Christianity – Page 3

Only Hirelings Scatter the Flock

We here at Really Right are vindicated once again on the issue of Covid and church attendance.

The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. –John 10: 13

A survey released last week found that a third of Americans have stopped attending religious services in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

The survey, “Faith After the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Changed American Religion,” was released Thursday. Conducted by the American Enterprise Institute in conjunction with the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC), the survey examined findings of the 2022 American Religious Benchmark Survey, which asked 9,425 participants about their religious self-identity and attendance from February to April 2022. The participants were selected for having previously taken part in similar surveys in 2018 and March 2020.

According to the results of the survey, 33% of Americans do not attend religious services at all post-COVID, as opposed to 25% before the pandemic. Also down is the number of Americans that attend either regularly (24%) or monthly (8%), as opposed to a pre-COVID cumulative number of 36% (26% and 10%, respectively), Religion News Service reported.
1/3 of Americans do not attend religious services in the post-COVID era: poll

According to the survey, conservatives, adults 50 and older, married adults, and those with a college degree remained likely to attend a religious service. However, while the percentage of Americans who attend in-person religious services has more than doubled since July 2020 (then 13%), standing at 27% in March 2022, this is still below pre-COVID numbers, the survey notes.

Further, the survey also shows that the percentage of conservatives who never attended religious services post-COVID has gone up, from 14% to 20%. Likewise, women, who the survey contends are more likely to attend religious services, also experienced a decline in attendance, with the percentage of women not attending religious services up from 23% to 31% post-COVID. A similar increase happened in men, the survey notes, with 34% of men not attending religious services as opposed to 28% before COVID.

Among Catholics, the percentage of white Catholics who never attend services has gone up from 11% to 18%. Among Hispanic Catholics, the difference was higher, with 10% not attending as opposed to 20% post-COVID.

So, there you have it, proof that scattering God’s sheep has caused many to be lost—probably for good.

The survey also notes that “[C]hanges in worship help us understand how the pandemic has diminished — perhaps permanently — the role of religious participation in the lives of individual Americans and society as a whole.”

Oh, the church I have been attending has been hemorrhaging of members, money, and good will with many people angry with the clergy but not because of Covid.

Frankly, I think closing during Covid has put many congregations into a death spiral from which most will never recover. I look for a gradual death for my current church. Demographically, it’s all but a certainty. The fear of offending people with the Truth causes the clergy to fail in its mission of equipping the saints to deal biblically with life’s challenges.

My pastor hopes we can just hide-out within our church and all the bad stuff will Passover us. He seems to be perfectly fine with our culture and world going to hell as long as they leave us in peace. I seem to recall something about hiding your light under a bushel basket, but my sense was that it wasn’t a good thing for churches to do. Maybe seminary graduates know something we don’t.

What Do Donald Trump and Amy Grant Have in Common

They both got on my naughty list this month for the same thing, redefining marriage. Sorry culturally compromising people but marriage is between a man and woman. God didn’t make Adam and Steve, or Ellen and Eve as Ole Dave Waddell used to opine. When people in a homosexual relationship want to stay together it’s not a marriage. Anyone that calls it that demeans the institution and the Biblical view of God. There can be no such thing as marriage in a homosexual union; in fact, rightly viewed there is no such thing, its just a convenient fiction, an imitation, a demonic copy.

First Trump. And folks this is likely just a bridge too far for me to enthusiastically support the Orange Man in 2024.

Thursday’s “Spirit of Lincoln” gala was in honor of the “Log Cabin Republicans” a pro-homosexual activist group formed 45 years ago. The party, held in the ballroom of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago beachfront country club and residence, was a joyous celebration of gay rights and —by coincidence— the historic “Respect for Marriage Act,” obliging the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage, signed into law by President Joe Biden just days earlier, after 12 GOP senators defected and voted with all the Democrat senators (at the urging of the Seventh-day Adventist Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department).

The long-planned event in honor of the Log Cabin Republicans’ 45th anniversary brought in Republican notables like former Ambassador Ric Grenell, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus, who emceed the evening in a feathered turquoise gown, and former GOP gubernatorial candidate from Arizona Kari Lake, who was swarmed by guests eager to meet her and take a photo.

“We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard,” Former President Trump said. “With the help of many of the people here tonight in recent years, our movement has taken incredible strides, the strides you’ve made here is incredible.”

Throughout the evening, speakers praised Trump for his embrace of the gay community. They credited him for his initiatives to combat the criminalization of homosexuality, his work pushing for public heath initiatives to combat the HIV epidemic, and for appointing the first openly homosexual Cabinet member, Ric Grenell, as DNI, Director of National Intelligence.
Trump hosts gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago

In fairness, Trump didn’t mention Sleepy Joe’s law attempting to enshrine homosexual marriage into federal law, but it was enough of an issue that Politico called the party “a celebration of the same-sex marriage law”.

Next up is Amy Grant.

Seems Amy has thrown in the towel on the Bible being the highest authority in her life. Instead, she has thrown in with the rainbow people and made love—however pervertedly you wish to define it—as the highest value in life. Rev Franklin Graham has taken her to task over this, but shouldn’t her local pastor be leading the charge on the issue? Well local pastors did so well with Covid, by comparison this issue should be a sinch since its specifically condemned in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, but sadly let’s get back to reality. Here’s the meat of the story.

