What do we do now? I Want to go to Alabama

Good people all over the world are wondering what to do next.  I won't even try to speak for all the good people in the world.  They all need to do something in response to the rising tyranny in our world.  But I'll just speak for me and my house.

We will serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

One American Christian leader stands out to me over the past thirty years.  His name is Flip Benham.  I never paid as much attention to him during my career as I should have.  He appeared to my coiffed pro family professional manners as an odd character.  One time he walked across America with a donkey in tow, for example.

I now realize he was the most prominent Christian man in America who got it.

Most Christians still don't know that his ministry work saved Jane Roe.  Norma McCorvey is a pro life warrior today because of Flip's faithfulness and courage.

The SCOTUS Decision and Nattering Nabobs of Negativism: Salvation Comes from Moral Rectitude Not Saying a Prayer or Donning a Suit

I think it was Richard Nixon who coined the phrase "nattering nabobs of negativism."  We've got lots of nabobs in the pulpits and well-paid "pro family" leadership seats of America.  They're the ones who have mastered the art of fund raising or passing the offering plate on defeat after defeat after defeat after defeat.

They are all sending out fund raising emails and promising to fight to the death now that five "justices" have "ruled" that sodomy can be the basis upon which a marriage and civilization can be built.

Also, many of them are finding fancy sounding words and ideas to invite sodomy into the Christian Church.  They say its inevitable, among other things.

Uh huh.  I don't think so.

America may be a corpse, as some say, but that doesn't let Christians off the hook.  They still have to fight for the Gospel.  The Gospel is about dying to self.  There is no better way to die to self today than to proclaim the truth about sex and gender.

Solemn Prayer at the Supreme Court: When God is in His Temple

We aren't used to selfies

Paulie and I drove to Washington D.C. last weekend.  We joined Coach Dave on the steps of the Supreme Court to pray.  Ken Morse wrote up a good account of the event.  He writes:

The question being asked these days by the secular community is, are Christians asleep at the wheel? In many demonstrations fueled by societies peeves, whether it is gay rights, abortion activists or a plethora of politically induced campaigns, the involvement from a human perspective borders on a riotous atmosphere numbering in the thousands.

Yet, when it comes to rising up and speaking out on their own beliefs centered by a righteous plumage Christians are far and few between. That doesn’t bode well in a lost and dying world that is only getting darker by the day.

You couldn’t convince the 150 plus Christians that took up refuge at the steps of the Untied States Superior Courthouse in Washington D.C. on Sunday in an effort to shed light on the decadence that is crippling this nation over the argument of same sex marriage.

It's true that a "righteous plumage" set us apart.  The group spent three hours at the Court engaging in forms of prayer and action that the Bible describes many times.  For example, it is not uncommon for Christians to assume postures that speak of humility.  Lying prostrate is one example.

Resurrecting an Old Idea -- The Marriage Project: Knowledge for Unity, Love and Truth

I'm not going to do this.

I threatened to do it just over ten years ago, in 2004.

I wonder if it's time.

Maybe it's past time.

After reading the book "Homosexuality:  Good and Right in the Eyes of God?" by Earle Fox I decided voters in Maine needed to know the marriage status of their rulers.  I sent out an email back then declaring my intent.  I wanted to create a website on which I would publish the marriage status, especially the sexual orientation, of people in the State House.

The charred embers from that firestorm are visible today.  Maine went on to enact the "gay" agenda through public voting.  It wasn't the judges or the politicians that did it in Maine.  It was a majority of the citizenry that voted in 2005 and 2012.  And the political lessons that "gay" activists learned in Maine are being used globally.

Evangelicals (aligned with the Christian Civic League of Maine) in the pine tree state decided in the early 1990s to force "gay" issues to the ballot box.  We reasoned that institutions and the state house were already lost.  We determined that our only hope lay in appealing to the people.

Maine University Professor Promotes Violent Perversion: More on the Leather Archive and Museum

The Deliverance of St. Paul
and St. Barnabus

I've been thinking about Barnabus lately.  He is mentioned in the Bible in the book of Acts.  He reaches out and assists others.

In an online article titled "Barnabus:  An Encouraging Early Church Leader" Robin Gallaher Branch observes, "Often these other individuals and groups are believers in Jesus who, for whatever reason, run a bit against the grain of mainstream thought and action. Instead of ostracizing them, Barnabas not only deliberately encounters them, but also listens to them and welcomes them warmly."  Gallaher specifically mentions Paul the Apostle and John Mark as men he helped.

Paulie and I named our ministry "Helping Hands Ministries."  We have always aspired to be like Barnabus.  It is gratifying work.

One remarkable leader who goes against the grain of mainstream thought and action is Peter LaBarbera from Americans for Truth about Homosexuality.  It was my privilege to stand with him in Chicago a few weeks ago.  I've recently written about this HHM project in an online article titled "Shouting from the Rooftops:  Exposing Chicago's Perversion Shrine -- Pray for Truth Road Trip -- Part 8."

On Friday morning, May 22, 2015, I stood beside Peter on the sidewalk of the Leather Archive and Museum for his press conference.  Recently he published a lengthy article detailing the reason for our press conference.



