Muravchik, Commentary)

From the article -- The 2024 election left the Democrats “considering how to navigate a dark future,” said the New York Times. Voices from the progressive wing instantly made clear that one matter at issue will be the party’s stance toward Israel.

The Democrats’ traditional friendliness to the Jewish state had resonated in the words of President Joe Biden’s immediate reaction to Hamas’s invasion and massacre of October 7, 2023. “This was an act of sheer evil,” he pronounced. “Israel has the right…in-deed has a duty to respond… . If the United States experienced [the likes of this] our response would be swift, decisive, and overwhelming.” He said that the U.S. was “surging military assistance” and had moved a carrier strike group and additional fighter aircraft to the area. “The United States has Israel’s back. It’s as simple as that…. We’re with Israel.”

Yet, over the ensuing weeks and months, it proved not as simple as that. Biden grew increasingly focused on protecting Gazan noncombatants and on restraining Israel in other ways. Vice President Kamala Harris, to whom he passed the Democratic standard in withdrawing from the 2024 election, was still more assertive in that direction, as was, to an even greater degree, her chosen running mate, Tim Walz. Their apparent predispositions, and the political currents within their party, prompted CNN political analyst Ronald Brownstein to muse, “Biden could be the last Democratic president for the foreseeable future who aligns so unreservedly with” Israel.

* "American Men and the Emerging Culture Shift" (Pedro Gonzalez, Chronicles)

From the article -- And that’s really what I’m getting at: there is a growing appetite for a new culture, for items that are both free from ideological shackles and expressive of values and virtues divergent from those that have come to dominate the mainstream under the thumb of progressive hegemony. Now is the time to create and patronize new things. In particular, I think the market for literature looks promising. 

Back in August, Alex Perez, a Cuban-American writer based in Miami, lamented the lack of masculine fiction in the literary scene—and struck back at those who criticized him for pointing out what is an obvious problem. Much of what passes for fiction today is dreck. If it features men at all, they are too often portrayed as weak, incompetent, villainous, or some combination of all three. Man is allowed to exist in the pages of today’s novels only if “he writes apologetically and shamefully” about being an American man—the worst kind imaginable. For Perez, “American man” doesn’t necessarily mean right-wing, either. 

Politics & Christmas

From a purely logical point of view, the Advent of Christ occurred at a most inconvenient time and in a most inhospitable place. The details of this scheme certainly would not have been cleared by professional planners or modern-day management consultants. I mean the circumstances seemed so wrong.

Caesar Augustus, the ruler of the Roman world into which Jesus was born, was no friend of religious freedom. Indeed, he was a tyrant of the old school who used repression, intimidation and violence as effective controls over the populations he dominated. And his underlings in the chain of command? Just as bad. Quirinius, the governor of Syria was a thug and Herod, the Roman-acclaimed King of the Jews who controlled Palestine, was a vicious assassin.

This then was the hostile, unstable, sin-sick political situation into which God sent His Son for His plan of redemption to be acted out. It’s absolutely amazing how God’s ways are so different than ours, isn’t it? And, not only different but superior beyond measure. For salvation was secured in this alarmingly dangerous situation and God’s overcoming power was manifested all the more brilliantly because of its background. In our present political instability, this Christmas reality is a good one to remember.

A similar divine irony is in play in Matthew 2:6 where Jesus is presented as not only the ruler of Israel but her shepherd too. Now the Jews knew all too well how earthly rulers conducted themselves. After all, they had been dominated by ruthless potentates during much of their history and were now oppressed by Rome’s insanely vicious tyrant, Herod. But the rule of the Messiah was to be radically different. And with the image of the Shepherd, the Holy Spirit through Matthew was emphasizing the tenderness, the devotion, the sacrificial love that would mark the Messiah’s reign. And by this compassion, Jesus Christ would rule not over territory alone but over the human heart as well.

