We desperately need a new email vehicle that can accommodate our growing mailing list!
Presently, we use Constant Contact. Very week it is something. This week, after investing 15 hours into developing this week's newsletter, I click send and it all simply disappears! Poof. Gone! This has happened before, in fact, it happens most weeks. But Constant Contact usually backs up every few minutes so i can retrieve an archive copy. This week that safeguard malfunctioned.
I am operating on 17 hours of sleep for this entire week. So needless to say I am NOT going to even attempt to reconstruct the newsletter. Whats lost, is lost.
My working style is to delete things as I go. When you have to do as many things as I do in a week it is the only way to keep things straight. So the only "backup" I had for some of the great submissions from our readers was the Constant Contact archive that malfunctioned.
So if you submitted something and were hoping to see it and do not, please accept my apology!
Again, if anyone has a vehicle that will dependably deliver over 5,000 emails at a time please let me know!
So here goes.
First off, for all of you Jack Daniels drinkers - you will need to find a new drink!
Popular sports talk show host Clay Travis says Jack Daniel's nixed a promotion deal with him because of tweets criticizing Vanderbilt University's decision to remove the word "Confederate" from the face of a residence hall.
Travis wrote a blog post blasting the decision to officially rename Confederate Memorial Hall, which the Nashville university announced Monday. In tweets promoting the post, he called the decision "unbelievable."
In a post published Wednesday, Travis said Jack Daniel's had terminated a $3,000 deal to promote the Tennessee whiskey maker's new Jack Fire brand on Travis' Twitter and Facebook accounts because of his Tweets about the Vanderbilt decision. In an email Travis posted to his site, an unnamed Jack Daniel's representative said Travis' Twitter commentary "brings (the company) into public disrepute" and "offends the general community."
The representative also asked him not to attend an event at a Nashville bar where he was supposed to promote Jack Fire.
A spokesman for Jack Daniel's said the company declined to comment on the matter.
Travis mocked the company's decision in his Wednesday post, noting that founder Jack Daniel's family members fought for the Confederacy.
Confederate Memorial Hall, which Vanderbilt now calls Memorial Hall, was bankrolled by a donation from the Tennessee chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who wanted the building's name to honor Confederate soldiers who died during the late War.
Vanderbilt is spending $1.2 million to repay that donation and earn the right to remove the word "Confederate" from stonework on the building's facade.
The Tennessee chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy says it had no legal choice but to accept $1.2 million from Vanderbilt University in exchange for relinquishing the naming rights to the private school's Confederate Memorial Hall.
The UDC, in a Tuesday statement, said it "is disappointed that an institution such as Vanderbilt University would attempt to whitewash, sanitize and rewrite American history."
The group's attorney, Doug Jones, said that a successful 2003 lawsuit to block the dorm's renaming resulted in a ruling that Vanderbilt couldn't change the name of the residence hall without paying back a 1933 donation of $50,000 - adjusted for inflation and interest. Once Vanderbilt decided to pay, Jones said the group had "no legal option or alternative" than to accept the money.
FLORIDA CELEBRATION
The William Carney Camp Sons of Confederate Veterans marked the first anniversary of the Escambia County Confederate Memorial by having a flag changing ceremony Saturday, August 13.
The flag was replaced with the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. This was also done to further educate the public on the vast diversity between Confederate flags.
Plans are to change flags every three months and display a different historical flag from the flag pole in Canoe.
According to Kevin McKinley, seven local camp members were present and a number of supporters rode motorcycles in from various places.
Presently, we use Constant Contact. Very week it is something. This week, after investing 15 hours into developing this week's newsletter, I click send and it all simply disappears! Poof. Gone! This has happened before, in fact, it happens most weeks. But Constant Contact usually backs up every few minutes so i can retrieve an archive copy. This week that safeguard malfunctioned.
I am operating on 17 hours of sleep for this entire week. So needless to say I am NOT going to even attempt to reconstruct the newsletter. Whats lost, is lost.
My working style is to delete things as I go. When you have to do as many things as I do in a week it is the only way to keep things straight. So the only "backup" I had for some of the great submissions from our readers was the Constant Contact archive that malfunctioned.
So if you submitted something and were hoping to see it and do not, please accept my apology!
Again, if anyone has a vehicle that will dependably deliver over 5,000 emails at a time please let me know!
So here goes.
First off, for all of you Jack Daniels drinkers - you will need to find a new drink!
Popular sports talk show host Clay Travis says Jack Daniel's nixed a promotion deal with him because of tweets criticizing Vanderbilt University's decision to remove the word "Confederate" from the face of a residence hall.
Travis wrote a blog post blasting the decision to officially rename Confederate Memorial Hall, which the Nashville university announced Monday. In tweets promoting the post, he called the decision "unbelievable."
In a post published Wednesday, Travis said Jack Daniel's had terminated a $3,000 deal to promote the Tennessee whiskey maker's new Jack Fire brand on Travis' Twitter and Facebook accounts because of his Tweets about the Vanderbilt decision. In an email Travis posted to his site, an unnamed Jack Daniel's representative said Travis' Twitter commentary "brings (the company) into public disrepute" and "offends the general community."
The representative also asked him not to attend an event at a Nashville bar where he was supposed to promote Jack Fire.
A spokesman for Jack Daniel's said the company declined to comment on the matter.
Travis mocked the company's decision in his Wednesday post, noting that founder Jack Daniel's family members fought for the Confederacy.
Confederate Memorial Hall, which Vanderbilt now calls Memorial Hall, was bankrolled by a donation from the Tennessee chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who wanted the building's name to honor Confederate soldiers who died during the late War.
Vanderbilt is spending $1.2 million to repay that donation and earn the right to remove the word "Confederate" from stonework on the building's facade.
