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American Christian Voice Volume 13 No. 3 Contents  Don’t Miss These! ABOUT US 4.Yak Bak 5.ACV Mission Statement 5.Impressum 25.Would you like to join the ministry of the American Christian Voice? 27.Puzzle Page!! 36.Where you can buy a copy of the American Christian Voice... 36.Subscription Info 36.War Room Widow FROM THE COVER 13.Why Nationalism is Always a Bad Thing 14.Nationalism is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing CENTERFOLD 24.Patriotism and Christianity 25.What Would a World Without America Be Like? GOLD STAR ATTENTION 2.Gold Star Family Inn information 34.Gold Star Food Directory 35.Gold Star Shows Directory 43.Gold Star Business Directory FEATURES 6.Eliminating the Human 7.Why is Health Care So Expensive? 8.Family-friendly ‘Cars 3’ full of life lessons

10.The Delusion of Believers under the Law 11.Marine on Guard Duty - SGT Mark Dolfini, USMC 12.Who Are ‘The Least of These’? 16.Christians Need to Stop Feeling Ashamed 17.Branson Connection 17.You Grow as You Help Others Mature 18.How to Distinguish True Zeal from False Zeal 19.Ask the Rabbi- What is Shavuot/Pentecost? 23.Changing Attitudes, Building Hope 26.Build the Wall 29.Hell Froze Over: You will be Replaced 30.Voices of Glory Update 32.How Liberal Professors Are Ruining College 37.5 Signs of an Evil Heart 39.Marine killed in Mississippi plane crash remembered as man of faith, family 40.Book Review: What would the world be like if America never existed? 44.HIGH SCHOOL -- 1957 vs 2017 45.False Self Ego vs. True Self Soul 46.Are You Blind? 47.Why Proverbs 31 Shouldn’t Overwhelm You

Eliminating the Human Christians Need to Stop Feeling Ashamed

How to Distinguish True Zeal from HE is the False Zeal AllConsuming Fire!

5 Signs of an Evil Heart Disclaimer: This issue, we are recovering from a RansomWare Attack. We apologize if anything is missing. Please let us know!

God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them. C.S. Lewis

How Liberal professors are Ruining College Page 32

ABOUT THE COVER: Is Nationalism all that bad? When can it be bad? When can it be good? How is American nationalism superior to that of any other nation? Or is it?

(Yeah, it is) see articles on pages 13 &14 VOL.13 #3 | WWW.AMERICAN CHRISTIAN VOICE.COM

yak bak

Just wanted to tell you that I received the magazine and how much I've gotten out of it so far. The article that explained difference between helping and enabling was one of the best explanations I've ever read and that's after being involved in Al-Anon for years. Cindy Crumley, Knoxville, TN __________________________ We had a lot of fun with the last issue of the ACV. My husband couldn’t see “Jesus” for the life of him. I still kid him about it. I had to take a marker and close in all the shapes so he could see it. We thought it was a clever way to ask the most serious of all questions, “How do you see Jesus?” Thanks for pointing out that our approach is different than 2,000 years ago when many people had not yet heard about our Lord. The lost are not looking for saints. They are looking for honest people full of Joy despite life’s circumstances. Nice work as always. Nancy Pane, Denton, TX ___________________________________

.Feed Back From Our Readers I was socked to see a copy of the ACV at my local Barnes & Noble. Now when I share my latest ACV and can tell them to got down to the local B & N and get their own! LOL Gary Piganesee, Danbury, CT ___________________________________ Thank you so much for featuring Woody Williams in the centerfold of the ACV edition: 13.2. He is one of the very few remaining super stars from WWII. His passion and tireless efforts to place memorials to Gold Star Families in every state despite being a nonagenarian is astounding! Larry Fishburn, Kansas City, MO ___________________________________ I am still a little confused about your publication. On one hand it offends everything I believe about some things. i.e., “who really are the least of these?” (which by the way would be a real game changer in Christendom if your authors on the topic are correct) to God’s focus on heart not behavior modification. I shared this premise with a Christian coworker and he insisted it was the same thing. I asked him, “If it is that way, why do so many churches camp out on the latter?” I agree with your writers. Focusing on the former (heart transformations) will lead people to change their behaviors because of the goodness of God not because of the religious shaming so prevalent among religious people. The conflict I have is trying to filter these truths

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through my upbringing and biases. I like a good challenge but sometimes the ACV is a bit overwhelming. Vince Burlin, Little Rock, AR _________________________________ We found a copy of your magazine at IMAX in Branson, Missouri. We visit Branson every year and have our favorite shows like Sight and Sound, Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, Voices of Glory (AYO), Clay Cooper, Doug Gabriel. And now we just discovered the Haygoods to add to our favorites! Thank you for such a great publication that originates from such a great town. When you hear Christian music playing in the lobbies of local banks (and even the local McDonalds) it makes you feel a little like you woke up in heaven that day. Robert & Karen Russell, Albuquerque, NM _____________________________________ Your magazine is a good political publication but you should remove the name “Christian” from the cover. It is not the preaching of the gospel as describes by the Bible. Jesus never advocated for believers to participate in the system and neither should we. As long as man is in charge it will be a flawed, corrupt government. When Christ returns, we rule with Him in perfection. Stanley Drakiolski, Cedar Rapids, IA ______________________________________ You have an amazing publication. It is impressive how you published dissenters of the movie The Shack when clearly (by your short comment after them) you endorsed it. You are fair and balanced as they say. Thanks for letting us make up our minds by the guiding of the Holy Spirit. Terry Bates, Princeton, NJ _________________________________________ Send your letters to the editor to: American Christian Voice 1030 W. Main St. Hwy 76 Branson, MO 65616 or email: editor@AmericanChristianVoice.com

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American Christian Voice Magazine

ACV Magazine NEW Mission Statement We encourage our readers to eschew religion and pursue a relationship with God through Jesus Christ as led by the Holy Spirit, thus allowing an open mindedness to differing opinions on complex matters. We strive not to be the fire alarm, but the fire extinguisher. Please be advised

that the contents of this publication often do not represent the positions held by many of the sponsors of the American Christian Voice (or for that matter, the publishers). L R Proof readers Kairos & Yanni (which explains alot), Lorri Sacoulas, Alexis (hidden) and Aisha, the puppy. John took the pic.

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PUBLISHER Lorraine Sacoulas MANAGING EDITOR John G. Sacoulas PATRONS Kay & Joy Friberg SENIOR STAFF WRITERS Kathy Caruso O’Neil, Jeremy Storch, Marla Woodmansee SYNDICATED WRITERS Tim Challies, Thomas Sowell, Star Parker ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY Roberto Cerini 7143857453 ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Wilma Dunbar, (417) 2131155 dwdunbar@americanchristianvoice.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Lorraine Sacoulas lorri@americanchristianvoice.com DISTRIBUTION Barnes & Noble, BooksAMillion, EntertainMart

Past issues available through “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or illfitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

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THANK YOU TO OUR STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS!

The American Christian Voice magazine is published with the primary purpose being to educate the body of Christ through informative articles (Intelligent), to edify the body of Christ through motivating articles of Christian faith and courage (Inspirational), and to promote the message that disciples of Christ are not under the penalty of sin or condemnation of it (Fun!). It is because of what Christ has done... not what we do that makes us in good standing with God. Our obedience is to Love Him and our fellow sojourners. Now that Christ has cloaked us with His Righteousness, God the Father looks at us as Sons/Daughters, no longer at enmity with Him. We are in training now. That is why this publication focuses on politics. If we are to rule and reign with Jesus Christ we should be very much interested in training here and now. We are dedicated to be Kingdom builders as we realize that our diversity should not impede the method in which God chooses to woo through the Holy Spirit the lost through love. We can err in our theological understanding of doctrine and dogma but love never fails. In the law we find death - in love we find Liberty to obey by desire... not compulsion.

For Reading & Supporting the American Christian Voice!

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technology has as much faults as humans anyway direction? There are a number of reasons: Humans are increasingly seen as inefficient compared to machines; there are cost savings that come with automation; automation promises increased convenience and greater leisure. And maybe, just maybe, engineers and developers are uneasy with human interaction and creating a world they are comfortable living in.

Eliminating the Human usician David Byrne recently advanced an interesting theory about humanity and technology. The overarching agenda of technology, he believes, is intended to eliminate human interaction. The displacement of human beings by modern technology has become so obvious and so widespread that he has been forced to conclude it is more than an unintentional byproduct of increased automation. “What much of this technology seems to have in common is that it removes the need to deal with humans directly. The tech doesn’t claim or acknowledge this as its primary goal, but it seems to often be the consequence. I’m sort of thinking maybe it is the primary goal.”

BY OLATUNJI AKINOLA

Byrne’s theory sounds a mite conspiratorial, and he admits as much, but then he begins to list ways in which modern technology has displaced human interaction. As that list goes on and on it begins to prove his point: Airbnb takes away the hotel check-in desk; digital music gets rid of the music store and even the human curation of playlists; driverless cars are meant to negate taxi and bus drivers and our brief interactions with them; automated checkouts remove the cashier; video gaming against the AI replaces board games against human beings. To his list we could add bank machines replacing bankers, digital personal assistants replacing human administrative assistants, pornography replacing flesh and blood sexual partners, and many more. Why has technology trended in this

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Whether or not Byrne is right in his theory, he is certainly correct in his observations that today’s cutting-edge technologies are increasingly limiting and eliminating human interaction. In fact, this is a trend that has been slowly unfolding since the Industrial

Revolution and one that is now increasing through digitization. I am convinced that many of his concerns are legitimate and that we, as Christians, should keep them in mind. However, many of these trends are going to unfold around us whether we like it or not and to some degree we will have to go along with them. My bank does not even offer tellers anymore—it’s a machine or nothing! Yet in the midst of all of this change, we believers have one incredible opportunity where we must not allow technology to eliminate human interaction—the local church. The local church is central to God’s plan for his people. It is and must remain a flesh and blood reality that is all about human interaction. It is here that real people gather together and do so with all

the diversity that God himself has created. It is here that we sing together in the presence of musicians who have deliberately chosen songs fitting for the occasion. It is here that a man who has poured over the Bible to prepare a fresh message delivers it in the presence of his congregation. It is here that we fellowship together, partaking of the bread and wine. It is here that we gather in much the same way that Christians have gathered for centuries to worship and serve our God. There is nothing automated about it. It is deeply personal, deeply interactive, deeply real. In a world of impersonal automation, we form communities of real presence. In a world that is eliminating so many forms of human interaction, we promote it, embrace it, and invite others to experience it. The more technology continues down this path, the more the church will stand out in beautiful, living contrast.

insurance is a reflection of bloated overhead

Why is Health Care So Expensive? Prager U

The health care bill did get more people insured and helped with issues like preexisting conditions, but the problem with the healthcare law isn’t what it tried to do, it’s what it failed to do: reduce costs. The solutions to the cost problem is with the free market and competition. Here are just three ideas that could make a huge difference.

If we encourage, not punish drug makers it will lead to more breakthroughs and lower costs-a win, win for all of us. As healthcare costs skyrocket, don’t forget that the free market is our best chance to rein them in.

Number 1: We can roll back the tax burden on insurance companies. The ACA added a $60 billion tax on health insurers, which made them have to charge more to consumers to cover their costs. Taxes roll downhill so a tax on insurers means higher costs for all of us. Number 2: We can lower the regulations on health plans. The ACA has a lot of requirements that force insurance plans to cover an incredibly big list of benefits. If you want a bare-bones insurance plan that simply covers catastrophic events like a car accident or cancer you currently can’t get one. By boosting the benefits of every plan it restricts competition and drives up prices by forcing smaller health insurers out of the marketplace. Low-cost catastrophic plans that are normally purchased by younger, healthier people are no longer available because of the ACA requirements. Introducing as many health insurers to the marketplace as possible can drive down prices by encouraging businesses to compete to cut costs. The ACA did the exact opposite: Less competition and higher prices.

A short version of the history of Christianity: Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.

BY PRAGER U

Healthcare costs are skyrocketing. Since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 health care costs have gone up by double digits each year.

Number 3: Encourage medical innovation. The cost to bring a new drug to market already exceeds two and half billion dollars. And the ACA places an additional twentytwo billion dollar tax burden on innovator drug companies, the same businesses that produce lifesaving medications and cures for those in need. Punishing drug producers forces them to charge even higher prices to make up for the lost money in research, development, and taxes.

Without Capitalism, Socialism would have nothing to redistribute.