I am loathe to write about those details here.  I will not repeat everything Peter reveals in his excellent article.  I do want to quote the warning at the top of his article:

Some stories about the homosexual movement are so grotesquely perverse that they are difficult to report. This article by necessity describes some deeply disturbing sexual “fetishes” involving homosexual adult sadistic sex with children and teenagers–and vile, unnatural acts like “fisting” practiced for decades by by sadomasochistic homosexual “leathermen.” One book cover below contains an obscenity, another a highly offensive image. Keep in mind that the “Leather Archives & Museum” in Chicago that houses and celebrates these depraved works is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood within a short distance of three public schools and a day-care center.

 He then includes a quote from Romans:

“[S]landerers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil….” 

Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about
Homosexuality talking with a reporter on his
cellphone in front of the Leather Archive
and Museum.

One of the greatest evils of our time is the willful ignorance of Christians, especially Christian leadership.  Some, perhaps many, will not take the time to truly inform themselves about this "museum."  They will, instead, glance down through the article and sensing the grotesque nature of the content refuse to truly understand Peter's work.  We turn away from the detail.  This is somewhat understandable.  But in a day when it is only a matter of time before the Supreme Court upends marriage don't you think we have a duty to understand?

This willful ignorance is destroying us.

This ignorance enables "professionals" like University of Southern Maine professor Wendy Chapkis to spin these perversions into allegedly benign private and personal sexual practices.  Peter highlights Chapkis in the article.  She wrote the introduction to one of the books Peter purchased in the "museum."  The book is titled "Macho Sluts."  Peter writes:

This book of lesbian S&M fantasies is the twisted creation of prolific, self-styled “sex-radical pornographer” and BDSM enthusiast Pat Califia, who became “Patrick Califia” after becoming a “transman” (female-to-male transsexual). “Macho Sluts” intentionally pushes the envelope to promote sadomasochism of the sort practiced by homosexual “leathermen” to lesbians. In one story of the book, “The Finishing School,” a mother in her “early forties” sexually tortures and beats her pubescent daughter, Clarissa, who, it turns out, is also her sex slave. The mother, Berenice, shackles up her daughter for a BDSM scene and berates her, as is the practice of sadistic “masters” humiliating their “slaves.” After being manipulated by various means into a state of sexual excitement, Clarissa begs to be manually penetrated by her mother. Instead Berenice beats her child’s bottom with a yellow cane to the point of causing welts and bleeding – which,  in this wicked tale, makes Clarissa proud and happy. The sadistic mom also is the dominant “master” over her sister Elise (Clarissa’s aunt), another love “slave.”

An introduction celebrating the salacious “Macho Sluts” is written by University of Southern Maine professor Wendy Chapkis (USM page HERE). ”Nowhere in this collection does anyone sacrifice their own pleasure for another,” writes Chapkis. Indeed. The professor writes that she could “barely get through” “The Finishing School”– not because of the pedophilic, incestuous exploitation and child molestation in the story – she is no prude! – but because of “my preference for sci-fi over Victorian school-girl fantasies.”

 Peter concludes:

For such grotesquely reckless judgment in championing Califia’s book with its pedophile porn, this professor should not be allowed to work among young adults or children.

We must conquer our fear of these forces in our society.  These evil ideas are concentrated in the rich, supposedly educated, sectors of our society.  Christians should be immune to the lure of riches and a lust for knowledge.

Paul the Apostle writes of Christianity in his first letter to the Corinthians:

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;  the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:17-31 NIV

Peter LaBarbera may be the most ridiculed man on the planet when it comes to this issue.  The "gay" movement has even coined a pet name for him.  They hatefully refer to him as "Porno Pete."  They accuse Peter of doing this important journalistic work because he secretly approves of these vile practices.  With a gentleman's bow in their direction Peter closes his article:

*The writer went as a pro-family reporter and as a critic – and has zero prurient interest in anything homosexual or BDSM, contrary to the vicious assertions of homosexual activists trying to “kill the messenger.”

Well done thou good and faithful servant. It is an honor to continue offering a helping hand!

Pistol Packing is Legal Once Again. Praise God.

My pistol

There are few institutions in our society today that offend me more than the TSA.  The American public's nearly gleeful submission to their "pat downs" always makes me want to puke when I'm forced through their procedures at airports.

Seriously folks.  Just this one aspect of air travel makes me want to avoid flying, it is so demeaning and evil.

And yesterday came news about how truly silly the whole thing is.  Jim Kouri reports in a story headlined "BILLIONS OF TAXPAYERS' MONEY SPENT ON BOGUS AIRPORT SECURITY: NEW REPORT":

Undercover investigators working as part of "Red Teams" -- groups charged with testing security vulnerabilities -- were overwhelmingly successful in breaching airport security with fake explosives and banned weapons, according to reports released on Monday. The undercover agents were able to compromise Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, in an investigation that revealed a massive, system-wide security failure at America's airports.

The Truth Hurts: James David Manning on Barack Obama

I grew up in Maryland nearly a half century ago now.  There were black people in the schools I attended.  I didn't get to know any of them.  It isn't because I didn't want to get to know any of them.  They grouped together and I remember feeling hostility from them.  I didn't feel anything much toward them -- neither hostility or appreciation.

I do remember admiring their skill as members of the football team.  I was in the band.

Of the Father's Love Begotten

I am proud of my wife, Paulie.  She started young loving Jesus.  She gave her heart to Him when she was seven years old.  Her mother guided her to the foot of the cross.  And there she has remained.

Paulie's most recent song is titled Of the Father's Love Begotten.  It is an ancient hymn that she discovered.  She appreciated the words, and worked with Peter Vantine to create an original arrangement.