The Tennessee chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy says it had no legal choice but to accept $1.2 million from Vanderbilt University in exchange for relinquishing the naming rights to the private school's Confederate Memorial Hall.
The UDC, in a Tuesday statement, said it "is disappointed that an institution such as Vanderbilt University would attempt to whitewash, sanitize and rewrite American history."
The group's attorney, Doug Jones, said that a successful 2003 lawsuit to block the dorm's renaming resulted in a ruling that Vanderbilt couldn't change the name of the residence hall without paying back a 1933 donation of $50,000 - adjusted for inflation and interest. Once Vanderbilt decided to pay, Jones said the group had "no legal option or alternative" than to accept the money.
FLORIDA CELEBRATION
The William Carney Camp Sons of Confederate Veterans marked the first anniversary of the Escambia County Confederate Memorial by having a flag changing ceremony Saturday, August 13.
The flag was replaced with the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. This was also done to further educate the public on the vast diversity between Confederate flags.
Plans are to change flags every three months and display a different historical flag from the flag pole in Canoe.
According to Kevin McKinley, seven local camp members were present and a number of supporters rode motorcycles in from various places.
About an hour before Donald Trump was set to address a large crowd in Kissimmee, Florida on Thursday, Brandon Partin, a Trump supporter, draped a Confederate flag over the front rail just to the right of the stage.
SOUTH FLORIDA TEEN FIGHTS FOR FLAG
A North Fort Myers High School teen claims the school once again wouldn't allow her to fly her confederate flag on her pickup truck.
"Heritage, not hate," that's Sky Hunter's message for flying a Confederate Flag on the back of her white pickup.
"I keep it to remember my ancestors. I can fly it, I can look at it everyday just like we look at the American Flag. We look at it and remember what our country's been through," Hunter said.
Hunter, who's a senior at North Fort Myers High says that her decorated pickup was not welcomed by administrators on the first day of class.
"My principal stopped me and told me to take down my flag. I tried to take it off but I explained to him that my flag is not meant to come off and I couldn't get it off."
This isn't the first time Hunter has had to fight for her flag. Last fall, the school district kicked Hunter off school property for driving the same car to school. The district later apologized to her and her father for the misunderstanding.
"I was surprised. I did not think that I would have to be asked again for the second year in a row to take it off," Hunter said.
Hunter met with her principal on Thursday and was told that she would be allowed to park her truck with the Confederate Flag on school campus.
"I'm excited and knowing that my principal understands how the perception is on this situation is great," Hunter said.
Hunter adds that she did receive an apology from the principal and she hopes to work together with school administrators on a school code that allows Confederate Flags to be displayed.
JUST ONE VOTE SHY
A Dixie Heritage subscriber nearly won a spot Wednesday on a citizen council to promote diversity in Hillsborough County, Florida.
David McAllister, Camp Commander of the Tampa area Sons of Confederate Veterans came one vote short of election to the county's Diversity Advisory Council.
McAllister campaigned for an at-large seat and was the preferred choice of three Republican commissioners: Victor Crist, Stacy White and Ken Hagan.
The diversity council includes representatives from various ethnic groups as well as the LGBT community. Its job is to "facilitate communication between county government and its diverse populations, addressing matters related to diversity that are important to everyone."
McAllister speaks during public comment of nearly every county commission meeting, always in a red tie with the rebel stars and bars, often arguing for more county appreciation of Confederate history and the reinstatement of Southern Heritage Month, which ended in Tampa in 2007.
He was a vocal opponent of the removal of the Confederate Flag from the Hillsborough County Government Center lobby last year.
McAllister had also previously co-chaired a committee to build in Hillsborough a War memorial but the panel was dissolved amid concerns about the design's prominent confederate themes.
He often also supports the causes of other groups at commission meetings in hopes that promoting them will eventually lead to Confederate recognition, too. For example, last month he backed an effort from Beckner to designate each June as LGBT Pride Awareness Month in anticipation it could lead to the return of Southern Heritage Month.
"I think that you have seen that I have been collegial and have been cooperative and I understand the mechanisms of the council," McAllister said Wednesday during his typical three-minute soliloquy before the meeting. "If you want to make this council work, you want me on it."
Had he been selected, McAllister wouldn't have been the only controversial member of the diversity council.
SOUTH FLORIDA TEEN FIGHTS FOR FLAG
A North Fort Myers High School teen claims the school once again wouldn't allow her to fly her confederate flag on her pickup truck.
"Heritage, not hate," that's Sky Hunter's message for flying a Confederate Flag on the back of her white pickup.
"I keep it to remember my ancestors. I can fly it, I can look at it everyday just like we look at the American Flag. We look at it and remember what our country's been through," Hunter said.
Hunter, who's a senior at North Fort Myers High says that her decorated pickup was not welcomed by administrators on the first day of class.
"My principal stopped me and told me to take down my flag. I tried to take it off but I explained to him that my flag is not meant to come off and I couldn't get it off."
This isn't the first time Hunter has had to fight for her flag. Last fall, the school district kicked Hunter off school property for driving the same car to school. The district later apologized to her and her father for the misunderstanding.
"I was surprised. I did not think that I would have to be asked again for the second year in a row to take it off," Hunter said.
Hunter met with her principal on Thursday and was told that she would be allowed to park her truck with the Confederate Flag on school campus.
"I'm excited and knowing that my principal understands how the perception is on this situation is great," Hunter said.
Hunter adds that she did receive an apology from the principal and she hopes to work together with school administrators on a school code that allows Confederate Flags to be displayed.
JUST ONE VOTE SHY
A Dixie Heritage subscriber nearly won a spot Wednesday on a citizen council to promote diversity in Hillsborough County, Florida.
David McAllister, Camp Commander of the Tampa area Sons of Confederate Veterans came one vote short of election to the county's Diversity Advisory Council.