"The difference between heart belief and head belief is the difference between salvation and damnation." (George Sweeting)

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summer fun

Familyfriendly ‘Cars 3’ full of life lessons emember Lightning McQueen -- the Piston Cup racecar champion who nearly always won and “ate losers for breakfast”? Of course. Everyone does. Except Lightning McQueen. “Did I used to say that?” he asks at the beginning of the new movie Cars 3 (G), struggling to recall

movies I’ve watch, even if it’s not as good as the first film in this series. (It hits a lull in the middle of the film, but recovers nicely to finish strong.) Finally, Cars 3 is packed with life lessons. Lightning provides powerful lessons on humility and handling adversity. His friends give us a lesson on supporting a friend when he/she is down. And, the movie tosses us a surprising lesson on mentorship. Entertainment rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. Familyfriendly rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

BY JMICHAEL FOUST

Notable summer Movies at the Box Office

his boast-filled winning days. Sadly, time has caught up with our beloved hero. He’s still funny, yes, but he’s no longer fast – at least not as fast as rookie sensation Jackson Storm, who is using the latest technology to win race after race. Lighting (voiced by Owen Wilson) tops out around 198 mph. And Storm? He’s zooming along at 210. “Enjoy your retirement!” Storm tells him. It’s like watching an aging Muhammad Ali. Or Michael Jordan. Or even Peyton Manning. Things go from bad to worse when Lightning blows a tire and suffers a horrific, season-ending crash that sends him back to Radiator Springs. Sure, most talking racecars would have called it quits, but this is Lightning McQueen. He’s going to regain the magic and get back to his winning ways … right? An energetic female trainer named Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) – who had dreams as a young girl of being a racecar driver -- is given the task of getting Lightning back on the track. “I grew up watching you on TV,” she says, excitedly. Cars 3 is one of the most family-friendly films I’ve ever seen. There’s no coarse language, no violence (unless you count the car crashes), and no sexuality. It’s also one of the most enjoyable animated

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SpiderMan: Homecoming (PG-13 / July 7) – We’ve all heard of reboots. But a reboot of a reboot? That’s what Sony and Marvel will give us with the latest Spider-Man film, which is the sixth live-action movie and the second reboot in the past 15 years based on “Spidey.” This one stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man as he seeks to balance high school life with his world-saving chores. Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments.

15 experts are interviewed who counter the popular pro-evolutionary narrative. _______________________________________ If you ever want to have an engaging debate with a Star Wars fan, then just ask them to rank all eight films, from best to worst. It often goes something like this: A New Hope (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) are either No. 1 or 2, The Phantom Menace (1999) is dead last, and the other films are somewhere in between. But where? And what about the newest ones? Netflix members can enter the debate when Rogue One (PG-13), which opened in theaters just eight months ago, begins streaming. It will mark the first time that a Star Wars live-action film has been on Netflix and, in fact, the first time one has been on a streaming membership platform (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu) of any kind. Remember: It wasn’t until 2015 that the movies could be purchased for streaming. In case you’re just catching up, Rogue One is a stand-alone or spin-off film that chronologically falls just prior to the events of A New Hope. It tells the story of Jyn Erso, a determined young woman whose father just happens to be the scientist who designed the planet-destroying Death Star. But don’t hold that against her dad. He was a reluctant accomplice who did something no one could have done – he intentionally designed it with a flaw. “I’ve placed a weakness deep into the system,” he tells her in a hologram message. That’s where Jyn comes in. She and her motley assistants set out to steal the Death Star blueprints and deliver them to the good guys – the Rebels – so that this monstrosity can be destroyed before the galaxy is forever changed. (Luke Skywalker enters the story arc here, although you’ll have to watch A New Hope for that.) So, is Rogue One appropriate for all ages?

Dunkirk (PG13) – Ever wondered what a movie with very little dialogue would look like? We’re going to find out when Dunkirk – based on a largely forgotten Allied evacuation during World War II – is released. Director Christopher Nolan, who also helmed the mind-bending films • NATURAL • HANDMADE Inception and Interstellar, told a British • OLIVE OIL & GOATS MILK PRODUCTS newspaper earlier this year that Dunkirk Come See For would be unique in having few spoken Yourselves words. The story, he added, would be told What We Are through the on-screen action. Rated PGAll About! 13 for intense war experience and some language.

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Notable DVD Releases Is Genesis History? – The popular Biblebased documentary that sold out theaters earlier this year is now on DVD and streaming on Netflix. Host Del Tackett – well known for his work on Focus on the Family’s The Truth Project – examines the scientific evidence for the Genesis account of the Creation and the Flood. More than

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That’s a difficult question. It contains no language or sexuality, but there’s plenty of sci-fi violence, hand-to-hand combat, and shooting (with lasers). I took my then-8year-old son to watch it in the theater but left my 5-year-old son at home. Some parents may be more concerned about the worldview and the film’s strong emphasis on the Force. A new character, Chirrut Imwe – who is blind – goes into battle while chanting, “I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.” That sounds a lot like pantheism, which holds that God and the universe are identical. That’s a major difference from Christianity. (Hinduism has elements of pantheism.) A brief parent-child worldview chat may be beneficial after the credits roll. Rogue One also has positive lessons on family, sacrifice and courage. Oh, yeah – about those Star Wars lists. Here’s mine: 1. A New Hope, 2. The Empire Strikes Back, 3. The Force Awakens, 4a. Rogue One, 4b. Return of the Jedi, 6. Revenge of the Sith, 7. Attack of the Clones, 8. The Phantom Menace. _____________________________________ British director David Batty was busy on a project several years ago when he received a phone call from a producer, Hannah Leader, who had an ambitious request. “I want to make a film about the Bible,’” she told him. “Which parts?” he asked. “All of it,” she responded. As the story goes, Leader had been hunting for video material for her Sunday School class but was coming up empty. So, she recruited Batty, who already was working on a project for Britain’s Channel 4 called Christianity: A History. Fortunately for Batty, Leader didn’t mean all the Bible – just the four Gospels. Still, it was a bold project with quite a few caveats. Leader wanted the movies to be feature films with a documentary aura, giving the viewers the sense of walking with Christ. She also wanted the Gospel text – every single word of it – to be the script. This meant there

would be no ad libbing and no tweaking the biblical dialogue. It would be a series of films about the Gospels, unedited and unabridged. The Gospel of Mark (123 minutes, Lionsgate) was released earlier this year, following 2015’s The Gospel of John (161 minutes). All four Gospel movies were filmed, simultaneously, in Morocco. With the script settled, the challenge for Batty became: What is the visual setting? “In the Bible, there are no stage directions, so you have to sort of surmise where Jesus is,” Batty told the Kansas City Metro Voice. “It might tell you where He is at the end; It might tell you where He is at the beginning. But there’s nothing in the middle.” The book of Mark, though, is very different. “Mark is the sort of superhero Gospel. It’s Jesus as action man,” Batty said. “It’s very fast paced. One thing happens after another. So in a way, our problem there was the opposite: How do you slow that pace down to allow people to take in what they’re hearing?” Authenticity was important to Batty and Leader. That started with the actor who played Christ. “Normally [in movies,] Jesus is cast blue eyed, and he’s a bit Aryan looking,” Batty said. “Historically, there’s no truth in that. That’s us

imposing our cultural aspect on a historical figure.” Jesus was born in the Middle East, Batty noted, and was Semitic. “We were determined that the Jesus in our film was going to look – as far as we know – like what the real Jesus would have looked like,” Batty said. Batty intentionally chose Morocco over Israel as the film location. Israel is a small crowded country full of modern stuff. You’d be fighting the modern world the entire time,” he said. “The wonderful thing about Morocco is that there are parts of Morocco where it really feels like what I’d imagine first-century Palestine was like.” There are two versions of the film: one using the New International Version translation and the second using King James Version narration.

Special thanks to Kay and Joy for making the American Christian Voice available coast to coast!

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the delusion of believers under the law

BY JJOHN G. SACOULAS

When you seek right standing with God through your brain and not your heart, you will do a disservice to the lost, because, theologically, you are lost The following letter is just a small example of letters we receive from professing Christians who have yet to discover the heart transformation that God is seeking in His children. Read the letter and then I will respond. ed Hello Dear People: In the magazine of American Christian Voice, (Vol 13, No. 2) on page 26 there’s an ad+ for money to help the poor. Its called Gold Star Club and they ask for a dollar a month the first Sabbath/Sunday of the month. Helping the poor and widows and fatherless is true religion and to be recommended. This letter is not about that. It is about calling Sunday the Sabbath, which it is not. The Sabbath is the 7th day of the week, not the first day of the week. Now its possible the author of that plea for funds, was reaching out to 7th day Sabbath keepers as well as Sunday keepers. But it wasn’t written that way. Intent is one thing, sleight of hand is another? To be safe, this is written, just in case. There are over 20 million 7th day Adventists who believe Satan is coming to earth pretending o be Jesus Christ returned. Satan will quote bible scriptures, heal the sick, and then say He’s changed the Sabbath to Sunday. Governments will pass laws forbidding 7th day Sabbath remembrance, at first locking offenders up, then taking their property, then killing them. History repeats itself under Satan and the fallen angels rule. Its the same depravity, and destruction, over and over. Solomon says so too. From 450 AD to about 550 AD the Vatican passed laws against 7th day Sabbath keeping, thanks to emperor Constantine. There were about 35 million 7th day Christians then, the First Church Jesus Christ started on Pentecost. They refused to quit keeping the 7th day Sabbath. So, they were jailed, then their property taken away, and finally a hundred years later a death decree was passed and they were all murdered. It was then the Vatican forced Sunday remembrance on the masses for the next 1000 yrs, under the penalty of death. Now these 35 million 7th day keepers was the church Jesus started on Pentecost. The Vatican puts in writing that Sunday is their mark of authority, in bible interpretation.hat kind of behavior makes the Vatican a beast, and Sunday is the mark of this beast. Go to any SDA church and ask for the book, The Great Controversy by Ellen White, read chapter called “The time of trouble.”

Now because police are used to enforce laws, they will enforce the “no 7th day Sabbath keeping law”, pointing guns at 7th day Christians because Satan, pretending to be Jesus – tells them to, thru LAWS. We don’t want cops being suckered this way so a copy of this will be sent to local police. And shame on you for not doing the same thing. Rev 12:12 – satans kicked to earth, having great wrath. There are about one billion Sunday keepers who hove all been taught as little children in Sunday school class, the Sabbath is Sunday. Instead of teaching them, the 7th day is the Sabbath, and we remember Sunday cause Jesus arose then; instead they teach 7th day Sabbath keeping is legalism, don’t do it, but remember sunday this what they teach. I taught this myself in sunday school quarterlys in the 70’s as a sunday school teacher in Baptists churches. So when satan comes as Jesus, saying he’s changed the sabbath to sunday, (same thing vatican says) one billion sunday keepers will believe it and persecute the 7th day keepers, even killing them before its over with. Jesus said a big problem with HIS PEOPLE, is they often do things thinking they are serving God, but really are serving satan. Case in point, from 1450 1800; about 80 million protestants were tortured to death, burned alive at stakes, because they broke away from the Vatican. The Vatican called the protestant movement Heretics, which was a death penalty. So millions of good Catholics rose up in mass, thinking they were serving God, and tortured to death 80 million protestants. Read Foxes book of Martyrs by Fox. Its up to you to get people ready for satans appearing as Jesus Christ, and teach the truth, that the 7th day sabbath has not been done away with, and sunday is not the sabbath. Time is short, we are being poisoned so fast now in food, air, and water, that Jesus will have to “Kick” satan down here, to finish this. Get your people ready. Send this to Missouri

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House and Senate – they will be the ones to pass these LAWS. This can be blocked “there”, my brothers and sisters. – JESUS CHRIST IS LORD – Problem #1 There was no return address or name or gender supplied. Their age, since they taught Sunday School in 1970’s, most likely makes him/her in their late 70’s early 80’s. I have witnessed 10 year olds with more spiritual maturity than some octogenarians. I usually toss these letters in the trash without reading it. I do this because every single case where a name is withheld the message spouts immaturity, judgement, and a terrible exegetical conclusion to their position.