Later, in Jesus’ teaching ministry, He graciously offered Israel this radically different kingdom, a kingdom marked by love and holiness and peace. But Israel rejected it. The price -- a whole-hearted submission to God -- was just too high for self-righteous, self-satisfied people to pay. The sheep disdained their Shepherd, preferring even the tyranny of Rome to God’s loving deliverer.

What a cataclysmic tragedy this was. And yet, despite this, God went on to make a way for Israel (and the entire world) to yet enter the peace of His kingdom. How? The ruler would serve as the Good Shepherd, even to the willing surrender of His own life for the sheep. Right here, in the very beginning of the Christmas story, is a dramatic foreshadowing of that great present that would be offered the whole world; namely, the sacrifice of Jesus as payment for the sins of the world.

“Far As the Curse Is Found”

The striking phrase above comes from the third verse of Isaac Watts’ 1719 hymn, “Joy to the World.” “No more let sin and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He [Jesus] comes to make His blessings known far as the curse is found.” This song, long beloved as a Christmas season carol is better understood as a hymn of hope (and yes, joy) at the prospect of Jesus’ Second Coming -- when our Lord enters the earthly realm not as a baby, but as the victorious King of Kings returning to judge the world in righteousness. Yes, the exciting promise of intense and abiding joy (for both believers and the physical world we live in) refers to the Faithful and True riding through the heavens on a white horse Who will wage war and execute holy judgment on the nations arrayed against Him. 

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He Who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16)

Isaac Watts was inspired to write “Joy to the World” from his appreciation of Psalm 98 which eloquently speaks of Messiah’s ministry as Supreme Judge at the end of the age. It is a most dramatic prospect, to be sure. Our divine brother, He Who humbled Himself in the incarnation by becoming a preborn child, then through an earthly ministry as a prophet and teacher, and then into the humiliating suffering of crucifixion and death, now breaks forth from heaven for service as Almighty Judge and Restorer. And the divine judgment will not only be pure, but thorough and complete. Thus, the psalmist’s exhortation to the sea, the rivers, the mountains, and the whole world to shout joyfully to the Lord. 

But the line “far as the curse is found” suggests that Watts was also well aware of the Bible’s teaching on curses. Adam’s sin resulted not only in a curse on he and Eve and the whole human race extending from them, but also on the earth itself which had been given Adam as his stewardship. (Genesis 3:17) That is also emphasized in Isaiah 24:5-6.

“The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.”

Furthermore, we are told that all who inhabit the earth are under God’s curse because of our sins and transgressions and rebellion. “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” (Galatians 3:10) Of course, we are all under the law. Though we have an inexcusable obligation to keep the law in every point, we have utterly failed to do so. We are therefore under its curse. But the apostle Paul isn’t done with this subject.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13,14)

Jesus Christ endured the curse -- our curse -- when, in our stead, He died on the cross. Yes, God’s holiness required perfection, but we were infinitely far off His standard of righteousness. Yet God made a way. Jesus Christ came to bring us close, to eliminate the gap, to transform us from rebels to friends, to adopt us into His forever family when we trusted in the sacrifice offered for us; namely, Jesus’ atoning death at Calvary.

And it is our great High Priest Jesus Who will (very soon, I pray) make His return to the earth in order to display His glorious and full triumph in judgment, cleansing, and restoration. He will make all things new. He will make all things right. He will bring all things in His creation into a harmonious perfection. I join the psalmist, the apostle, and the hymnwriter in heartily recommending that all Christians -- in all seasons -- shout gratefully and confidently, “Joy to the world; the Lord is come; let Earth receive her King!”

The Top 5 (December 14)

Okay, it’s an unusual Top 5 post for today because 1) I’m actually providing links to 6 articles; 2) 3 of those articles are mine from Vital Signs Blog; and 3) there is a “popcorn” list of news items that you may well have missed from the last week or so. Let’s get to ‘em.

* “Stranded at La Veta Pass: A Rescue Story” (A Personal Testimony) (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- A hitchhiker’s lot is a lonely one. And not only lonely but anxious, exasperating, humbling, and occasionally dangerous. Believe me, I know. And as the cold, snowy weather of winter whirls around this December night, I am remembering one particularly miserable and frightening experience from my long ago days of thumbing a ride. 