Upon learning that her niece declared her sexuality, Grant openly said her reaction was: “What a gift to our whole family to just widen the experience of our whole family.” “Honestly, from a faith perspective, I do always say, ‘Jesus, you just narrowed it down to two things: love God and love each other,'” Grant said. “I mean, hey — that’s pretty simple.”

In 2013, Grant did her first interview for PrideSource.com, an LGBT news website, where she shared her views on faith and LGBT issues.

“I know that the religious community has not been very welcoming, but I just want to stress that the journey of faith brings us into community, but it’s really about one relationship. The journey of faith is just being willing and open to have a relationship with God. And everybody is welcome. Everybody,” Grant said.

The wife and Christian singer also told “Proud Radio” host Hunter Kelly last year about why it’s important for her to set a “welcome table.” Grant stated that she was invited to a “table where someone said, ‘Don’t be afraid, you’re loved.’ Gay. Straight. It does not matter.”

“[It] doesn’t matter how we behave. It doesn’t matter how we’re wired,” Grant said, according to Church Leaders. “We’re all our best selves when we believe to our core: ‘I’m loved.’ And then our creativity flourishes. We’re like, ‘I’m gonna arrange flowers on your table and my table.’ When we’re loved, we’re brave enough to say yes to every good impulse that comes to us.”
Franklin Graham responds to Amy Grant’s plan to host lesbian wedding: Don’t ‘compromise’ God’s authority

Boy, Amy sure seems to have lost her way. Sadly, she’s not the only one. Enabling people on the way to hell by cheering them on in their spiritual darkness is a much different proposition from warning them of their peril and telling them to turn from the wrath to come.

I have friends that know Amy personally but until I read about Graham taking her to task, I had no idea she was so immersed in heresy and compromise on this clearly stated Scriptural teaching.

Amy once did a song about “love will find a way” but if that Way is not to the Cross then its in vain.

Last Thursday Night was a Wreck

As has been my habit, this week I went to the twice monthly Theology on Tap. It’s a Thursday night men’s gathering at a local watering hole that is sponsored by my church and usually attended by our pastor. The Pastor decided to read a passage in Psalms about trusting in God as opposed to men. I’m not sure of the reference—not that it matters—but it was something like one of these verses.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. Psalm 146:3

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

He used the verse as a springboard to bring up government and politics. As you might expect, things went really sideways from there. Folks, it was the most horrific display of biblical illiteracy that I’ve seen in many years.

Those in attendance maintained that government was an invention of men and God could care less about it or what it does. It was just another societal institution composed of corrupt men. Which by the way is ok, as long as they leave us Christians alone and don’t force us to do stuff we disagree with; not that anyone could cite an example of what that might be. (Apparently closing churches, telling us whether we could sing songs during a worship service, or when and how to have Holy Communion is not crossing that line.) Furthermore, they asserted that the Bible is mute on how we should be governed by the State.

Folks these were not a bunch of pagans in the local biker bar trying to tell me why religion is dumb, these guys are the leaders of the church and regularly attend weekly services, and most have done so for years on end.

Wow. Truthfully, I got so angry that I left before it was over.

I thought every Sunday School kid knew that God created government. Its right there in Genesis 9, if you know what you’re reading. The proposition that man created government is usually credited to Thomas Hobbs or Jean-Jacques Rousseau. That this idea was allowed to stand for the hour and a half of discussion that I endured is shameful.

Most were in agreement that the Bible has nothing to say about “How should we then live?” (title of 1976 book by Frances Schaeffer). To say this group was antinomian and hostile to what the Bible has to say is no exaggeration. Any believers that would look to the Bible—particularly the Old Testament for guidance as to what God expected of government—were denounced as advocates of tyranny, inquisition, theocracy, and Roman Catholicism. Aren’t those the accusations normally leveled against Christians by liberals, pagans, and humanists?

I couldn’t get anyone to agree to the proposition that God is sovereign, ruling the nations now, and that all authority is under Christ. I said that God has appointed all authorities and will judge them and hold them to account. Not one agreement from anyone in the room.

I also stated that we don’t live in normal times. We are under God’s judgement. One person asked if that was the nation as a whole or Christians in particular? I said both.

Oh, the other zinger that was loudly and repeated stated, the United States was not founded as a Christian nation. I guess the first 200 years or so of our history were irrelevant, at least to this know-it-all public school graduate.

Finally, they got around to bashing Donald Trump—who last I checked didn’t claim to be a roll model of virtue or Christian excellence. Trump was bad because he called people names and had been married more than once. Zero complaints about the Party of the KKK, Jim Crow, Trail of Tears, abortion, homosexuality, slavery, etc.

Other than to invoke a Lutheran prayer that the government leave us alone—“That we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” —and a reading of Romans 13, there was crickets from the pastor.

(I would expect this discussion from a female Methodist priestess and her congregants but a supposedly conservative clergyman and his leadership team, yikes!)

The only thing others said that I agreed with last night was if you don’t like it then move to another state. Thankfully I’m doing just that in a few months, God willing.

