The Turnaround Has Begun

I believe that a new season has begun in America. The church needs to pray like never before!

The Legend Lives On

 No, not this one.

This one: we moved to Anchorage in early October 2003. Our new church family couldn't wait to tell us all about our new digs, including tales of Alaskan weather.

One thing they told us is that there is almost always permanent snow cover on the ground by Halloween. We, as Midwestern transplants, nodded and said okay. Right or wrong, there's nothing we could do about that. Although we looked forward to fluffy/powdery snow, instead of the icy slush that typically fell in the St. Louis area.

This particular bit of folk wisdom is demonstrably true, however. In the 21 years we've been here, it has failed only once - and then only by a few days.

So sure enough, an active system brought snow, starting yesterday. It stalled out over Cook Inlet, so parts of west Anchorage had over a foot already this morning. Mid-town got 9" to 10". We, living in the mountains to the northeast, had only 3" at 0630 when we left for work.

AccuHunch guesses there will be another 3" to 6" by lunchtime. Okay, then.

Meanwhile, life goes on. Local schools have declared a "remote learning day", using the setup left over from the Covid farce debacle days. 

And the rest of us just go back to work. A foot of snow? We call that Tuesday. :)

Friday Funnies

 

I'm A Christian, So Why Should I Vote?

"I knew I was at the right rally"

The apathy of many in the American church will prove to have been one of the greatest all-time disgraces - if not THE greatest - in her history. My Faith Votes, quoting from the Christian Post, tells us:

“As many as 104 million people of faith, including 32 million self-identified Christians who regularly attend church, are unlikely to vote in the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election on November 5 mainly due to lack of interest, research from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University shows (emphasis mine). The findings of the study released Monday by longtime Evangelical pollster George Barna and his team of researchers(1) are based on data collected in two related surveys of a national sample of 2,000 U.S. adults during August and September 2024.”(2)

My Faith Votes reports:

“Why did so many regular churchgoers indicate that they won’t vote? One reason could be that many churches are failing to urge congregants to steward their God-given civic responsibility. According to Barna, ‘...an estimated five million regular churchgoers would be likely to vote as a result of that simple exhortation.’ [Let that sink in: 5 million!]

“‘What a great way for believers and churches to use their platform – not by replacing their spiritual mandate with political emphasis, but by teaching people to live a culturally engaged life based on biblical principles,’ Barna continued. ‘And it’s not only voting for the next president, but also determining who will hold many other federal, state and local offices, and what will happen with numerous referenda.’ When Christians could be the deciding factor in matters of life and death, good and evil, how can we stay home?

“While the survey revealed Christians’ complacency, it also showed that many would appreciate instruction from their church on how to think about the issues from a biblical perspective.”(3)

And in that last point lies a huge part of the problem. Even though many in the church desire it, many Christian leaders – whether from ignorance, deception, or fear – refuse to instruct their followers on the responsibility of stewardship in the area of government.


Senior Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel told the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit:

“‘Let me tell you what happens when we are not involved in the political process,’ he said somberly. ‘We open the door for every evil ideology to fill the vacuum. When we decide we’re going to check out, we’re not going to be involved; we’re not going to be politically engaged; all we do is open the door for more of the same evil agenda and ideology. Why is it that so many Christians are sitting out on the sidelines? Why [is there] such political apathy in our world? Because a lot of Christians think that politics is a dirty word that they don’t want to be involved in. “We will leave the world of politics up to the rest of the world,” they would say, and then wonder why every evil has filled the vacuum. If you thought the last 35 years were disturbing, imagine the next 35. …We are one generation away from losing what is valuable and precious and sacred,’ Hamrick warned.

“This trend of political indifference and disgust is in spite of the Scripture’s clear teaching that government — like the family and the church — is an institution created and established by God. ‘Why is it that when it comes to the family, people are protective of the family, Christians in particular? Why is it when it comes to the church, Christians in particular want to care for the church and defend the church? But then when it comes to this third institution, the second one that God ordained, [and] all of a sudden people say, “Well, that one doesn’t need my involvement, that one doesn’t need my participation, that one doesn’t need for me to be engaged.”’”(4)

In the above paragraph mentioning how many Christians may not vote in the upcoming election, the phrase “due to lack of interest” leaped out at me. Think about it – “lack of interest.”

My Faith Votes reported on why we should be interested:

"Watchdog database Stop the Harm reported that just under $120 million in medical expenses were submitted to insurance companies for treatments designed to hide a minor’s gender characteristics in the United States between 2019 and 2023. The database, launched by the medical advocacy group “Do No Harm,” reported about 14,000 minors receiving such treatments within the four-year period. About 8,500 minors received hormone blockers, and more than 5,500 minors underwent actual surgeries to hide their gender characteristics, the database reported.(5)

“ …14,000 minors... 14,000 young boys’ and girls’ bodies – beautifully designed by their Creator – that have been permanently mutilated. Allowing this - either directly by enacting legislation that protects doctors who perform such procedures and prescribe such medications – or indirectly by remaining silent as this goes on – will forever be a great failure of our nation.

