Communism

 

Every American, in fact every free person on earth should pursue a good understanding of Communism, especially how it is manifesting in China, because China has become such a world power. A good way of educating ourselves about Communism is through the Epoch Times. I encourage you to subscribe to it. It is founded by people who have come out of Chinese Communism. They understand it from the inside. There is no doubt that China is an enemy of Democracy, and therefore of America. This is a fact. [Google “Has China declared war against the US?”] We must not ignore this powerful threat to the freedoms that God has offered and provides to mankind. Communism is brutally atheistic. In China, the only god is the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]. If you “worship” this god, you can prosper. If not you are punished in many ways, from prejudicial treatment in your society to torture and death. Since the CCP is the god of China, no other gods can be allowed, and so we see the brutal suppression of Buddhism, Christianity, and Falun Gong. True religion is a threat to Communism. Christianity stabs Communism in the heart. Communism protects itself with propaganda [lies] and power. Falun Gong is a relatively benign practice. It is non-evangelical. It is built on the pillars of “compassion, truthfulness and tolerance”. And yet it has been brutally suppressed by the CCP. There are rumors of communist infiltration in the US. Our president-elect’s son was doing business with them, on a personal level. I think this is a fact, but you can check it out. BLM, a very popular movement in America, was founded by self-avowed communists. We just need to pay attention to these things. No fear. No hate. Just peaceful, diligent Love for humankind. And a strong devotion in our Faith

COVID

 

You turned something beautiful into something awkward. A fresh-flowing river, watering a green field into a dammed up trickling stream, the plants withering in the growing desert. Your tight-fisted grip has choked the life out of a life-enhancing bond. Your iron hand has turned a free child into a scared robot, doing a weird dance under your scowl; making him afraid to feel what he so needs to feel. Afraid to touch and be touched. Walled off from the embrace of love and delight---the gifts that control can never give. Something that to him was warm, open, safe and secure has now become contaminated; threatening, out of reach, out of touch. Togetherness has become alienation. Communion is now scattered and forbidden by the tyranny of fear. “Love casts out fear” the Bible says. But fear, when allowed, displaces love. And fear and uncertainty and alienation compose a toxic atmosphere for a growing soul.

Oh Lord, by Your grace empower us to let Love flow---the River of Living Water; unencumbered. Let us dance again to the music of Love. Let it arise in our hearts driving away all the foolish fears, like the sun driving away the dark of night. Let us, like all true warriors, claim the liberty of Love over the fear of sickness---and even of death. Empower us as we strain to reach out across the divisive abyss; hands and hearts reaching out to touch and be touched. Cleanse and sanctify us in Your Love. Heal and restore us to the joy of togetherness. Empower us to be courageous in the Love that triumphs over all fear---the Love that enhances our immune systems!

Bold Christianity

 

It seems to me, and many seasoned Christians that are speaking in the world today, that we are entering into a period of spiritual warfare unprecedented in my lifetime for sure. The powers that humans have garnered in science and technology, and especially in the possibilities that are opened up in the preponderance of social media, have provided unprecedented venues for the propagation of evil and good. The Church, bearing the life-sustaining Truth of Christ, has been lulled into lethargy in the unprecedented peace and prosperity that were purchased by the diligent wakefulness of our Founders and forbears. The Light has grown dim. And now, through these massive venues, darkness has been creeping [perhaps flooding would be a better word] into our minds and hearts, and those of our children. Like the melting of the glaciers [probably, mysteriously a result of this spiritual lethargy] each day or week we see large chunks of Christian principles and truths collapsing into the ocean of chaos and multiple manifestations of darkness. Christians are either being slowly seduced into that darkness, or they are being relegated into a corner on the fringe of society and ordered to keep quiet in the public realm unless they can speak only that version of the Gospel that is “politically correct” and does not offend anyone. Our world is progressively becoming as hostile to the Christian faith as it was in the day when Paul and the first Christians lived and preached. The New Testament, therefore is particularly helpful to us in knowing how to respond. [This is a massive understatement, I realize.] If we do not become warriors, we will be talked over and walked over by those who do not know their right hand from their left spiritually. Our Lord will not be pleased with us if stand idly by while humans go marching off into hell like a lamb to the slaughter. The watchman must sound the trumpet [even if he is ridiculed for it] or else the blood of the people is on his head. We must shed our useless egos that worry about our reputation or what people will think of us. We have to love people enough to speak the Truth to them [the Truth that will set them free and save their souls] even if they hate us for it---even if they think we are bigots, racists or homophobic. We must know, in the core of our being, that we are NONE of these: That we are fully aware that God loves ALL people as much as he loves us. And we are acting out of this Love in all we say and do. Jesus will grant this blessing to us if we ask. We must put on the full armor of God [Ephesians 6] and stand boldly in the Love, Truth and Peace of Christ.