Folks, please understand that these guys see themselves as Godfearing Christians, good fathers, and Conservatives. If you want to know why your state is moving liberal and you have California Conservatives in your midst, maybe you can see a pattern here. They would rather be ruled by godless humanists, atheists, and pagans than by anyone using the Bible as their standard of Law and Ethics.

I got to see a microcosm of what’s wrong with the Church in America, or some of it anyway. It was heartbreaking. I’m not sure that I have much interest in going anymore.

The Catholic Church and Abortion

Bloggers note: The point of this blog isn’t to debate Prop 1 in CA (abortion) but to point out the shifting “stance” of the Catholic Church in regard to abortion that I have witnessed firsthand.

It should be a surprise to none of our readers, I am a Knight of Columbus (men’s group sanctioned by the Catholic Church) so I have a front row seat to the goings on and beliefs coming from leadership. One thing that upset me was slightly after the confirmation of Amy Comey Barret to the Supreme Court, I witnessed a sea change in tone at my church and in the media. Let me lay it out.

The media no longer made this a GOP vs Democrat issue, it became organized religion aka the Catholic Church vs everyone else. I use the term “Catholic Church” because most view the Pope as the world’s strongest leader when it comes to organized religion. He is definitely the most recognizable. Notice how the judges were being grouped by “Catholic vs the others”? Barrett was criticized as being Catholic, and heavily religious. This has begun a narrative that in my opinion led to the church changing its tone toward abortion.

I was also in receipt of 2 emails from supreme one telling me as a leader to tell my fellow Knights how to vote. Odd. If you are in a Catholic men’s group, you should know what you are joining, oh well. Followed by a separate email in essence saying you are a Catholic gentleman, vote this way. Yikes! Talk about bad messaging.

I am involved in a welcoming ceremony for the Knights here in California. One of the lines I always listened for is “Regarding abortion, we do not recognize it, and cry out it is a mortal sin!” “This goes for support of all politicians legalizing it as well.” Interestingly enough the ceremony was changed last year, and those lines are gone. Furthermore, abortion is no longer even mentioned. Gone. When I asked, I was told this is how it is, and not following exactly means you are expelled from the order. Pretty harsh!

In addition, it used to be if you were a Knight, you could not be a “Mason” as the Free Masons support abortion access, this was dropped as well. Something, something, membership dropping, something, something.

Then I came church a week or so ago, and the following left me speechless. During the homily or sermon depending on your viewpoint, our head priest wanted to address the congregation about Prop 1. I figured he would address it, likely saying the Bishop says this… etc. Nope he pawned it off to his deacon, a deacon in our church is not a priest but ordained kind of like minister in some ways. Our deacon punted, he basically said the bishop’s remarks are in the bulletin (basically a program) and they moved on. After Mass I looked in the vestibule (gathering area outside the main church) and the anti-abortion pamphlets were gone. Just to re-cap Father passed the baton, deacon punted, and the congregation was likely confused.

To make matters worse, I was told the Spanish Mass got a different variety of homily, there’s was more fire and brimstone about abortion being bad. This leads to one obvious conclusion, it’s about butts in the seats and money on the collection plate (donation plate).

Also leads to another question.

Is the Catholic Church picking and choosing who gets their message based on the crowd? I say yes. Why would you avoid the issue at the Masses with white/more affluent/progressive types, yet go all in at the Spanish Mass occupied by more traditional types? I believe it’s just a matter of which audience they want to hear the message. The earlier Masses are sparsely filled and tend to be far more democratic in their viewpoints, so tell them check out the program. The more traditional crowd? Hit them with the red meat and let them chew on it.

There has been a massive sea change in this country and make no mistake, its Catholics Vs Everyone on CA’s ballot in November. I expect 70% to vote in favor of making abortion legal permanently. I cannot hide my disappointment in the church or the Knights for turning their back on these issues. Just like the GOP does out here, when they start winning on an issue they immediately run for cover, scared and afraid.

Oh, and like William’s church, my church plays the same music, “They will know we are Christians by our love” and we play “all are welcome in this place” I guess all are welcome. Who cares about beliefs…like you know, the Bible says. Ouch.

Jake

Editor’s Note: The first email never even said how to vote or came out against Prop 1, it had this milquetoast admonition. “As you may be aware, the California Bishops have made a recommendation on Proposition 1 …” Two days later, a more substantive email was sent. The resources contained in it are actually very good. The Bible warns us “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:8 On this issue, the Church definitely falls under that condemnation.

A Church at War with Its Members

Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
1 Corinthians 1:12–13

Even if you don’t recognize all the names in the above passage, you get the idea that when people divide into factions that they exclude others and treat the one they like with more deference, respect, or courtesy. Conversely, those that disagree with them are vilified, dehumanized, and shunned.

A storm has been brewing for several years in the church that I have been attending. Actually, three storms or waves of controversy. Things finally hit the boiling point during the last two weeks. People have been taking “sides” and going after each other on social media and other platforms.

Instead of coming clean about what transpired, the church has told its members that its none of their business. They are maintaining that “it’s a personnel matter” and thus they have no intention to tell anyone what happened or apologizing to those that quit their jobs because of the crappy way they ignored the “personnel matters”. Yep, plural issues; more about them in a minute.

Folks, personnel matters are not in the Bible. We are given a command on how to deal with dissention in churches by Jesus himself.

Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Matthew 18: 15 – 17

These folks think they are a “Bible Church?” That’s laughable. I guess the Good Book doesn’t apply to them, it’s just a tool to whack everyone else.

On the other hand, this group was supportive of the leadership’s willingness to fold like a cheap suit when the governor said they were non-essential, I guess they’d rather please Caesar than their Savior. On this point they’re a consistent lot anyway.

Lastly people forced to experience these situations don’t act based on reason but are governed by emotion.

Now that I’ve given you an idea of what’s happening, let’s get to the why. From this point on, hip waders are recommended because the crap is going to hit the fan.

Folks this is literally a three-ring circus.

In ring number one is the school administrator that didn’t pay the teacher’s money which was withheld from their pay checks to the appropriate government agency. If memory serves, this agency is the guys that are currently hiring 87,000 agents willing to use deadly force against taxpayers. Her attitude was no worries. When the school was notified of the oversight, this genius just threw the notices (plural) in the trash so nobody would see them. This went on for the better part of two years before she was busted for being stupid. Oh, she was not the treasurer, so I don’t see why she saw fit to interfere. After tens of thousands in penalties, interest, and principle were paid, she was fired. (Makes you wonder what else wasn’t reported about her conduct.)

A certain segment of the congregation thinks she was shafted and treated unfairly. They maintain she was innocent. This is based upon the idea that she is a nice lady so she couldn’t have done it. Another group thinks she is lucky not to be serving time in government custody.

In ring number two are both the ordained ministers on the payroll. They needed to hire an outside mediator to help them reconcile “issues.” Being this happened during Covid, makes me wonder. You’d think the degree of ankle grabbing done by the church staff might not have been as unified and harmonious as it appeared. The only thing worse than the wholesale surrender of worship and church authority to Gavin Newsom was the Scripture twisting done from the pulpit to try to rationalize obeying the government when they ordered the church shut down.

Heresy is not too strong a term for the sermon allegedly based on Romans 13 that was put forth to justify capitulation to the whims of the State. It was as masterful as any scary cult stuff you get warned to avoid. The Scripture twisting from the pulpit was remarkable in its boldness and deceit. Rarely have I seen Holy Writ so grossly manipulated from the misapplication of “The Word.” The pastor verbally contorted the Bible in the same fashion as a clown stretches balloons into grotesque animals or a corner vendor shapes his dough into pretzels. Before long, the epistle written by the Apostle to the Gentiles is placed firmly upside down and its contents are proclaimed to mean the exact opposite of the plain context and historical background of the text.

In ring number three is the main event, the hostile workplace issue that dragged on for almost three years. Word is that employees of the church filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing because the church board failed to act after repeated complaints. I was told, gosh shucks, the board is volunteers so we shouldn’t expect them to act on such complaints. Such matters are way out of their league.

Finally, enough pressure was applied that the church had to hire a labor attorney to investigate the issues. In the course of conducting the investigation, much of the church board had to recuse themselves for conflicts of interest because they were either related to participants in the controversy or material witnesses to said violations.

The findings of said investigation are embargoed but the recommendations that the attorney made were reportedly adopted unanimously by the same governing body that had failed to act for so many years. What those recommendations are has not been disclosed either. They are embargoed too. In fact, everything having to do with it is embargoed. Curiously, following this vote, the Senior Pastor announced his resignation with two weeks’ notice.

What’s that saying about where there’s smoke …

Oh, due to the resignation of the Senior Pastor, the mediation mentioned in #2—which went on for about seven months—is null.

Some board members claim no causality between the findings of the investigation in number 3 and the pastor’s resignation. Considering that the Senior Pastor is the one that was accused by a multitude of people as the one fostering the hostile workplace stuff, that is laughable. The number of people to jump ship under his leadership is remarkable. The only way to know what the relationship between his resignation and the investigation is if the investigation findings are released.

Following their unanimous vote, the board thought it best to send their minions to various church events to calm the sheep that might be considering jumping ship. Their approach reminds me of my Navy days when we were on the Alaska Cruise. The captain came on the ship’s intercom one afternoon and said, “I can’t tell you what we’re doing out here but you’re doing a great job. Keep up the good work”.

Hint to my blog readers and members of the board, don’t send a known weasel out to try to calm the sensibilities of the masses. Having a person of such dubious character saying “anything you might wish to know is none of your business” can hardly be regarded as a competent strategy. The board’s position is trust us; we know what’s good for you. Wasn’t that Gavin’s line on closing churches during Covid?

When asked about the Matthew quote above, we are told the Bible doesn’t apply in the internal working of the church. Only state law matters. (If you think this sounds like the same rabbit hole that we just went down with Covid, I would wholeheartedly agree.)

Oh, we were also told that to make anything public would be to expose the church to litigation. Better to cover up the offenses. Again, opposite of biblical teaching. Oh, ditto for any type of apology to those that suffered under an unrepentant task master that created the alleged hostile work environment.

Folks, I’m not even on Facebook and the stuff that I know that was posted there is highly corrosive.

I could get into the tall weeds on this topic but why? I think you get the picture. It’s beyond ugly, it’s downright toxic. Irrecoverably so.

