The big news this week is the death of Pope Francis on the day after Easter. We pray for the Roman Catholic Church and the grave decision they are now facing in selecting the 267th pope. Who will it be? If the leadership of Benedict and Francis, which covered 20 years, has been too tumultuous we may see the selection of an Italian, with the hope for greater tranquility.
Please remember that you bless us with your presence, and may the Holy Spirit bring you His comfort and His peace. Join us!!!
Zoom Link:
For Study, Prayer and Fellowship - 8:00 AM PDT on 04/26/2025:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82968961343?pwd=LzcwVjJKcWVESDRURlhDcXlNV0JUdz09
Meeting ID: 829 6896 1343
Passcode: 77299ere:
04/26/2025 – Prologue - “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” [Jude 20-21]
The prophets are those who simplify all questions of justice, reward, and punishment by a simple appeal to divine love. God’s infinite, self-giving care is the only needed factor in the drama of creation. All else must be “shaved” away as creating needless and useless complexity, which confuses the soul and the mind. N. B. Occam’s Razor - first lesson.
Jesus and the prophets, are the ones who have the calling to make God’s way of loving action - the source, the goal, the criterion, and the standard for all human morality and behavior. The questions should be: What is God doing? and How does God act?
It is unfortunate that we are enmeshed in our binary logic (yes/no), of tit for tat that causes many Christians to remain untouched by a spiritual revolution. Are we content with retribution and vengeance passing as justice? We stand outside of love rather than receive love, but true love is reciprocal. We think we are unworthy. We developed a comfort zone outside of love and avoided embracing love. Infinite love is a challenge for us. We think we know how to love on an individual basis. The issue we hide from, is how do we respond to temptation? We are tempted by the Evil One and we are tempted by our Sin nature. We allow ourselves to participate as an unreasoning ‘free rider’. Then we allow ourselves to grow into an action mode. This is similar to thinking and then acting. We need to learn to live in God’s grace. [Gen. 3:22-24]. That ride is divine?
In our individualized society, we have privatized morality and destroyed the moral order. In the past 70 years, we have seen an ascendancy of PhDs in the social sciences emanating from out prestigious universities. These are not the brightest of our doctors. Incredibly damaging is our admonition - it is up to us to find our own truth. Without a strong moral order, it is impossible to have trust and we create a caste system, a social status created by birth. Lippman said, “That if what is right or wrong is up to each individual then we are outside the bounds of civilization.” Our own morality only leads to deep sadness. In destroying Judeo-Christian faith, we lose: service to the poor, the stranger, the immigrant. We destroy our moral fabric, institutional fabric, family fabric and then social fabric.
What makes us what we are is what we suffer through, we are formed by our suffering because we see ourselves in a deeper way and transformation is necessary to lift us from the suffering/rough patch. We must listen to the voice of [Genesis] – all are equal, made in God’s image; the voice of [Exodus] – all are destined to wander in the wilderness; the voice of [Jesus] – blessed are the poor in spirit (the humble). Loving through a period of hyper-individualism and the MAGA movement is a genuine attempt to find community.
We cannot dismantle the violence we find in the world if we allow threats and promises to be the overarching frame of Christianity, or any religious or secular creed. This binary idea of an infinite God being caught up in a naive reward/punishment worldview—must be undone by the deeper gospel of radical grace, unconditional love, and true respect, or nothing will ever change. The loving people I have met across the world seem to know that if it is love at all, it has to be love for everybody. As soon as we begin to hand it out, we are not in the great field of love.
The elite and their puppet masters should be the subject of an enemies list. We seek those who yearn to create civic healing. Moral formation has to be at the center of what we do. Thus, we seek a cultural change and a creative minority who will find a better way to live. By paying attention to another is creating an unmatched generosity – and feeds the soul.