It was the winter of 1969. I was a student at Trinidad State Junior College, some 200 miles from my home…

* “For the Watchmen on the Walls: Prayer and Advocacy Priorities for 2025” (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- It is hoped that this list of 10 priorities will help motivate and provide some direction for your own intercession and advocacy efforts. We encourage you to use them as stimulants to fervent prayers, conversations, social media, letters to political officials and others, and bringing these critical issues before your pastors as you encourage them to best enlighten, inspire, and protect their flock.

* “John Stossel Blows the Lid Off the Scam That Is Recycling” (An eye-opening 7-minute video)

About the video -- John Stossel is back to ruin your preconceived notions of things with some very inconvenient truths. In this case, these truths are going to be very inconvenient to the environmentalist crowd who thinks recycling is actually benefiting us as much as they think.

* “The American university is rotting from within: The modern academy is a threat to reason, liberty and Western civilisation." (Joel Catkin, spiked!)

From the article -- The Western world has many enemies – China, Russia, Iran, North Korea – but none is more potentially lethal than its own education system. From the very institutions once renowned for spreading literacy, the Enlightenment and the means of mastering nature, we now see a deep-seated denial of our common past, pervasive illiteracy and enforced orthodoxy.

The decay of higher education threatens both the civic health and long-term economic prospects of Western liberal civilisation. Once a font of dispassionate research and reasoned discussion, the academy in recent years has more resembled that of the medieval University of Paris, where witch trials were once conducted, except there is now less exposure to the canon.

* “Denny's Letter to Santa Gets an Interesting Response” (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- Dear Santa,

Season’s greetings, my old friend. Please know that you remain in my highest regards for your ongoing generosity to mankind. While others may forget your good and noble work, I never shall. Anyhow, here is my “Santa letter” for this year. What I most want for Christmas this year, dear sir, may be beyond even your North Pole magic but I’ve pared down my requests to just three things. And they aren’t entirely self-centered items. Indeed, they are things that are certainly directed for the common good. Here we go.

* “The Anti-Woke King of Hollywood Lets Loose: Taylor Sheridan’s shows explain how and why we got Trump again.” ( Rick Marin, Commentary)

From the article -- Such is the 54-year-old writer-director-producer’s Midas touch with “flyover country”—as New York and Hollywood have long dismissed their red-state viewership. Even more remarkable is how this unfettered clout is manifesting itself in his writing. He offered confusingly mixed political messages in the first couple of years of Yellowstone—though not so mixed that its audience didn’t immediately understand what he was trying to say and make the show the biggest hit on television, despite airing on the Paramount Network, which you had to search high and low for in your cable package. Now his mix of cultural conservatism, libertarian/Jeffersonian objection to federal overreach, and muscular foreign policy is fully out of the closet.

And now...in the recent news -- news that you’re probably not hearing much about if you’re only plugged into the Democrat Party channels.

* In both England and Wales, the most popular name for baby boys is Muhammad... 

* Key scientific evidence about the dangers of covid “vaccinations” is still being carefully and comprehensively censored by the Biden administration, the governments of Europe, and the liberal press.

* Chinese Communist Party officials have used a climate nonprofit to funnel millions of dollars to U.S. universities and left-wing groups to promote replacing fossil fuels with “green energy.”

* The latest Democrat outrage? 77 House Democrats called for an arms embargo on Israel. 

* It turns out that “climate scientists” have all along been completely ignoring the effects of isoprene in the atmosphere, making all of their climate models remarkably out of whack.

* The “nonbinary” spokesperson from Google’s latest ads is screaming about women who dare complain about having to share bathrooms with “untraditional sexes.”

* One of the new words for 3rd grade spelling bees? Womyn.

* One of the columnists from the L.A. Times has resigned after moves by that newspaper to be a bit less politically one-sided. Said the columnist, “Now is not the time to be balanced.”