Problem #2- This writer says the “ad” was a plea to help the poor. It was not. It was to bless families of fallen soldiers. That means they have no interest in blessing others with love and grace. These are the modern day pharisees that have a deep seated, damaged self esteem to prove to others that they are “right”. Problem #3 - This writer wants to be the voice of 20 million Seventh Day Adventists. I can assure him/her 20 million SDA’s do not believe that literally. The problem with being a homosecterian is that they swallow hook, line and sinker every missive from a man made institution without regard to the pilgrimage of millions who have matured from an ignorant understanding of the complete Word of God. The SDA church itself, “The Adventist understanding of the Holy Spirit, until the 1890s, was largely focused on the tangible, or “living reality,” of the Holy Spirit as a divine manifestation rather than His nature or personality. During the period up to the 1890s, most Adventists did not accept that the Holy Spirit had a distinct personality. For them, the Godhead included the Father (who was omnipotent and omniscient), the pre-Incarnate begotten Divine Son, and the Holy Spirit as a manifestation of the presence or power of the Father or the Son.” (www.ministrymagazine.org) So just to be clear, there is even hope for this writer to mature in Biblical understanding since his/her own denomination has changed their view on it. Ironically, when a believer doubts the

love trumps law EVERY day of the week person hood of the Holy Spirit they have thrown out the most important tool in their toolbox to seek a true understanding of scripture. There is an enormous amount of SDA members who reject Ellen G. White’s teaching on the “investigative judgement”. It is a special revelation and extra-biblical teaching that undermines much of the wonderful understanding that the SDA church believes. Problem #4 - There is a correct understanding of the 4th commandment by SDA members. Sunday is not the Sabbath. It never has been nor ever will be. Having said that, the problem isn’t in their math or their historical research. The fault, from at least the anonymous writer, lays in the mistaken belief that to be in right standing with their creator they must strictly “keep” the Sabbath. I italicized, “keep” because no one I have ever met can definitely agree on just how to do it. There is nothing wrong with the Sabbath day. There is however, something wrong with those believers who impose thier idea of how to “keep” it. It reminds me when I was in Israel at a banquet that fell on Sabbath. At least one Orthodox Jew felt it was alright to attend on Sabbath but quietly asked me to open the chaffing dish lids ahead of her in the buffet line so she wouldn’t have to “work” on Sabbath. In the same building I regretfully took a Sabbath elevator (it really is a thing) and all the buttons were pre-set so no exertion was required to push the buttons. I got to stop at every single floor in the King David Hotel to get to my suite. Now, at this point, this is where Sabbath defenders cry foul over my examples of extremism. Okay, fair. A lessor extreme was me dating a Sabbath keeper. She couldn’t actually go out on Sabbath for a date so we decided to just take a leisurely stroll in a local park. Coming upon a Coke machine on this hot summer day I bought a bottle of the “pause that refreshes”. “What are you doing?” she asked incredulously, “It’s Sabbath!” to which I wryly replied, Yes, but the machine doesn’t know this.” The relationship ended badly. For one person under the conviction of the Sabbath, buying a Coke out of a machine is okay but not from a convenience store where people are working for you. (albeit the folks at the electric company are toiling to keep electric flowing for the refrigeration

of the Coke. For that matter, aren’t they working to keep all of our electric flowing on Sabbath?) And yet, there is a jewel of a gift when God gave us a day of rest. Most people in the west do not know how to rest. There are people I know in the Seventh Day Baptist, Church of God Seventh Day, Messianic congregations and yes even Seventh Day Adventists that live in the Grace of the 4th commandment and enjoy the rest and fellowship in the day. Sadly, like our anonymous letter writer, many have found rest in a day but resting in Him has been elusive. When Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man and not the other way around, He knew the abuse that was sure to follow. If you want to enjoy the gift of the Sabbath you need to be careful not to impose your personal restrictions or liberties on others.

Marine on Guard Duty SGT Mark Dolfini, USMC Every now and then, in the middle of the constant barrage of horse’s behinds and their exhaust that’s just ticking us all off these days, we come across a story, a feat, an event that just makes us stop in our tracks. This was one for me. Cody Green was a 12-year boy in Indiana who was diagnosed with leukemia at 22 months of age. Cody loved the Marines, and his parents said he drew strength and courage from the Marine Corps. as he bravely fought the battle into remission

Problem #5- This writer was citing the slaughter of Protestants by Catholics but completely ignores the historical fact that Protestants murdered countless catholic adherents as heretics as well. I guess he/she has a problem with who killed the most. These “Sabbath Worshippers” are not people who worship on the Sabbath but rather people who worship the Sabbath. New testament believers are in constant form of worship by being birthed from above shown by our lifestyles of grace and justice with mercy not just on the Sabbath but every moment of our existence. We worship 24/7 because we carry in us Christ Jesus, the hope of God’s Glory. The biggest indictment Jesus ever made was against those who infringed upon the liberty and freedom found in Him. And yet, for the few that have found the sweet peace of the seventh day Sabbath instituted before there was ever a single church denomination and sealed in creation with a mysterious love covenant for eternity, bravo! God is surely pleased with your understanding of that gift. And to so many that have over shadowed the very gospel with thier rules, regulations and hard hearted ideas of what it means to please God, there is a special treatment reserved for you on the day of judgement. It will be the horrifying words of Jesus saying that He never knew you. See Tim Challies’ article on page 18 regarding false zeal.

three times. Although he was cancer-free at the time, the chemotherapy had lowered his immune system and he developed a fungus infection that attacked his brain. Two weeks ago, as he struggled to fend off that infection in the hospital, the Marines wanted to show how much they respected his will to live, his strength, honor and courage. They presented Cody with Marine navigator wings and named him an honorary member of the United States Marine Corps. For one Marine, that wasn’t enough ... so that night, before Cody Green passed away, he took it upon himself to stand guard at Cody’s hospital door all night long, 8 hours straight. Nowhere on the face of this planet is there a country as blessed as we to have men and women such as this. ed Do you want to bet that God is more pleased with SGT Dolfini than the legalist?

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WHO ARE ‘THE LEAST OF THESE’? Matthew 25:31-46 is a beautiful statement of Jesus’s concern for the weak and the vulnerable. It’s also a challenging exhortation for Christians to model the same concern.

BY DAVID STOECKER

But what exactly does Jesus mean by “the least of these”? It’s often assumed that "the least of these" are society's poor and downtrodden, and that, by implication, Jesus would have us support any program (church, government, or otherwise) that aims to help hurting people. While it is certainly good to care for those outside the church (Gal. 6:10), we must be careful not to make Matthew 25 say more than it means to say. How the government spends our tax dollars is a question that sincere Christians can disagree on. It’s not my place as a pastor to

make definitive statements on proposed federal budgets. What’s more important to me is that we handle the Bible carefully, both from the pulpit and in our public pronouncements. Which is why we should try to understand “the least of these” in its proper context. What Jesus says in Matthew 25 is not “conservative” or “liberal.” It’s Christian, and has everything to do with how we treat other Christians. “The least of these” refers to other believers in need--specifically, itinerant Christian teachers dependent on other Christians for hospitality and support. That’s my answer to the title of this blog post. Let me offer four points in support of this interpretation.

Supporting Points

1. In verse 45 Jesus uses the phrase "the least of these," but in verse 40 he uses a more exact phrase: "the least of these of my brothers." The two phrases refer to the same group. So the more complete phrase in verse 40 should be used to explain the shorter phrase in verse 45. Whatever “the least of these” is about, it’s about “the least of these” who are brothers. The reference to "my brothers" cannot be a reference to all of suffering humanity. "Brother" is never used this way in the New Testament. The word always refers to a physical/blood brother or to the spiritual family of God. With regard to the first category, Jesus is clearly not asking us only to care for his brother James. He must be speaking from the second category, insisting that whatever we do for believers in need we do for him. This interpretation is confirmed when we look at the last time before chapter 25 where Jesus talks about "brothers." In Matthew 23, Jesus tells the crowds and his disciples (v. 1) that they are all brothers (v. 8). The group of "brothers" is narrowed in the following verses to those who have one Father, who is in heaven (v. 9) and have one instructor, Christ (v. 10). “Brother” is a narrower category than all suffering people or all people everywhere. Those who belong to Christ and do his will are his brothers (Mark 3:35).

2. Likewise, it makes more sense to think Jesus is comparing service to fellow believers with service to him, rather than to hear him saying, "You should see my image in the faces of the poor." Granted, Jesus was a "man of sorrows," so other sufferers may be able to identify with Jesus in a special way. But in the rest of the New Testament it's not the poor but the body of Christ (the church) that represents Christ on earth. Christ "in us" is the promise of the gospel for those who believe, not an assumed reality for those living in a certain economic condition.

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Matthew 25 equates caring for Jesus's spiritual family with caring for Jesus. The passage does not offer the generic message: "care for the poor and you're caring for me." This doesn’t mean God is indifferent to the concerns of the poor or that we should be either. It simply means that “the least of these” is not a blanket statement about physical deprivation. 3. The word "least" is the superlative from of mikroi (little ones), and mikroi always refers to the disciples in Matthew's gospel (10:42; 18:6, 10, 14; see also 11:11). 4. The similarity between Matthew 10 and 25 is not accidental. In Matthew 10:40-42, Jesus tells the disciples, "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward." The context for these remarks is Jesus sending out his disciples to minister throughout the towns of Israel (vv. 5-15). The disciples were to take no bag or staff for the journey. Instead, they were to seek a “worthy” house that would welcome them in. Their success as preachers would depend upon the kindness of others. In the face of persecution and a hostile world (10:16-39), Jesus exhorts his followers to care for the traveling minister, no matter the cost. The disciples would depend upon the good will of others to welcome them, feed them, and support them in their itinerant ministry. So Jesus explains that to show love in this way to his ambassadors is actually to show love to him. One of the first post-canon documents, The Didache, demonstrates that caring for traveling ministers was a pressing issue in the first centuries of the church's history. The Didache--essentially, an early church constitution--contains 15 short chapters, three of which deal with the protocol for welcoming itinerant teachers, apostles, and prophets. Some so-called ministers, the document concludes, are cheats looking for a handout. But as for the true teacher: "welcome him as you would the Lord" (11:2). This was a pressing issue in the early church and the crux of Jesus’s concern in Matthew 10 and 25. continued on page 13 CONCLUSION

however, it was America to the rescue

Why Nationalism is Always a Bad Thing ationalism is always a bad thing, even if the folk costumes are pretty or we like the literature.

Nationalism applied to social policy was at the root of ethnic cleansing and/or genocide in Turkey, Germany, Japan (in China), Cambodia, Rwanda, China (Tibet) and the former Yugoslavia. Nationalism applied to economics led to wars over resources that would have been more efficiently traded for than conquered. Germany's invasion of Russia was largely motivated by the Nationalist/Autarkic view that trade was insecure and only through conquest could Germany assure access to needed resources. Japan had a similar motive for their invasions of neighboring countries. Nationalism applied to competitive politics justifies an endless list of abuses of liberty and civil rights. That's why we are all so

continued from page 12 WHO ARE ‘THE LEAST OF THESE’? Conclusion Matthew 25 is about social justice in the sense that it is about caring for the needy. But the needy in view are fellow Christians, especially those who depend on our hospitality and generosity for their ministry. "The least of these" is not a blanket statement about the church's responsibility to meet the needs of all the poor, let alone a definitive statement about federal budgets.

When cynical leaders use nationalist appeals to distract their populations from bad government, they are risking a return to those horrible experiences. George Bush was wrong to do it in America. Hugo Chavez was wrong to do it in Venezuela. The Chinese Communist Party is wrong to do it in China. And Putin is wrong to do it in Russia.

Nationalism can also be appealed to for it's own sake. The claim that a people has a right to a "Place in the Sun" was the motive for Germany's (and the rest of Europe and the USA's) quest for imperial possessions in the run up to World War I.

Many would have us praise Putin for raising Russian self esteem and establishing himself as a benevolent strong man. I say this is a tragically misguided point of view. Putin is no Stalin granted. But Russia would be better off with a corrupt, drunken oaf like Yeltsin than a sober tyrant like Putin even if he does make the trains run on time.

Vladimir Putin is championing a combination of economic and political nationalism and the "place in the sun" appeal. He's nationalized his country's gas/oil industry and now uses it like a diplomatic bludgeon to bully neighbors into falling into line. He's ordered the murder of dissidents and neighboring leaders. He's bullied the media almost to the point of taking it over outright and muzzled many of the most widely used news sources.

Liberty is the key. Prosperity is the point. Long term, stable prosperity cannot be got through nationalism. Only through economic and social liberty can such national happiness be attained. Ask the Germans and the Japanese how far their nationalist experiements got them. Then ask them how things have gone since 1945.

Again, this is no excuse to be indifferent toward the poor or unconcerned about hurting people. Christians can argue for any number of programs based on other texts and other principles. But as an exegetical point about Matthew 25, we must try our best to say what the text means to say. And in this case, Jesus says we are big trouble if we are too embarrassed, too lazy, or too cowardly to support fellow Christians who depend on our assistance and suffer for the sake of the gospel.

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The 20th century was characterized by bloody warfare, economic dislocation and misery primarily for one reason: Nationalism.

upset about Bush's "War on Terror" jive. It's also why Italians are upset about Silvio Berlusconi's cooptation and abuse of his countries media. And it's why we should be equally upset about Putin's actions in Russia which have included, in all likelihood, murder and attempted murder - even of the leader of a neighboring country.

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many think their church is better than others

Nationalism is not necessarily a bad thing

history" — i.e., nationalism — "generally promotes trust."

oogle "Donald Trump" and "nationalism" and you'll get 1,990,000 results, the large percentage of which are, to judge from the top hits, negative. "Nationalism" is deemed to be bad stuff, maybe even akin to Nazism.

"Nationalists feel a bond with their own country, and they believe that this bond imposes moral obligations both ways," he goes on. "Citizens have a duty to love and serve their country, and governments are duty bound to protect their own people."

BY MICHAEL BARONE

But is nationalism always so bad? Not, it seems, for the millions of people around the world watching the Rio 2016 Olympics. They watch as the TV networks keep track of how many medals each nation's athletes has won — and they root for the men and women they see as representing their nation.

politics (not least our own) and suffering from economic setbacks and pervasive corruption (like the Olympics host Brazil) nonetheless find themselves united in rooting for their country's athletes. An elite globalist may scoff at the arbitrariness of national borders and style himself "a citizen of the world," as President Obama described himself before a massive crowd in Berlin in 2008. But most people don't think of themselves that way. Nation-states inspire loyalties in a way the United Nations or the European Union have failed to do.