McAllister campaigned for an at-large seat and was the preferred choice of three Republican commissioners: Victor Crist, Stacy White and Ken Hagan.
The diversity council includes representatives from various ethnic groups as well as the LGBT community. Its job is to "facilitate communication between county government and its diverse populations, addressing matters related to diversity that are important to everyone."
McAllister speaks during public comment of nearly every county commission meeting, always in a red tie with the rebel stars and bars, often arguing for more county appreciation of Confederate history and the reinstatement of Southern Heritage Month, which ended in Tampa in 2007.
He was a vocal opponent of the removal of the Confederate Flag from the Hillsborough County Government Center lobby last year.
McAllister had also previously co-chaired a committee to build in Hillsborough a War memorial but the panel was dissolved amid concerns about the design's prominent confederate themes.
He often also supports the causes of other groups at commission meetings in hopes that promoting them will eventually lead to Confederate recognition, too. For example, last month he backed an effort from Beckner to designate each June as LGBT Pride Awareness Month in anticipation it could lead to the return of Southern Heritage Month.
"I think that you have seen that I have been collegial and have been cooperative and I understand the mechanisms of the council," McAllister said Wednesday during his typical three-minute soliloquy before the meeting. "If you want to make this council work, you want me on it."
Had he been selected, McAllister wouldn't have been the only controversial member of the diversity council.
BLACK SOUTHERNER ON BLACK LIVES MATTER
On Monday, August 15, 2016. in my capacity as Chairman of the Board of Advisers of the Southern Legal Resource Center, I would be asked by the Chief Trial Counselor if I could define why the statement, "All Lives Matter" would and is now being deemed racist in colleges across the South, and furthermore that their students are being warned to not display or to speak those words on campus.
I replied that no decent folks that I know, be they Red, Yellow, Black, White or Brown, would agree with that. And, in fact, many would speak to the contrary, and tell you that the statement, "Black Lives Matter" would more fit that terminology if it got down to semantics.
Unfortunately in their desire to come together as one to advance social and cultural vertical mobility in the Black community, and not let it prevail that they as a people are like crabs in a barrel; when one crawls to the top to get out, other crabs will pull it back; they have become easy targets to be duped while turning their backs on truth.
Defending thugs, and allowing the same kind of folks who crawl into the South duping Black people into believing that they had some doctrine or way of life centered on their human interest, or values to move them towards social and vertical mobility is something that our Black ancestors swore to never let happen again; a Holy Vow that they made to Southern White folks; our family!
And now look what we have allowed in part by complacency, and adherence to the Silver Tongue Devil Poverty Pimps words to do; shame us, and when I say us, I'm now talking about all of us who call ourselves Southern; White folk guilt is as bad as any traitor to our Southern heritage and culture.
Our Southern babies are now forced to feel ashamed about being Southern, and hate our ancestors of the past who built this country, and saw their personal wealth stolen or destroyed, and to hate those who made an honorable stand against tyranny.
I would say; here we are once again at a defining moment in the history of this nation; the circumventing of the Constitution by those who manipulate it for their own personal ventures, Southerners believe in the 1st Amendment, however, it don't apply to them. Southerners believe in the teachings in the Christian Bible, but not the Supreme Court. Southerners believe that no one should be above the law, but not the Department of Justice or the attorney General. Southerners believed the U.S. Congress when they resolved that the Confederate Battle flag was a Congressional Venerated Symbol; that is a lie. Southerners believed the US Congress when they resolved that the Confederate soldier was an American Veteran due all the amenities and respect thereof; that was a lie.
We are now playing back not only the reconstruction period in the South, but also all the causes that led us to the War for Southern Independence.
God bless you!
Your brother,
H.K. Edgerton
Political Correctness - it is pretty selective.
I wonder what the next target will be?
Will offended souls start a bonfire of dollar bills because George Washington owned slaves?
Let's up the ante - Grant is on the fifty dollar bill and he held his slaves well after the War was over.
Come on now. If something is offensive then it is offensive - pitch those greenbacks into the flames if you feel so strongly about it.
Perhaps millions of offended will stop drinking Coca Cola because a former Confederate soldier invested it?
Just wait, one day someone will figure out that Old Glory flew from the mast of slave ships that docked in America - not the Confederate flag.
I'll say one thing for political correctness - it is pretty selective.
John Wayne Dobson
Macon, Georgia
On Monday, August 15, 2016. in my capacity as Chairman of the Board of Advisers of the Southern Legal Resource Center, I would be asked by the Chief Trial Counselor if I could define why the statement, "All Lives Matter" would and is now being deemed racist in colleges across the South, and furthermore that their students are being warned to not display or to speak those words on campus.
I replied that no decent folks that I know, be they Red, Yellow, Black, White or Brown, would agree with that. And, in fact, many would speak to the contrary, and tell you that the statement, "Black Lives Matter" would more fit that terminology if it got down to semantics.
Unfortunately in their desire to come together as one to advance social and cultural vertical mobility in the Black community, and not let it prevail that they as a people are like crabs in a barrel; when one crawls to the top to get out, other crabs will pull it back; they have become easy targets to be duped while turning their backs on truth.
Defending thugs, and allowing the same kind of folks who crawl into the South duping Black people into believing that they had some doctrine or way of life centered on their human interest, or values to move them towards social and vertical mobility is something that our Black ancestors swore to never let happen again; a Holy Vow that they made to Southern White folks; our family!
And now look what we have allowed in part by complacency, and adherence to the Silver Tongue Devil Poverty Pimps words to do; shame us, and when I say us, I'm now talking about all of us who call ourselves Southern; White folk guilt is as bad as any traitor to our Southern heritage and culture.