The hymn is a christmas carol that is based on a poem written by the roman writer Aurelius Prudentius.  He lived in the latter half of the third century AD.  After practicing law he retired to an ascetic life.

According to wikipedia his poetry is "influenced by early Christian authors, such as Tertullian and St. Ambrose, as well as the Bible and the acts of the martyrs."

While all the verses of the hymn are worthy of thought and meditation, this stanza tickled my fancy this morning.

Righteous judge of souls departed, righteous King of them that live, 

On the Father’s throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive;

Who at last in vengeance coming

Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!

 It is comforting to realize that Christians have a King.  He is our loving heavenly Father.  And He has a son.  His name is Jesus Christ.  And these sent the third person of the trinity to dwell within us.  He is the Holy Spirit who empowers us.

We don't elect this King.  He existed before elections, republics and nations.  As Prudentius observes, "On the Father's throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive."

In a couple weeks Paulie and I will fall on our faces and pray in front of America's Supreme Court building in Washington D.C.  We won't be there appealing to the nine judges who make up the court.  We are going to pray to the righteous judge of souls departed.  The righteous King of them that live.

America imagines that, in her might, she can prevail over this King, over God.  But our power is nothing.  It is not a matter of winning or losing.  It isn't even possible to strive with this King.  This fight with God, this attempt to redefine marriage, is a figment of our imagination.  God isn't even fighting.

None in might with Thee may strive.

And the answer to the oft-repeated question by all people of good will who ponder the trajectory of "gay" rights -- "What's next?" -- is:

Who at last in vengeance coming

Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!

Our King will bring an end to the insanity.  Fathers don't marry sons in the Kingdom of God.   And museums don't honor perversion.  The heavenly kingdom makes sense.  Insanity is banished.

Paulie has written and produced over fifty songs.  We LOVE to give her music away.  We want to be  a blessing.  We want to build up your most holy faith.

Check out her music today.  Visit her online at www.paulieheath.com

A Rabid Government: America Forcing Sodomy on the Universe

Rabies definition -- a contagious and fatal viral disease of dogs and other mammals that causes madness and convulsions, transmissible through the saliva to humans.

In her email this week Linda Harvey highlighted an Austin Ruse article entitled, White House to Order Faith-based Grant Recipients to Accept LGBT Applicants.

For over a decade I argued statewide in Maine that the addition of "sexual orientation" to the Maine Human Rights Act would have far-reaching consequences.  I predicted that Maine would quickly destroy marriage by making sodomy an acceptable precondition for state-recognized marriages.

The government went further than I imagined possible.  In addition to "sexual orientation" they included the category of gender, "trans"gender to be more specific.  This is more accurately described as cross dressing on steroids, just as "sexual orientation" is more accurately imagined as sexual perversion.

Maine started down this legal rabbit hole of deviance in 2009.  In 2012 a slim majority of Mainers voted to end civil marriage.

And now public school teachers are forcing all Maine children to begin thinking about the virtues of sodomy at 7 years of age.

In the article by Austin Ruse mentioned above we find that the virus is spreading rapidly.  It won't be enough to pervert the whole world with this evil anti-family worldview.  Since the developed governments of the world aspire to colonizing planets we have to prepare for the export of sodomy to other worlds -- to the entire universe!

I think it's time for us Christians to flip open our communicators.  Beam me up Scotty.

It's like satan, a rabid dog, sunk his fangs deep into the donkey flesh of our nation's government.  And now the deranged ass is infecting other nations.

What can be done?

Coach Dave told me this week that he has a clip of conservative talker Michael Savage saying that the only force capable of saving America is a militant Christianity.

I wrote about this back in 2006.  I was commenting on the Marine hero, Chesty Puller, who compared a militant Catholic chaplain to a weak Protestant one.

I wrote:

It is instructive to remember that it was protestantism that provided the moral and intellectual muscle that both nourished the American Revolution, and saved us from the excesses of the French Revolution. Now look at us. We can't even agree that sodomy and baby killing are sinful. Pathetic.

Protestantism is completely irrelevant today because all it can do now is "help the wounded." Our churches are full of whiners who are always crying for the pastor to heal them. We keep ourselves so busy comforting our every hurt that we don't have time to organize and speak righteousness to a fallen and increasingly pagan West.

I don't blame people for not going to church, especially men. There is no integrity there. The Bible is full of righteousness, truth, judgment and strength. Yet, all we hear from our pastors is how important it is to adopt the right "tone and style" with our enemies. Jesus said that we should love our enemies. He didn't say we shouldn't have any.

We love our enemies when we fight their unrighteousness, when we call sin ... well ... sin. That is love. It IS loving to get mad about homosexuality in the schools. It is loving to fight legalized abortion. It is loving to preach PUBLICALLY against drinking. It is loving and Christian for a nation to ban gambling.

Make no mistake. When a lesbian activist in charge is telling a father in Lexington, Massachusetts that the elementary school can promote the idea of homosexual households to his seven year old son in the name of the law it is clear that we are engaged in a culture war the likes of which this country has never seen. Folks, we are up to our eyeballs in a culture war.

Either the forces that wish to go the whole way and emasculate our children will win, or we will. There is no middle ground. Decent people everywhere are going to have to unplug the fake Madonna who now crucifies herself on a mirrored cross for money. Good people must renew their interest in the real Madonna.