Americans thrilled to see Michael Phelps Nationalism, properly understood, can be a propel the U.S. team to gold in the freestyle positive force, welding otherwise disparate relay and a 19people year-old Katie together Ledecky race An intelligent nationalist can respect to build way ahead of decent the strengths of other nationalisms, asociety, the field in the while preferring his own. 400 meter secure a freestyle. People who watch gymnasts at only four- competent government and rally to defend year intervals were amazed at the skill of themselves against attack. Over the course the 4'9" Simone Biles. of history each nation has developed its own particular culture, its own manners News coverage in other countries focused and mores, its own rules written and on their own athletes. British front pages unspoken. flashed pictures of record-breaking breast stroker Adam Peaty, mouthing the words of An intelligent nationalist can respect the "God Save the Queen" as he held his gold strengths of other nationalisms, while medal. Brazil's TVGlobo showed judo preferring his own, just as an Olympics fan medalist Rafaela Silva, who grew up in a Rio can appreciate the superb performance of favela, bow down on her knees to Brazilian athletes from other countries even while fans in the stands. keeping an eye on the scoreboard showing the number of medals each country has Sports nationalism easily embraces ethnic won. and racial diversity, not only from historically biracial America and Brazil The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, (which abolished slavery in 1865 and writing in the American Interest, notes that 1888) but also from European and other as nations grow more prosperous, their nations. One Olympic table tennis match elites become more globalist in outlook, featured a Japanese-descended Brazilian and consider nationalism as blind prejudice and a Chinese-descended Congolese. or even racism. But, as he writes, "having a People from nations with sharply divisive shared sense of identity, norms and

This is a principle that Donald Trump, in between off-the-cuff gaffes and selfharming diversions, affirms. Nations have boundaries and owe greater duties to their citizens than to foreigners. They have no obligation to open their borders entirely. It is not racist, Haidt argues, to bar those "whom they perceive as having values that are incompatible with their own, or who (they believe) engage in behaviors they find abhorrent, or whom they perceive to be a threat to something they hold dear." Hillary Clinton takes a different view. She would not deport any non-criminal illegal immigrant, which amounts to a permanent open borders policy — as extreme a position as Trump's now discarded ban on Muslim immigration. But even Democrats at their national convention found it useful to sound nationalist themes, decrying Trump's "dark" picture of America in his acceptance speech as somehow unpatriotic and, after conservative bloggers noted their absence on the convention's first day, installing American flags on the podium. And former Treasury Secretary and Obama adviser Lawrence Summers has called for "a responsible nationalism" which recognizes government's responsibility "to maximize the welfare of citizens, not to pursue some abstract concept of the global good." Evidently nationalism, like rooting for your nation's Olympians, is not necessarily a bad thing.

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therefore there is no condemnation...

BY RYAN DUNCAN

Christians Need to Stop feeling Ashamed Memory is a funny thing. If someone were to ask you what the happiest moment of your life was, odds are it might take a few seconds for you to respond. On the other hand, when someone asks about your biggest mistake, a memory which brings you the most shame, the mind is instantly flooded with countless, painful instances of regret. Remorse is a cruel teacher, but you never forget a lesson. As Christians, we believe the grace of God is absolute. Once we have accepted Christ into our hearts, all of our sins are washed away. The old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). So why do countless believers still struggle with feelings of regret over their past actions? Do we lack faith in Christ’s mercy, or is regret a call to further repentance? This was the question recently posed to John Piper in his latest article for Desiring God. Piper’s first answer was to remind his readers that regret is the sign of a tender heart, not an unforgiven soul. It’s only natural for humans to feel remorse over their past mistakes, but the key is whether we allow these feelings to rule our lives. As an example, Piper pointed to the thief who was crucified alongside Jesus in the New Testament. He writes, “Jesus knows all this, and he’s not saying that our salvation or even our peace of mind depends on whether we have access to the people we need to be reconciled with or whose hurts we need to set right. The thief on the cross had no opportunity to restore anything that he had stolen for decades. He must have stolen from dozens and dozens of people since he is just called a thief. And yet, Jesus said he’s going to be in paradise (Luke 23:43). He never set one thing right. Not one. Psalm 19:13 pleads for forgiveness for hidden faults. Why? Because we can’t remember them. We don’t even know what people we’ve hurt. If we can remember some, we can’t remember them

all.” Our acceptance of God frees us from the burdens of sin, but it also serves as motivation to further reconciliation. If we have harmed someone or hold bitterness

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against them, we should seek to forgive and be forgiven in turn. The Holy Spirit is transformational, changing us from the inside out and encouraging us to be more like Christ. If we feel regret or remorse, we should accept these emotions as part of our new life. They call us to correct our errors, not because we are condemned, but because we are now free. Scripture tells us, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” – Matthew 5:23-24 All of us have made mistakes in our past. Sometimes we can make things right, sometimes we cannot. What truly matters is that we try. Try to be better people, try to follow God with pure and contrite hearts, and try not to repeat the errors of our old life. It’s not easy, sometimes it’s even painful, but whenever regret threatens to overwhelm us, we can always look to the cross and remember that Christ died for us. Nothing will ever separate us from the love of Christ. (Romans 8:31-39) *Ryan Duncan is an Editor for Crosswalk.com • Image Credit:©ThinkstockMarjan_Apostolovic)

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BRANSON CONNECTION

he Morningside community is home to the Jim Bakker TV Show and the PTL Network. In 1974, Jim Bakker launched the PTL Television Network and the PTL Satellite Network soon followed in 1978.

Today the PTL Television Network continues at Morningside carrying the gospel around the world with The Prophets Speak and Music & Ministry services Monday through Friday at 7PM. Prophets Speak provides a platform for some of today’s greatest teachers, biblical scholars and gospel singers. The PTL Network broadcast 24 /7 programming featuring Classic PTL episodes of Pastor Jim Bakker's Revelation Teaching, The Prophets Speak, Music & Ministry, End of The Age, Leadership from Behind the Scenes, Revelation in the News, recent tapings of the Jim Bakker TV Show and others. The Jim Bakker Show hosted Prophets Irvin Baxter, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, Perry Stone, Joel Richardson, Rick Joyner, John Kilpatrick, Cindy Jacobs, Tom Horn, Bishop Ron Webb, Dr. Alveda King and many more. Dr. Alveda King, niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King will be a guest on The Jim Bakker Show on August 24. As Guardian of the King Family Legacy, Dr. Alveda King is a well known minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She currently is the Director of African American Outreach for Priest for Life, and a former college professor, mentor, stage and screen actress, Georgia state legislator and presidential appointee.

Rick is President of The Oak Initiative, an interdenominational movement that mobilizes Christians to engage in the great issues of our time. He has authored more than forty books, including The Final Quest Trilogy, There Were Two Trees in the Garden, and A New America. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn will be a guest on The Jim Bakker Show on September 6 & 7. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn is President of Hope of the World ministries and also Senior Pastor and Messianic Rabbi of the Jerusalem Center/Beth Israel in Wayne, New Jersey. His broadcast are heard daily over hundreds of radio and television stations throughout the United States and the world. Cahn’s teachings are widely known for revealing the deep mysteries of God’s word and for the restoring of the new covenant message to its original biblically Jewish richness and power. The Jim Bakker TV Show, hosted by Jim and Lori Bakker, is taped before a live audience and broadcast worldwide. Admission is free to the TV show at the Morningside studio located at 180 Grace Chapel Rd. (at Highway 86 and 13) in Blue Eye, Missouri. For more information, call 417 779-9000 or browse the website at www.jimbakkershow.com or visit www.ptlnetwork.com for complete listing of programs. Veeda Smith, Coordinating Producer for Prophets Speak and Music & Ministry broadcasts may be contacted by email at csmith2145@aol.com.

You Grow as You Help Others Mature “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2 NIV). If you want the special blessing of God on your life, you need to learn from other believers who are more mature than you, and you need to mentor believers who are younger than you. Every Christian needs both a Paul and a Timothy. A Paul is somebody who’s been a

Christian longer than you and is helping to train and encourage you. That person may only be a month older than you, but he or she knows a little bit more and can mentor you. To have a Timothy means there is somebody in your life who hasn’t been a Christian as long as you, and you are helping build that person's faith. You are offering your Timothy encouragement and discipleship as he or she grows in the Lord. So you have a Paul and a Timothy in your life. But you are also a Paul and a Timothy to someone else. In 2 Timothy, Paul says this to Timothy: “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2 NIV). There are four generations in that verse. Paul says to Timothy that he helped mentor him, and now Timothy must find somebody to mentor, and then that person can find somebody else to mentor. Don’t be intimidated by the word “mentoring.” Mentoring is as easy as taking someone to breakfast once a month and asking, “How’s it going?” You just need to be a friend. Listen to, encourage, and pray for that person. You don’t have to be the perfect Christian to do this. You just have to be willing. When you do that, you will receive a blessing from God in your life that you cannot imagine. Available properties in Morningside development home of the Jim Bakker show Log home- 3 bedroom / 2 1/2 bath -- $189,900 (fully furnished- large decks) Condos: 1 bedroom-- $60,000 1 bedroom-- $55,000 furnished 2 bedroom-- $157,900 (large inside deck that looks directly at the stage)

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BY RICK WARREN

"This isn't the time for violent riots or race baiting. It's time for prayer and leadership. Officials at all levels need to pray and enforce peace and justice,” said Dr. King. Rick Joyner will join Jim and Lori Bakker on August 29 for the worldwide Jim Bakker TV Show. Rick Joyner is Founder and Executive Director of MorningStar Ministries and Heritage International Ministries and is the Senior Pastor at

MorningStar Fellowship Church from Ft. Mill, S.C.

BY VEEDA SMITH

Mark 16: 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

don’t come and knock on my door

How To Distinguish True Zeal from False Zeal fear there is a plague of complacency among Christians today. Whatever happened to zeal? Whatever happened to Christians who are on fire to know and obey God, who have (in the words of John Reynolds) “an earnest desire and concern for all things pertaining to the glory of God and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus among men?” Yet while zeal is a noble trait, it must be properly directed, for not all zeal is good. Here are some pointers on distinguishing true from false zeal.

BY TIM CHALLIES

False zeal is blind. Paul accused some religious enthusiasts of his day of having “a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). The fire that consumed them was not the fire of the Holy Spirit but an out-of-control wildfire. The Athenians, likewise, were zealous for religion, but lost as to the identity of the true and living God.

False zeal is selfseeking. It is hypocritical, using religion as a means of gain. It seeks the good of self rather than the glory of God. This is the zeal of those who make a great pretense of godliness, but whose foremost concern is actually personal enrichment.

False zeal is misguided. It pursues minor doctrines and disputable matters while putting aside the weightier matters of God’s law. It is obsessed with traditions and institutions rather than obedience. The Pharisees were far more concerned with the washing of cups than the cleansing of souls. False zeal is impulsive. It is inspired by impulsive reaction rather than thoughtful conviction. James and John said they would call for fire to come down from heaven, but were rebuked by Jesus for their impetuousness. Their zeal was false, unhelpful, ungodly. These are all marks of false zeal. True zeal is marked by very different characteristics. True zeal is Godward. It cannot bear to see God’s reputation harmed or his honor stolen. This was the zeal of the church of Ephesus of whom Jesus said, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false” (Revelation 2:2). This zeal is concerned with defending the glory and honor of God. True zeal is fearless. It is strengthened by opposition and resistant to discouragement. Zeal will cause a Christian to face dangers that seem insurmountable or enemies that seem impossible to defeat. It is a fire that burns even stronger when

fanned by hostility.

True zeal is knowledgeable. It is not based on impulsiveness or ignorance, but a deep understanding of truth. It begins with knowledge of God and ends in conformity to God. Wisdom blazes the trail of zeal and holiness brings up the rear. True zeal is passionate. It will stand for truth even when that truth is despised or opposed. “It is time for the LORD to act,” says David, “for your law has been broken” (Psalm 119:126). The more unbelievers reject the truth and despise those who believe it, the more courageous Christians become in the face of their opposition. True zeal generates obedience. It makes us hear God’s Word with reverence, to pray with persistence, to love others with brotherly affection. It is the height of hypocrisy for a believer to be outwardly zealous while inwardly committed to sin. A godly heart boils over with holy affection for God and man. True zeal is persistent. It cannot be quenched, no matter what winds blow against it or what water is poured over it. Just as the body’s heat remains as long as their is physical life, the heat of zeal lasts as long as there is spiritual life. Zeal that does not persist reveals that it was only ever a mirage. Reading Classics This article was drawn from The Godly Man’s Picture which I’m reading with a whole crowd of people as part of my ongoing Reading Classics Together effort.

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Jewish people also commemorate the Ketubah, or marriage contract between Israel and the Lord that took place at Sinai. Believers remember that Pentecost also acts as a marriage contract between Messiah and the church.

havuot, which means "weeks" is one

Sof the most important feasts in the

entire Jewish calendar. Traditionally, it is called "the festival without a date." Once, when it was calculated from the New Moon, it would fall upon a different date each year from Sivan 5-7. During the period of Jewish Diaspora, however its date was fixed at Sivan 6. Today, the Jews remember it as the day the Lord gave the Torah at Mt. Sinai. This year Shavuot began the evening of June 3rd. Originally, it marked the end of the grain harvest, which began with the sheaf of Firstfruits (barley) and proceeded through the count of fifty days. Later, it came to be associated with the giving of the Torah. Jewish rabbis teach that Moses received the Law on this date, that Noah received His covenant from the Lord on this date, and that even Abraham received his covenant on the date.