Our Southern babies are now forced to feel ashamed about being Southern, and hate our ancestors of the past who built this country, and saw their personal wealth stolen or destroyed, and to hate those who made an honorable stand against tyranny.
I would say; here we are once again at a defining moment in the history of this nation; the circumventing of the Constitution by those who manipulate it for their own personal ventures, Southerners believe in the 1st Amendment, however, it don't apply to them. Southerners believe in the teachings in the Christian Bible, but not the Supreme Court. Southerners believe that no one should be above the law, but not the Department of Justice or the attorney General. Southerners believed the U.S. Congress when they resolved that the Confederate Battle flag was a Congressional Venerated Symbol; that is a lie. Southerners believed the US Congress when they resolved that the Confederate soldier was an American Veteran due all the amenities and respect thereof; that was a lie.
We are now playing back not only the reconstruction period in the South, but also all the causes that led us to the War for Southern Independence.
God bless you!
Your brother,
H.K. Edgerton
Political Correctness - it is pretty selective.
I wonder what the next target will be?
Will offended souls start a bonfire of dollar bills because George Washington owned slaves?
Let's up the ante - Grant is on the fifty dollar bill and he held his slaves well after the War was over.
Come on now. If something is offensive then it is offensive - pitch those greenbacks into the flames if you feel so strongly about it.
Perhaps millions of offended will stop drinking Coca Cola because a former Confederate soldier invested it?
Just wait, one day someone will figure out that Old Glory flew from the mast of slave ships that docked in America - not the Confederate flag.
I'll say one thing for political correctness - it is pretty selective.
John Wayne Dobson
Macon, Georgia
Obsession With Bible Prophecy: The Devil Loves It
By Pastor Chuck Baldwin
Christians of all stripes and persuasions believe in the return of Christ, nuances of prophetic interpretation notwithstanding. Furthermore, personal interpretations of prophecy are NOT fundamental to our salvation or our service to God. One will find faithful and unfaithful believers at every point along the prophecy spectrum.
That said, after more than four decades of pastoring, it is my firm conviction that the obsession with Bible prophecy demonstrated by a host of professing Christians today is one of our country's BIGGEST problems. On the whole, obsession with prophecy either takes those obsessed completely out of the freedom fight or it actually puts them on the side of those who are trying to usurp our liberties.
For some (especially those who believe in a "pre-tribulation Rapture"), prophecy has mostly turned them into indifferent, apathetic facilitators of tyranny. They say things like "This is all predicted in the Bible, so there's nothing we can do about it" or "Jesus is coming soon, and I won't be around to see it, so I'm not worrying about it" or "Since this is all part of prophecy, we should not even try to resist, because to resist is to interfere with God" and similar nonsensical, asinine statements.
Others see all kinds of self-interpreted "signs" proving whatever they WANT to believe in order to convince people that their prophetic predilections are superior to everyone else's for the purpose of exalting their own hyperinflated, super-spiritual egos. In other words, these particular folks are living in their own self-created fantasy world that renders them absolutely worthless--or even detrimental--to the freedom fight.
Still others are so jaded in their prophetic infatuation with the modern state of Israel that they interpret everything through the dark lenses of misguided obfuscation to the point that they are unable to see events clearly and accurately, which makes them prone to the manipulations of Neocons and other enemies of freedom.
People have been interpreting Bible prophecy to suit their own fancies for over 2,000 years. The fact is, no one knows exactly how and when the events surrounding Christ's return will take place. NO ONE. I don't care how "smart" and "knowledgeable" they think they are on the subject. THEY DON'T KNOW.
But in the meantime, their inflated opinions of their own brilliance mostly serve to make them totally indifferent to the loss of liberty or even actively supportive of the forces that are trying to usurp our God-given liberties. Either way, freedom loses.
The first question the disciples asked our Lord after His resurrection from the dead concerned prophecy: "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)
Look carefully at Christ's response to them: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." (Acts 1:7)
Did you get that? "IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW."
Students of the scriptures have been studying "end time" prophecies since the completion of the canon of Scripture. And the interpretations have been, and still are, as varied as the people proffering them.
We could assemble the most brilliant apologists in the world for the various interpretations of Bible prophecy and let them present the reasons for their interpretations and each of them would be able to present a very coherent and convincing scriptural case for their position. And the fact is, the best any of them would be doing would be making a studied, educated GUESS at how it all MIGHT happen.
Come on! Get real, folks! Some of the smartest men of history have been making educated guesses regarding the return of Christ since the Apostle John finished writing the Book of The Revelation. Date setters have come and gone--along with the dates they set--for 2,000 years. And the educated guessers of today are no smarter than they were then.
Jesus wasn't kidding around when He told the disciples (and us), "IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW." The one thing that He did want us to know is that it is our duty to "Occupy till I come." (Luke 19:13) Therefore, until Christ comes (whenever that is), we are to "occupy" or "take care of business."
Regardless of one's private interpretation of prophecy, our duty as Christians is the same: we are to take care of business. We are to tend to our family business, our vocational business, our spiritual business, our community business, our national business, etc. Until He comes, we have a divine mandate to "take care of business."
Premillennial. Postmillennial. Amillennial. Pre-tribulation. Mid-tribulation. Post-tribulation. Complete Rapture. Partial Rapture. No Rapture. Dispensationalist. Preterist. When it comes to our duty to "take care of business," IT DOESN'T MATTER. We all have the same duty.
Unfortunately, the preoccupation and obsession with Bible prophecy has diverted people's attention away from the business at hand. So many, many Christians have become so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. And pastors and preachers are mostly to blame. They spiritualize everything to the point that they have rendered the scriptures of NO practical relevance whatsoever.