TRUTH

 

Truth remains the Truth, shining and harder than diamond, no matter what you do to it. You can dress it in the clothes of a harlot and drag it through the streets in mockery and condemnation; you can try to hide it behind flashy facades; you can paint it over with trumped up "hypocrisy"; you can put a plastic handle on it and try to use it to enslave people; you can try to sell it for a profit; you can simply ignore it while your world deteriorates; you can bolt and lock the door when it comes gently knocking; you can build a wall to keep it out--it will waft over with the clouds and pour in with the rain; you can run ten thousand miles to escape it, and find it there when you arrive; you can forbid it, hate it, try to turn people from it; you can drag it before the blind tribunal, condemn, torture, spit on it, crucify it---it arises from the grave in triumphant forgiveness and grace. It is washed clean by the blood of the martyrs. Children live in its innocence. The wise sit and run and play in its fields and by its streams, while those with the raging, envious eyes of Cain lurk in its shadows. It arises with every dawn and shines brighter and brighter unto the full light of day. Those who love it find infinite and perfect peace. Their souls take flight on the wings of freedom, upward and above the smoke and clamor of those who are rummaging through the philosophical garbage heaps or empty halls of academia, or fighting against each other in the pursuit of that which can not be gotten through fighting. Here it is, bold and bright above the ramblings of man, like a universal Lighthouse bringing the wayfaring soul safely into Port: "I AM THE TRUTH." [Jesus] Understand and live.

Oppression

 

Jesus was not a victim of oppression. By praying for His “oppressors” and teaching us to love our enemies---by not returning evil for evil--- He exemplifies the only way to rise above oppressive evil. He was not intimidated by power. He spoke Truth to it. But He did not hate those who were bewitched by it, knowing that they did not “know what they [were] doing.” To hate the people who are enslaved in the blindness of any form of evil is to live under the curse of that evil. This hatred can be expressed in arrogant or even comedic sarcasm and condescension, inflammatory demagoguery, and/or violence. The compassionate and wise hatred of evil heals the human family. The hatred of the PEOPLE who are lost in evil is a blindness that only serves to fuel the fires of that evil. If we cannot love our enemies as Jesus commanded and demonstrated, we will contribute to the social problems that we loath.

Principles to Overcome National Crises

 

In the current crisis we are facing in our nation, there are some principles that I believe will help us negotiate successfully; as we have negotiated through other major crises. I set them forth here:

1. Good and evil exist. There are ways of being in this world that progress us toward all that is good for humanity, and ways that regress us into unnecessary suffering.

2. The line that separates good from evil goes through the heart of every human. The primary responsibility of every human is to deal first and foremost with his/her own propensity for evil. No laws or systems of government can compensate for our failure to do this. Jesus pointed out that it is easy for us to see the evil “out there”, and difficult to see the evil that is “in here.” And He indicated that we would not be able to help our brother overcome his evil if we did not first expose and exculpate our own. [Matthew 7:3-5].

3. We all share the responsibility to stand together in confronting and overcoming societal evil, which may be thought of as evil that takes on a collective dynamic and is reinforced by the fact that many stand in agreement with it, benefit from it, and find ways to rationalize it---a sort of collective blindness. [Think of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time, the KKK, Nazi Germany and “systemic racism” in recent history.]

4. There is no person nor people group that is purely evil juxtaposed against a person or people group that is purely good. There is good in the worst of us and evil in the best of us, to varying degrees.