If they don't, then the nation is truly lost. America will be dead.

The America of Chesty men may be gone forever. The America of youthful, virile and patriotic pastors may be gone. But I don't think so.

I'm so thankful for Linda Harvey and Mission America.  There's a woman of whom men can be proud.  Linda should inspire us.

She left a successful career in marketing years ago to take up this cause.  Like all the militant truth tellers I've befriended she's met with her share of shocking sacrifices and brutal surprises along the way.

But she has stayed true to her Mission America.  She produces a radio show, and she has authored a book that I am reading.  I highly recommend it for parents and grandparents who are thinking about this issue.  Every church needs to prominently feature this book in it's library.

And, folks, it's not getting any easier to tell the truth about sodomy.  Even conservative evangelicalism is amping up advocacy for all things "gay."  I'm told by Americans for Truth that there is a pro-homosexual conference planned for early June in Atlanta, Georgia.  Evanjellyfish from all over America are coming together to learn how to power up their assault on common sense.

While my son and I were in Seattle, Washington recently I talked with an old friend.  She told me of a Christian acquaintance of hers who will probably speak at the conference.  Her acquaintance promotes homosexuality as a moral sexual alternative for Christians.  She is motivated by the tragic suicide of her drug-addled sexually-deviant son.

This mom thinks that early and frequent exposure of youth to the idea that it is evil to "discriminate" against "gays" will head off suicide. Jesus certainly doesn't agree.  He condemns all sex outside of marriage, and isn't kind to adults who work to corrupt their imaginations.

And the idea (ESPECIALLY AMONG CHRISTIANS) that any kind of sex outside of holy matrimony would be moral is unthinkable.

Humans die from rabies unless they are given the vaccine before the symptoms appear.  Paul the apostle points out in his letter to Roman Christians that you can tell when a nation has become a walking corpse when it has endorsed perverted sex.

Is it too late for America to take the vaccine?

Are the symptoms of judgment evident?

My wife and I will join with Coach Dave in a Solemn Assembly on the steps of the Supreme Court on June 14, 2015 in hopes that it is not too late.  One thing is for sure.  We must repent, turn from our wicked ways and appeal to heaven.  The politicians sure aren't going to save us.

Presidential Contenders: Will they listen?

Laurie Higgins makes a heartbreaking appeal in her most recent article published by Illinois Family Action.  She is appealing to Presidential hopefuls.  She writes, "The campaign is up and running, and there’s nothing that the liberal press salivates over more than asking conservative presidential contenders what they think about all things homosexual—especially homosexual 'mirage' (to borrow Pastor Doug Wilson’s term) or 'pseudogamy' (to borrow Professor Anthony Esolen’s term)."

I say it is heartbreaking because I don't have any hope that any politician will speak the unvarnished truth about all things "gay."

Laurie goes on, "Most conservative politicians respond with nervous, evasive, self-conscious, and intellectually unsatisfying answers. The reasons for their awkward and ineffective responses likely range from ignorance to fear to absence of genuine conviction."

Time to Repeal Anti-Christian Gag Orders

I heard about Linda Harvey a number of years ago.  Her courageous stand for common sense brought her to my attention.  For years she's been in the trenches standing against the homosexual cause.  This is her latest clarion call.  In 2005, after three decades of political work "gays" and their allies in Maine enacted the law she is describing here.  They went on to put the final nail in marriage's coffin in the Pine Tree State in 2012.  Now they are working overtime to add letters to their acronym of perversions -- LGBTQABCDEF ... The solution to this is to remove "sexual orientation" from the law and restore the sodomy law with appropriate rules of evidence and penalties.  Linda writes, "Every 'ENDA' law out there needs to be challenged and turned back."  ENDA stands for Employment Non Discrimination Act.  It is the camel's way of disguising his nose.  While I'm writing about Linda let me urge you to please get a copy of her excellent book, Maybe He's Not Gay.  Give it to anybody you know who is being drawn in by the propaganda.  -- Mike Heath

By Linda Harvey of Mission America

Did you know that in many parts of the country, you can be fired or driven out of business just for being a faithful Christian?

It’s true. And the “gay” lobby gleefully hopes for more such laws in the near future. Not content with trying to wreck marriage, Big Gay has announced a push in coming months for more so-called “employment non-discrimination” (ENDA) laws that include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

Exodus Mandate and the Pray for Truth Road Trip: Part 4

E. Ray Moore speaking this year in South Carolina

A few years ago I met Ray Moore in South Carolina.  He is a homeschooling dad.  Twenty years ago he started Exodus Mandate.

I am honored to represent him and Exodus Mandate in New England.

On April 18th Ray participated in a two hour debate that you can watch on your internet connected device.  What's even more exciting, however, is the fact that you can watch it as a student in the Worldview Christian Academy.  Registration is free, and the entire thought-provoking debate can be viewed.

Exodus Mandate is sponsoring my Pray for Truth Road Trip.  My youngest son, Jared, is joining me in this exciting cross country spiritual adventure.  We hope to meet with some Christian heroes along the way.  My goal is to fill a portion of our drive time with reading the New Testament.

The motto of Exodus Mandate is "Let my children go!"  This is, of course, based on the biblical demand Moses made of Egypt's Pharoah.  Exodus Mandate expands the motto with the purpose of "Encouraging families to leave government schools for the promised land of K-12 Christian education."