Talk to the average Christian about his or her duty to their country, and they immediately zone out into a trance and start regurgitating hackneyed clichés about how "God is in control" and we are not supposed to be concerned about it because it's not a "spiritual" issue or how they are going to be "raptured" to heaven and escape all of the bad stuff, etc. Furthermore, to the average pastor, duty to country amounts to nothing more than some nonsensical drivel about mindless submission to government. It seems to most pastors (well, American pastors anyway) government is GOD. Romans 13 is the only Scripture they know to cite--and they grossly misinterpret it to boot. To most pastors, the stories of Daniel, the three Hebrew children, the judges of Israel, David and Saul, Christ and the Pharisees, the early church and the Judaizers, etc., are of NO practical consequence to life today.
The fallacious interpretation of Romans 13 is turning once courageous, freedom-loving Christian men and women into sheepish slaves of the state. Without a doubt, Romans 13 is one of the most misinterpreted passages of Scripture in the Bible.
I challenge you to press your pastor with this question: "Were America's Founding Fathers scripturally justified in rebelling against the British Crown?" Come on! I dare you to press your pastor for an answer to that question. You might be shocked at just how many pastors actually believe our Founding Fathers sinned by rebelling against the government of Great Britain.
Yet in pulpits all over America, pastors lead their churches in celebrating Independence Day on or around each July 4th. They wave the flag, sing patriotic songs, and get up and talk about how thankful they are to live in a free nation. But wait a minute! This country they are celebrating is a nation birthed in rebellion. If these pastors believe our founders were unjustified before God in fighting that war for independence, how dare they turn around and celebrate the victory of an act that they claim to find sinful? Talk about hypocrisy!
It is little wonder why Christians are among the highest percentage of people in the country who don't vote; why Christians are among the biggest cheerleaders for America's incessant wars of aggression overseas; why Christians are among the largest percentage of viewers of the mainstream propaganda media (especially FOX News); and why Christians (at least Christians in the United States) are among the most gullible and easily duped people by Neocons and Zionists on the planet. (Can anyone say G. W. Bush, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Ted Cruz?)
And guess what the most consistent common denominator is for all of the above? You guessed it: Bible prophecy. It is no hyperbole to suggest that the more people obsess over Bible prophecy, the more the devil likes it. Why? Because for the most part the obsession and preoccupation with Bible prophecy takes a majority of Christians completely out of the freedom fight. On the whole, churches stopped being the "salt of the earth" decades ago. If you want a freedom fighter in the foxhole with you, you will largely need to look somewhere besides the average pastor and church.
I would dare say that the subject of prophecy takes up the greater percentage of all of the sermons, Bible conferences, books, videos, seminars, television and radio broadcasts, etc., in modern Christendom. And what has it done for us? What has it done for the church? What has it done for America? What has it done for the suffering saints across the globe? What has it done for a lost and dying world that desperately needs spiritual direction, leadership, and purpose in this life?
NOTHING. Not a dad-blasted thing (as my father used to say). All it has done is rendered the church completely ineffective, indifferent, and impotent. Oh, yes, and conceited, arrogant, and proud.
Study prophecy all you want, but if doing so puts you on the wrong side of liberty, it only fulfills the purposes of Satan, not God.
ADVERTISE TO OVER 5,000 SOUTHERN PATRIOTS
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By Pastor Chuck Baldwin
Christians of all stripes and persuasions believe in the return of Christ, nuances of prophetic interpretation notwithstanding. Furthermore, personal interpretations of prophecy are NOT fundamental to our salvation or our service to God. One will find faithful and unfaithful believers at every point along the prophecy spectrum.
That said, after more than four decades of pastoring, it is my firm conviction that the obsession with Bible prophecy demonstrated by a host of professing Christians today is one of our country's BIGGEST problems. On the whole, obsession with prophecy either takes those obsessed completely out of the freedom fight or it actually puts them on the side of those who are trying to usurp our liberties.
For some (especially those who believe in a "pre-tribulation Rapture"), prophecy has mostly turned them into indifferent, apathetic facilitators of tyranny. They say things like "This is all predicted in the Bible, so there's nothing we can do about it" or "Jesus is coming soon, and I won't be around to see it, so I'm not worrying about it" or "Since this is all part of prophecy, we should not even try to resist, because to resist is to interfere with God" and similar nonsensical, asinine statements.
Others see all kinds of self-interpreted "signs" proving whatever they WANT to believe in order to convince people that their prophetic predilections are superior to everyone else's for the purpose of exalting their own hyperinflated, super-spiritual egos. In other words, these particular folks are living in their own self-created fantasy world that renders them absolutely worthless--or even detrimental--to the freedom fight.
Still others are so jaded in their prophetic infatuation with the modern state of Israel that they interpret everything through the dark lenses of misguided obfuscation to the point that they are unable to see events clearly and accurately, which makes them prone to the manipulations of Neocons and other enemies of freedom.
People have been interpreting Bible prophecy to suit their own fancies for over 2,000 years. The fact is, no one knows exactly how and when the events surrounding Christ's return will take place. NO ONE. I don't care how "smart" and "knowledgeable" they think they are on the subject. THEY DON'T KNOW.
But in the meantime, their inflated opinions of their own brilliance mostly serve to make them totally indifferent to the loss of liberty or even actively supportive of the forces that are trying to usurp our God-given liberties. Either way, freedom loses.
The first question the disciples asked our Lord after His resurrection from the dead concerned prophecy: "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)
Look carefully at Christ's response to them: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." (Acts 1:7)
Did you get that? "IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW."
Students of the scriptures have been studying "end time" prophecies since the completion of the canon of Scripture. And the interpretations have been, and still are, as varied as the people proffering them.
We could assemble the most brilliant apologists in the world for the various interpretations of Bible prophecy and let them present the reasons for their interpretations and each of them would be able to present a very coherent and convincing scriptural case for their position. And the fact is, the best any of them would be doing would be making a studied, educated GUESS at how it all MIGHT happen.
