Toxic Philosophy (Sermon)

by Michael C Garrett

Turning to my notes: When I consider myself, I consider myself as having a very simple lifestyle. I live in a very simple quiet and peaceful neighborhood. I am now living in the latter part of my 6th decade of life. So, I’m not a spring chicken anymore. I still enjoy officiating a variety of sporting events. And I love hanging out with my very special and beautiful little kitty friends. And, when the weather is warmer, I love being outside with my fruit trees, my grapes, my tomatoes, and many other types of plants. And obviously, I love Jesus Christ. I love the principles of the New Covenant. I love the living Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God. And, learning bit-by-bit our future participation in that Plan. And O’ yes, I love all of you. I appreciate all of you who watch, read, or listen to us regularly – and the people who attend with us here every week. But, overall I am a very simple man. And I enjoy a very simple and peaceful lifestyle.

But here of late – over the last few years – there are concepts of which I have read in newspapers, and heard on television and the computer, of which, and about which, I just do not and I cannot fully understand. And in particular, there are three concepts – three phrases – which we are hearing all the time now. And I think – where is this coming from!? And what are they trying to say!? And where is this philosophy, this mindset, coming from!? And, what potentially is it going to lead to!?

Here are the three terms:

1) Social Justice.

2) Toxic Masculinity.

3) White Privilege.

Have any of you heard these phrases?

Well, over the past week, the media has been inundated with stories, accounts, evaluations, critiques, and commentary surrounding an event that occurred in Washington, D.C. this past Sabbath in the aftermath of the annual March for Life. At the center and focus of these controversies were some high school students – mostly young men – from the state of Kentucky. Now, most of these students were from Covington, Kentucky, just up the Ohio River from us. And Covington Catholic High School. What is not known in the national media – or what has not become noticed in the national media – but which is known locally, is that some of those students were from Owensboro Catholic High School. And so this story has a very local feel to it for me.

These high school students, and some of their chaperones, were predominately white, male, and Catholic. They were in the nation’s capital to participate in the horrible concept of the murdering of unborn babies. And they were in a very highly honorable March for Life.

And these high school young men became the focus of the extreme left-wing media and their far left-leaning allies. They became the object of extreme victoriotic hatred, contempt, and hostility.

Keep in mind – they were standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. They were minding their own business. And they were there because they were waiting for buses to pick them up and take them back to wherever they were supposed to go.

And what was their “great sin”!? Their crime, their evil, their wickedness, their iniquity – their horrible offense – against humanity was that they were white, male, and they espoused to be Christian. And some of them were wearing red MAGA hats! Make America Great Again!

Now, think about this. You’re hated because you wear a hat that proudly proclaims – let’s all of us make America great again! Well, other politicians have used this phrase. Ronald Reagan’s “Let’s make America great again!” The phrase was also used in speeches by Bill Clinton during his 1992 presidential campaign. And, President Donald Trump popularized this slogan during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The phrase is being used again as the official slogan of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. And so, if you wear this hat with that slogan you’re basically saying, “I am a supporter of the President.”

Let’s go over a newspaper account.

TUE. JANUARY 22, 2019. This is an Owensboro newspaper. The headline reads – “3 groups, many videos, many interpretations of DC encounter” by Jeffrey Collins of the Associated Press.

“A group of five black men shouting vulgar insults while protesting centuries of oppression. Dozens of white Catholic high school students visiting Washington for a rally to end abortion. And Native Americans marching to end injustice for indigenous peoples across the globe who have seen their lands overrun by outside settlers.

The three groups met for just a few minutes Friday at the base of the Lincoln Memorial, an encounter captured in videos that went viral over the weekend — and again cast a spotlight on a polarized nation that doesn’t appear to agree on anything.”

I will remind you what our Lord Jesus says, and I gave a sermon on this – more than one. “A Nation Divided Against Itself” cannot stand! Those are the words of our living Jesus Christ!