Pray for Truth Road Trip: Part 3

Jared in front of Founders Monu-
ment in Plymouth Mass-
achusetts last year

My Marine Sergeant son, Jared, and I are going to Seattle, Washington next week.  This is Helping Hands Ministries Pray for Truth Road Trip. We will leave on Wednesday, May 20th.  As we travel through the following states we will read the New Testament.  We'll literally drive the Truth through:

• Maine
• New Hampshire
• Massachusetts
• New York
• Ohio
• Indiana
• Illinois
• Wisconsin
• Minnesota
• South Dakota
• Wyoming
• Montana
• Idaho
• Washington

I'll be leaving Jared in Seattle.  He is staying in the Northwest for the summer.  He is now a Christian college student.  He spent 8 years in the Marines.

Girlie Fighters

Years ago I met the Coach.  I remain impressed with his direct Christian approach.  He started a recent column, "Christian leadership is soft. They think that talking and praying constitutes ‘fighting’. War, to them, is arguing with Juan Williams on Fox News, when in fact, words mean nothing. Words are the weapons of girlie fighters."

Girlie fighters.  Yea, he said that.

After quoting James Dobson's now infamous quote about the failure of the pro family movement

“We tried to defend the unborn child, the dignity of the family, but it was a holding action. We are awash in evil and the battle is still to be waged. We are right now in the most discouraging period of that long conflict. Humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles."

the Coach names names, "So now, they say it is time to disobey. WE WILL NOT OBEY! I hear them bombasting in regard to their anticipated defeat in the Supreme Court’s homo-marriage decision. Really? They are going to go to jail? James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Matt Staver, Franklin Graham, Jerry Johnson, Rick Santorum, Keith Fornier, Rick Scarborough—they’re willing to go to jail? REALLY?"

The Whole World as a Gift

When Indiana Jones unfolds a worn and tattered map, or when Laura Croft examines a dry and dusty manuscript with the largest of magnifying glasses, we know they are both in search of hidden treasure. But the finding of hidden treasure is not confined to tales of fiction. The archaeologist armed with pick-ax and shovel now and then finds a broken piece of pottery on which are written strange words and cryptic characters; or he may find a monument bearing strange inscriptions, and by deciphering these words he may find the key to an entire historical epoch.

A friend recently made such a discovery, not so earth-shaking perhaps, but startling enough to make him change the way he views history and current events. In an idle hour at the library, he came across a history of the Philippines, remarkable for its mammoth size and scrupulous detail.  Published during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, this ponderous fifty-five volume history contains hundreds of letters and official communiqués between Spain and the newly-discovered colony of the Philippines.

The very first of these documents is the Papal Bull of 1493, also known by its Latin title, Inter Caetera, which I am told, means “Among Other Things.”  But this letter from Pope Alexander VI to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain is anything but a collection of miscellaneous, routine matters. Instead, this letter gives Ferdinand and Isabella all the lands to be discovered by Christopher Columbus; and this included Canada, America, Central America, the islands of the Caribbean, South America, and the islands of the Pacific. This grant was not merely jurisdictional; all these lands became the personal property of Ferdinand and Isabella.

But why would Pope Alexander VI give Ferdinand and Isabella such an unimaginably large gift?  The reason for the grant, as explained in the letter, was the piety of the King and Queen, and their great desire to spread the Christian faith, as proven by their liberation of Spain from Moslem rule, referred to in the letter as “the yoke of the Saracens.”  Ferdinand and Isabella did indeed free Spain from the Moslems, and in the words of the letter:

as your noble and worthy deeds have declared in manner to the whole world, in that with all your study, diligence, and industry, you have spared no travels, charges, or perils, adventuring even the shedding of your own blood, with applying your whole minds and endeavors hereunto, as your noble expeditions achieved in recovering the kingdom of Granada from the yoke of the Saracens in these our days, do plainly declare your deeds with great glory of the divine name. For the which, as we think you worthy, so ought we of our own free will favorably to grant all things whereby you may daily with more fervent minds, to the honor of God and the enlarging of the Christian empire, prosecute your devout and laudable purpose most acceptable to the immortal God.

“Adventuring even the shedding of one’s own blood” refers to the fact that Ferdinand and Isabella followed their armies into battle and encamped beneath the walls of Granada, the last Spanish city to be liberated from Muhammad XII, the Moslem ruler. After reading this document, one cannot be free from the impression that the grant of the New World to Ferdinand and Isabella was a reward for expelling the Moslems from Europe.

Also found in this fifty-five volume history of the Philippines are many letters written over a span of centuries requesting protection from the Moslem inhabitants of the Philippines, the Moros. One letter, written in the early 1500s, reports that out of all the native inhabitants of the Philippines, the Mohammedans were the one group most violently opposed to Christianity; and the writer of the letter refers to them as Ismaelites, warning that “Genesis 16 is written on their hearts,” and that “Ismael, the son of Hagar, the servant girl of Abraham, will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s against him.” (Genesis 16:12) Piratical attacks by Moslems are another constant theme of the letters.

Left click the image to learn more about the artist

What then is the hidden treasure to be found by re-discovering this long-forgotten document?  The hidden treasure is this. America exists primarily not for the purpose of liberty, equality, tolerance, or increased material prosperity, but for the furtherance of the Gospel; and far from being a nation in which Christianity is to be excluded from government, America must look to divine providence as the explanation for her origin, her higher purposes, and her ultimate destiny.