Jews read the Book of Ruth on this date, and memorialize King David, who was said to have been born and also to have died on this date. Today, Jewish people stay up all night to "decorate the bride." They read, study, and pray in the belief that at some time during the night, the heavens will open for a brief moment and prayers will be answered. To contact Jeremy for ministry in your congregation, for a radio or television interview or other special event, or for information on his albums or teachings, please call or email:

The Holy Spirit empowered the church on this date (Acts 2). Therefore, the obvious inference is that this festival represents major changes in God's prophetic program. It seems to mark the change from one dispensation to another.

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STOP SAYING WE ARE A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS WE ARE NOT. If you are an American born in the USA you are NOT an immigrant. Immigrants are people NOT BORN in the USA who come here to become Americans. If your parents or grandparents immigrated here, but you were born here you are NOT an immigrant. 13 percent of the US population is made up of immigrants. That means 87 percent of the population is NATIVE BORN. Almost 90%. That means we are a nation of native-borns. We are NOT a nation of immigrants.

Romans 5:3-4 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

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Modern Religion focuses on filling churches with people. The true Gospel emphasizes filling people with God.

he woman approached the microphone and spoke into it. The words that she said were unintelligible until she picked up her I-pad and turned it on. The translation of what she had said was amazing. This woman was born with development issues and her family had kept her home rather than institutionalizing her as recommended. Her intelligence was not damaged, just her ability to verbally share her thoughts with others.

Missouri teaching others that there is life in recovery. He is speaking out for people who are lost in a sea of mental fog and helping pave the way for others to find freedom from their addictions.

She was severely affected and yet she found a way to overcome. Recently, she was asked to share her story at a Civil Rights meeting. When she finished speaking, the organizer approached her and said, “I have understood the need for Civil rights, but now I understand the need for Mental Health Rights. Her name is Cathy Enfield and she was just one of three people awarded as a 2017 Missouri Mental Health Champion.

I was struck by the courage that these people have shown and I reflected on individuals, leaders and politicians who seem to find creating problems more enjoyable than solving them. Our political leaders seem bent on dividing us and putting us at odds with one another.

With all of her own challenges, she has made it her purpose to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves. She knows that everyone has something of value to share. I was privileged to be at the banquet where Cathy received this prestigious award along with two other champions. One of them was Madison McDowell, a 14 year old who is overcoming a diagnosis of anxiety and depression to encourage others that struggle with some of the same issues. The other recipient was our son-inlaw, David Stoecker, who has overcome a life of physical abuse, drugs, alcohol, jail and three near death experiences. He is now “dealing hope” to others who have gotten lost in the substance abuse crisis. A parole officer took a chance on him and instead of sending him to prison challenged him to use his drive to help himself and others. He is now employed by the state of

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Changing Attitudes, Building Hope

These three determined people have taken situations many of us would consider hopeless and used them to change their own outcomes and are now working toward helping others find encouragement and a way to celebrate their lives.

Let’s pray that the incredible strength of character shown by these three amazing people would become a model for the kind of nationalism that we can be proud of. Let us not pull apart but once again pull together. It isn’t disagreeing that is at issue, it is the extreme hostility that has built up from the disagreement.



I am proud to be a citizen of this great country and I pray that civility will once again become the order of the day. These brave champions are providing us with a pattern of solving issues with courage. We long for statesmen and women to step up to once again to lead our local, state and national communities to help us find common ground to move forward as a country that is truly the United States of America.

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caution: freedom causes indifference

Patriotism and Christianity What is the difference between patriotism and nationalism? For American Christians, there might not be an issue more complicated or wrapped in history and politics than patriotism. Even saying the word patriotism in a gathering of Christians is likely to garner as many responses as there are people. A love for one's country is looked on with both reverence and revulsion by Christians … and both sides seem to have good reasons. So how ought Christians to think about patriotism? Is there a Christian response to patriotism? And how can faithful Christians hold in tension their love for country and their primary love and commitment to the kingdom of God? Patriotism vs. Nationalism First, it's important to make a distinction between patriotism and nationalism. It's a distinction that's been blurred (and blurred often), but it's a helpful one. Patriotism can be defined simply as love of country—it's a love that seems to include much of the world's population. It's the kind of love that makes you thankful you're an American whenever you hear the National Anthem, or that makes you thankful you're British whenever you hear "God Save the Queen," or that makes you thankful you're from whatever country whenever your country wins an Olympic medal. It's that feeling of altruistic gratitude for freedom, or democracy, or culture, or any of the other values people around the world treasure in their nation. Nationalism, on the other hand, takes that love of country and expands it to mean love of country at the expense of other nations. It's when someone believes they are better because they come from a particular place, or that someone else is less valuable because of the country that issued their passport. In the United States, it's often given the innocuous sounding title "American exceptionalism"; sometimes this term means a very good patriotism that is grateful for the gifts bestowed on American citizens, but too often this means treasuring American identity at the expense of others. It's saying, "My country is better than yours, and you are less civilized/enlightened/good because of where you are from." There are ways to say, "The nation that you belong to should consider adopting some of my country's

freedoms" without it being nationalism. But nationalism never considers what one's nation could learn from others. It's not just Americans who struggle with nationalism, of course. Most nations do. And it wasn't a foreign (no pun intended) problem in the New Testament church. There's a reason Paul writes repeatedly about the need for the Jews to recognize the full participation of Gentiles in the kingdom of God. The Jews' national and religious identity made it difficult for them to understand how a Greek, Ethiopian, or slave from Asia Minor could be just as much a part of God's new work. But Paul's famous assertion that there is "neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28) demonstrates that nationalism must never be part of the new kingdom of God. A Good Kind of Patriotism

So how, then, should Christians distinguish between patriotism and nationalism? Well, as in most things, it's best to know what Jesus did. In Luke 19, there's a peculiar story about Jesus. In the midst of the pomp and glory of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus begins to weep. He weeps because the cityand, by extension, all Israel—failed to recognize his lordship, and because he knew the impending destruction of Jerusalem. The scene echoed a previous lament over Jerusalem (Luke 13:31-35), where Jesus said, "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" (v. 34, ESV). Jesus, it seems, loved his people, his city, his nation—so much so that he cried over it (and note that it wasn't just because one of Israel's swimmers had just taken Olympic gold!). He didn't despise his country or wish ill upon it—instead, he wanted nothing but the best for it, and it grieved him to see how his people had rejected his teachings. Jesus' example of patriotism perfected can

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provide a guidepost to Christians. It's an example that's both pragmatic and romantic, shot through with justice, truth, and love. It's not a nationalistic patriotism—it's a love for nation that doesn't pit it against other nations. Instead, it's a recognition of love followed by a mournful recognition of shortcomings. If we apply Christ's words to today, it might mean that we celebrate the times our nation does something great—the times it gives a voice to the voiceless. It doesn't mean we totally deny a love or appreciation for our country, or throw up our hands feeling we can't make it better. Like it or not, we're part of whatever community into which we're born, and proper patriotism takes note of the in-born love many of us have along with a desire to make our home nations as good as they can be. Christ's words mean we embrace a healthy love for country and don't diminish the godly notion that it's okay to love the place from which you come. But Jesus' lament also means we mourn the times when our nation does something wrong. It means tempering our love for country with the knowledge that there are times our countries will get it wrong. Because if you look just under the pomp of most nations, there are some pretty ugly wounds. G. K. Chesterton sums up this stance perfectly in The Defendant. " 'My country, right or wrong,' is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case," Chesterton writes. "It is like saying, 'My mother, drunk or sober.' No doubt if a decent man's mother took to drink he would share her troubles to the last; but to talk as if he would be in a state of gay indifference as to whether his mother took to drink or not is certainly not the language of men who know the great mystery." In other words, true, good patriotism lies in the ability to judge one's nation in its successes and its shortcomings. Primary Allegiances Perhaps the most important distinction to be made by Christians is that our first love must be the kingdom of God, over and above any love of country, no matter how pure and honorable that love might be. It's easy for Christians to begin to worship their country as an idol. In The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis puts the matter quite succinctly. He notes that love of country "becomes a

demon when it becomes a god." In short, we can too easily allow our celebration of nation to intertwine with and pervert our love of God, and in many cases, usurp our love for God. We see how humanity has twisted almost every gift of God into an idol that can sinfully replace him. Money, sex, work, food, drink—each of these (among others) have become damaging idols for too many Christians. It wouldn't take long for any of us to think of examples of when Christians have placed love of country above love of God—and what disastrous consequences this has had. Therefore, the Christian's primary allegiance is to God and to his church— which sometimes means the Christian patriot must disagree with her country and do things which might be counterintuitive to "civic duty." It might mean engaging in civil disobedience over issues like abortion or torture. It might mean calling for the righting of past wrongs and the upholding of religious freedom. Christian responsibility always trumps patriotism, even when it seems uncomfortable. Jesus taught us that loving one's country is a godly thing. But Jesus also died for people of all nations—putting his own nation's interests below the needs of every person. To the people of Israel, this might have seemed lunacy—Jesus was betraying his own people by spreading his message to Gentiles. But the example stands tall to us. Jesus asks that we lay all of our loves— including our love of country—at his feet so that we may grant him the first fruits of our love. When Christians put love of country below love of God and love of Christian brothers and sisters, we see a glimpse of the future God has promised his church. John's vision in Revelation includes this stunning scene: After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." (Revelation 7:9-10) "Every nation, tribe, people and language." It's an image of Christians crying their allegiance to God and to one another over and above any allegiance to country. It's a reminder that we can do the same, even

now. Ryan Hamm is a writer living in Orlando, FL, where he lives with his wife, spends as much time at Disney World as you would expect, and is at work on his first book. You can find him on Twitter @RyanECHamm.

Let’s hear from a Brit

What would a world without America be like?

The phrase "born again" literally means "born from above." Nicodemus had a real need. He needed a change of his heart—a spiritual transformation. New birth, being born again, is an act of God whereby eternal life is imparted to the person who believes (2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1-4, 18). John 1:12, 13 indicates that being "born again" also carries the idea of "becoming children of God" through trust in the name of Jesus Christ. therefore.......

A viral ad produced by the British website, 18 Doughty Street, which imagines what "A World Without America" would be like is going down a storm on YouTube and across the blogosphere. "A World Without America" would be a world "with less freedom," "without many medical advances," "without Israel", "poorer" and one "held to ransom by tyrants" the video argues with the help of a series of spoof news bulletins from recent decades. What do you think? Would "A World Without America" be a better or worse place? Could you even imagine such a world, so central is the country and its culture to our lives? What else would "A World Without America" lack? The computer you are using now and its software, for example? Would we in Britain even be speaking English in such a world? Or do you take the opposing view that "A World Without America" would be one without junk food, the worst of Hollywood, global warming and even al-Qa'eda? Does the fact that America has been responsible for great advances mean that we can't criticise its defects? Is the video well-timed and enlightening or obsequious and patronising? "The vitriol against America displayed by some people in the Comments section of this post demonstrate why this Advert needed to be made," argues Iain Dale, the British blogger. Do you think the same is true of this? Your View?

Would you like to join the ministry of the American Christian Voice? Please go to your local Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million or EntertainMart store and purchase a current copy of the ACV. If they are out, please ask them if they can order a current copy. It’s a win, win... when you help us grow, we help you grow!

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11 million illegal immigrants can pay for it

Build the Wall very sensible immigration policy has two objectives: 1) to regain control of our borders so that we decide who enters; and 2) to find a humane way to deal with the 11 million illegal immigrants who now live among us.

Start with the second. For both practical and moral reasons, America cannot and will not and should not expel 11 million people.

And we can. First, build a barrier. Call it a wall. Call it a fence. Call it what you will. Add cameras and sensors. Add drones. Beef up the patrols. All that matters is that we regain control of the border.

Fences work. The triple fence outside San Diego led to a 90 percent reduction in infiltration. Israel’s border fence with the West Bank produced a similar decline. Even holierthanthou Europeans have conceded the point: Hungary, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Austria, Greece, Spain – why, even Norway have all started building border fences to stem the tide of Middle Eastern refugees. Then enforce two other measures: a national E-Verify system that makes it just about impossible to work if you are here illegally, and a functioning visa tracking system, since 40% of illegal immigrants are visa overstays. The wall/fence will, of course, be ugly. So are the concrete barriers to keep truck bombs from driving into the White House. Sometimes function has to supersede form.

That leaves us with two choices: ignore them or figure out a way to legalize them. Ignoring them hasn’t worked. But there is also a huge problem with legalization: it creates an irresistible incentive for new illegal immigrants to come. We say, of course, that this will be the very last, very final, never-again, we're-notkidding-this-time amnesty. And everyone knows it's phony. That’s what was said in 1986, when we passed the SimpsonMazzoli immigration reform. It turned out to be the largest legalization program in American history -- nearly 3 million people got permanent residency. There was no enforcement. We now have 11 million new illegal immigrants in our midst.

