Wait for it….

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It’s God’s timing, not yours

A shout out to my Pastor, Jason Esposito for the inspiration for this post.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 This is the charge to parents as they raise their children and help them formulate their faith, values, and morals. As leftist ideology replaces traditional learning in public education, our nation is running the risk of creating a generation of indoctrinated youth. Diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) curricula place more emphasis on social engineering than mathematics, science and reading. The precipitous decline of United States standardized testing is clear evidence that it has adversely affected the competency of our students. If instilled early enough, the tenets of Critical Race Theory, (CRT) transgenderism, social and climate justice will be ingrained into our youth’s belief systems. Children are particularly vulnerable to suggestion and are innate learners, trusting implicitly those charged to teach and train them. Just as computers utilize only information that is inputted, children are an open book waiting for the proper instruction to formulate how they will approach their futures.

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.  And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Deuteronomy 6:5-8 This is critical guidance for parents. Parents have a duty to make certain that their children follow the narrow path and are not led astray. If parents allow the State to usurp their authority and instill values contrary to their own, they have failed in their responsibility to, not only their children but to God.

The intrusion of government into the affairs of the populace has been deliberately amplified for decades. When Barack Obama ascended to the Presidency, it was intensified ten-fold. His strategy of promoting race and class division in our society is textbook leftist ideology. While we had a brief respite from the headlong rush to redefine our nation when Donald Trump was elected, it has gone into hyperdrive after the election of Joe Biden. One of Biden’s first executive orders was to integrate DEI into all government agencies and have it trickle down to businesses and education. It has been extraordinarily effective. As we go about our busy lives, blissfully unaware of this destructive mandate, we allow our children to be manipulated by this malicious scheme. DEI promotes gender, race, and inclusion, discounting merit and ability, and advancing individuals less qualified for those positions. This will eventually lead to less qualified doctors, military, airline pilots, plumbers, electricians, and on and on, diminishing society.  

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Habakkuk 1:2-4 Have you ever just cried out to God? Know this, He hears all our laments. He hears our pleas for justice. He hears our cries of pain and despair. Prayer takes many forms and God listens and answers them all. Our time and expectations are not God’s though. Even in the Old Testament times, God answered His people in His own time. Prayer, when sincere and God-centered, will be answered. Some prayers are answered before we even realize that we have the need or before we ask.

Our time, our talents, and our resources are given to us to use to give God the glory. We are often given the tools to right those wrongs or heal those infirmities before we even recognize the deficiency in our lives. For healing, God provides the medical community. For the fight against evil, God provides our church community and His Word. The spiritual armor that God provides gives us the wherewithal to stand up to the evil that seems to have overtaken this world. Often, we can become the answer to prayer if we relinquish control and allow Him to rule our lives.

In our faith community, we have the spiritual resources to help guide our lives. As parents, we can surrender to God and gain the strength to stand up to the forces that seek to destroy faith and family. With God’s help, we can take back our nation and be instrumental in returning this nation back to Him. With faith in God, anything can be accomplished. Throughout time, God has used His people as instruments to accomplish His will. Divine intervention can be God tapping you on the shoulder to act on His behalf. It is not too late if we choose to act now. Stand strong in the Lord and refuse to acquiesce to the evil that has become so pervasive in our world. Evil may seem to have won today’s battle, but we know who ultimately wins this war. 

Fair Game

 To the victors…

The recent decision by the four liberal members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to rule that the redistricting maps drawn by the State Legislature fails on its face. The municipal “islands” that were found to be acceptable by three of the liberal justices in 2020, somehow became unacceptable to those same Justices as they effectively overruled themselves. The Wisconsin State Constitution gives authority to the Legislature to redraw the legislative maps after the United States census is completed each decade. This authority falls to the majority elected by the citizens of Wisconsin. Each member of the State Assembly and Senate is elected by the citizens of their District.

In 2001, Democrats held an 18-15 majority in the State Senate and Republicans held a 54-45 majority in the Assembly. Legislative maps were crafted by the divided legislature and signed by Republican Governor Tommy Thompson. After the 2010 census, the Republicans were elected to majorities in both houses and Governor. For the first time, Republicans were given the authority to redraw legislative districts and have them approved by a Republican Governor. Of course, Democrats claimed that the Republicans gerrymandered to their advantage. The crafters of our State’s Constitution were intentional in their decision to rest the power of redrawing legislative district lines by the Legislature. The people’s mandate in electing the majority party was to be rewarded and their will accomplished when their chosen legislators are given “the keys to the car.” There is no such thing as “fair maps” that are equally divided by political affiliation, nor was it ever intended to be. Whichever party controls the redrawing, the other party cries foul! “They are creating maps that benefit themselves.” No kidding. If you want more authority, convince more people to vote for you. To the victors go the spoils.