Returning again to the article –

“At first the focus was on a short video showing one of the high school students, Nick Sandmann, wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat and appearing to smirk …”

Now, I take issue with the reporter saying that young Nick had a smirk. I’ve seen that video – and certainly many of you have. I just saw a very young man – and I’ve heard reports that this young Nick was only 15 years old – not old enough yet to even grow a beard. But, I didn’t see a smirk, I saw a neutral face, and at times a smiling face. But anyway – there were those on the far left who constantly described that as a “smirk.” Some people even tried to compare him to a photograph of the associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Brett Kavanaugh – who was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since October 6, 2018. There were so many misleading media stories about him and his past. And he was said to have a “smirk.” A smirk which was indicative of “White Privilege.” Surely you heard that over and over back then. Well, no, I didn’t see a smirk on young Mr. Sandmann’s face.

“ … while a crowd of other teens laughed derisively behind him, as he faced off against a 64-year-old Native American, Nathan Phillips, who played a traditional chant on a drum.”

Again, I’ve seen that video. I saw a group of youths – some of whom didn’t look to be over 14 years old to me – standing on the steps minding their own business being pelted by obscenities from these five black men who were calling themselves Black Hebrew Israelites. Which, if you know the Bible, that is a really inaccurate term. But, anyway, that is the label they’ve given themselves. And, you can hear in the video the ugly and vile things they were shouting at these teenage youths who were visiting from out of state. The state of Kentucky. It was truly ugly!

These youths were standing there waiting for their buses, minding their business, and from somewhere else this Nathan Phillips, who had a couple of people with him – with a so-called Indigenous Peoples March, whatever that means – who was 64 years old, just walked right into the middle of these high school students and walked up to (within inches) young Nathan’s face. And he began beating on a very primitive drum.

Again, just inches from the young man’s face. And if you watch the video closely enough, every time Mr. Phillips hit the drum with his stick, it was so close that this young man’s eyes were blinking as a defensive reflex. His body telling him – ‘that’s so close you need to move away.’ But, Nathan didn’t go anywhere – he just stood there. He didn’t say anything to Mr. Phillips. He didn’t make any gestures at Mr. Phillips. He just stood there and tried to smile.

Continuing with the newspaper article –

Again, “other teens laughed derisively.”

I saw a few of the youths in that crowd clapping to the beat of the drum. They’re just teenagers waiting for their buses, and here comes some entertainment – they could never have imagined – and some of them are just clapping to the beat. One of the boys – and he looked young – at some point when the five Black Hebrew Israelites were taunting these horrible vindictives towards the high school youths took his shirt off and led a portion of the crowd in a chant, which I was told was the same chant they use at their football games and their basketball games when they’re cheering on their classmates. So again, they were sort of trying to entertain themselves. And I heard a person say – they began this chant so they could drown out the noise and the hatred which was coming from this small group of radical black men. HATEFUL!

If you haven’t seen it – you need to watch it!

“Pull back further and a different view emerged, however, in a separate video showing members of a group calling itself the Black Hebrew Israelites taunting everyone on the mall that day, calling the Native Americans who had gathered there for the Indigenous Peoples March “Uncle Tomahawks” and "$5 Indians” …”

Now, I really don’t know what that means – but I tend to think it is a reference to what once would appear in stores. A wooden Cigar store Indian, which was an advertisement figure, in the likeness of a Native American, used to represent tobacconists. This goes back to the 19th century.

“ … and the high school students “crackers” and worse.”

Most of the names were so ugly, that we certainly won’t repeat it.

“It was an ugly encounter of spewed epithets but one that nevertheless ended with no punches thrown or other violence.

Still, the videos were all over social media, again appearing to illustrate a nation of such deep divisions — racial, religious and ideological — that no one was willing to listen to the others’ point of view. Add to that the political tensions spilling over from a government shutdown that has gone on for a month and the stage was set for a viral moment.

But in this case, the videos didn’t tell the whole story, …”

And on this point, Mr. Collins is truly correct!

The initial videos released and spread around everywhere did not tell the whole story.

“ … all the parties involved agree.”

And then repeating a quote that Mr. Sandmann put out –

“ ‘I would caution everyone passing judgment based on a few seconds of video to watch the longer video clips that are on the internet, as they show a much different story than is being portrayed by people with agendas.’”