And don't tell me that this is our Berlin Wall. When you build a wall to keep people in, that's a prison. When you build a wall to keep people out, that's an expression of sovereignty. Of course, no barrier will be foolproof. But it doesn't have to be. It simply has to reduce the river to a manageable trickle. Once we do, everything becomes possible -including dealing with our 11 million illegal immigrants. So, let’s fix that. Track the visas, do E-Verify, build the damn barrier. It’s ridiculous to say

The irony of this whole debate, which bitterly splits the country, is that there is a silver bullet that would not just solve the problem, but also create a national consensus behind it. A vast number of Americans who oppose legalization and fear new waves of immigration would change their minds if we could radically reduce new -- i.e., future -- illegal immigration.

WWW.AMERICAN CHRISTIAN VOICE.COM | VOL.13 #3

that it can’t be done. And who would certify that the border is back in our control? I would have a neutral party, perhaps a commission of retired jurists, issue the judgment. Once they do, we legalize the 11 million, granting them the right to stay and work here. We can’t give them citizenship. That’s a bridge too far. You don’t get to join the political destiny of the country by entering it illegally. But any children born here would be American -- which means that over time the issue resolves itself. The American people are legitimately angry at the price American society has paid due to illegal immigration. But they are also a generous people. Once they are assured that we do indeed control our borders, that anger will abate. A national consensus will emerge. Radical border control, followed by radical legalization. No mushy compromise. A solution requires two acts of national will: putting up a wall (along with E-Verify and visa tracking) and absorbing those who broke our laws to come to America. This is not a compromise meant to appease both sides without achieving anything. It’s not some piece of hybrid legislation that arbitrarily divides illegals into those with five-year-old "roots" in America and those without – or some such mischief-making nonsense. If we do it right, not only will we solve the problem, we will get it done as one nation. I’m Charles Krauthammer for Prager University.

www.PragerU.com

Online readers, we’ve included a link to printable PDF puzzle page!

ACROSS 1 Dried coconut 6 __ Francisco 9 Word meaning father 13 Not this 14 Lager 15 Parable of the __ and Goats 16 River 17 Thai 18 Biblical weeds 19 Animal skin 20 Mutilate 22 North northeast 23 __ Lanka 24 Transgression 25 Ship's storage area 27 What a dropped melon does 29 Plaited 33 Ingest 34 Enemy 35 Urn 36 NT church leader 39 Goof 40 Tower of __ 41 Cogged wheel 42 Pressure unit 43 __ voyage 44 First book of Bible 46 Fertile desert area 49 Adore 50 Megahertz 51 Eve's beginning 53 Pouch

56 Perilous circumstance 58 Done 59 Large instrument 61 Scoundrel 62 Get out of bed 63 Expression 64 Samuel's mentor 65 Present bringer 66 Watch out for 67 Part of a min. 68 Beg DOWN 1 Army unit 2 Do unto __ 3 An apostle 4 Torn 5 Exist 6 The devil 7 Actor Alda 8 Love your __ as yourself 9 Expression of surprise 10 Capital of Switzerland 11 Was 12 Church part 15 Inscribed pillar 20 Baseball glove 21 Folk story 24 France & Germany river 26 Sofas 28 Stared 30 Small amount

31 Vane direction 32 Eastern state 34 Day of the week (abbr.) 36 Hard boiled food 37 Downwind 38 Tribe of Israel 39 Gists 40 Husband of Ruth 42 Pocket bread 43 Danish physicist 45 City destroyed by fire 47 Southern Californian college 48 Afternoon nap 50 Doctor 52 Man shall not live by __ alone 53 Skewer 54 Military officer 55 Adam's son 57 Wind 58 Spoken 60 Cain fled to this land 62 Viper

Dear Lord, Help me not despise the things I do not know or understand. ~William Penn

puzzle page

Answers to CrossWord Puzzle on Page 44

Answers to Sudoku Puzzle on Page 21

God Loves you just the way you are, not the way you should be. Because no one is as they should be. - Brennan Manning

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gracefilled fellowships

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A week without a Sabbath is perpetual bondage. 28

S t i l l Wa t e r s

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Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

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Hell Froze Over: You will be Replaced

BY JOHN DOE

Recently, we have had the unpleasant task of hiring and firing a half dozen workers in as many as weeks. The reasons are justified. Most of the former workers have no honor, discipline, drive nor ability to leave the drama of their lives at home. We tried to incorporate a paid life coaching 15 minute daily ritual each morning by teaching the intrinsic values of a Bible Based work ethic. We tried to show them how to work alongside their co-workers with peace. We paid more money than the job descriptions averaged with Sundays off and even paid for 30 minutes of their lunch break. We created a peaceful and as comfortable a work environment as possible. We were as lenient as could be expected for workers to learn the ropes and what was expected of them. What we ended up with were drama queens and workers expecting that management owed them more than agreed upon. We ended up with chronically late, excuse-prone and entitled attitudes. We discovered one common denominator being substance abuse and the sinking into the culture that comes with it. We have provided a way out with financial and life coaching opportunities that have been ignored. Generational curses are difficult to break but not impossible if someone will yield their life to the Holy Spirit. At this point, they prefer that lifestyle and until these folks hate their habits more than their desire to be set free... oh, well. Most weeks we had more IOU’s in the till than cash. We pay weekly, so there isn’t much of a stretch. For some of our staff, assisted them with low cost housing. What we received was ungratefulness, poor quality work and unrealistic expectations. It kind of makes me wonder if we have unrealistic expectations of our workers. With the exception of one employee that has been with the building for the last three owners, we have had no exceptions. Now here is the sad part. We have friends that employ guest workers from other

countries. They come from Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, Haiti, and Jamaica. They brag on them with a description that is totally opposite of what I described of their American counter-parts.

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cannot believe what I am about to write. Many of our readers have read my rantings against illegal immigrants and undocumented workers. I have always been against all forms of amnesty and any form of citizenship status.

I found myself jealous of their guest workers. I want some of those. I have had foreign workers in past endeavours over the years and was seldom disappointed. If I had to describe one common trait among them, it would have to be gratitude. That is largely missing from the American that wants to make a career out of working for McDonalds, demands $15.00 per hour but can’t seem to get your order straight. So here is my proposal: (please forgive me) Boot out all the illegal aliens that have any infractions with the law except for jumping the line to get here. Give them all green cards for the right to work here so they can pay taxes but don’t let them vote in their lifetime. They can stay without the benefits of food stamps and welfare. Most of these families help each other the way Americans did before the government became their sugar daddy. I will bet they will be glad to work for the 10 to 12 dollars per hour I would start them out with and actually be GRATEFUL because they do not feel entitled and would be able to climb up the ladder of the American dream without hiding in the shadows. I no longer believe they are stealing American jobs. I believe Americans refuse to do those jobs as evidenced by their attitudes. Now, a real dose of reality. I have always maintained that every problem was spiritual deficiency but in truth there are some Christians that are awful employees and some non-believers that are model workers. From now on, we will hire and maintain a workforce that is proficient. It would be nice if they were Americans or believers but at this point we need integrity over nationality or an immature faith.

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We will ask God earnestly to bring us the right people (whoever they are). Please pray He will bring them at the right time as we endeavour to be obedient to the task in which He called us to do. Hey, maybe we should deport some Americans.... just saying.

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guilt laden superiority, or.... suppression of speech and intolerant In New England, they outnumber conservatives 28 to 1. Why that’s bad for everyone. political he freshman had his hesitations. “I am political conservatism has been reduced to correctness. The result? Many somewhat ‘in the closet,’” he emailed stereotypes, conflated with the alt-right conservatives on New England’s campuses me from the safety of his dorm room. and branded as being so wrongheaded that are feeling more marginalized and It was near midnight on a Thursday in late it’s not even worth considering, let alone alienated than ever before. October, and the young man was still hiring professors who embrace rightadjusting to life at Brandeis University. leaning ideas. Long known as bastions of If you believe that plurality, open discourse, While he was open to the idea of doing an progressive thought, and home to the likes and exposure to conflicting lines of thought interview, he worried about the of Noam Chomsky and the late Howard are critical to a complete education and to consequences of revealing his true self. “I Zinn, our region’s schools have always been a fuller understanding of how the world fear that many of my classmates would suspected of putting the “liberal” in liberal works, this relatively recent shift should set jump to conclusions about me,” he wrote, arts college. Until recently, though, no one off alarm bells. It certainly did for “should they all know I am a conservative.” had quantified just how far left higher ed University of Chicago dean of students John here had drifted. “Jay” Ellison, who penned a letter notifying To be clear: This student, whom I’ll call Ben, incoming students that “freedom of inquiry is not an alt-right provocateur railing Last spring, Samuel Abrams, a professor and expression” will not give way to soagainst multiculturalism or a bombastic of politics at Sarah Lawrence College, in called trigger warnings or safe spaces neocon. He is a skinny, stressed-out, 19- New York, decided to run the numbers. “where individuals can retreat from ideas year-old Jewish kid from New Jersey who From the start, he certainly expected liberal and perspectives at odds with their own.” bounces his leg when he talks and prefers professors to outnumber conservatives, but After all, the more viewpoints we are the Wall Street Journal to Breitbart. As with his data—25 years’ worth of statistics from exposed to, the better equipped we are to so many college students, he’s wrestling the Higher Education Research Institute— understand one another so we can make with his political identity and trying to told a far more startling tale: In the South decisions together. “Creative problemfigure out where he stands on some of the and throughout the Great Plains, the ratio solving is going to suffer,” Abrams says, biggest issues of today, from the of liberal to conservative professors arguing that ideological homogeneity does humanitarian crisis in Syria to police hovered around 3 to 1. On the liberal left not prepare students for life after violence in America. Exploring his coast, the ratio was 6 to 1. And then there graduation. “The goal of college is to give conservative viewpoints, though, is proving was New England—which looked like you multiple viewpoints and to grow your difficult to do on campus: There’s the econ William F. Buckley’s worst nightmare— mind, not to just be comfortable in your professor who cracks jokes about standing at 28 to 1. “It astonished me,” says own bubble. The real world is not full of Republicans during lectures, Ben says, not Abrams, whose research revealed that progressives.” to mention the orientation event during conservative professors weren’t just rare; which the speaker understandably talked they were being pushed to the edge of At a time when Donald Trump is setting passionately about the importance of Black extinction. up camp inside the West Wing, our ivyLives Matter, but glossed over the social gilded campuses in the foothills of Vermont movement’s assertion that Israel is an This phenomenon has been quietly and the suburbs of Boston are emerging as apartheid state that engages in genocide— unfolding for years. Abrams, who describes some of the most contentious ideological a particularly thorny issue at a school himself as a centrist and earned a doctorate beachheads in the country. In response to where the undergraduate population is, from Harvard, sees the decline as a canary Trump’s ascendance, campus politics are according to Hillel, 47 percent Jewish. in the higher education coal mine, primed to swing even more to the left, undercutting the mission of college and potentially further alienating those college All of this makes Ben feel like an outsider. diminishing the value of six-figure conservatives who are confounded by The way he sees it, coming out politically a educations. When the student and teacher Trump and trying to find their political step to the right is the fastest route to social activists of the 1960s marched across many selves in today’s climate. These are the isolation on campus and the surest way to of these same leafy campuses, they were same students who may be susceptible to invite ridicule from his professors. So he often fighting for freedom of expression. right-wing radicalization if we allow one of bites his tongue in class and retreats to his After all, isn’t that what being a social the most important forums for debate and dorm room to read and listen to progressive is all about? Today’s intellectual exploration to devolve into just conservative commentary alone. “I think movements, on the other hand, are widely another partisan war zone. “New England’s it’s a shame,” he tells me. “A lot of people aimed at preventing the established power college campuses,” Abrams warns, “are a have negative preconceived notions about structure from harming less-privileged powder keg ready to blow.” conservatives…we’re intolerant, racist, groups. Consequently, student activists homophobic.” have banded together—sometimes Conservative professors weren’t always so alongside faculty—in support of safe heavily outnumbered here. In 1989, The definition of conservatism has never spaces, protective speech, and trigger according to Abrams’s data, the ratio of been more muddy—depending on who you warnings. It is the best way, the thinking liberal to conservative professors in New ask, it can range from white nationalists goes, to align with and support all identity England was 5 to 1. The divide widened espousing hate to moderates such as groups. To some people on the receiving slowly through the 1990s and then tore Governor Charlie Baker. At many of New end, however, progressive rhetoric can open shortly after the turn of the century. England’s most prestigious colleges, sound shrill and an awful lot like

BY CHRIS SWEENEY/Boston Magazine

How Liberal Professors Are Ruining College

WWW.AMERICAN CHRISTIAN VOICE.COM | VOL.13 #3

Then, between 2004 and 2014, conservative professors essentially fell off the face of the Northeast.