* The ProPublica smear against Pete Hegseth (completely invented and knowingly so) just missed being successful. And rather than apologize, ProPublica is trying to cast themselves as journalistic heroes.

* Elton John is speaking out against the legalization of marijuana. “I maintain that it’s addictive,” he said. “It leads to other drugs. And when you’re stoned -- and I’ve been stoned -- you don’t think normally.” The singer-songwriter added, “Legalizing marijuana in America and Canada is one of the greatest mistakes of all time.”

* Among those pardoned by Joe Biden? Michael Conahan, one of the infamous “kids for cash” judges who took wads of money under the table from for-profit detention centers in exchange for wrongly sending juveniles to their facilities. The case was widely considered to be one of the worst judicial scandals in Pennsylvania history. And then there was Democrat Rita Crundwell, the former comptroller of Dixon, Illinois who was found guilty of a $54 million embezzlement scheme, believed to be the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. 

* Remember how Senate Democrats buried Mayorkas' impeachment? It gets worse. The Biden-Harris administration spent over $1.6 million in taxpayer money on the defense of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during his impeachment proceedings.

* The Democrats and the Democrat media who are complaining about Donald Trump buying the election? The Kamala Harris campaign raised 1.5 billion dollars. That was about 3 times what the Trump campaign managed to raise. 

* The stripper who accused those Duke lacrosse players of raping her 18 years ago finally confessed to the fact that she made it all up. 

* University of Michigan DEI administrator Rachel Dawson claimed the university was “controlled by wealthy Jews,” and that Jewish students were “wealthy and privileged” and not in need of the university’s diversity services. (She was fired.) The university has experienced countless antisemitic incidents in the past year.

* You don’t think Big Pharma is piping the tune America is foolishly dancing to? The CDC announced that there are 200 “routine vaccines” for 2025. The number of “routine vaccines” in 1985? 7; that’s right, seven. And for adults and pregnant women in 1985? Zero.

* Europe is in free fall. Mass immigration woes. Rapes of white women perpetrated by young Muslim males that goes without redress (even reporting). Censorship. Increasing anti-Semitism and anti-Christian actions. Economic collapse.

* The Biden administration’s F.B.I. is crazy, still holding that conservative Christians (especially pro-life advocates) are a major terrorist threat.

* The left is applauding political violence. From restaurant workers in Washington D.C. saying they can’t wait to throw food in the faces of Trump administration people who try to eat at their establishments to leftist political officials excusing (even applauding) the murder of a health company executive, “progressives” are proving to be the real fascists.

* Communist China now controls half the world’s catch of fish with thousands upon thousands of fishing ships taking over waters as far away as Argentina.

* It turns out that almost 20% of the $200 billion that the Biden administration gave away under the banner of “covid relief” ended up being given to fraudulent recipients, including criminal gangs.

“Stranded at La Veta Pass: A Rescue Story”

A hitchhiker’s lot is a lonely one. And not only lonely but anxious, exasperating, humbling, and occasionally dangerous. Believe me, I know. And as the cold, snowy weather of winter whirls around this December night, I am remembering one particularly miserable and frightening experience from my long ago days of thumbing a ride. 

It was the winter of 1969. I was a student at Trinidad State Junior College, some 200 miles from my home in Lakewood, a western suburb of Denver. I had not, at that time, become an authentic Christian, though brought up in a God-fearing home by believing parents who lovingly gave me every encouragement and assistance to do so. And yet God’s mercies were poured out upon me even in my Trinidad days. I was on the college newspaper staff, living in a comfortable rooming house in town, and having every opportunity to finally change from the lazy, reckless course of life I had been following the past two years. 

But I was badly squandering these latest favors and was instead pursuing my carnal desires all the further and faster. I had started, as they say, living for the weekend, hitchhiking back to Denver every Friday afternoon and returning, after dates and parties, back to Trinidad on Sunday nights. However, on this particular weekend, I had gone over to Alamosa (just 110 miles away) where a couple of my skaggy friends were attending Adams State. Though a shorter trip, it meant heading through the mountains and over La Veta Pass. And with winter coming on, that was not a pleasure trip...especially when you’re hitchhiking.