Three terms apply to a negative conflict resolution. These define a failure that colors subsequent actions. When something is “wrong,” the following are evident:
1) Resentment - An emotion that poisons one’s soul. It produces bitterness, lies, slander, personal attacks justified by imagined actions and even physical brutality. There is no place for this evil emotion;
2) Revenge - An action that is prodded by resentment. This is framed by selfish pride and arrogance. This leads one to ignore the Law and “take matters into their own hands.” It seeks a justice that is unjust. One seeking revenge is never satisfied for he will only increase his misery. [Prov. 26:27], “One who digs a pit will fall into it, and one who rolls a stone, it will come back on him”; and,
3) Retribution - An action that is justified and essential for civility. Retribution recognizes certain actions are wrong and must be corrected. A failure of evil’s correction encourages greater evil. The secular guide for corrective retribution is the Constitutional Rule of Law.
Vindictive resentment destroys civility’s compass because it leads society toward anarchy. This fact is established by a number of sources. Here is one: Holy Scripture states that evil’s wrong-doing must be met with retribution; [Ecc. 8:11] and, [Isa. 26:10]
A day of reckoning is here, there is an irony in the expressed “revenge” of the Democrat Party and its handlers. They vociferously, clamor to condemn their political opponents as seeking “revenge.” But they are feeding a vengeance lust within their own Party. They call for peace, but they are hypocritical. They want to exact revenge and proudly have a list! There is a reality that awaits these politicians whose witch hunts have failed. Retribution is approaching. There is a moment in time when the opportunity to save oneself from the coming retribution will forever pass. Let those who have served the Democrat Party of revenge, recant their identification, renounce their allegiance, and resolve to follow the Constitutional Rule of Law that governs our great nation.
As a final plea, some are saying “compassion” should be shown to those who seek to destroy our nation. Such pleas for leniency are evil! Inspiration’s counsel should control retribution to those who violated the Laws of society. One seeks not revenge from a selfish lust but retribution for the criminal action. There is a difference. [Ecc. 8:11; Isa. 26:10] Now is not the time for resentment or revenge, but retribution. “Let justice roll out like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” [Amos 5:24].
President Trump has announced a ten-point plan to dismantle the deep state and reclaim our democracy from Washington corruption:
1) Re-issue the 2020 executive order restoring the president’s authority to fire rogue bureaucrats;
2) Overhaul federal departments and agencies, firing all of the corrupt actors in our National Security and Intelligence apparatus; (DOGE)
3) Fundamentally reform the FISA courts, to root out corruption;
4) Establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to declassify and publish all documents on Deep State spying, censorship, and abuses of power;
5) Launch a major crackdown on government leakers who collude with the media to create false narratives, pressing criminal charges when appropriate;
6) Make every Inspector General’s Office independent from the departments they oversee, so that they do not become protectors of the deep state;
7) Establish an independent auditing system to continually monitor our intelligence agencies to ensure that they are not spying on our citizens or running disinformation campaigns against the American people;
8) Continue Trump’s efforts to move parts of the federal bureaucracy outside of the Washington Swamp, like moving the BLM to Colorado;
9) Ban federal bureaucrats from taking jobs at the companies they deal with and regulate, such as Big Pharma; and,
10) Push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress.
Trump’s attack on the Administrative State (The Bureaucracy, The Swamp) is an absolute necessity. Failure to do so, means we experience another major depression that will make the Great Depression seem like a walk in the park. The second challenge which is the result of the first is our National Debt. If you are aware of the debt, you should be check-ing the National Debt Clock weekly and periodically telling your federal government representatives to act. Fiscal irresponsibility is reckless and unbiblical.
Do you remember the “Trump Accountability Project” launched by the D’s? Here is their goal of revenge on political opponents: “But those who took a paycheck from the Trump Administration should not profit from their efforts to tear our democracy apart. The world should not forget those, when faced with a decision, choose to put their money, their time, and their reputations behind encouraging racism and anti-Semitism, and negligently caus-ing the unnecessary loss of life and devastation from our country’s failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” There is not a singular voice projecting the D’s, RINOS, and Deep Staters evil lust for revenge. It is endemic and according to this group, that includes any-one questioning the D.C. circulatory system. Remember: The pleas of German Socialists - they were only “obeying orders” as they faced retribution for their work in the Holocaust. That did not work then and it will not work today. Each is accountable for their actions! AMEN
Love, Hank
Cell: 541-973-5442
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