So how did our colleges and universities become such a liberal monoculture—and why is it so pronounced in New England? To this end, Abrams’s research has fueled ample criticisms and theories. Nobel laureate and Times columnist Paul Krugman has argued that professors actually haven’t become more liberal, but rather that the meaning of conservatism has changed and the Foxification and now Trump-ification of the Republican Party has pushed highly educated members of the right over to the left. Others contend that it’s solely because conservatives don’t go into academia. There is also the argument that political identities are social constructs that are far too complex and fickle to capture in a simple survey, as well as evidence indicating that the more highly educated a person is, the more liberal he or she tends to be. Abrams acknowledges that Krugman has a valid point, but says none of these forces is strong enough to explain why the ideological rift in New England widened to the point of 28 to 1. A multitude of factors is

On a warm day in the spring of 2014,

Michael Bloomberg stood before a crowd of thousands at Harvard and delivered a speech to the school’s 363rd graduating class. Sporting a lavender tie and a lightblue shirt, the Democrat turned Republican turned Independent offered boilerplate platitudes and praise for “America’s most prestigious university.” Several minutes into his remarks, though, he flashed his fangs and began excoriating students, administrators, and professors for fostering a “modern-day form of McCarthyism” that censors speech and muzzles discourse. “Think about the irony,” Bloomberg told his audience. “In the 1950s, the right wing was attempting to repress left-wing ideas. Today, on many college campuses, it is liberals trying to repress conservative ideas, even as conservative faculty members are at risk of becoming an endangered species.” Bloomberg didn’t single out any specific cases, but one doesn’t have to look very far to find examples that help explain why a man who champions a number of

progressive causes—contributing millions to Planned Parenthood and funding research for tighter gun-control policies— used his platform as Harvard’s commencement speaker to shed light on the shifting cultural norms on campus. Earlier in the school year, students at Brown University had protested and compelled administrators to cancel a lecture by New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly, a registered Independent and the architect of a failed stop-and-frisk program that disproportionately targeted minorities. “Discourse facilitated, legitimized, and moneyed by the few in power is not true ‘discourse’ at all,” then-Brown student Doreen St. Félix wrote in the Guardian, defending the protests. Then, at Smith College, the all-female school in Northampton, the International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde—called “one of the most accomplished and powerful women in the world” by the Washington Post—was forced to cancel her commencement speech after faculty and students took offense at certain IMF lending policies. Today’s college progressives “don’t simply think you’re wrong, they think that you’re dangerous,” says Christina Hoff Sommers, a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “I might agree if they were talking about someone way out on the fringes, but they’re talking about Republicans and Libertarians.”

CONTINUED

At first, even Abrams had a hard time believing the 28-to-1 ratio was accurate. He checked and rechecked his work, accounting for every variable he could think of—tenured versus untenured professors, age, income, type of college, the selectivity of the college, which departments the professors belonged to. Time and again, though, the results showed that geography was among the strongest determining factors when it came to the political diversity of professors. After Abrams took his findings public in the New York Times, academics were floored. “That number, 28 to 1, does give one pause in thinking about what ideological diversity is and what an institution’s responsibilities are in thinking about it,” says Isabel Roche, provost and dean of Bennington College, in Vermont. “It’s a really important educational question.”

at play, Abrams says, including generational displacement. At the college and university level, jobs are rare and don’t turn over as frequently as in many other professions. That means professors from the Silent Generation—those born between 1925 and 1945, who likely cut their teeth as instructors on the campuses of the 1960s— began retiring in large numbers during the early 2000s. In turn, this opened the door to younger, more activist professors, who have since been tenured. It’s no coincidence that the rise of political correctness on campus coincided with the sharp uptick in liberal professors, Abrams says: “It’s all part and parcel.”

The examples go on forever, and are not limited to students upset with guest speakers. In one of the more widely cited instances of campus PC culture gone haywire, the Asian American Students Association at Brandeis put up signs meant to teach students about microaggressions against Asians, which included slogans such as “Aren’t you supposed to be good at math?” Another group of Asian-American students took offense, deemed the exhibit itself to be a microaggression, and demanded that it be removed. The student president of the group that put up the posters ultimately apologized in a campuswide email, expressing sympathy for classmates who felt injured by the exhibit. Brandeis, among the 35 most competitive universities in the country, was founded in 1948 and named for the first Jewish Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis—a man deemed by his successor as “a militant crusader for social justice.” Continued to Page 39

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BY ANTONIA OKAFOR for PRAGER UNIVERSITY

BLACK, MILLENNIAL, FEMALE AND… CONSERVATIVE recently discovered something startling about myself. It turns out that I’m a racist, sexist, misogynist. This came as quite a shock to me. How did this happen? As a person of color, a single woman with a graduate degree who grew up poor in a home without a father, I had a clear political path to follow.

And I followed it. I voted for Barack Obama…twice. After all, we share the same skin color. His father was from Africa. Mine was, too! What other reasons did I need? I was inspired to see a black man rise to the highest office in the land. I believed his ascent would herald a new beginning, a new era of racial healing and harmony. We would finally have that frank discussion about race that everyone always talks about. I was also inspired by his wife. I was thrilled to see such a strong, opinionated black woman take the national stage. But then something happened… actually, several

somethings. I realized there was a big contradiction in my own life. I considered myself a freethinker, but I was thinking exactly what I was supposed to. I decided to start asking questions. I belonged to several campus feminist groups. I was even teaching feminism to inner-city girls. Part of that teaching involved making the case for abortion. These girls needed to know that they had the right to make decisions about their own bodies. Surely, I thought, that’s empowerment. But one day I asked myself: Isn’t it men who benefit most from consequence-free sex? Doesn’t that give them even more power over women? And, of course, abortion certainly doesn’t empower the women it prevents from ever being born. When I began to ask my other feminist friends how they reconciled these issues, they just got angry. I was called antiwoman. Even by progressive men! “But I’m not anti-woman,” I thought. “I am a woman!” I just don’t want to be a weak one. I want to be strong – like Michelle. At about the same time, while I was a student at the University of Texas at Dallas, the UT Austin Department of African Diaspora Studies released a statement in which they said, and I quote, “African Americans are disproportionately affected by the saturation of our society by firearms … We demand that firearms be banned in all

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spaces occupied by black people on our campus.”

Wait a second, I thought. Why would you want to ban firearms only in black areas? Doesn’t that mean that you either think black people are more dangerous than other people, or less worthy of protection? These questions did not endear me to my progressive friends. I was called a race traitor…even by white people. But I’m not anti-black. I am black. I just want to be safe – like Barack. I realized I didn’t have a good answer; I only had more questions – like, why were blacks doing so poorly in cities that had been run by Democrats for decades? Was it racism and sexism that was holding people back, or was it something else? The more questions I asked, the less popular I became. But here’s the funny thing: I started to feel better about myself. I decided that the very definition of empowerment required me to take responsibility for my own life. I wasn’t going to be anyone’s victim. Which meant I had to protect myself. So, I bought a gun. I started to advocate for gun rights. That cost me more friends. I joined the pro-life movement and walked in The March for Life. More friends...gone. Then, I crossed the line. I voted Republican – the party that views me as an empowered individual, able to shape my own destiny; not as a member of a victim group. And that’s how I became a racist, sexist, misogynist. I’m Antonia Okafor for Prager University.

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3. Evil hearts crave and demand control, and their highest authority is their own selfreference. They reject feedback, real accountability, and make up their own rules to live by. They use Scripture to their own advantage but ignore and reject passages that might require self correction and repentance. (Romans 2:8; Psalms 10; 36:1–4; 50:16–22; 54:5,6; 73:6–9; Proverbs 21:24; Jude 1:8–16). 4. Evil hearts play on the sympathies of goodwilled people, often trumping the grace card. They demand mercy but give none themselves. They demand warmth, forgiveness, and intimacy from those they have harmed with no empathy for the pain they have caused and no real intention of making amends or working hard to rebuild broken trust. (Proverbs 21:10; 1 Peter 2:16; Jude 1:4). 5. Evil hearts have no conscience, no remorse. They do not struggle against sin or evil—they delight in it—all the while masquerading as someone of

Do you know someone like this? If you are working with someone who exhibits these characteristics, it’s important that you confront them head on. You must name evil for what it is. The longer you try to reason with them or show mercy towards them, the more you, as the Christian counselor, will become a pawn in his or her game. They want you to believe that: 1. Their horrible actions should have no serious or painful consequences. When they say “I’m sorry,” they look to you as the pastor or Christian counselor to be their advocate for amnesty with the person he or she has harmed. They believe grace means they are immediately granted immunity from the relational fallout of their serious sin. They believe forgiveness entitles them to full reconciliation and will pressure you and their victim to comply. The Bible warns us saying, “But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord (Isaiah 26:10). The Bible tells us that talking doesn’t wake up evil people, but painful consequences might. Jesus didn’t wake up the Pharisee’s with his talk nor did God’s counsel impact Cain (Genesis 4). In addition, the Bible shows us that when someone is truly sorry for the pain they have caused, he or she is eager to make amends to those they have harmed by their sin (see Zacchaeus’ response when he repented of his greed in Luke 19). Tim Keller writes, “If you have been the victim of a heinous crime. If you have suffered violence, and the perpetrator (or even the judge) says, ‘Sorry, can’t we just let it go?’ You would say, ‘No, that would be an injustice.’ Your refusal would rightly have nothing to do with

bitterness or vengeance. If you have been badly wronged, you know that saying sorry is never enough. Something else is required—some kind of costly payment must be made to put things right.”1 As Biblical counselors let’s not collude with the evil one by turning our attention to the victim, requiring her to forgive, to forget, to trust again when there has been no evidence of inner change. Proverbs says, “Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips” (Proverbs. 25:19). It’s foolishness. The evil person will also try to get you to believe... 2. That if I talk like a gospelbelieving Christian I am one, even if my actions don’t line up with my talk. Remember, Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13–15). He knows more true doctrine than you or I will ever know, but his heart is wicked. Why? Because although he knows the truth, he does not believe it or live it. The Bible has some strong words for those whose actions do not match their talk (1 John 3:17,18; Jeremiah 7:8,10; James 1:22, 26). John the Baptist said it best when he admonished the religious leaders, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God” (Luke 3:8). If week after week you hear the talk but there is no change in the walk, you have every reason to question someone’s relationship with God.

Association of Biblical Counselors

2. Evil hearts are experts at fooling others with their smooth speech and flattering words. But if you look at the fruit of their lives or the follow through of their words, you will find no real evidence of godly growth or change. It’s all smoke and mirrors. (Psalms 50:19; 52:2,3; 57:4; 59:7; 101:7; Proverbs 12:5; 26:23–26; 26:28; Job 20:12; Jeremiah 12:6; Matthew 26:59; Acts 6:11–13; Romans 16:17,18; 2 Corinthians 11:13,14; 2 Timothy 3:2–5; 3:13; Titus 1:10,16).

noble character. (Proverbs 2:14–15; 10:23; 12:10; 21:27,29; Isaiah 32:6; Romans 1:30; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15)

BY LESLIE VERNICK

1. Evil hearts are experts at creating confusion and contention. They twist the facts, mislead, lie, avoid taking responsibility, deny reality, make up stories, and withhold information. (Psalms 5:8; 10:7; 58:3; 109:2–5; 140:2; Proverbs 6:13,14; 6:18,19; 12:13; 16:20; 16:27, 28; 30:14; Job 15:35; Jeremiah 18:18; Nehemiah 6:8; Micah 2:1; Matthew 12:34,35; Acts 6:11–13; 2 Peter 3:16)

Can an evil person really change? Part of our maturity as spiritual leaders is that we have been trained to discern between good and evil. Why is that so important? It’s important because evil usually pretends to be good, and without discernment we can be easily fooled (Hebrews 5:14). When you confront evil, chances are good that the evil heart will stop counseling with you because the darkness hates the light (John 3:20) and the foolish and evil heart reject correction (Proverbs 9:7,8). But that outcome is far better than allowing the evil heart to believe you are on his or her side, or that “he’s not that bad” or “that he’s really sorry” or “that he’s changing” when, in fact, he is not. Daniel says, “[T]he wicked will continue to be wicked” (Daniel 12:10), which begs the question, do you think an evil person can really change?

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his sacrifice will not be forgotten

oe Murray of Jacksonville. Florida , a U.S. Marine, was killed July 10 along with 15 others when a military transport plane crashed in the Mississippi Delta. Terry Murray, father of Marine Sgt. Joe Murray, talked about his son during a press conference in Ed Austin Park in Jacksonville. As Terry Murray hugged his daughter Grace, 18, after speaking on behalf of his family about the loss of his son Marine Sgt. Joseph Murray, Joseph’s mom Karen Murray was comforted by Joseph’s

By Joe Daraskevich

Marine killed in Mississippi plane crash remembered as man of faith, family

Joe and Gayle Murray aunt Cherie Bisaillon. Emergency officials respond to the site of a military plane crash near Itta Bena, Miss., Monday. Leflore County Emergency Management Agency Director Frank Randle told reporters at a late briefing that more than a dozen bodies had been recovered after the KC-130 spiraled into the ground about 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of Jackson in the Mississippi Delta. (Associated Press) Sgt. Joe Murray sent a letter home to his dad in Jacksonville five years ago for Father’s Day while he was deployed in Afghanistan to express how proud he was to have a son for the first time even though he couldn’t be there for the birth. He signed up to be a Marine because he wanted to serve his country, and he knew that could mean missing out on important family moments.