More information about how Ferdinand and Isabella sent Columbus on his voyages of discovery after freeing Spain from the Moslems can be found in Oliver Otis Howard’s book “Isabella of Castille,” available online at the Baldwin Project, a resource for homeschoolers.  
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=howard&book=isabella&story=_contentshttp

Alien Feminism: Enmity Between Woman & the Devil

By Fritz Spencer, Friend of the Pro Family Movement

Imagine if you will, a battle fought out high above the earth, as a woman struggles against a hissing, serpent-like creature, then finally hurls the repulsive creature into space. Down through the darkness the creature falls, down through the fleecy white clouds, until it sets foot on a planet not unlike earth, where it is free to hunt its prey. These are scenes from the movie Alien; and Alien is a movie which is hailed as a feminist classic.

The movie Alien, as does the best science fiction, retells certain familiar stories from the Bible. Non-believers reject the truth of the Bible, but they are moved when they see that same truth portrayed in cinematic form.  The battle in the heavens shown in Alien is a retelling of the enmity between woman and the Devil as set forth in the Book of Genesis:

“I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make your descendants and her descendants hostile toward each other. He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.”  (Genesis 3:15)

The very first conversation in the Bible takes place between Eve and the Serpent. The Serpent, who is the Devil, entices Eve into confounding the laws of God. We may gather from this account that the Devil hates woman more than he hates man, because woman gives life to what he detests, the human race.

But the retelling of the story is garbled in Alien. Rather than succumbing to the serpent, the heroine defeats the serpent by usurping the role of the male. But the serpent is not slain, and instead finds its way to earth.

In like fashion, feminism, which purports to be a triumph of womankind, is in reality, a war on women, a re-tempting of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Nor does the liberation of women lead to a paradise on earth, but instead ushers in the society envisioned by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Friedrich Engels revealed the real purpose behind feminism when he wrote the following:

"Only when we have led every woman from the home into the workplace will complete equality be achieved, by the destruction of the institution of the family, which is the basis of capitalist society." (Friedrich Engels, Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State)

Feminism scorns child-bearing and motherhood, just as it welcomes abortion, lesbianism, and the rearing of children by the state.  In the movie Alien, the heroine is a warrior, and the monster is a mother.  Likewise, the abomination called “homosexual marriage” rejects child-bearing and child-rearing, which is the essence of womanhood.

Curtis Harrington

What then is the origin of this strange movie, with its distorted message of feminism and its gory depiction of violence? Alien grew out of an even more lurid and bizarre movie directed by Curtis Harrington, a homosexual.   Harrington, a maker of horror films, is hailed as a pioneer of the ‘New Queer Cinema;’ and the monsters in his films are yes, women. The monster in the movie which is the predecessor to Alien is a woman ‘with a bouffant hairdo and the grace of a ballet dancer,’ and like the creature in Alien, she too is a mother.

St. Paul says in the first chapter of the Book of Romans that homosexuality is caused by a rejection of God and the worship of created beings. The more depraved aspects of the homosexual lifestyle, including marching in so-called “gay pride parades” -- either completely nude or dressed as nuns --  hurling obscenities at Christians, and organizing clubs for sadomasochists, have been ably documented by the pro-family crusader Peter LaBarbera. No one can deny such scenes exist; nor can anyone deny that these lurid displays seem demonic.  It remains for us to properly evaluate the significance of these phenomena.

The Guatemala City Dump: Keeping the McNuggets and Leaving the Bones

Yesterday I spent the middle part of the day with a Christian Guatemalan university leader.  In this one minute video he describes the sad scene beneath us.  We are standing on an overlook located behind the National Cemetery of Guatemala.  Said to be Central America's largest municipal dump the sifted contents of this place enable thousands of the poorest of the poor to survive.

On our way to this perch we passed through Guatemala's National Cemetery.  It was like no graveyard I've ever seen before.  My host assured me that the layout and architecture is European.

This site featured two types of graves.  The rich erect large and elaborate stone or cement structures for themselves.  We noted that the most elaborate grave was as big as a house.  Integrating Egyptian types and symbols it contains the family remains of Guatemala's most popular beer company, Gallo.  Located in it's shadow is a flat, poorly-maintained, unimpressive structure.  It is the gravesite for the Mayor's family.  It seems they are realistic about the relative value of beer and politicians!  Maybe the beer fortifies them for what they must endure at the hands of their leaders.  It is better, of course, to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit -- Ephesians 5:18

My host views the wall of graves in Guatemala
City's National Cemetery

The other type of grave is integrated in a wall of squares into which the coffin or corpse of one individual can be inserted.  These walls are for those who want to be interred in the National Cemetery but don't have the means to erect a building in their family's honor.  Families lease one of these squares for five years.  If the lease is not renewed at the end of that time the remains are thrown into the dump.

It is the people who separate the discarded bones from pop bottles that brought us to Guatemala.  They are called scavengers, and there are thousands of them.  Over the past five decades they've squatted on patches of ground surrounding the dump.  As the years have gone by the government has been forced to organize and recognize these squatter camps.  Thousands of people form a half dozen communities around the dump.

What I couldn't bring to you in the video was the smell and sounds of the dump.  You can see the vultures circling.  Numberless large black birds hop amongst the human scavengers and join in the fight for a morsel of discarded food, or a worn out shoe.