Now, I don’t know if Mr. Sandmann actually made that statement, maybe a lawyer – maybe Young Nick did. Maybe his parents helped him.

“Sandmann’s statement does seem at odds with some video from the confrontation that showed …”

Again, the Associated Press leans to the left. Mr. Collins is trying to be fair, but his Liberalism keeps rushing in. In fact, I don’t even want to finish that portion, because I don’t think it is correct.

At one point, some news people got ahold of Mr. Phillips – the Omaha Native American political activist who received quite a bit of publicity out of this (which I’m sure he loved every moment of) and he said they were ‘mockingly singing along with him.’ I don’t know how you ‘mockingly sing along with someone.’ I don’t know – that just seems exaggerated to me. And he said he ‘heard the students shout “Build that wall!” and “Go back to the reservation!”

Now, time out. A great many people have studied these videos – far more than I have – and I’ve heard reporters say, ‘No one can find on the videotapes anyone saying ‘build that wall,’ or ‘go back to the reservation!’

“The fullest view of what happened that Friday afternoon came from a nearly two-hour video posted on Facebook by Shar Yaqataz Banyamyan. It showed members of his Black Hebrew Israelite group repeatedly interacting with the crowd as people from the Indigenous Peoples March and the high school students vigorously argued with them for a few minutes.”

So, the radical black group – Black Hebrew Israelites are what they’re calling themselves – and some of these Native Americans, referring to themselves as the Indigenous Peoples March, got into an argument back and forth. And this radical black group was raining down horrible epithets on the young high school students.

Now, when this first came out, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington “apologized for the incident, promising an investigation that could lead to punishment up to expulsion if any wrongdoing by the students was determined.”

Well, friends, I watched those videos – I did not see Young Nick do anything wrong. One reporter on NBC – The Today Show – interviewed Young Nick and she said, “There’s something aggressive about standing there.” So, I ask a question to Savannah Guthrie of The Today Show, What was Young Nick supposed to do!? Was he to have run up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and hide behind the statue of Abraham Lincoln!? He was there first, he was waiting for a bus. Why does he have to walk away!? He just stood there with a smile on his face. Didn’t say a word – didn’t do a thing. Did nothing provocative – except standing there as this 64-year-old Native American beat on a drum just inches from his face, his eyes, and his ears.

Another thing I read here, in the last paragraph – a representative of the Indigenous People, Chase Iron Eyes said in a statement.

“Trump has riled up a reactionary voting block that reminds us that we are a nation founded on patriarchy, genocide and racism. Trump is clearly giving these archaic instincts license, encouraging the kind of aggressive goading that I witnessed.”

Again, I watched the videos, and that’s not what I saw.

Toxic Masculinity?

At the present time – and over the last few years – practitioners, disciples of the far left movement in this nation, from pop culture, mainstream media, and so-called higher education (and I use the term ‘so-called’ because if I had a child I wouldn’t want him/her going to many of the universities we hear about) has been spewing a toxic philosophy. And this toxic philosophy even seeps down into high schools and into elementary schools.

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this – I was a very successful teacher. And the students who seemed to benefit the most from having me as a teacher were the young boys in my classes. Now, think about this. Think about the elementary or high school you know about. I would be willing to bet that from the 6th grade down – including kindergarten – 99 percent of the teachers are female. And, I’m not against that. But, I have observed female teachers expect their young boys to behave like young girls. And friends, I’m telling you – from 6 decades of living – for the most part boys and girls do not act the same. They don’t think the same. They approach things differently. Many young girls want to play with their dolls – nothing wrong with that. And, most boys don’t want to play with dolls – surely there are a few who do. Most young boys want to go outside and play on their bicycles or when they get a little older, their motorcycle. Maybe basketball, football, wrestling.

Sadly, children – young boys – are being diagnosed as having ADD or ADHD and are made to take Ritalin and other mind-altering drugs. And, in my opinion, call a recess and let them go outside and run around for 10 or 15 minutes. And when they come back in, they’re perfectly ready to learn. Whereas a young girl might just sit there the whole day. And I’m not making anything of that – I’m just saying boys and girls do not act the same. Men think one way, and women think another way. You surely understand this. All one needs to do is open their eyes and look around. That’s the way it is.