Come on! Get real, folks! Some of the smartest men of history have been making educated guesses regarding the return of Christ since the Apostle John finished writing the Book of The Revelation. Date setters have come and gone--along with the dates they set--for 2,000 years. And the educated guessers of today are no smarter than they were then.
Jesus wasn't kidding around when He told the disciples (and us), "IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW." The one thing that He did want us to know is that it is our duty to "Occupy till I come." (Luke 19:13) Therefore, until Christ comes (whenever that is), we are to "occupy" or "take care of business."
Regardless of one's private interpretation of prophecy, our duty as Christians is the same: we are to take care of business. We are to tend to our family business, our vocational business, our spiritual business, our community business, our national business, etc. Until He comes, we have a divine mandate to "take care of business."
Premillennial. Postmillennial. Amillennial. Pre-tribulation. Mid-tribulation. Post-tribulation. Complete Rapture. Partial Rapture. No Rapture. Dispensationalist. Preterist. When it comes to our duty to "take care of business," IT DOESN'T MATTER. We all have the same duty.
Unfortunately, the preoccupation and obsession with Bible prophecy has diverted people's attention away from the business at hand. So many, many Christians have become so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. And pastors and preachers are mostly to blame. They spiritualize everything to the point that they have rendered the scriptures of NO practical relevance whatsoever.
Talk to the average Christian about his or her duty to their country, and they immediately zone out into a trance and start regurgitating hackneyed clichés about how "God is in control" and we are not supposed to be concerned about it because it's not a "spiritual" issue or how they are going to be "raptured" to heaven and escape all of the bad stuff, etc. Furthermore, to the average pastor, duty to country amounts to nothing more than some nonsensical drivel about mindless submission to government. It seems to most pastors (well, American pastors anyway) government is GOD. Romans 13 is the only Scripture they know to cite--and they grossly misinterpret it to boot. To most pastors, the stories of Daniel, the three Hebrew children, the judges of Israel, David and Saul, Christ and the Pharisees, the early church and the Judaizers, etc., are of NO practical consequence to life today.
The fallacious interpretation of Romans 13 is turning once courageous, freedom-loving Christian men and women into sheepish slaves of the state. Without a doubt, Romans 13 is one of the most misinterpreted passages of Scripture in the Bible.
I challenge you to press your pastor with this question: "Were America's Founding Fathers scripturally justified in rebelling against the British Crown?" Come on! I dare you to press your pastor for an answer to that question. You might be shocked at just how many pastors actually believe our Founding Fathers sinned by rebelling against the government of Great Britain.
Yet in pulpits all over America, pastors lead their churches in celebrating Independence Day on or around each July 4th. They wave the flag, sing patriotic songs, and get up and talk about how thankful they are to live in a free nation. But wait a minute! This country they are celebrating is a nation birthed in rebellion. If these pastors believe our founders were unjustified before God in fighting that war for independence, how dare they turn around and celebrate the victory of an act that they claim to find sinful? Talk about hypocrisy!
It is little wonder why Christians are among the highest percentage of people in the country who don't vote; why Christians are among the biggest cheerleaders for America's incessant wars of aggression overseas; why Christians are among the largest percentage of viewers of the mainstream propaganda media (especially FOX News); and why Christians (at least Christians in the United States) are among the most gullible and easily duped people by Neocons and Zionists on the planet. (Can anyone say G. W. Bush, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Ted Cruz?)
And guess what the most consistent common denominator is for all of the above? You guessed it: Bible prophecy. It is no hyperbole to suggest that the more people obsess over Bible prophecy, the more the devil likes it. Why? Because for the most part the obsession and preoccupation with Bible prophecy takes a majority of Christians completely out of the freedom fight. On the whole, churches stopped being the "salt of the earth" decades ago. If you want a freedom fighter in the foxhole with you, you will largely need to look somewhere besides the average pastor and church.
I would dare say that the subject of prophecy takes up the greater percentage of all of the sermons, Bible conferences, books, videos, seminars, television and radio broadcasts, etc., in modern Christendom. And what has it done for us? What has it done for the church? What has it done for America? What has it done for the suffering saints across the globe? What has it done for a lost and dying world that desperately needs spiritual direction, leadership, and purpose in this life?
NOTHING. Not a dad-blasted thing (as my father used to say). All it has done is rendered the church completely ineffective, indifferent, and impotent. Oh, yes, and conceited, arrogant, and proud.
Study prophecy all you want, but if doing so puts you on the wrong side of liberty, it only fulfills the purposes of Satan, not God.
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SOUTHERN BAPTISTS FOR SOUTHERN HERITAGE
The scholars at the Abbeville Institute have written an excellent reply to the Southern Baptist Convention and other denominational bodies in their recent journal:
It appears that the abstractions of the Enlightenment have over the last five-hundred years been read into Scripture and into the theologies of most of the Christian confessions as eisegesis and read back out as exegesis, thereby becoming the metaphysical touchstone of modern and post-modern Christianity.
This certainly seems to be the case of the most recent statements by Pope Francis that the Church should not only apologize to gays whom it has offended but also to the poor, to women and children whose labor has been exploited and for having blessed many weapons. It is unclear how the Church has offended these people. Are the offenses based on real or imagined sins of omission or commission? One must assume that the latter includes those weapons blessed for the efforts to defend Christendom at Tours, at Lepanto and at Vienna.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) took up the "moral mantle" for the alleged sins of leaders and congregations antecedent to it and exhorted the members to examine themselves and if any such sin, i.e. racism, intolerance and anger, is found then they should admit, confess, seek forgiveness and reconciliation. It is not clear from whom the PCA acquired the authority for this resolution nor how the PCA in enlightened Post-Modernity came to know the hearts of their Christian ancestors, nor is it clear exactly who has the authority to forgive such manifestations of sin. It does, however, appear from the various posts by millennial Presbyterians that they "feel good" about their resolution.