5. These principles take on a higher level of power and importance in the COLLECTIVE [vs. individual] battles against evil specifically because they are reinforced by the dynamic of what some have called “group think”--attitudes and beliefs that congeal and are reinforced by the number of people who adhere to them or benefit from them. In this dynamic those who are predominantly good but passive can be swept up in the demagoguery of those who are predominantly evil but loud and passionate. Historically, much unnecessary suffering has resulted from this human tendency.

6. Communism is an example of a political system that has capitalized [no pun intended] on this dynamic by fundamentally defining history as a struggle of the oppressed against the oppressor. This mindset is not exclusive to communism. When the human endeavor is fundamentally defined in this paradigm, the human tendency to overlook the evil in the self and demonize the evil in the other is maximized. Tens of millions of people have been murdered when this mindset has taken root in civilizations. This is a historical fact.

7. Judaeo-Christianity and the American Constitution and Democratic Republic that are rooted in its principles [partially stated above], properly lived out, have the potential of providing the enduring revolution that evolves the human family toward justice, equality, and peace at the pace at which these can realistically be attained. An accurate account of history reveals that this enduring revolution has indeed been happening. [The end of slavery; women’s rights and the elevation of womanhood; the success of the Civil Rights Movement, and now the progressive transcendence of “systemic racism”.] Patience and diligence are equally important in this process. Without diligence we stagnate in oppression. And without patience we fail to see our progress and face the tendency of over-reacting and destroying the foundations that provide us the platform for continued progress. This points toward the value of both the Conservative and the Liberal endeavors. The Liberal endeavor militates against stagnation and keeps us moving forward. The Conservative endeavor keeps us from “throwing out the baby with the bath water” so to speak. It works to “conserve” only that which has served all members of the human family well. Both endeavors are equally important and beneficial when lived out inside the parameters of the extremes on either side. But the benefits of both can only be contributed to the society in a context of civility in which neither side demonizes and rejects the other in a wholesale manner.

Mark Graham

[I hope you will share this]

John Yoo: Trump defends Constitution

https://youtu.be/RnPpIlhh16I

Jesus and Politics

 

When Jesus was born, Herod was the king of the Jews [their "president"]. He was so evil that Augustus said that his pigs were safer than his children (because his children potentially threatened his power.) In the Second Chapter of the Gospel of Luke we read about him. When the Magi traveled through Jerusalem, following the star that was leading them to what they had come to understand was the birth of a King, Herod said "Let me know when you find him so I can come and worship him also." His true intent was to murder him. Politics has always had a gruesome side--like life itself. Evil is real; and no arena of life is able to shut it out. Only the heart that has been redeemed and enlightened by the Christ (Who was protected by Divine intervention from the evil intent of Herod and Who has shown us the Way of Truth) can be perpetually protected from evil. This is true because we know, through Christ, that the Way of Life is the Way of Love--the Love that He manifested to the human family, and that He makes available to all who "seek, ask and knock".  Only to the degree that we are motivated by this Love are we free from the ravages and control of evil. His ultimate freedom was evident in His prayer from the Cross: "Father forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." He was still loving! Nothing--not the hatred, mockery, cruelty, false accusations, abandonment, betrayal, physical torture or being nailed to a Cross --nothing could penetrate His soul of Love for the human family. And what a victory! Even today, on the streets of our violence-torn cities, divided by prejudice, fear and anger, those who are speaking with the clearest and most healing voices are speaking the language of Jesus the Christ. "Love one another! We're all God's children! Pray for one another! We got to stop killin' each other! Stop this violence! Stop it!" Martin Luther King, Jr., that Baptist preacher, knew that violence could never win the day. He was immersed in Jesus' teachings. Preached them repeatedly from the pulpit. Jesus has solved the problem of violence for all who hear and heed His voice: "You have always been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemies, but I say to you, Love your enemies; bless those who curse you; do good to those who hate you; and pray for those who despitefull use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father in heaven." Mt. 5:44.  Remember: He not only spoke these words, He lived the reality of them!

Until we get to this place of heart and mind, all our solutions will be temporary and restrictive in nature. No politician can redeem the hearts of humans. And no laws, military or police force can totally block evil. Education does not provide spiritual enlightenment. (Hitler was educated and intelligent!)