In the midst of all this, it did get even weirder. The spokesmen of the board are scared to death about the membership suffering or the weekly offering declining more. People have left the church over this—more on that in a minute. The sermon hymn last Sunday was “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love”.

Seriously?

The message from the church board is you have no right to know what happened. Its none of your business. But trust us. Stay here and we can go forward together just don’t expect us to do that healing stuff. Oh, and keep tossing money in the collection.

Lost in all this is that Biblical stuff about restitution and reconciliation.

This is a labor law, personnel matter, and you have no right to know even though you are the ones paying their salaries.

Based on my experience, this is how this will playout. A group of people will definitely leave over this mess. People act emotionally not intellectually to such things. Then in about six months, another group will exit. These are the ones that stayed to see if things will get better and they didn’t meet expectations.

Oh, we were told amidst a tidal wave of weasel words that the pastor didn’t have to resign. Folks, this ain’t his first rodeo. He left to save face. Better to retreat and live to fight another day.

Lastly after getting run out on a rail, the disgraced pastor got a going away party sponsored by the church and held on church property. My wife and I went out of curiosity. The number of people that didn’t show up was illustrative as well.

My attitude is that we’re leaving shortly for Idaho so in many ways we don’t have a dog in this hunt. I’m not emotional about the office mismanagement as much as the failure of the pastors to lead during Covid. The pastor needed to go because he lacked a spine to do the right thing. The fact that it’s not his reflex to trust Scripture speaks volumes to me.

Lastly, on the spineless comment, this pastor would occasionally say something right from the pulpit and the very next Sunday he would begin the service with an apology because a few people got offended by his comment the previous week. He would then retract what he said, ask for forgiveness, and promise not to do it again.

Again, where’s the Bible? Jesus said his words would be an offense. Many quit following Jesus because people disagreed with him or didn’t understand his words. At one point he even asked his disciples if they would leave too.

A church that can’t follow the Bible when it might have a cost is not worth defending. It needs to be vomited out. I’m thinking really hard if my money will continue to go there or elsewhere during my remaining time in Elk Grove.

This church has problems because the pastoral sermons stay in the shallow end of the theological pool and don’t give the meat of the Word to their members. So, when times get tough, we get to watch everyone play the baby game because they’ve never matured from the church’s teaching; or lack thereof. “Safe” sermons are worthless ones and sadly way to frequently given.

Just as I was preparing to post this blog, I get an email from the board. Guess the board meeting a couple days ago was not poorly attended like days gone by. Anyway, they sent out a communique tonight. I will redact a few names but let you have a feel for what was sent.

In October of 2021, the Church Council received complaints of hostile work environment from Church staff against a Pastor … In April of 2022, the Church Council retained an attorney … to conduct an internal investigation into those complaints as well as allegations of inappropriate behavior.
… the attorney, worked with a sub-committee appointed by Church Council to establish the parameters of the investigation. The purpose of the investigation was to dismiss or substantiate the hostile work environment allegations. The scope of the investigation involved gathering information from the complainants, the pastoral staff and members of the Church Council. (attorney’s) scope was limited to conducting unbiased interviews, gathering information/fact finding, creating a report and recommendations, and presenting this information to the Church Council appointed sub-committee.
Following an extensive investigation, it was determined this Pastor’s conduct did not rise to the level of unlawful hostile work environment under California or federal law. The investigator did conclude, however, that there was inappropriate conduct.
The sub-committee and Mr. (attorney) recommended a corrective action plan to address the inappropriate conduct and prevent it in the future. Some of the recommendations, by law, are prohibited from being disclosed.

I’ll keep following this situation in case it warrants another post.

California Versus America in Three Photos

Folks, I’ve been on vacation for the last two weeks. Mostly we’ve been taking Really Right Junior to tour various colleges so he can decide where to apply. I drove about 5,000 miles during that period.

Oh, cheapest gas price was $4.09 a gallon in Texas. Highest was on the California/Arizona border which was about $7.45 on the CA side of the line and $4.65 on the other.

While driving from Longview Texas to Fayetteville, Arkansas we had to make a bathroom stop. We chose the Dairy Queen. Some DQ franchises in Texas have chocolate soft serve ice cream and momma loves her ice cream.

Anyway I saw something I have never seen before in California. I feel that it illustrates what’s right with Texas and simultaneously what’s wrong with California. I felt compelled to photograph it for the blog. Let me know your thoughts.

Planted in the flower bed was a cross with the words “Jesus is Lord”. I thought that was unusual for a fast food place.

When coming out of the bathroom, I saw this on the counter where customers pick up their orders. Yep, that’s a Bible and an assortment of pens and highlighters. The sign says, “Highlight your Favorite Scripture”.

I was impressed. Yes, In ‘n Out Burger has Bible references printed on their wrappers and Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays but wow that’s nothing compared to this.

The Catholic Church is in Shambles

As a member of the Knights of Columbus at my local church, I am privy to information other regular church goers are not. I know people on the finance team, parish council, etc. It’s a humble brag but I will tell you the Catholic Church (aka who the Pope leads) is failing badly. Allow me to lay out my reasoning.