A daughter would follow a couple of years later, then a pair of twin boys completed the family of six. That family is now without their rock after a military transport plane crashed Monday in the Mississippi Delta, killing Murray along with 15 others. Terry Murray is the man who received that Father’s Day letter five years ago, and Wednesday he talked about how much his son loved his family and the Jacksonville community where he met the love of his life. “The city of Jacksonville should be very proud to have had this son come from the city,” Terry Murray said. He said his son was promoted three times in the first three years he was in the Marine Corps and was very proud of his two deployments to Afghanistan. Terry Murray was a military man himself who served in the Navy for over 20 years, but he said he was shocked when he found out his son wanted to join the Marines. Joe Murray’s older brother had expressed interest in serving his country, but not the younger son who loved to surf as a teenager in a special spot just south of Hanna Park. Terry Murray figured his son wanted to be a helicopter mechanic or an intelligence officer, but that wasn’t the case. Terry Murray said his son told him he wanted to be a grunt, “because that’s the hardest thing to do.” He died as a member of a special operations team where his closest friends were the fellow Marines who fought next to him. Joe Murray was born in California but moved around to places like Cuba before landing in Jacksonville as a 10-year-old boy, his father said. He went to Landmark Middle School followed by Sandalwood High School where he graduated in 2009. He joined the Marines that same year, but not before meeting Gayle — the woman who would one day be his wife and the mother of their four children. Joe Murray went to boot camp and then spent most of his time at Camp Lejeune in

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North Carolina when he wasn’t on deployment. His family lives there now and will be without the man who cared for them the most. Gayle Murray is from Jacksonville and several of her loved ones traveled to North Carolina as soon as they heard about what happened. Terry Murray said he spoke to her before talking to news outlets Wednesday because he wanted to be sure to honor the grieving widow’s every wish. “Her biggest concern was to make sure people understand what a family man he was,” Terry Murray said. Terry Murray said his son wasn’t in the Marines for the benefits or because he loved violence, he was there to serve others. He said the only thing his son enjoyed about pay increases was the fact that it meant he could provide more for his family. The only thing stronger than his commitment to his family was his commitment to his church, Terry Murray said. He was a big part of the Atlantic Beach Assembly of God, 680 Mayport Road, where the congregation has agreed to accept gifts for Joe Murray’s family. “We’re a family-style church. We’re not a large church and it’s impacted all of us,” said the Rev. Donnie Hutto. “We’re all kind of going through this a little bit with the family.” They are working to create a website where donations will go to provide a better life for the Murray children. But Joe Murray’s faith went far beyond the church walls, his father said. “He wasn’t a man of God because he went to church. He lived it.” Terry Murray said. He said Joe Murray would hum praise and worship songs when he was on patrol and his comrades looked to him as a faith leader. “It was relayed to me by one of his fellow Marines that when Joseph stopped singing praises, they took the safeties off their weapons because they all immediately thought something was up. All was well when Joseph was with them,” Terry Murray said of his son. He said they still don’t know many details about what happened when the KC130 fell from the sky above Mississippi, but word of Joe Murray’s death spread through the Jacksonville community like wildfire on social media and through church groups. Terry Murray said his phone hasn’t stopped ringing since he found out about his son’s death. He said he hopes people will never forget what a great Marine he was and how much he loved his family.

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At the start of the fall semester, the Brandeis Hoot, one of two campus papers, asked 509 students a series of questions: How do you identify politically? How comfortable are you sharing your political views on campus? And why are you hesitant to share, if applicable? Of the 13 percent of respondents who identified as conservative, three-quarters said that they chose not to express their political views on campus. Some feared verbal attacks from classmates; others didn’t want to be harshly judged by professors. “Politics is something I don’t talk about with many people at all because of the ramifications,” says Mark Gimelstein, a senior at Brandeis and president of Brandeis Conservatives. A small campus group, it drew a handful of attendees to the weekly meetings I sat in on throughout October. None supported Trump; one student present was a liberal who kept showing up because he enjoyed the conversation; and several other members leaned more libertarian than conservative. Gimelstein describes himself as a “conservatarian,” someone who favors small government and fiscally conservative policies. When it comes to social issues such as gay marriage, he says, the federal government should stay out of them. As for the alt-right, he says, “I think my last name gives it away—Gimelstein wouldn’t be welcomed.” To be openly conservative on campus, many members of the conservative club agree, requires thick skin. “People mock us,” Gimelstein told me, claiming that roughly half the students who approached his club’s table during a sign-up event scoffed at the notion that Brandeis even had a club for conservatives. Gimelstein speaks highly of the quality of education he’s received, but says there is an undeniable liberal slant among his professors that has ranged over the years from annoying to detrimental. “My intro to microeconomics course, I won’t name the professor, but he literally yelled that he

hated Republicans in class,” Gimelstein says. Though it was intended to be more humorous than mean-spirited, it had a chilling effect. “While all my classmates were laughing along, I wasn’t laughing,” he says. “It was kind of insulting and it made it harder to have a productive conversation.” Michael Musto, a Brandeis senior who is a double major in politics and history, has seen similar events play out in class. When the influential conservative Phyllis Schlafly died this past September, Musto recalls, one of his professors quipped, “There’s a special place in hell for people like her.” A month later, when Tom Hayden, a co-author of the Port Huron Statement and founder of the Students for a Democratic Society, died, the same professor eulogized Hayden’s contributions to the left. “The average student who is just trying to study gets the impression of, ‘Oh man, those evil right-wingers,’” says Musto, who identifies as a Libertarian. Frustrating as it is for him, Musto keeps a low profile for fear of being that guy in the eyes of the person who will be grading his papers. Like other Brandeis conservatives, he says, “I never really speak up.” Brandeis president Ronald Liebowitz, who previously served as the president of Middlebury College, in Vermont, is troubled by the notion that conservative students are reluctant to express their views in the classroom. During his 30-plus-year career in higher education, he has heard concerns of liberal bias play out time and again. At both Middlebury and Brandeis, parents and alumni have told him that they wanted to see more ideological balance among the faculty; some suggested going so far as to impose an ideological litmus test during the hiring process to ensure a greater diversity of viewpoints. Liebowitz isn’t keen on the idea. “I think what we have to do instead,” he says, “is ensure that the classroom does not become politicized.” As for Musto’s and Gimelstein’s stories about professors poking fun at Republicans, Liebowitz says these comments don’t rise to the level of suggesting an adversarial environment for conservatives at his university. “I would think that Brandeis students, Middlebury students—smart students—would have the mettle, the ability to question this or push back a little,” he says. Many people argue that a professor’s bias, to the right or the left, does not affect the quality of instruction or mean that students

are receiving a one-sided education. But as Musto and Gimelstein point out, that’s giving little credit to students who are trying to learn in an atmosphere where to be liberal is to be in on the joke, and to be conservative is to be the punch line. Students are not the only conservatives on campus hiding their political identity in the closet. Several years ago, Jon Shields and Joshua Dunn interviewed 153 conservative professors for their book, Passing on the Right. In it, the duo say that within the context of college campuses, conservatives are a “stigmatized minority” and cite research suggesting that, in many instances, conservative professors are forced to rely on the same “coping strategies that gays and lesbians have used in the military and other inhospitable work environments.”

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Since the university’s founding, social justice has remained at the heart of its educational mission and a pillar of the curriculum. Like many universities, though, it has struggled in recent years to accommodate the heightened sensitivities of students without infringing on personal freedoms. Brandeis is not without conservative students, but those on the right are admittedly fearful of sharing their views.

Shields, an associate professor at Claremont McKenna College, in California, is quick to emphasize that the experience of a closeted conservative professor and a closeted gay person are not equivalent. Still, most of the research on closeted behavior in the workplace focuses on the gay and lesbian experience, Shields explains, and he discovered that many of the conservative professors who spoke with him used that same language. Of the more than 150 professors he interviewed, a third admitted that they kept their conservatism a secret or passed themselves off as liberals until they were granted tenure. “They have an identity that is stigmatized in the community they are working in,” Shields says, “so they conceal those identities from those around them. Sometimes that requires outright lying.” Climbing the career ladder in academia toward tenure is a years-long undertaking that typically demands that a professor publish scholarly research. This can be a perilous undertaking for young conservative academics who may find themselves being vetted by a left-leaning tenure board. Consider the case of James Miller, an economist at Smith College who arrived on campus in 1996. In hopes of attaining tenure, he taught several classes each semester, cranked out academic articles in reputable journals, and authored a book on game theory. Along the way, he also wrote a few op-eds, including one for National Review in which he asserted that the dominance of liberals in academia skews scholarship to the point that aspiring Continued to Page 41

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When Miller came up for tenure the following year, he was denied by two votes. In letters explaining why board members voted for or against Miller, one of the professors wrote that she voted against him because Miller had publicly criticized the economics of tenure policies in his book. Another professor wrote that she found the views expressed in Miller’s National Review op-ed to be disturbing. “They didn’t say I was wrong,” Miller says, still sounding defensive more than a decade later. “They said I shouldn’t have said that.” The incident snowballed, and soon Miller found himself on The O’Reilly Factor, where he was cast as the poster victim for how liberals are systematically stamping out conservative thought in higher education. After more than a year, Smith’s board of trustees intervened, overturned the tenure committee’s decision, and cast Miller in a lifelong starring role as the college’s token conservative. Miller is not shy when it comes to critiquing his liberal colleagues, whom he views as being so afraid of offending one another or their students that they are simply teaching affirmation rather than information. “Conservative ideas,” he says, “are presented in a way that this is evil and unthinkable and outside the window of politically acceptable thought.” This past November 2, less than a week before election day, Miller and a liberal professor from the economics department debated the merits of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in front of an auditorium full of Smith undergrads. After the event, Miller chatted with a young student and told her that she’d better be prepared for a Trump presidency. The student chortled and rolled her eyes; she appeared dumbstruck that a professor at Smith actually thought Trump could win. A few days after midterms, Ben, the Brandeis freshman who didn’t want to use his name for fear of being outed as a conservative, finally agreed to an interview. When he signed on to attend the famously progressive school, he knew its history of

social justice as well as its liberal reputation. The first few weeks on campus had their ups and downs, he told me, but after watching his professor make fun of Republicans in class and gauging just how seriously other students took their progressive beliefs, he decided the only truly safe space was in the political closet. “Politics is a big part of who I am,” he confides. “I definitely spend a lot of my downtime reading or listening to news and politics-related content. [At Brandeis], I have done that in secret.” The past two months have proven to be an emotional pressure test for New England’s campuses. The extremes of political viewpoints have erupted in crude actions from both camps. Not long after Trump secured the presidency, two students from Babson College drove through Wellesley College—Hillary Clinton’s alma mater— flying a Trump flag and allegedly yelling “Make America great again” as they passed by the Harambee House, which provides support to minority students. Eighty miles west, at Mount Holyoke College, conservative student and commentator Kassy Dillon reported that classmates yelled profanities at her on campus, including “F*** you, f*** Trump, I f****** hate Trump supporters.” Around the same time, at Hampshire College, several towns over, someone torched an American flag and thrust the school into the national spotlight. The liberal arts college decided for a time to stop flying the flag altogether. In predictable fashion, Trump took to Twitter, suggesting that anyone caught desecrating the American flag should be punished with either jail time or the loss of citizenship. Then came the “Professor Watchlist,” a website detailing the names of professors who allegedly push a liberal agenda and show prejudice against conservative students. In a perfect society, colleges and universities would be the last places where discourse should be allowed to crumble. After all, they were designed as the original safe space—a sanctuary where scholars were encouraged to plunge into difficult and dicey questions without fear, guided by data and rigorous research, no matter how unpopular the subject may be. “The more diversity of perspective we have, the better,” says Robert Johnson, a professor of Africana Studies at UMass Boston. “If there is a conservative perspective, even one

bordering on racism, I think that’s legitimate within the academy. The test of a great university or college is the ability to discuss any issue in a civil manner.” For many students, the four years spent on campus serve as a temporary layover in life that gives them space to find an initial path and purpose. Instilling a sense of tolerance during that precious time is more important than ever, but doing so requires that everyone acknowledge that tolerance and intolerance cut both ways. If conservatives are made to feel that their perspective is wrong or offensive, they may head for the political fringe. Some radicalized groups are looking to exploit this: A month after the presidential election, for instance, a white nationalist group called American Vanguard plastered more than half a dozen posters on Emerson College’s campus urging white men to “Take Your Country Back.” When asked about the posters by a local TV reporter, American Vanguard reportedly responded, “The more the left overreacts to our posters, the more people join our cause.”

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professors are forced to pursue research pleasing to the liberal gatekeepers, who grant or deny tenure with the ruthlessness of Caesar at the Roman Forum. “Practically the only way for a women’s-studies professor to get a lifetime college appointment,” he wrote, “is for her to contribute to the literature on why America is racist, sexist, and homophobic.”

As for Ben, he’s not sticking around long enough to find out how campus politics play out. Instead, by this time next year he hopes to have transferred. The political climate at Brandeis isn’t the only reason he wants to leave, but it’s a significant factor. If he’s going to graduate buried in studentloan debt, Ben says, he’d at least like to spend his money going someplace where he doesn’t feel like such an intruder. As we say so long, he jokes that his year of living right in the land of the left should make good fodder for admissions essays to other colleges—none of which, unsurprisingly, are located in New England.

A Great Alternative www.Hillsdale.edu

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