The solution to our social diseases will not be found in politics, law enforcement or education. These are only helpful to the degree that they are being enacted in a social climate of humans who have been and are being enlightened by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. All other goals and motives are distractions or palliative at best.

In America we have had an unprecedented opportunity to be a "Light on a hill" to the rest of the world; not by proclaiming ourselves to be better, more powerful or more righteous than other peoples, but by taking responsibility for the freedom that we have been given by "Divine Providence" (as our Founding Fathers clearly understood) and using it for the benefit of humankind. Not by selfishly grasping for more and more "rights" or sinking into a quagmire of hedonistic pleasure; but by practicing the spiritual disciplines that are a pathway to and manifestation of the only true freedom that exists: the freedom of the soul that Jesus expressly provides. ("I come to set at liberty those who are oppressed.") We still have this opportunity! But now, as always, the evils of fear and hatred threaten it. Fear and hatred are parasitical, draining away the life-force of Love. And Jesus delivers us from them! I beg you, as one who loves America and desires her to become what God has given her the potential of becoming, join the enduring revolution! Recognize the Lordship of Jesus! I challenge you to try to find a purer, more enlightened pathway than the one He walked and taught. If you can, walk in it! But if you can't, then why waste your time on anything less. Work on behalf of the Christian Faith. Support those who propagate the Gospel of peace around the world. This would be an enlightened thing for even an atheist to do, since the Christian faith infuses any society (like "salt" and "yeast") with freedom and life-enhancing qualities that are good for all--not just Christians.  And when the general population of any nation is predominantly enlightened by Christ, there is peace and harmony among the people. Jesus said, "They will know that you are my disciples by the love that you have for each other."

Please God! This is how we want to be known! May the world see America as a nation of people who sincerely love each other; and who also love the entire human family.

A GOOD LIFE

 

I have lived a good life. I have loved and been loved by a good woman; a woman who deeply loved and delighted in the children we brought into the world. We delighted in them [and in their children] together. I have found forgiveness and peace and rest in my soul in Jesus Christ, through Whom I have discovered my atonement with our Creator, Who is Love---Love beyond all human love; the Source of all Love and goodness and wisdom and freedom. I have been liberated from fear and the “worries and cares of the world and the desire for riches” as He so eloquently described it. I have known deep and loyal friendships. I am thankful with a deep and growing gratitude. I know that death is my “final victory”--a sometimes daunting doorway to new adventures—another birth. My soul has been awakened to beauty: the unspeakable beauty of womanhood, children, and the infinite beauty of nature. I have wept in grief of all the sorrows of the world and laughed til tears flowed from my eyes. I have helped some brothers and sisters carry their loads down the road, and I have been carried in the arms of human compassion---compassion that has penetrated the wellsprings of my soul from which tears of joy flowed like pure healing waters. I have seen, with eyes clarified by the sincere pursuit of Truth, the colossal battle of good and evil, and have come to rest in the assurance of the ultimate triumph of goodness [if we all do our part!]. Christ, the Cross, and the Resurrection are the supreme icons of this Reality. It is very fitting that we should demarcate all human history by His time on the earth. I have come into a deepening awareness of, and have tried to articulate [I am trying now] the ineffable goodness of life and consciousness. The very fact of our consciousness, our ability to communicate, love, laugh, create, empathize, etc., should be a source of unending amazement and overflowing gratitude. We are a compendium of countless miracles. Every one of the multi-trillion cells composing our bodies is a miracle—every organ; every system working together to maintain our life and consciousness. And we are at one with the earth and universe, which are miracles beyond comprehension. We should be dancing!

Ultimate Truth

 

The ultimate Truth is Love.

This Love has been revealed to us by our Creator through Jesus the Christ. We cannot find in human history a greater Love than that which Christ revealed. When we hear Him as He is, our souls resonate with a depth that we know to be eternal Truth or Reality: this Love. Our lives then become the joyful journey of living out this Reality, empowered by the gift of His Holy Spirit. We continue to have weaknesses and failures. We are like the Apostle Paul who confessed that he could not do the good that he willed, and did the evil that he did not want to do. But we realize, along with Paul, that all our sins and weaknesses have been poured over by forgiveness through the atoning blood of Christ. And we have peace with our Creator in Him. That peace is real---not just ink on a page or pixels on a screen—but a living internal reality. He satisfies ALL our cravings. We “thirst no more” as He said.