During my first visit to Guatemala City in May of 2013 I didn't get to visit the graveyard or the dump.  I did, however, visit the Potter's House.  I published an email about the experience.

I love this description from their website of how the ministry started nearly three decades ago:

I, Gladys Acuna, along with my friend, Lisbeth Piedrasanta, received a visit from some good friends from the States. During their stay here in Guatemala they asked us to take them to the city dump, but we declined because the dump was not safe for Guatemalans, let alone Americans.

One day, however, they went by themselves and brought food with them. They handed out the food in the name of Jesus to the people they found there. When they told us about their experience we were surprised that the dump wasn't as dangerous as we had thought.

After returning to the States, our friends sent us a letter requesting a favor. They asked us to buy blankets and give them away in the name of Jesus at Christmas to the people in the dump. And they sent money for 350 blankets.

But we were anxious about this request. First of all, there are thousands of people in the dump, and we didn't have enough blankets for all of them, and secondly, we weren't enthusiastic about the idea of spending Christmas at the dump. I really wanted to spend my time at home, cooking Christmas dinner and wearing my new dress. In retrospect, I realize how selfish that was! Lisbeth and I had hoped to distribute the blankets two days before Christmas, but the truck delivering the blankets didn't arrive until the night before Christmas, so we ventured out on Christmas Day. I now believe that was God's plan all along.

We didn't have a big car in which to take the blankets, and we didn't have a plan as to how we were going to distribute them. We just knew we had to go. We finally found Eleazar Gonzalez, a man with a van and a very big heart. The three of us set out for the dump with the blankets and some tamales, a typical Guatemalan dish.

One block from the dump we found a church and received permission from the pastor to leave the blankets there until we could return with people who needed them.

The moment I set foot in the dump the stench overwhelmed me. Slowly a great pain inside me welled up as I saw children playing in the filth, people rummaging through the trash looking for anything of value, and both children and adults sniffing glue. It was too much for me. I consciously blocked the suffering I saw from my mind. "I'll never be here again," I thought. "I'm just doing this as a favor." Fourteen years later, I'm still here!

Back home, I quickly forgot all I'd seen and experienced that day. Lisbeth, on the other hand, was deeply impacted to the point of depression, asking God how He could allow people to live in such circumstances. That night He showed her that He was going to use Christians to show the scavengers how much He really loves and cares for them. When Lisbeth shared this with me, we decided that the next year (1987) we would host a Christmas celebration for 1,000 people—500 children and 500 adults. We gave out blankets and shared the gospel that they might know more of God's love for them. The following Christmas there were 2,000 people and the next year, 3,000! We were continually amazed at how God provided during these celebrations.

At that time we were both working as Christian counselors in a center that we had founded with other colleagues. The time we had spent with the scavengers at the Christmas celebrations had made us acutely aware of their needs, such as health care. We invited two of our colleagues, Dr. Steve Hammer and Dr. Lucrecia de Hernandez, to fulfill this need. Soon after, we started teaching children and their mothers about the Bible. We got more and more requests to come back.

I had been thinking about perhaps spending only my weekends working at the dump, because I thought, "I already have a ministry" (at that time there was a shortage of Christian counselors). "Besides," I told myself, "I don't want to work in a dump. I want to work in a nice, clean office; I want to wear dresses and high-heeled shoes." But God did not agree with my excuses; He orchestrated circumstances and provided an opportunity that I could not ignore. One day we were approached by a man who offered to donate a piece of land for a ministry to the scavengers; it was only 150 feet from the dump! This was my confirmation that God wanted me to quit my job as a counselor and start working at the dump full-time. In faith, Lisbeth and I both decided to answer God's call to minister there. Some people thought we were crazy: two women, both single and professionals, have no business working in the city dump! Another person told me, "You will never get married. The chances of you finding a husband here are almost non-existent."

With conviction we started working for the poor. I now believe that God put this desire in our hearts because everything we did was His idea first. As the ministry began to grow we decided to register with the government as a legal association. We invited people to join our board of directors and we began thinking about what to call our new association. God gave Jodi Hammer the idea of "Potter's House," based on Jeremiah 18:1-6. In February of 1991 Potter's House became a legal association.

Initially only women were interested in working on staff at Potter's House. But soon, the husbands of the women in our programs started asking us when we were going to provide a program for them, so we prayed that God would send men to be on our staff. Little did I know my future husband would be one of them! God blessed us with Edgar Güitz (my husband) and Hector Rivas, two men with great ability and training in administration. Their vision for the ministry reinforced and improved much of what we were doing. Now we have a 65-member staff, and 40% of our personnel are former scavengers.

This ministry has been successful for the sole reason that God has been with us from the beginning. He began the ministry and He will sustain it. It has not been easy but I know that my life, as well as the lives of all who have worked at Potter's House, has totally changed. We like to say, "After serving at Potter's House, no one is ever the same." That has definitely been true for me. These have been the most beautiful years of my life.

I assisted yesterday in ministry to a number of women from the community, providing audio visual support to Paulie and Susan Blount.  They are giving Potter's House a week of their time, making sure that the ministry is prepared for their November VBS.  The ministry expects to reach 2000 children with the love of Jesus Christ through this outreach.

The League: A Look Back

It was my honor to work for the Christian Civic League of Maine for more than two decades.  I was there when the ministry began creeping towards compromise on the evil of abortion.  I, in fact, helped create the “strategy."