“Several of the medical facilities complicit in these ‘gender transitions’ are the nation’s largest children’s hospitals, like the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. These institutions, originally established to heal children, have begun harming children. What’s worse, a report released earlier this year revealed that many doctors have performed procedures on minors or prescribed medications to minors that have not been adequately tested or researched. The same report revealed discussions amongst doctors trying to determine whether a child’s mental illness or disability impairs their ability to give consent – with some doctors arguing it does not. Think about it: doctors are performing life-altering, gender-mutilating surgeries on children too young to fully comprehend what is happening.”(6)

The church’s “lack of interest” in this boggles the mind.


I attended a Trump rally on Monday night [Oct. 21], my first. It was initially planned not as a political rally but a private gathering with faith leaders – a time to pray, worship, and hear some comments from President Trump. So, I thought, why not? Though it did remain a gathering with a strong spiritual emphasis, it was opened to the public and became a political rally, as well. Dr. Ben Carson, a man for whom I have profound respect, shared briefly. He spoke of a recent Kamala Harris rally when a couple of attendees shouted, “Jesus is Lord.” Before mentioning Kamala’s reaction, Dr. Carson referenced Matthew 12:34, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” He pointed out that Harris’ response was immediate, not thought out, straight from the abundance of her heart: “Oh, you’re at the wrong rally,” she said.

When Carson mentioned this Monday night, a chant erupted: “Je-sus! Je-sus! Je-sus!…” I knew I was at the right rally.

And when Franklin Graham – who follows the example of his late father [Dr. Billy Graham], carefully avoiding a political spirit – presented the gospel before President Trump shared, I knew I was at the right rally. He asked those present if they believed in prayer, then he asked us to – in our own words – lift our voices and pray for a minute or so. When the sound of fervent prayer arose loudly over the gathering, followed by Graham’s own heartfelt prayer, I knew I was at the right rally.

And when President Trump said he would stop the disgusting, shameful, unconscionable mutilating of thousands of children, the scarring of them forever and stealing their posterity, I knew I was at the right rally.


There are enough Christians in America to stop this mutilation of children, if they were only interested. To the millions of uninterested Christians who don’t intend to vote, and the thousands of uninterested pastors who refuse to teach and motivate them otherwise, I must confess that I will never, ever understand your “lack of interest.” Gary Hamrick, the Cornerstone pastor, cautioned, “If we see the rising tide of evil in our land and we decide to do nothing, we are ceding ground to the enemy, and we are being unfaithful to our calling as ambassadors for Christ.”(7) Your decision NOT to vote for biblical values IS a vote for their demise. Beware; this self-imposed restriction bears eternal consequences.

Pray with me:

Father, please forgive the American church for our apathy, which is born of poor theology, deception, and selfishness. Some in the church actually believe You don’t care who is in government, as though decisions to oppose Your Son, destroy children’s lives, and promote evil are acceptable to You. They believe that You, like them, are uninterested. Forgive us for allowing these lies in the church.

Help us to rid the church of this deception in the future, and help us to overcome its fruit in this election. At every level, we ask You to give us a government that welcomes You in its gatherings, and doesn’t smirk when Your name is mentioned. We ask You to favor those who know and honor You, who protect the innocent, who rule righteously. Rid us of corruption and dishonesty in our government. Protect Donald Trump, who is so fiercely hated by the progressives and globalists.

And we will never stop asking for and declaring that powerful revival and reformation are coming to America. Signs, wonders, miracles, and millions of salvations, come!

We ask for and declare all of this as representatives of Christ, in His name alone. Amen.


Our decree:

We decree the breaking of apathy off the church in America.

Additionally:

As you make your plan to vote, take advantage of the Voter Hub on My Faith Votes’ website. It is a comprehensive voting resource that helps you with everything from researching your ballot to locating your polling place. Visit MyFaithVotes.org to get started.


Click on this link to watch the full video. https://youtu.be/wUgXtJSOqYY


1. https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CRC-Release-Pre-Election-1-Oct-12-2024-Final.pdf

2. https://www.christianpost.com/news/over-32m-christian-churchgoers-likely-wont-vote-in-2024-study.html

3. https://www.myfaithvotes.org/intersect/weekly-news-summary-oct-16-2024#1

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53_8dNwmd-0

5. https://wng.org/sift/report-shows-more-than-62-000-u-s-minors-treated-for-gender-dysphoria-in-four-year-period-1728596059

6. https://www.myfaithvotes.org/intersect/weekly-news-summary-oct-16-2024#1

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53_8dNwmd-0

You can find more information at: https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/to-the-41-million-christians-unlikely-to-vote-this-november-you-need-to-repent

Copyright © 2024 Dutch Sheets Ministries, All rights reserved.

Borepatch Hits Another One Out of the Park

 Borepatch: This is what a Preference Cascade looks like.