Preserve America

“The quality or measure of life’s meaning is in whether a person tries today to express love in the best way that he can. NOW. There is no other ultimate yardstick for human significance. Personal accomplishments, career growth and advancements, or goal achievements are satisfying. But, in and for themselves, they have no ultimate value without the growth of love!” Lewis F. Presnall

Diversity does not necessarily result in polarizing divisions between people IF there is a unifying factor. But without a unifying factor, history has proven ad nauseum that diversity devolves, rapidly or slowly, into conflict. This is true no matter if the diversity is geographical, racial, cultural, the color of skin, dialect, religion, or even gender. Humans have an innate tendency to project evil into that which is different from the self---to elevate one’s own tribe above others and look down upon the other condescendingly; or to envy and hate it if it appears or claims to be superior. An important question for Americans to ask is, “What is our unifying factor?” Our common Christian faith, with it’s gentle Progenitor's command to love one’s enemies, has filled that role until recently in our history, even with its many factions. As it has receded from this role, social conflict has escalated. A good slogan for our time might be:

PRESERVE AMERICA! PROMOTE CHRISTIANITY!

Christianity, when lived out according to the Truth of its namesake, provides a unity of Love between diverse groups of people without destroying their beautiful, God-ordained diversity. Indians can be Indians, African Americans can be African Americans, Jews can be Jews, Hispanics can be Hispanic, even Muslims can be Muslims in a Christian environment. But take away the leaven of Christianity---the command to Love, the Spirit and power of Love---and things start to deteriorate. The boundaries and the hearts start to harden. Rigor mortis sets in.

America's Unique Gift

The more I learn about history and the “human condition” and the more deeply I look into what is happening in America and in the world, the more I love and value the American ideal. I am amazed at what our Founders established in our Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights. I am amazed at the foundational simplicity and profundity of “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.” I am inspired by the idea of a government established to limit its own power instead of garnering power for itself. I am thankful that our Founders recognized the invasive and corrosive tendencies of the lust for power in the human heart, and established a government ingeniously designed to limit that power. I am amazed, when I look at the course of governments in history, that our Founders founded our Republic on the understanding that “all men are created equal” with “inalienable rights” that were and are “endowed by {our} Creator”---not doled out by the whims of those in power. What an amazing gift has been given to us by our Founders. But I fear for the American ideal. Our Founders knew from the beginning that a democracy is fragile and dependent upon the spiritual maturity of the people governed. Our enemies are betting that we will not be able to attain or maintain this level of maturity. Government “of, by and for the people” depends upon people who are capable of maintaining a bond of unity based upon the common good, transcending selfishness and what Geo. Washington called the “party spirit”---a malady characterized by a greater allegiance to a party or faction than to the nation as a whole. There are many factions in America today; not just two political parties. And there are many, especially in academia, who seem to hate America. They not only major on her faults [and, of course, America, as all nations, has her faults] but they tend to morbidly exaggerate them and overlook her goodness and strength. They have the wisdom of viruses or cancer cells which, if successful, destroy the host that they invade and themselves in the process. They speak the language of hatred. They magnify and feed on the discontent of citizens. And discontent is a spiritual malady that cannot be healed by politicians or systems of government. Until we discover the Source of contentment, we will not know how to govern ourselves. Our Founders knew this Source, and desired all to have free access to it. That is why they established “freedom of religion.” It is also why they, early on, established free public education; so that citizens would be able to read the Bible and judge politicians and the laws that would in the future be enacted by its gold standard of Truth [If you doubt this Google “Old Deluder Satan Act”. And/or visit historian David Barton’s “Wallbuilder” site]. The roots of our democracy are inextricably intertwined with the roots of Christianity. This is an undeniable historical fact. Christianity has provided the fertile soil and basic truths upon which this great nation has been founded. Christianity has been the immune system of this nation, protecting it from the invasive “viruses” and “bacteria” of hateful polarizations, the lust for power, and the demise of civil unity. As the knowledge and application of the Bible and the Spirit that it fosters has deteriorated, so has peace, unity and harmony in our nation. The unfounded fear of theocracy [Christ would never allow it] and the false belief that the secular mind, bereft of spiritual enlightenment, can govern itself have been corrosive to the American ideal. If we extricate Christianity from democracy, we will certainly destroy it. It will not have a unifying foundation and fabric suitable for its survival. It will degenerate into factions and parties selfishly vying for power and “rights”. And this will always have the volatile potential to escalate into violence enacted to procure that power and those rights.