Now, I’m going to be rather crude here – it’s almost as though in the mind of some of these people they wish they could castrate every young boy and every man. Because there is the process of trying to emasculate every young boy and every man. And, you hear some of these groups talk – it’s almost as if the only purpose for having men on the earth is to be sperm donors.

So yes, as a teacher, I allowed my young boys to be young boys. And every one of them made significant improvement. And almost every time I had a parent-teacher conference, the parents would say – ‘my son now loves school!’

These satanically inspired forces on the left are creating an almost all-out assault and defamation against men. And in this present evil age, especially white men. As well as all aspects of Christianity, and all ideas of traditional American values. These evil forces appear to be at war against the Constitution, the fundamentals of the founding of this nation, and other founding documents, as well as U.S. history.

An Awoke Agenda

We’ve seen in the last year or two this movement of removing monuments. A statue about something someone didn’t agree with. I even heard someone call them ‘idols.’ No, they’re commemorations of HISTORY! The American Civil War happened – whether you like it or not! World War I happened! World War II actually occurred! And concerning the American Civil War – yes, it was the war between the Union (the North) and the Confederacy (the South). And it was a most bloody war. And it was a cataclysmic war. And it just nearly ripped this nation apart. But in the end, the nation came together and it healed. And ever since the 1860s life in the United States of America has improved FOR EVERYONE – of all religions and races! Are there still problems and issues? Sure – because people are people. And sometimes people are really terrible. But the trend is upward. It’s not downward.

And we have right now in this beloved nation a young lady the age of thirty-four years old – from the streets of New York City – an attractive woman with a world of energy. But she has ideas that are so radical – she wants this nation to become a Socialist nation. Based upon Socialist principles. And that traditional Capitalism and Democracy be abolished. And if this 34-year-old (who appears to exert this unbelievable power over her political party having been in office since January 3, 2019) had her way our great nation would be running more like the now-defunct Soviet Union! Or Communist China! Or North Vietnam! Or Cuba! And here right now – Venezuela! Two major blocs of political parties are in Venezuela: the incumbent leftist bloc United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), its major allies Fatherland for All (PPT), and the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV). In Venezuela, a person is murdered every 21 minutes. The United States Department of State and the Government of Canada have warned foreign visitors that they may be subjected to robbery, kidnapping, and murder and that their own diplomatic travelers are required to travel in armored vehicles. 1 Because there is a dictator by the name of Nicolás Maduro – a devout Socialist. In 2018, their inflation rate was projected at 1,000,000 percent, placing Venezuela in a similar situation to that of Germany in 1923! 2 With a peak of some 29,500% per month – where you couldn’t even have gotten toilet paper!

There is a restaurant here in town and two of the waiters – a mother and son – fled Venezuela a few years ago because they saw this trouble coming. And they said – “¡Nos largamos de aquí!” And now another of her children has left that country. Because Venezuela is just being ripped apart – a once very prospering and wealthy country – to complete anarchy. And why!? Because the principles of Socialism are deadly. For the LORD God says, “For the wages of sin is death, …” – Romans 6:23. Well, the wages of Socialism/Communism is death to a society!

If you would, turn in your Bible to Romans chapter 1.

Now some of these passages we’ll quote today – the Apostle Paul was talking about religious philosophies. We’re going to take some of the things the Apostle Paul wrote and even some of what the Prophet Isaiah wrote and we’re going to put a little more philosophical twist upon it. But, have no doubt – in the minds of the modern proponents of leftism (Socialism), their political views are their religion. And so, in this sense, even these political philosophies actually take on the aura of religion.

Verse 16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of [Jesus] Christ, …”

Now, the Apostle Paul could say this – and he meant it!

“ … for it is the power of God to salvation for EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES, for the Jew first and also for the Greek [or rather, the Gentile].”