Now, Southern Baptists, acting in their sovereign capacity in convention assembled, passed a resolution which at its core demands that Baptists discontinue the display of the Confederate battle flag as a sign of solidarity of the whole Body of Christ, including their African-American brothers and sisters. The resolution begins with a title containing "sensitivity" and "unity." The body of "whereas's" and "resolved's" also contains post-modern watchwords which read as if they were extracted from a Marxist lexicon: "racism," "prejudice," "injustice," "non-Anglo," "sensitivity" and "transforming." The resolution alleges that the Confederate Battle Flag is "perceived by many as a symbol of hatred, bigotry and racism, offending millions of people." This core statement is predicated on the core post-modern notion that "perception is reality." There is no empirical evidence that millions of people are offended by the Confederate Battle Flag, nor is any logical reasoning given as to why one should take notice of an offence based on mere perception. How, then, does an offence based on perception constitute a sin worthy of collective confession and collective absolution; and who is giving absolution since there is no evidence offered that God has been offended by the Confederate Battle Flag?
In an ironic twist, this same Baptist body has gone one record in the context of "separation of church and state" to support the building of mosques across America. So the Confederate Battle Flag, with the Cross of St. Andrew at its center and under which during the course of the War thousands of men came to Christ in revivals and worship services, is now an offence; but mosques which are at best Trojan horses representing Islam which has been the enemy of Jesus Christ, of His Church and of any culture influence by the Church, is given cover under a historically inaccurate understanding of the "establishment clause" in the first amendment. Jefferson's line to the Danbury Baptists aside, the "separation of church and state" was ensconced into constitutional law in Everson v. the Board of Education when Justice Hugo Black, a former Klansman, incorporated the states into the 1st amendment, denying to them their sovereign capacity in matters of religion. This decision became the foundation for subsequent decisions which systematically secularized public spaces in the United States: no prayer, no Bible reading, no nativity scenes, no Christian values in jury decisions, etc. Baptists, it seems, have now become the advocates of secularization and Islamification.
Since this entire resolution with all of its "whereas's" and "resolved's" is predicated on perception and unsubstantiated numbers of people allegedly offended by the mere appearance of the Confederate Battle Flag any attempt at refutation with facts and historical evidence is futile; however, some observations are in order.
There is a specie of men who wish to be on the "correct side of history," the correct side thereof determined by the prevailing Zeitgeist. These same men also quest for respectability, i.e. to be accepted and welcomed by those who have already embraced and cultivated the Zeitgeist. There seems to be among such men a sense of humiliation and the commensurate shame, rightly or wrongly held, for which they want to do penance though some act which would put them in the good graces of the judges of their time, judges who adjudicate not only the innocence or guilt of their own time but who arrogate to themselves the moral capacity to judge the innocence or guilt of all times, an arrogation engendered and circumscribed by presentism and progressivism.
Those who practice post-modern or millennial Christianity have a superficial but ideological understanding of the past. Quite often they find a real or imagined sin in the past, usually one associated with the past of their own culture, and apologize for it and ask forgiveness of some offended class of the present. There has, of course, been no real transaction of forgiveness or contrition, but the allegedly offended party feels empowered because the shamed offenders have bent their knee to them; and those who embody faux contrition feel morally superior to their cultural past and morally superior to those among the more "unwashed" Christians who were too ignorant to join in or who reject the Zeitgeist.
Since the Southern Baptist Convention is calling on Baptist to discontinue the display of the Confederate Battle Flag, then it should act consequentially and strike the word "Southern" from the name of the convention, for the South is four-hundred years old and athwart that four-hundred years stands the enormity of the War to Prevent Southern Independence, a total war against not only political and military structures but against civilians, black and white, and their institutions, including churches, immorally, unconstitutionally and unnecessarily unleash and carried out, not really ending until the end of Reconstruction in 1877. The Confederate Battle Flag, though merely a flag of war during the conflict from 1861 through 1865, has become the icon not only of that struggle but in light of that struggle for that which was and continues to be good and true in Southern life. To demand that the Confederate Battle Flag be furled based on "perceived offenses" and on some abstract notion of "Christian unity" is to demand for those same superficial pretenses that the South itself be put away.
The scholars at the Abbeville Institute have written an excellent reply to the Southern Baptist Convention and other denominational bodies in their recent journal:
It appears that the abstractions of the Enlightenment have over the last five-hundred years been read into Scripture and into the theologies of most of the Christian confessions as eisegesis and read back out as exegesis, thereby becoming the metaphysical touchstone of modern and post-modern Christianity.
This certainly seems to be the case of the most recent statements by Pope Francis that the Church should not only apologize to gays whom it has offended but also to the poor, to women and children whose labor has been exploited and for having blessed many weapons. It is unclear how the Church has offended these people. Are the offenses based on real or imagined sins of omission or commission? One must assume that the latter includes those weapons blessed for the efforts to defend Christendom at Tours, at Lepanto and at Vienna.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) took up the "moral mantle" for the alleged sins of leaders and congregations antecedent to it and exhorted the members to examine themselves and if any such sin, i.e. racism, intolerance and anger, is found then they should admit, confess, seek forgiveness and reconciliation. It is not clear from whom the PCA acquired the authority for this resolution nor how the PCA in enlightened Post-Modernity came to know the hearts of their Christian ancestors, nor is it clear exactly who has the authority to forgive such manifestations of sin. It does, however, appear from the various posts by millennial Presbyterians that they "feel good" about their resolution.