The most potent way to preserve America is to promote the Christian Faith. Anyone who deeply understands the New Testament will certainly see this truth. And the fact that many do not have a deep understanding of the New Testament is a symptom of the problem here being elucidated. Our Founders had a profound understanding of and allegiance to it. They quoted it profusely, publicly and privately. If you are interested in pursuing the facts and ideas of this post, I encourage you to examine the following sources:

1. Geo. Washington’s Farewell Address of 1796 https://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=false&page=transcript&doc=15&title=Transcript+of+President+George+Washingtons+Farewell+Address+%281796%29 [A must read for anyone interested in American government

2. Dinesh D’Souza’s movie “America….” 3. Wallbuilders website

Democracy and Christian Evangelism

“Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.” George W. Bush, Jan., 2001.

The media is that wind. And we now have the opportunity to sow the seeds of democracy, and the personal freedom that it provides, to all the people of earth. But it should be the people, the common folk, not the government who sow those seeds. In other nations where tyranny reigns, the government sings its praises and intimidates the populace to do the same. Fear is induced to keep the people singing those false praises---false because in secrecy those people whisper about the hypocrisy of their government. Their “loyalty” is loud in proportion to their fear of disloyalty. They force themselves to believe that which they dare not disbelieve. In America there is no fear of disloyalty to the government, and God forbid that there ever should be. But there should be loyalty, free and uncoerced, because this nation has brought something very valuable into the world—unprecedented prosperity and personal freedom. We have the blessing of a government that is divided against itself--something we should celebrate rather than lament. The governments of North Korea, Russia and China are not divided against themselves. Division is not allowed. Everyone must be loyal to the one party, which comprises the government in its entirety. There can be no dissenting voices. And there is no power above the government—no “one nation under God” from Whom our “inalienable rights” come [not the government].The division and dissension within American politics keeps the government from gaining the power to erode the freedoms of its citizens. Unity in government is not something our Founders envisioned, but rather the good governance that is forged in the fires of open dissension—freedom of speech and press; three branches and eventually two parties to contribute to the spreading of power. Let the politicians ramble on while we enjoy the freedoms their wranglings have afforded us , and let’s tell the world what a good thing we’ve got here and encourage them to read our wonderful Constitution [and we should read it more ourselves, and celebrate it and protect it as it has protected us for two centuries—something no other system of government can claim.] We must not stop examining ourselves as a nation, and exposing our sins. This is necessary in maintaining our republican democracy. But if we define ourselves by our problems and fail to see the tremendous good that has come through our Founding Fathers and this nation, then we will not have the loyalty and healthy national pride necessary to be all that we have the potential of becoming, not only for ourselves but for all the peoples of earth living under tyranny. We must fight against self loathing and wallowing in regret and self condemnation. We must stop looking for the person, people or party to blame. We must look instead to the amazing accomplishment of our Founders: they were geniuses of government with a profound understanding of the dangers of power. We must receive with gratitude all they have given us and take it to new levels, as we have in fact been doing [the Civil War and the Rights Movements for women and Afro-Americans]. We the people must be good, which the French historian DeTocqueville recognized as the source of our strength. We need the vitality of an authentic and sincere Christian faith nourishing that goodness. Without it we drift, unanchored into many forms of darkness such as we see in its evolved forms in other nations and in the worst of ourselves. We need to be sincere in understanding Jesus Christ—His teachings and His heart. And we must try to spread this understanding to the world—to encourage the increase of the Family and Kingdom that He instituted and informs. This is parallel to being evangelical about democracy and our blessed form of government because, just as our democracy was born and nurtured in the fertile soil of Judeo-Christianity, only in that same fertile environment can democracy thrive. This is true because governments do not transform the human heart. They can only enslave or constrain it by force. Only Christ transforms the heart of a human, making him someone who can be a safe and proper steward of freedom. Without the constraints of the Love of Christ, there can ultimately be no freedom. The human heart is too fraught with evil seeds that subtly grow, without those constraints, into something that is monstrous and destructive for the human family. Surely we have enough recorded history and evening news reports to convince even the most optimistic humanitarian of this truth.