A little later in this series – Toxic Philosophy – we get into the concept of the “White Privilege.” And I’ll point out when we get there that from the mind of the LORD God, it makes no difference whether you’re white, yellow, brown, black, red, or albino. Because it’s for EVERYONE! The living word of God is for EVERYONE!

Verse 17 – “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”

What does he mean by ‘from faith to faith’?

To us, it has two separate meanings. And they work together –

1) The faith of God the Father and the faith of Jesus Christ to have created us and to set apart a plan that has the ultimate goal – eternal life in the kingdom of God. That faith that the LORD God has and They pass on through Their Spirit that faith to humanity.

2) Most people do not discover the truth of the LORD God by themselves. Now, surely a few have. Maybe they're on a deserted island and they have a Bible they begin reading – and maybe they finally figure out some of the principles that the LORD God wants us to follow, and they search the LORD God out and are led to more and more truth. But for most people, they learn about the living truth of God (and I’m not talking about religion the way most of this world thinks about religion; Catholicism, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Pentecostal, Lutheran, etc. – some organized body of religion. These organizations do not teach the TRUTH OF THE BIBLE and the TRUTH OF GOD and the TRUTH OF GOD’S PLAN. I’m sorry if this offends some of you – I’m not trying to) because somewhere in their life they met or they were exposed to another human being that began to teach them the living truth of God.

And we will say unashamedly that in our life this catalyst for change was produced by the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong as well as his son Garner Ted Armstrong. And I think we can speak for nearly all of us here. And, we know that they didn’t do everything perfectly. Well, guess what – none of us have! “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23. And we do this before conversion, and we do this after conversion. But, the great thing about the New Covenant is that there is always a source of forgiveness that we can go to. And it’s called JESUS CHRIST! Our great High Priest. These two great leaders helped get us going in the right direction in understanding the living word of God. They certainly didn’t teach us everything. Because many things our Lord Jesus Christ taught us through His living word and prayer. And for that, we will always be grateful. And – because of this we will always be sad. Because Garner Ted’s son is not following in his father’s footsteps. And yet there are people who – and we don’t understand their thinking – have convinced themselves that his son is following in his father’s footsteps. No, he isn’t. He is into far-extreme right-wing politics.

“ … ‘The just shall live by faith.’”

This comes from the Book of Habakkuk 2:4, which actually says, “ … But the just shall live by [H]is faith.” The FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST! The Creator God’s faith!

Verse 18 – “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and [all] unrighteousness of men, who suppress [hold back] the truth in unrighteousness.”

And I contend that the modern-day practitioners of the agendas of the far radical left fall into this category just as much as any false prophet who has ever lived!

Verse 19 – “because what may be known of God is manifest [it’s obvious!] in them [and to them], for God has shown it to them.”

The GREAT DESIGN! 

All one needs to do is go outside at night – away from the lights of a large city – and look up at the sky! All one needs to do is look upon a flower and just study it! Which only came from a Creator God. It did not happen by accident. And, it didn’t come from a “Big Bang”! And, our distant ancestors were not a “rich variety of organic molecules” which suddenly came alive after being struck by lightning! And, even if that were true, where did these “organic molecules” come from!? The proof of God can be seen in the creations of God.

Verse 20 – “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, …”

Again, take a look around.

As an example – take a look through a scanning electron microscope at a human red blood cell! A typical human red blood cell has a disk diameter of approximately 6.2–8.2 micrometers – that’s about the size of a small pinhead. Or, take a look at a drop of pond water. An invisible world! An amazing variety of microscopic creatures. You can find simple life forms such as bacteria, great oxygen-producers like algae, all kinds of alien-like protozoans, and cute microscopic animals like water bears. You will be amazed! A vast world of creation! Or, you can view the images created by the James Webb Space Telescope. One of the latest discoveries - in June 2023 detection of organic molecules 12 billion light-years away in a galaxy called SPT0418-47 using the Webb telescope was announced. The operators also pointed Webb at a location in the night sky – which has been called Webb's First Deep Field. Discovering even more ancient galaxies! No single image has reshaped our understanding of the universe like the Hubble Deep Field. The team of operators ultimately chose a location within Ursa Major, near the handle of the Big Dipper, that looked relatively empty. But, that supposed emptiness provided a grand gateway to see even further back in time!