Wisconsin State law has two criteria for redrawing legislative maps; They must be of substantially equal population and not discriminate based on race. Traditional redistricting principles, however, have been used by numerous states. Wisconsin uses three; District boundaries be as compact as practical, contiguous and preserve political subdivisions. Compactness and contiguity are self-explanatory. Political subdivisions are not defined as communities that tend to vote for one political party, as the Court implies. From the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau report on redistricting in Wisconsin 2020;

 “Respecting the unity of political subdivisions means drawing district boundaries in such a way as to avoid crossing existing political boundaries. This principle both simplifies the administration of elections and helps to clearly identify for voters the specific district in which they live. In many ways this principle goes hand in hand with the effort to preserve communities of interest. However, strictly adhering to the boundaries of political subdivisions in a redistricting plan often makes it more difficult to satisfy equal population requirements. Consequently, this principle, while by no means obsolete, was followed much more meticulously in Wisconsin, and elsewhere, before the advent of one person, one vote.

In Wisconsin, assembly districts must “be bounded by county, precinct, town or ward lines.” Additionally, county supervisory districts must generally consist of whole wards or municipalities, city aldermanic districts must consist of whole wards, and wards may not cross municipal or county lines.

Notice that political party preference is not a traditional redistricting principle. Some States use the “competitive” principle to not advantage one political party by creating “safe” districts for either party. Another principle is to not create boundaries that move incumbents into the same district, as did the map presented by Governor Evers. Neither of these traditional redistricting principles are used in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Legislature is the sole authority to redraw legislative maps and the Governor has the authority to veto any map deemed unsatisfactory. If vetoed, the Legislature needs to either override the veto or redraw maps that the Governor will approve. The Wisconsin State Supreme Court is usurping the Constitutional authority of the legislature to redraw the maps, especially if those maps were the same maps previously upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court just over a year ago. We, the people, are being denied by a body that is usurping the authority of our elected representatives. The decision by the four liberal Justices to discard the previously approved maps is a threat to democracy and irrevocably harms the citizens of this great State. The Legislature enacts laws, and the Supreme Court rules on those laws’ constitutionality. They do not have the authority to remake laws to their liking.

Moral Compass

 

New morality fails the smell test.

Humankind, as it continues to advance into a new enlightened age, has determined that gender is no longer a biological reality. In a few short years, gender dysphoria morphed from a diagnosed mental disorder to being celebrated as heroic and normal, replete with school curriculum adapted to this new reality. It has become all-important to those on the left that children be indoctrinated into accepting this abhorrent ideology. In fact, anyone can choose to change their gender at a moment’s notice and that decision must be respected. That person’s chosen pronouns must be accepted and any deviation from their preferred terminology, or what is now referred to as misgendering, by any person addressing that person will be promptly corrected, and in some states, remedied with a court summons for the “misgenderer.” Transgender activists make certain to call out any who fail to accept their “truth”.

Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:15-20. Our society boasts many false prophets today, and many have not only fallen for their deceptions but further promulgate their lies. Far too many mainstream churches misdirect the call to love your neighbor as a command to affirm them in their sin. Love of neighbor is important, cited by Jesus as the second most important commandment. Loving your neighbor and affirming them within their sinful proclivities are two entirely different things. Reach out in love to open a door to repentance.

“Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8: 5-8. Those who are consumed by their sexuality, engage in the LGTBQI+ lifestyle, or choose to disregard their birth gender are indeed ruled by the flesh. Pleasing God is not on their radar, their chosen sexual preference or identity rules their lives. This places themselves, their personal ideology, and their identity above God. Many of the choices we make are not always pleasing to our Lord and Savior. Deliberate and continued disobedience is another story. Fail as we may to live a life pleasing to God, we recognize and acknowledge our sinful behavior, repent, and endeavor to follow the path that is pleasing to our God.

God declares that the sacrament of marriage is created for one man and one woman. “Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh.” Matthew 19:4-6. Together they comprise a team that procreates and shares the responsibility to instill faith, morals, and to nurture their children. With the rise of transgenderism, government endeavors to usurp the parental role and advance and instill morals contrary to parental desires. In an age where schools cannot give a student an aspirin or go on a field trip without parental consent, concealing something as life-altering as a child choosing to deny their biological gender from their parents, is insane.  

In our natural state, we are enemies of God. Our minds focus inward toward ourselves and not outward to God. There is an emptiness in our souls that can only be filled by Jesus Christ and His everlasting love. Our minds are not right until we finally give in and let Jesus be the Lord of our lives. Transgenderism is all about a mind that believes their physical being, crafted intricately by God in their mother’s womb, is not the person that they truly are. Their physical being is as it was intended but, their mind is at war, not only with God, but with themselves. Once one’s mind becomes right with God, any confusion about your physical being is cleared away. The transgender community and those who promote this insanity are living a lie. They are unduly influenced and led astray by the evil one. Once you please God, you will be pleased yourself. And what are we, as Christians, called to do with our brothers and sisters led astray? Love them as you love yourself. All of us are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. The church and faith community must welcome all sinners, no matter what.

We must open a door for all to come to Christ, not build a wall with misdirected judgementalism. It is not our task to judge our neighbors. “A servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing (patient). He must gently reprove (engage in discourse with) those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26. We should never be accusatory when engaging with our confused brothers and sisters. We need to channel the love of Christ and be forgiving. But, turning a blind eye is not an option. We cannot stand by idly and allow them to be lost to the evil one. Love them, pray with and for them, but do not affirm their disobedience. Affirm that God loves them and has a place for them in His heavenly kingdom. Our mission is to plant the seed and let the Holy Spirit work to restore their soul.