Now, Southern Baptists, acting in their sovereign capacity in convention assembled, passed a resolution which at its core demands that Baptists discontinue the display of the Confederate battle flag as a sign of solidarity of the whole Body of Christ, including their African-American brothers and sisters. The resolution begins with a title containing "sensitivity" and "unity." The body of "whereas's" and "resolved's" also contains post-modern watchwords which read as if they were extracted from a Marxist lexicon: "racism," "prejudice," "injustice," "non-Anglo," "sensitivity" and "transforming." The resolution alleges that the Confederate Battle Flag is "perceived by many as a symbol of hatred, bigotry and racism, offending millions of people." This core statement is predicated on the core post-modern notion that "perception is reality." There is no empirical evidence that millions of people are offended by the Confederate Battle Flag, nor is any logical reasoning given as to why one should take notice of an offence based on mere perception. How, then, does an offence based on perception constitute a sin worthy of collective confession and collective absolution; and who is giving absolution since there is no evidence offered that God has been offended by the Confederate Battle Flag?
In an ironic twist, this same Baptist body has gone one record in the context of "separation of church and state" to support the building of mosques across America. So the Confederate Battle Flag, with the Cross of St. Andrew at its center and under which during the course of the War thousands of men came to Christ in revivals and worship services, is now an offence; but mosques which are at best Trojan horses representing Islam which has been the enemy of Jesus Christ, of His Church and of any culture influence by the Church, is given cover under a historically inaccurate understanding of the "establishment clause" in the first amendment. Jefferson's line to the Danbury Baptists aside, the "separation of church and state" was ensconced into constitutional law in Everson v. the Board of Education when Justice Hugo Black, a former Klansman, incorporated the states into the 1st amendment, denying to them their sovereign capacity in matters of religion. This decision became the foundation for subsequent decisions which systematically secularized public spaces in the United States: no prayer, no Bible reading, no nativity scenes, no Christian values in jury decisions, etc. Baptists, it seems, have now become the advocates of secularization and Islamification.
Since this entire resolution with all of its "whereas's" and "resolved's" is predicated on perception and unsubstantiated numbers of people allegedly offended by the mere appearance of the Confederate Battle Flag any attempt at refutation with facts and historical evidence is futile; however, some observations are in order.
There is a specie of men who wish to be on the "correct side of history," the correct side thereof determined by the prevailing Zeitgeist. These same men also quest for respectability, i.e. to be accepted and welcomed by those who have already embraced and cultivated the Zeitgeist. There seems to be among such men a sense of humiliation and the commensurate shame, rightly or wrongly held, for which they want to do penance though some act which would put them in the good graces of the judges of their time, judges who adjudicate not only the innocence or guilt of their own time but who arrogate to themselves the moral capacity to judge the innocence or guilt of all times, an arrogation engendered and circumscribed by presentism and progressivism.
Those who practice post-modern or millennial Christianity have a superficial but ideological understanding of the past. Quite often they find a real or imagined sin in the past, usually one associated with the past of their own culture, and apologize for it and ask forgiveness of some offended class of the present. There has, of course, been no real transaction of forgiveness or contrition, but the allegedly offended party feels empowered because the shamed offenders have bent their knee to them; and those who embody faux contrition feel morally superior to their cultural past and morally superior to those among the more "unwashed" Christians who were too ignorant to join in or who reject the Zeitgeist.
Since the Southern Baptist Convention is calling on Baptist to discontinue the display of the Confederate Battle Flag, then it should act consequentially and strike the word "Southern" from the name of the convention, for the South is four-hundred years old and athwart that four-hundred years stands the enormity of the War to Prevent Southern Independence, a total war against not only political and military structures but against civilians, black and white, and their institutions, including churches, immorally, unconstitutionally and unnecessarily unleash and carried out, not really ending until the end of Reconstruction in 1877. The Confederate Battle Flag, though merely a flag of war during the conflict from 1861 through 1865, has become the icon not only of that struggle but in light of that struggle for that which was and continues to be good and true in Southern life. To demand that the Confederate Battle Flag be furled based on "perceived offenses" and on some abstract notion of "Christian unity" is to demand for those same superficial pretenses that the South itself be put away.
CONTINUED DUE TO OVERWHELMING RESPONSE
Buster Keaton stars as Johnny Gray, a blundering train conductor who inadvertently saves the Confederate Army during the WBTS. It mixed a then-unique blend of Keaton's trademark slapstick with action and drama, not to mention one of the most ambitious stunts of the silent era.
This week we are continue celebrating the 90th anniversary of this great film.
Buster Keaton stars as Johnny Gray, a blundering train conductor who inadvertently saves the Confederate Army during the WBTS. It mixed a then-unique blend of Keaton's trademark slapstick with action and drama, not to mention one of the most ambitious stunts of the silent era.
This week we are continue celebrating the 90th anniversary of this great film.
Anyone who gives $10 or more to Dixie Heritage will receive a DVD of this great movie. Your gift will include postage and handling to anywhere in the United States or Canada.
Order your copy of The General on DVD:
Order your copy of The General on DVD:
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When you are there request a free copy of my book The Truth About the Confederate Battle Flag. When you do, not only will you receive a copy of the book - you will also be subscribed to receive the weekly Dixie Heritage Letter by eMail. This will ensure that you never miss an issue.
Until Next Week,
Deo Vindice!
Chaplain Ed
If you have not already done so please take the quick moment to like our Dixie Heritage Page on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/dixieheritageletter
And then, more importantly, click this link to our website:
www.dixieheritage.net
When you are there request a free copy of my book The Truth About the Confederate Battle Flag. When you do, not only will you receive a copy of the book - you will also be subscribed to receive the weekly Dixie Heritage Letter by eMail. This will ensure that you never miss an issue.
Until Next Week,
Deo Vindice!
Chaplain Ed
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