Dropping finances. Prior to and during Covid we were told our church had over 1 million dollars in the bank. Finance chair and resident boot licker Michael Jones even bragged from the ambo about the church getting a PPP loan, aka the forgivable government loan to keep operations going. Yep, we are not a mom-and-pop shop, we are a church with 5 Masses on weekends and a collection of roughly 11k a week pre-Covid, yet we needed that money. Just last week Michael Jones the patron Saint of Fiction told me of how the finances are hurting as the collection is way down. No kidding? You mean people are told they can watch from home and it still counts? Why return?
Uncomfortable environment to worship. Our Priest refuses to turn the lights on in either the vestibule or main church until Mass starts, not a second before. Ditto for shutting the lights off. He refuses to run the AC in the summer, or heat in the winter. I had to find a new parish as I do not like wearing my winter coat to service just to stay warm. In the summer I don’t like the idea of wearing a t-shirt just to not sweat profusely. We do all this to save a couple bucks a month at my church.
Attendance is declining. Covid did the church no favors, and the subsequent vaccines and masking isn’t seeming to help. We are losing younger folks to more popular “Christian venues” that play rock music and the like. Trust me, go to a Catholic church and you can count the number of folks between 18-35 on one hand. The older folks? We are losing them to the graveyard. We bring in about 7 new members each year, however we lose several times that number. Some may not like praying in the dark/cold/heat.
Too many folks have a “protect the shield” mentality. My father falls into this category; they will do/say anything to appease the priest and the church as a whole. Why don’t you come to Mass anymore? You better be there! It’s time to return! This after the church refused to allow anyone inside for almost 2 years.
A litmus test for the parishioners. This will be expanded upon further in a different blog. Jorge Rodriguez, a miserable blow-hard, who rarely attends Mass but wants to quiz people on where certain objects in the church are. When he attends, which is about as often as a total eclipse of the sun, he will ask folks upon exiting “do you know where the Alpha and Omega are?” Totally unnecessary and it runs people off. But he gets his jollies off doing it, and no one seems to care.

In closing, the church is struggling because they lost their way. They appeased the elected left-wing political types and doomsayers by shutting everything down. They told folks watch at home and people adjusted as such. Now they won’t return. Or they do not want to freeze/overheat. Or be lied to about finances. The collection is down to around 9k a week from 11k pre-covid. Most Masses are not close to being full, or even close to the attendance pre-covid. I have a feeling most/a lot of parishioners never returned/died or found a new church to attend like myself. We have no money yet we are spending 500k to re-do the patio area and add a covering. You cannot make this up!

Jake the Snake

Editor’s notes:

What is it with priests that don’t want to run the A/C in church? At my wedding many years ago, on a 100 degree plus day, the priest wouldn’t turn on the A/C at all. We had guests who were over 90 years old in attendance and no A/C. Oh, another bit of trivia while I’m at it, this was the only wedding ever held in the church building in the 18 years or so that this church existed, and you couldn’t run the A/C for two lousy hours.

Secondly, Jake is Really Right. The church we go to now is experiencing much of the same stuff he mentioned, lower finances and attendance, and a newly minted building fund for a new parking lot at a time when the collection plate is light. Allowing yourself to be called nonessential and shutting down was a stupid, self-inflicted move that most churches did to themselves. Many will die a slow and painful death because of this stupid compromise with people that hate you and have no use or respect for God.

Hell Hath No Fury

One of the best lines in the movie Gladiator is at the beginning when Russel Crow, playing General Maximus, is about to release the full might of his Roman troops on a bunch of barbarians. “At my signal, unleash hell.”

Today, a bishop in the Catholic Church, did something similar. He pronounced that he was excommunicating House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As a result of this pronouncement, she is now banned from Holy Communion. I will get into this more in a minute but let’s look this news story. First the pronouncement of the bishop.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone announced Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is barred from receiving Holy Communion due to her pro-abortion stance — marking an escalation in a decades-long tension between the Roman Catholic Church and liberal Democratic politicians on abortion.
Cordileone has written to the California Democrat, informing her that she should not present herself for Holy Communion at Mass, and that priests will not distribute communion to her if she does present herself.
“A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,'” he says in the letter.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is unambiguous on the question of abortion, both in procuring one and assisting in the practice: “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion,” the catechism says. “This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.”
“Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law,” it says, before calling abortion and infanticide “abominable crimes.”
It also declares that “Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life.”
San Francisco archbishop bars Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion due to abortion support

So, there you have it, Nancy Pelosi, and by extension, anyone claiming to be a Christian that participates in or promotes abortion, has violated God’s Law and helped commit “abominable crimes” and such a person is to be excommunicated.

Folks, this is a really big deal. Nancy has been declared an impenitent sinner and in the eyes of the Church, she has literally been turned over to Satan.

Excommunication is the Church’s most severe penalty imposed for particularly grave sins. Through baptism, a person is incorporated into the body of the Church through which there is a “communication” of spiritual goods. By committing a particularly grave sin and engaging in activities which cause grave scandal and fracture the body of the Church, that communication ceases, and the person is deprived of receiving the sacraments and other privileges.
The practice of excommunication arose in the early Church. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul castigated that community for tolerating the practice of incest– “a man living with his father’s wife” (I Corinthians 5:1). He admonished the Corinthians for not removing the offender from their midst. St. Paul said, “I hand him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord” (5:5). St. Paul further warned against associating with anyone who bears the title “brother” (indicating being a believer and part of the Church) but who is immoral, covetous, an idolater, an abusive person, a drunkard, or a thief. He then closed the passage by quoting from the Torah, “Expel the wicked man from your midst” (Deuteronomy 6:13).
What is excommunication?