I am a proponent of Christianity because I am so thankful for what has been wrought in its Spirit, both for me and my loved ones personally, but, on a larger scale, for the government that was born in its Spirit; a government that has provided its citizens unprecedented freedom and prosperity. I am alarmed to see the fading of the Light of Christ in our nation. I see in this spiritual regression the natural parallel of national shame and self-loathing—a deep unrest that strains for change, just as happened in the Bolshevik Revolution, which led to millions of deaths to forge a new government that has now crumbled under the weight of a different manifestation of the same evil that it sought to destroy---an evil that is undiscernable and overpowering outside of Christ. I pray for a new awakening of reverence for Christ, love for each other and gratitude to replace the insufferable suffering of entitlement, feelings of victimhood and deprivation. I pray that we will come to see Christianity as the amazing, liberating and empowering gift that it truly is---perhaps the only theology on earth that has the power to deliver us from the worst that is in us while preserving the beautiful uniqueness of various personalities, cultures, races and nations. I pray we can see the revolutionary power in the Spirit of Christ to channel our desire for a better world in the only healthy direction---away from hatred, blaming and the violent attacks against the old order in order to establish the new, accompanied always by bloodshed and misery, leading only to doomed new forms of the old order, managed by a younger generation of blind fools who thought they were doing the world a favor, or, better, laying in the bloody dust of defeat like the Nazis, having been overcome by a better and more powerful force, which is no less vulnerable to the same subtle evil that blossomed into Nazi Germany, Stalin’s Russia, and even North Korea. Christianity in its true manifestation is our national immune system against such regression. I don’t see what can substitute for it except more laws and more powerful enforcement of those laws, constraining the growing frustrations and hatred of people who cannot love each other through their differences as Christ commands.

Mark Graham 5/30/20

Little Boys

LITTLE BOYS

I've known little boys. Little boys are transformative.

They transform oil-slicked water into rainbows.

They transform roadside ditches into rivers with minnows, tadpoles, frogs, and occasional wonderful snakes!

They transform clouds into elephants, horses, dragons, and butterflies.

They transform the neighbor's yard into a battlefield where you can be chased down and tickled or attacked by a bear.

They transform weeping willow branches into a jungle.

They transform kitchens into balloon bouncing marathon arenas.

They transform walks into adventures.

They transform sofas into wrestling rinks or mountain cliffs,

And driveways into race tracks.

They transform quiet, dark houses into bright rousing circuses.

I've known little boys.

Little boys have transformed my world.

Mark Graham 4/20/20

Anxiety

Anxiety flows like a river. You dam it up here and it breaks out over there. It’s like an inner trembling energy that is drawn out like lightning at one perceived threat after another. Then we mistakenly think the perceived threat is the problem rather than the trembling, inner energy. It is like an inner fire that flares up with the gasoline-like dousing of one perceived threat after another. The fire subsides but never goes out. The spark is always there, easily ignited by the hint, shadow or illusion of threat.

Faith and Truth extinguish the fires, again and again, until even the spark is extinguished and the inner trembling energy dissipates and a mysterious, palpable peace arises like mercury in a thermometer on a warm Spring morning; like the dawning of the sun, shining brighter and brighter, warming the very soul; like the slow relaxing of an infant at its loving mother’s breast.

Curiosity

 I love curiosity. Curiosity is one of the colors in the magnificent rainbow of Love. This is true because the more curious you are about people, the more you learn about them, and the more you know about someone [their joys, fears, sorrows, relationships, etc.] the better you can love them. And of course, that’s what this is all about. And the more curious you are about the world, the more you discover the awesome mystery of everything. And the more likely you are to come to admire the infinitely intelligent Creator Who has woven all this magnificent universe together in Love. I love curiosity because it will ultimately lead to the Truth that Jesus said “sets you free”. “Stay curious my friend.”