I later learned that compromise is not a strategy.  It is cowardice.  God doesn’t compromise, and politics doesn’t have to be about “cutting the deal” or finding a middle way.  Politics is ennobled by truth, courage, beauty and the power of good ideas.

I was also there when the League decided not to rest on its laurels as the homosexual movement bulldozed the state’s morals.  We decided as a matter of political strategy to go on the offense with the “gay” movement.  We reasoned that they would achieve their goals faster with spineless, compromising, deal-making, politicians than with Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad and the Average Joe.

A Time to Plant: Faith verses Strategy

Al Lowberg is a friend and client of mine.  While he is campaigning as an independent he describes himself, at the end of this article, as a republican.  I'll let you contact him directly to learn his reasoning on that point.  Al is a bold Christian who deserves a hearing.  I enjoyed this article. -- Mike Heath

This is spring time and many will be sowing their gardens, and we all know we can not expect the harvest for several months. We also know we can not predict what kind of harvest we will receive. Last year was a poor harvest but that will not stop any of those who planted last year to try again this year.

From the winter we had, and the spring we are having, I am optimistic we are going to have a better harvest this year. However, from the many comments I am reading I am not so optimistic in the political arena, because we need God’s blessing, but we are not giving Him anything to bless; that is, we are still looking to sow by strategy and not by faith.

The Bible says in Hebrews “through faith [they] subdued kingdoms.”  In both the old and new Testaments we are taught the “just shall live by faith”, it does not say acknowledge faith as a Bible doctrine and then live as we please. And what is faith but our voluntary cooperation with what we know to be God’s will. And what is His will in the election process but to vote our conscience and not strategy.

When we vote, let’s say the strategy of the “lesser of two evils”, by our own admission we are still voting for evil. The prophet Hosea said “They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind. The stalk has not bud; It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up; Israel is swallowed up...”  Whenever we vote strategy over conscience we are sowing the wind, and we shall be swallowed up. When we vote strategy we place our trust in our own wisdom and not in God, but in order to sow something that God will bless we must sow in faith.

Many of you are angry, and full of threatening. But James said in the Bible, “ye fight and war, yet you have not because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lust.”  If many of you would pause for a moment and reflect, you could not deny you are entering into this election season without one particle of faith in All-Mighty God. And yet you will be the first to expect a different result—this is not faith, this is insanity. (Deuteronomy 28:15+28-29)

My beloved friends—I would like to call you friends—it is not too late to sow in faith our political aspirations, but if we sow the same old “lesser of two evils” strategy we shall reap the same old harvest. In Ecclesiastes it say “To every thing there is a season…a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” Now is the time to plant your political aspirations by faith.

Won’t you give up this faithless, “lesser of two evils” strategy and sow with me a crop of faith in this political season. The only way we shall regain our country is by faith. We may yet lose another election, but by placing the matter in God’s hands some good will come from it. Our seeds of faith will be in good ground, and if we continue to water it by faith we shall have a political harvest of abundance very soon.

In Proverbs we read “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” Many are growing strong in their own strength, but fainted long ago in the only battle that counts. That battle is the battle of faith, and you do not have to be part of any organized religion to exercise faith in this election. (Hebrews 11:31) This chapter also says that by faith the weak were made strong, became valiant in battle, and turned to flight [rout] the armies of the “aliens.”

The illegal aliens from Mexico are far less dangerous to this Republic than what I call “illegal aliens” in the White House, the Halls of Congress, the Courts, and in State legislatures across this land. These illegal aliens are elected or appointed leaders who have denied the Constitutional rule of Law; and this has caused “we the people” to be swallowed up by them. Our Constitution is the only constitution in the World that recognizes Religious Freedom. We as a people have relinquished that freedom; it is time to exercise that freedom again.

The only way these ‘illegal aliens” can be driven out of the halls of government is by faith. It is time to subdue “by faith” the kingdom of America for righteousness. Trust God and Vote Conscience Not Strategy!

Alan Lowberg is Maine’s only Republican candidate for Congress District 1 www.standforfreedom.info

Why Athiests Should Support Christians for Public Office

Religion cannot be separated from politics.  It is possible however, to separate church from state.  I am a Christian.  That is how I know that strong families and strong individuals make for strong societies.

America is a nation in the Christian West, a place the world once called "Christendom."  Freedom and liberty in America are defined by Christianity.  No matter how disordered our society is at present, we are still not an anarchy.  You cannot drive on the left side of the road if you want.  Every society has rules, and  Christianity informs the rules of our society.

Two thousand years of Christian thinking cannot be decoupled from secular America.  The very word "secular" is religious.  It means that some activities are less ordered by the demands of Biblical holiness and righteousness than others.  The word does not mean that some activities are holy and others are not. Forces who are interested in reducing the status of Christianity from religion to superstition have changed the definition of the word secular, as they have changed the meaning of so many other words and concepts.

The word "gay" comes to mind, as does the meaning of the rainbow, as do the words "Freedom of Choice." But that is a topic for another time.

The safest society for atheists is a Christian society.   I've noticed that atheists and pagans aren't lining up to emigrate to other parts of the world.

Why is it safe here?

Christianity teaches us to love our enemies.  We don't use terror as a weapon.  Christians will kill if they must, but they won't murder.  And that is an important difference.

If atheists and liberals are really interested in confronting bullies, they'll put outspoken Christians in public office.