Again, take a look around!

And this great and awesome LORD God has a plan for all humanity – past, present, and future. And that the LORD God’s goal – someday – is to allow all of us who have NOT REJECTED THE TRUTH OF GOD to have an opportunity to live for all eternity as a member of the family of God within the kingdom of God!

“ … even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

People who follow a false religion do not have an excuse. Other than they can say, “I was ignorant.” Or, “I was misled.” And for a lot of people that is true. They are ignorant – they don’t know. At this present moment there is a huge swath of the American public – and in other nations – which have been misled by this false god of Socialism. A poll in 2021 studied a percentage of adults who have a positive view of Socialism – Democrats 65% and Republicans 10%! Over half! We don’t know if it’s accurate or not – but we know that when we listen to CNN or MSNBC, this is what we hear over and over. People pushing us toward this far-left agenda!

Verse 21 – “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22) Professing to be wise, they became fools.”

And this is so true.

The proponents of the philosophy – the religion of the far left – profess to be wise, and yet they are demonstrating themselves to be fools.

One of the things you can do is study the history of the Soviet Union, China, North Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Venezuela. Their history will tell you everything you need to know how Socialism is a death trap for its societies and for the peoples who are encumbered by it.

Verse 25 – these people “who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature [the creation] rather than the Creator, …”

Have you heard of the term – tree hugger? This young woman – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – said she thinks that there is an urgency needed in addressing man-made climate change, warning that it will “destroy the planet” in twelve years!

Verse 28 – “And even as they [the creators of new religions – whether they sound religious or political. Socialism is to its proponents a religion. A way of life. Never doubt that!] did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased [a reprobate] mind, …”

A totally worthless mind. Clueless – like the term airheads. And we see this going on all around us.

Verse 29 – “being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, …”

Murder. You know a lot of the people on the left in the aftermath of that incident in Washington, D.C. – with the Young Sandmann – were saying things like, “Isn’t that a face you’d just love to smack!?” Another on the left, this same left that falsely claimed to have been at Ground Zero ‘the next day’ after 9/11 – “We need to take all of those boys, lock them in a building, at set it on fire!”

Just imagine the scene down in Waco, Texas in 1993! Involving that wacko David Koresh. And how apparently, he set his own followers on fire! But here he was, this “loving and generous” person – with unintelligent and lunatic ramblings coming out of his mouth. 3 And, our Lord Jesus says, “ … ’For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.’” – Matthew 12:34. The heart does speak! And when you say things like –

Koresh: Whoever wants to go out can go out.

FBI: No. No. No. No. Don't tell me - don't tell me that. Tell me that you're sending somebody out.

Koresh: I'm not going to - you don't - see - you don't understand about these people yet.

FBI: And you don't understand about the people here yet either.

Koresh: OK. Well if that's the way we want to play then we come to a point where –

Truly, reminiscent of the wacko Jim Jones!

That’s just indicative of just how rotten a person’s mind and heart truly is. The spirit of murder.

“ … strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30) backbiters, haters of God, …”

There are some locations now – if you are identified as a follower of Christ – you would be subject to being attacked. Christianity is the only religion in the Western world that can be defamed and attacked. You don’t touch Islam! 4 You don’t touch Buddhism! Or, Shintoism – or all the other ‘isms. But if you are a Christian you can expect … some people said that those young boys didn’t come to Washington, D.C. with the MAGA hats. That someone came around handing them out. And, boys being boys, they just simply put them on!? And, Young Sandmann had one on. One reporter said, “The MAGA hat is the same as a KKK hood!” Make America Great Again – in your mind!? Truly, there is no doubt when the Apostle Paul wrote – under divine inspiration – “God gave them over to a reprobate mind”! Well, they have been reprobated by the LORD God! That is how far off they are!

“ … violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.”

Disobedient to elders. Disobedient to established traditions of morality and Western values.

Verse 31 – “undiscerning, …”

Surely, these people professing themselves to be wise – every time they open their mouths or Tweet, text, or email, they demonstrate just how foolish their hearts have become. How unbelievably darkened their heart really is.

“ … untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, …”

“Lock them in a building, at set it on fire!”

Just let that sink in!

And I’ll tell ya, when I saw the videos of those young boys up on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I saw a nice group of young boys. That, if they were my neighbor, I wouldn’t be ashamed of them. If they were a great nephew or a grandson, I wouldn’t be ashamed of them.

“ … unmerciful.”

Just will not change their mind!

Verse 32 – “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things …”

That those who allow their minds to absorb this anti-god political structure are worthy of death.

“ … not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

Now, if you would turn in your Bible to Galatians 5.

Let’s pick up the last phrase of verse 13 – “ … but through love serve one another.”

Verse 14 – “For all the law [the actual summarization of the mind of the LORD God] is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Verse 15 – “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed [or destroyed] by one another!”

Echoes of ‘every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.’

Verse 16 – “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17) For the flesh lusts against the Spirit [they are in conflict!], and the Spirit against the flesh; …”

The human mind – the human mentality – is enmity with the LORD God. Is at war with the LORD God!

“ … and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

Verse 18 – “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not UNDER THE LAW.”

You’re not under the death penalty of the law. You’re not under the physical aspects of the Old Covenant.

Verse 19 – “Now the works of the flesh are evident [they’re obvious], which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness.”

Now, some of these people were on major news networks – like The View which is an ABC production. I never watch it. But I saw a few segments of some of the women on The View and the hateful things they said about a 15-year-old boy. Not even old enough to shave.

Verse 20 – “idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21) envy, [having the spirit of murders], drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, …”

Just a moment, something just came into my mind –

I heard on television the other day that the governor of New York – Andrew Cuomo – had signed into law a bill, which ran through the far-left political structure of New York, which reads – that a human fetus could be aborted within 24 weeks of birth! [section 2599-aa, Policy and Purpose, and section 2599-bb, Abortion]. Which reads –

§ 2599-BB. ABORTION. 1. A HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER LICENSED, CERTIFIED, OR AUTHORIZED UNDER TITLE EIGHT OF THE EDUCATION LAW, ACTING WITHIN HIS OR HER LAWFUL SCOPE OF PRACTICE, MAY PERFORM AN ABORTION WHEN, ACCORDING TO THE PRACTITIONER'S REASONABLE AND GOOD FAITH PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT BASED ON THE FACTS OF THE PATIENT'S CASE: THE PATIENT IS WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR WEEKS FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF PREGNANCY, OR THERE IS AN ABSENCE OF FETAL VIABILITY, OR THE ABORTION IS NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE PATIENT'S LIFE OR HEALTH.

If you're 24 weeks pregnant, you're in month 6 of your pregnancy. Only 3 months left to go!

And, I saw where New York City lit up the One World Trade Center, or Freedom Tower, in pink to celebrate the passage of this bill expanding abortion access and codifying a woman’s right to abort under state law.

Friends, it’s difficult to imagine – and the question we need to ask – what human being with a human heart (man or woman) could take a baby ... !? And at 24 weeks, a baby's survival rate reaches 42 to 59 percent… these are living beings. These are fellow human beings. Who is designated to fill in and take our place, and yet, these young children will never be allowed to take a breath of air. Because they will be murdered at the hands of their mothers, and their mother’s doctors!

Also, in 2018, there was the American drama film Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer. A film based on real-life events about Kermit Gosnell. An American former physician and serial killer. He provided illegal late-term abortions at his clinic in West Philadelphia.

And you think that the LORD God doesn’t notice! You think that the LORD God isn’t keeping score!

“ … those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

So says the Apostle Paul – inspired by the Spirit of God! □

Bibliography and additional notes:

1) Wikipedia contributors. "Venezuela." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Feb. 2024. Web. 6 Feb. 2024.

2) Ibid.

3) Mr. Johnson has read several transcripts between David Koresh and FBI agents, such as FBI Negotiator Henry Garcia.

4) Recall the Charlie Hebdo massacre, or the threatening and censorship of South Park.