Now it’s true that my thumb was already experienced in this mode of travel. In fact, just 3 months earlier (and all on my lonesome) I had hitchhiked the full thousand miles from Los Angeles, California back to Denver. Still, even that adventurous cross-country trek failed to prepare me for what was to come on this trip; namely, being stranded in the Colorado mountains, in the winter, in the wee hours of the morning. 

The trip had already started off badly. I had stayed way too long in Alamosa and left for Trinidad long after the sun had disappeared behind the San Juan Mountains. It was a stupid decision but I was initially encouraged by hitching a ride almost immediately from a couple of fellows in an old pickup truck. Better still, these guys were also drinkers and were generous enough to share their bottle. But it didn’t take long for things to go sour. 

Just after we had passed Ft. Garland and started up into the mountains, I began to realize that these men had particularly nasty plans for me. They started with hints, then taunts when I rebuffed their advances, then they turned to direct threats. I responded by feigning sickness, acting like I badly needed to vomit. It worked. They stopped the truck and let me squeeze out from between them in order to get to the side of the road. Once free from the truck, I was determined to be free from these goons. I grabbed a large rock, turned back, and did a bit of threatening of my own, letting them know that the price for messing with me was going to be a lot more than they wanted to pay. And, after a couple of minutes of angry cursing and promises that they’d be back with help, they got back in the truck, turned all the way round, and started back the way we had just come.  

There was, of course intense relief when they drove away but I found myself physically shaking -- shaking with adrenaline at the close call, shaking with trepidation at the prospect that my assailants might indeed return, and shaking with the shocking cold of a Colorado mountain night. It was, I guessed, sometime between 10 or 11 and I wasn’t at all dressed for the below-freezing temperatures. 
I had only a light jacket, no gloves, no hat. Good grief, I had escaped one danger only to be enveloped by another.

Well, the two thugs never came back. But I kept hold of that rock just in case and, at every appearance of headlights coming east down the highway, I was ready to use it. Not that I saw very many vehicles on Highway 160 that night. No more than a half dozen passed me in the whole 2 hours or so that I was walking east. But I was beset by more than loneliness -- I was frighteningly cold! My shivering had only gotten worse and I was becoming a bit crazy with desperation. Therefore, when I finally came across a building set off a bit from the highway, I was determined to find shelter there. 

It wasn’t anybody’s home; at least, I didn’t think anyone was living there. There were a couple of heavy equipment machines in the yard but no cars and no tracks in the snow, making me pretty sure that no one was on the premises. There was one yard light was on the large, rectangular building that lit things up for 30-40 yards around it. And so I could see there were a few windows that looked big enough to crawl through after, of course, I had busted out the glass. I guess, my rock was going to come in handy after all! 

To be sure, I wasn’t happy about the “breaking and entering” option. I was pretty sure there was no night watchman around  but, then again, there could easily be some kind of alarm. And that could mean the police, an arrest, more shame for my family, and yet one more crime added to my already ugly list of tawdry offenses. However, I didn’t really have a choice...and I preferred even a warm jail cell over freezing to death.  

But before I hiked over to the building, I decided to say one more prayer. Oh, make no mistake, I had been praying hard and constantly during this whole ordeal. But, not being a Christian, my prayers were, though plaintive, were something more like wishing or crossing your fingers. But now, faced with the awful cold, the fear of arrest, and a desperation of greater intensity than any I could remember, I was bold enough to lift up a much different kind of prayer. I looked into the night sky, profusely adorned with glittering stars, but I prayed to the God I knew intuitively was beyond that dazzling sky. And although I was all-too-aware that I didn’t know the Almighty personally and that He was under no obligation to intervene in my predicament, I was certain that my Grandma Ellsworth and my parents and at least a couple of my siblings did know Him personally. And so, my fledgling faith being inspired by theirs, I made my appeal to God. 