Did you get that in the above paragraph? “I hand him over to Satan …”

Part of excommunication is that no one that identifies themselves as a Christian is to associate with her. Nancy is cutoff from God, and any fellowship with other Christians. She is to be shunned.

An excommunicated person also cannot be received into a public association of the Christian faithful.

To allow Nancy to claim to be a Christian in good standing is wrong. By allowing her to remain in the Church she is leading others into error. This must end.

A bishop may directly impose the penalty of excommunication, but only for the most serious offenses and after giving due warning (#1318). Following the same rationale of the early Church, this severe penalty intends to correct the individual and to foster better church discipline (#1317). As the shepherd of his diocese, a bishop must protect both the souls of the faithful from the infection of error and sin, and of those who are jeopardizing their salvation.

Excommunication is a warning that Nancy Pelosi is going straight to hell unless she genuinely repents.

We must keep in mind that the purpose of excommunication is to shock the sinner into repentance and conversion. Excommunication is a powerful way of making a person realize his immortal soul is in jeopardy. Excommunication does not “lock the door” of the Church to the person forever, but hopes to bring the person back into communion with the whole Church. Moreover, this penalty awakens all of the faithful to the severity of these sins and deters them from the commission of these sins. This line of thought is highlighted in the Catechism when it speaks of the automatic excommunication for abortion: “The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society”

Oh, one little nugget in the Fox News story to add some context, Bishop Cordileone sent the warning letter to Speaker Pelosi BEFORE the draft of the Supreme Court decision was leaked to the public.

Cordileone says in his letter that he wrote to her on April 7, informing her that “should you not publicly repudiate your advocacy for abortion ‘rights’ or else refrain from referring to your Catholic faith in public and receiving Holy Communion, I would have no choice but to make a declaration, in keeping with canon 915, that you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.” He says that since that time, she has not done so.
San Francisco archbishop bars Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion due to abortion support

The Bishop sent his letter April 7^th and the Draft of the Supreme Court decision was published by Politico May 2, 2022.

Ok, get in Nancy’s shoes for a second. Your spiritual shepherd has told you that you need to repent for your sin of promoting, encouraging, and funding abortion, a grave moral sin, and then the nine in black robes agree with your bishop. What should you do?

Repent or double-down on your sin?

Let’s see what happened.

Nancy encourages the mob to get even with her fellow Catholics on the Court and makes sure anyone on her side of the aisle has their home address to insure maximum impact of these protests. Oh, by the way this is enabling a violation of Federal law which says judge’s homes are off limits.

She also doubles-down on trying to overturn the Court’s decision before its even announced.

Then she triples-down by trying to fast-track a law to make abortion legal for all nine months of the pregnancy in all 50-states.

Meanwhile other Catholic politicians in her Party are trying to protect abortion as it is under Roe and take it even further by making euthanasia legal from conception thru at least the first year of life.

Given all this, can any reasonable person think that the Bishop had any option but to throw her out? Nope.

Nancy is hellbent on killing and killing and more killing. She is the very definition of unrepentant.

We here at the blog are grateful that the Bishop did this; however, the Catholic Church has many weasels in it and it remains to be seen if the Church has his back in a good way or like Brutus did for Julius Caesar.

When the Boughs Break

When I was kid, I recall many clergy saying from the pulpit that if we didn’t repent that God was going to judge us. A few argued that it was already too late, and we were under God’s judgment. 45 years later, what do you think?

To anybody willing to look at the evidence for more than a few seconds, clearly, we are well down the road of that judgment. To me the irony is that the clergy are silent on the subject that a nation can ever sin enough to be held to account. For that matter, ditto for individual actions. Steve Taylor’s question again appears in my writings, “Whatever happened to sin?”

As a different proof, look at the hostility toward churches, especially in states ruled by Democrats. Folks when strip clubs have more rights than your church, people should be alarmed. Strip clubs essential, churches non-essential anyone? However, for the most part the reaction of so-called Christian leaders was a collective yawn. In fact, as I’ve pointed out before, when Pope Fauci or Newsom or whoever is the socialist leader in your area claiming Lordship over the flocks of Jesus Christ told churches to quit meeting, almost to a man, all the clergy capitulated.

Another topic that I have commented on in the past is the amount of young people forsaking the faith of their fathers and falling headlong into the abyss of Satan. At least Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of soup, today’s young people forsake their birthright for nothing; for them their faith has no value. In their world, slavery is freedom.

On days like today, when I celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, I call things like the above to my remembrance. I wasn’t going to blog at all today on this or any other subject but when I read today’s installment of Days of Praise then I felt the need to share it with my readers. Before I continue, I need to explain what Days of Praise is.

Days of Praise is a daily devotional from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). ICR was originally based in the San Diego area, but like so much else in California, it moved to Texas. Days of Praise is a daily dive into a topic of theology or faith delivered right to your email box. The one today was a real zinger.