America: What I Love About Her

What I love about America:

The best that is available to all humans is free. Why should we fight for what is free and available to all? America does not fight to impose its will upon others. We do fight to protect and keep the blessings of freedom and democracy for ourselves, and we do the best we can to make sure that these blessings are available to the people of earth--- to those who desire them. The best that America has discovered and appropriated is what we are trying to give to the world. Those who fight against America, or who consider America their enemy, fight against the loss of power to a free people. They fear freedom; and if they are addicted to power, they hate it. America has not always used its freedom wisely and compassionately. We admit that. And America’s enemies point to our licentiousness and entitlement as reasons to stand against her. Our contemptuous conflict and division gives our enemies fuel for the fire of their contempt of us, and it empowers them in their efforts to exclude their citizens from the blessings we enjoy and offer to the world. Our civil unity amidst our differences is perhaps our greatest asset, and a necessary element of democracy. What we are learning [sometimes painfully slowly] is that freedom of the soul converts into material prosperity. This is true because freedom of soul means that the soul is free from fear, greed and the lust for things in the world that are ultimately contrary to the forward movement of the human family. The soul is only ultimately free when it is supremely motivated by Love for the entire human family, which is a manifestation of and product of Love for the God Who gives us all life. [The Bible says that “God is Love.” ] And when people generally live in an atmosphere of consciously chosen Love---respect, kindness, civility, honesty, compassion, patience, goodwill, etc.---this prosperity of soul manifests outwardly as material prosperity--everyone has what they need. And this is true, not because a governmental power tries to force it or make it happen, but rather it issues out of the Love in individual hearts who work peacefully together to insure it. It is a process that is not “top down” but rather “grassroots” so to speak. Socialism and communism do not trust that this can happen. Democracy does. It is a brave venture of faith in humans to govern themselves, or more deeply, to be governed by the internal Law of Love. No governmental system will work ultimately without this internal motive in the hearts of the governed. Those who are motivated by the base desires of human blindness must be controlled by power and fear. Spiritual immaturity [not the lack of education] leads to tyranny. Education is only valuable to the degree that it fosters spiritual maturity. Knowledge without wisdom can be dangerous. Our Founders instituted free public education specifically so that young citizens would be able to read the Bible and hold future law makers accountable to its precepts. {Google “The Old Deluder Satan Act”}.

What I love about America is that it has provided us a magnificent opportunity to be out from under governmental tyranny long enough to expand the limits of spiritual growth in an environment of prosperity, which presents its own subtle and powerful temptations. What can we do with our freedom besides trying to accumulate wealth and pursue pleasure? [It is clear now that these pursuits do not lead to happiness.] With our freedom and our prosperity, what can we unselfishly offer the world? How can we use our freedom and prosperity to facilitate the psycho-spiritual evolution of the human family?

I see and feel in the Christian Faith—in Christ Himself---the culmination of all the good I see in all world religions and philosophies. And I am free, in America, to practice Christianity openly and to even openly encourage it [that is ,Christ] to the world. We can know that America is truly a free nation as long as this continues to be true because a true Christian can never be a slave to tyranny. That is precisely why tyrants hate the Bible and kill Christians. This is what I love about America.

Fear of Christianity

When you worry, or are even concerned [which can become a healthy replacement for “worry”] about what people may think of you if you actually, radically lived and spoke in the Holy Spirit of Christ, remember what people thought of Him: heretic, possessed of evil, a criminal worthy of death. He loved even those who judged Him, but, thank God, He did not allow their judgments to deter Him in His God-ordained, loving, redemptive mission. Our fears about what others will think of us have two basic roots: our uncertainty of the origin of our thoughts and deeds [“Is this really from God?”; or our egoistic pride in not wanting to be mocked or looked down upon by the arrogant, blind eyes of the world [sometimes manifested through those in our own household or social circles]. One aspect of our sanctification is to allow the Love of God in us to drive out those fears.