I do not remember it being a bargaining prayer -- you know, the infamous “foxhole” kind of prayer where one offers God his life if God will only get them out of the jam they’re in. And I don’t think my prayer involved a lot of apologies for my sins or for the lousy decisions which had landed me in this spot. The only two things I remember about that prayer is its urgency and that all I could hope for was God perhaps showing me unwarranted, undeserved, unexpected mercy. I stood there on the shoulder of the road for a couple of minutes more, figuring that I should give God a little time to do something. The snow had started again. It was, I realized, a lovely and peaceful night. How ironic would it...

And then I heard the truck! No, not the dreaded pickup returning for retribution, but a long hauler coming out of the west and down the highway towards me. I dropped the rock, moved back to the southern side of the highway, and assumed the traditional position. And though I understood how unlikely it was that this trucker would stop on a night like this, in weather like this, on a mountain highway like this, all to offer a ride to a suspicious hitchhiker, I also had a remarkable confidence God was kindly answering my prayer.

 And that’s exactly what happened. The old 18-wheeler day cab slowed down and stopped right in front of me. The passenger door creaked opened and I looked up at the driver (somewhat past middle-age) who simply asked, “You okay?” I was kinda’ choked up but I nodded and told him yes, I was fine, just really cold. “Then climb on up.” The difference in temperature was astounding and so was the difference in my mood. I expressed my thanks, explained that he was an answer to a prayer, and then, with a bit of embarrassment, I realized I was wiping tears away. He politely seemed not to notice, said he was happy to be of help, and offered me a cup of coffee from his thermos. And that wasn’t all. My good fortune continued in that the trucker, traveling empty, was headed down into New Mexico for a load. And that meant I had a warm, comfortable journey with him all the way down 160 to Walsenburg and then south on I-25 to Trinidad. When I alighted with the trucker’s good wishes, the dawn was just starting to break on a brand new day. 

Now the ending to this story should be that, having experienced (and in a very dramatic way) the loving grace of God, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ that very night. I’m sorry to say, that wasn’t the case. No, there remained an ungrateful, foolish, hardheartedness in me and, in the months to come, I would actually write even darker chapters in my story. But despite my rebellious running away from God, He kept His merciful hand on me. There were some divine judgements meted out to me that winter and spring, but the Lord measured the punishment in ways that emphasized His kindness and His desire for me to receive His offers of salvation, purpose, and power. And, all along the way, one of the things He used was the vivid, unforgettable memory of that 18-wheeler coming down out of heaven to save me. Well, out of heaven via La Veta Pass.

Fast forward to a bright spring morning several months later when I finally did give in to God’s long suffering love and trusted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. That, by the way, also occurred in the Colorado mountains. I was on a weekend retreat with some Christians who had recently befriended me and I was alone in the pines considering the historicity of the Bible -- which I had by then trusted to be accurate and trustworthy -- and then dealing with the paramount question of whether I would acknowledge the Person of Christ as God. For if I decided that proposition to be true, the natural next step was to believe that His death and resurrection were the means whereby God paid the penalty of my sins. 

I had been close to surrendering my pride and sophomoric arguments all weekend long but it was on this clear Sunday morning that I knew my decision couldn’t be delayed any longer. And whether it was my own imagining or an intuition kindled in my heart by the Lord Himself, I sensed that God was inviting me to come to the cross with a stirring allusion to that freezing night the previous December. Come out of the cold, Denny. Leave your degradation, deceptions, ands danger behind. Believe in Me and let’s travel a different highway together. C’mon, climb up in the cab. And I did. Thank God, I did. How about you?

Postscript. There was yet another dramatic hitchhiking story still to come in my future, one that would take this young convert to Christianity, toting a duffel bag and with $12 in his pocket, to a place he had never been before -- Omaha, Nebraska. It would be a place where God would give him a home, a job, the most unusual and effective discipleship training imaginable, and eventually an exceptionally noble and loving woman who would become his wife. 

But that story...is for another time.