July 4, 2021
When the Boughs Break
“When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favor.” (Isaiah 27:11)
Like a mighty tree towering over the forest, God raises up a mighty nation from time to time, with a great leader, to accomplish some purpose in the divine plan. He “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:26).
But when that nation and its leaders become proud, and its people become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, it becomes like a tree whose branches wither and whose core becomes riddled with insect-caused decay. Finally, the boughs break, the kingdom will fall, and down will come that nation, its leaders and all!
That happened even to God’s chosen nation, Israel, though only for a time, since God’s promises cannot fail. One after another, the mighty nations that God used to chastise His wayward people—Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Rome, etc.—have in turn been judged for their own rebellion against the God who “made them” and “formed them.” God has warned that “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17).
Is that about to happen to our beloved USA as well? The signs of self-seeking power and pride among our leaders and moral decay and spiritual rebellion among our people are widespread and growing worse. Our prayer should be that of the ancient prophet. “O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years,…in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6). HMM

Since we’re on the topic of judgment, I need to refer you to Deuteronomy Chapter 28. Start with verse 15 and keep reading.

One of God’s judgments is drought.

And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. (v 23 & 24).

Please note that the cause is not climate change or global warming but the immoral behavior of evil men.

Oh, cable TV and 90-Day Guy are there too:

The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. (v 28 & 29).

This explains Covid-19 better than Dr. Fauci can.

Oh, once you’ve read about all the plagues in this chapter, I have a sobering article about how the Covid vaccine is going to bite you in the butt in about 15 years. This article goes right along with both topics. Don’t get the vaccine. More on why in a future post. However, if you think you can inject an experimental serum derived from the corpses of freshly murdered children into your body without moral, ethical, or physical repercussions then it’s already too late for you.

Churches slowly circle the drain

How many times have you heard the phrase “separation of powers” or “separation of church and state” or “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof?” If you haven’t heard it before, maybe study up on the laws and rules of this country they didn’t teach you in public school. In short, it means the church is a separate body, not to be governed by any state or government entity.

Occasionally, the Church and State enter into conflicts. An example of this would be in Houston, a few years ago, the mayor and council demanded to sign-off in advance on any sermon at weekly services to make sure it is worthy; this was struck down. The church often talks a great game, then Covid-19 hit, and they let all Hell break-out.

In particular, the Catholic Church has been bleeding members for quite some time; basically, in a given year, about 30 members would join the Catholic faith at our church. On average, we lost at least that many due to death in an average month. The numbers do not add up. When the shutdowns started, the church (via the bishop, the controlling entity for the Diocese) said it was ok simply watching Mass on TV or the Internet or listening on the radio, and not participating in the Eucharist (Holy Communion) was ok. Even though the Catholic faith says you must participate in the Eucharist weekly, the church bowed to the State.

Virtual Church: Where the church takes the union out of Communion

While the church did eventually open up outdoor services, it was very limited, and sparsely attended. We started a live stream, but again folks didn’t attend. The church made it comfy for folks to watch Mass in their pajamas while sipping coffee. A few weeks turned into months, which turned into a year plus now. While churches have re-opened, it was to smaller crowds; 100 folks max. They made it easy to opt out as the bishop continued the “you don’t have to attend in person, it still counts” decree.

My point here is a habit is formed over time, and it takes discipline to really form a habit. You have to hold yourself accountable. In the case of the church, folks broke habit. After missing for a couple weeks, it became months, then a year plus. These folks are not likely to return. This is similar to a workout regime at the gym. It takes a while to form a habit, but it can be broken, and once broken, it’s hard to get started again. It’s easy for folks to wake up and turn on the TV. Lord knows, as Americans, we consume enough of that already!

A new habit has been formed, and not a good one for the local parish.

Speaking of the local parishes, let me again use my parish as an example. We have 5 masses each weekend, and weekly collection (AKA the offering) ran about $17K a week prior to Covid. Now it runs about 5K, and I feel that is drastically overstated. Our priest gave a long diatribe about how we are required to give 10% of our annual income to the church. Keep in mind, I have never heard that amount before, and in the Catholic faith, the word “tithing” was always used to describe the Mormon religion, one the Catholics view as a cult. Our priest used his entire sermon to speak about money and finances, lacking any self-awareness that the church shut down for about a year. During that time, many folks hearing his words were out of work or otherwise adversely impacted.

My father remarked that he was surprised that most of the congregation “regulars” at the early Mass had yet to return, speculating they may not have been vaccinated yet. While this thinking is all well and good, the demographics at that Mass are almost exclusively 70 plus in age. These folks have had about 6 months of time to get the shot, and by now, its likely most have received it; however, they just aren’t going to attend service anymore. Think about it, the excuse was “the church is closed” “I will return when I get the shot,” now it’s, “I will return when the numbers go down.” These folks ain’t coming back in large numbers.

The church bent over for the Governor and the state government. It, like any other organization, showed its true colors. They talk a good game, but … The consequence of their action is that most watch EWTN or some other form of online church and have no intention of returning. They are spinless and they showed it. The folks holding out hope for a mass return to the church will be vastly disappointed, its hollow words as far as I am concerned. Nowadays, there is no separation of Church and State and the bishop here proved it to be true. Now the church is concerned about money…yeah that’s rich.

Jake the Snake