History

“Unsex Me Here”–Lady Macbeth

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This soliloquy of Lady Macbeth petitioning the demons to enter her breasts and take possession represents the unsexing of women as well as men, which I have seen in my lifetime.

It started with the unisex movement of the ’60s. Followed by the feminist movement of the ’70s which was a direct attack on the natural affections of a mother to care for the children of her womb. We watched “the fairer sex” degenerate into the blood-guiltiness of Lady Macbeth, who yearned for the spirits to strengthen her to spurn her husband to murder Macbeth’s kinsman, King Duncan

Alas, in fifty years we have debased ourselves from unisex to multiple genders, which is demonic beyond the imagination your normal person when I was coming of age in the ’50s.

This trend among women of the last half-century, if continued, will end in turning them into hags as represented by the trio of witches (weird sisters), who tempted Macbeth to murder in order to vainly satisfy his selfish ambition.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth the spiritual battle between good and evil and the natural against the unnatural. The battle has been raging since the fall of Lucifer; we Christians must arm ourselves for this spiritual warfare. Macduff, in the end, slays Macbeth with the sword and Lady Macbeth dies at her own hand.

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Hank Williams, Lost or Saved?

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Hank Williams died at only 29. He had a voice that sounded twice his age. Although he wrote one of the greatest gospel songs of all time, “I saw the Light,” I fear he spent most of his life in darkness. Although he faced the barren waste looking for cool clear water, he drank himself to death with whiskey. It is too bad he did not limit his drinking to the Water of Life about whom he wrote many songs. Maybe on a broken piece of the ship, he escaped to dry land of Beulah (Acts 17:44). Or perhaps he flew away to Heaven from the back seat of his Cadillac. For those like Hank, who contributed much to the gospel he did not live really live, we hope for the best.

Lost Highway

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TWO GAME CHANGING ELECTIONS

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At CPAC Trump compared the Election of 2016 to the Election of 1828. Andrew Jackson’s victory broke the line of presidents from Virginia and Massachusetts, and to many it represented the triumph of the common man. In this election, a new two-party system emerged, which historians speak of as the birth of modern politics. Some call the election of The Revolution of 1828. You have probably noticed that Trump has a portrait of Jackson hanging in the Oval Office.

 

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Victory or Death

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“Victory or Death,” concluded William Travis. Travis, Bowie and Crockett and the other defenders of the Alamo achieved victory through death. The battle cry “Remember the Alamo” secured Texas independence. I have visited the Alamo a number of times over the years. I am always deeply moved by the experience. Daily while in Texas, I asked the students, “Where is the spirit of Travis, Bowie and Crockett? What has happened to the American spirit?” I was answered with silence.

The socialists are more concerned with personal security and dependence than they are with patriotism and freedom. We used to say the socialists want security from the womb to the tomb. Sadly, the womb is one of the most insecure plays for a child to be today. I fear even in Texas, they have largely lost the spirit of the Alamo.

The President is coming to El Paso for a rally Monday night. Pray that this honorable man will revive the spirit of the Alamo. An unarmed invasion is threatening our country.

Travis wrote, “I will never surrender of retreat.”

President Trump repeated what he vowed in his Inaugural Address at the National Prayer Breakfast the other day, “I will never let you down; never!”

“Build that wall,” Mr. President.”

We have your back, fellow compatriot.

 

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Remember How Mexico Lost Texas

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Present Trump alluded to William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett in his rally in El Paso. Two days prior, I wrote a short article on these Texas heroes on my Face Book page.

Of these three daring defenders of the Alamo, only Bowie was actually a Mexico citizen, becoming one in 1830. Mexico had a liberal immigration policy, when Texas was still a part of Mexico. Plus, there were many settling in Texas, who were there illegally. These Texan settlers did not assimilate well into the Mexican culture. They were not speaking Spanish; they were not becoming Catholics; they were not accepting Mexican traditions.

When Santa Anna established himself as a dictator in Mexico, he began to tighten up rule over Texas. Texans rebelled. After Santa Anna defeated the defenders of the Alamo, Sam Houston stopped the dictator at the Battle of San Jacinto and he granted Texas its independence. By the time Santa Anna tried to strengthen Mexican rule in Texas, it was too late.

Americans need to recognize the crisis at our southern border, especially in Texas, as illegals are invading our land, who often do not assimilate well into the American way of life of independence. President Trump is sounding the alarm. On the other hand, the Democrats promote open borders, which are a threat to our Republic. With our ridiculous immigration laws, we are making the same mistake as Mexico did in the 19th Century. We could lose our country.

We must not allow Travis, Bowie, Crockett and the other heroic defenders of the Alamo to have died in vain. Donald Trump has the spirit of these defenders and the spirit of Sam Houston to drive back the invasion of our beloved country.

The walls of the Alamo were 9 to 12 feet high and close to three feet wide. In the third siege of the Alamo the Mexican army scaled the walls, which in effect gave the Mexicans the victory which resulted in the slaughter of the brave defenders. Once Trump gets the wall built, it will have to be maintained and defended, which includes never allowing the internationalists socialists i.e. the Democrat party to ever take power again.

“Remember the Alamo!” Build that wall, Mr. President.

 

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Heroes Past and Present

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President Trump praised Travis, Bowie and Crockett, the defenders of the Alamo, at his rally in El Paso. Trump has a sense of the heroic, which is an important aspect of MAGA.

Unfortunately, our contemporary heroes have become creatures of make believe like the “superheroes” Superman, Batman and Spider-man, or rappers and rockers or movie starts portraying the heroic like John Wayne. Still other are sports heroes.

The last heroic president was Theodore Roosevelt, who led his Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in 1898.

The Captains of Industry such as Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Carnegie were heroic figures, who took risks in the business world and succeeded beyond men’s imagination. Unfortunately, their reputation has been distorted by those of the socialist mentality, which label them as robber barons, which in a sense adds to their mystic. Inventors were greatly admired in the 19th Century, Fulton, Whitney, and Bell come to mind.

I am a historian by training. One of my heroes in this field is the 19th Century historian of the Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman. I have in my library the complete works of Parkman, who is known for his multi-volume, “France and England in North America.” Parkman, who was virtually blind, lived on the frontier when doing his research.

One of the most heroic preachers in American history was Francis Asbury, the Prophet of the Long Road, who is the father of American Methodism. Our own Ruben Israel is one the most heroic preachers of our time, who constantly faces down danger. His exploits have become legendary. He is also a patriot.

My two main heroes of our time are Rush Limbaugh and Donald J. Trump. I especially admire these men for their communication skills. Rush is on the level of Benjamin Franklin as a great patriot. I have written enough about Donald Trump’s heroics. The one thing lacking in his status as a hero is a military record.

A man’s heroes tell me much about the man. One of Trump’s heroes is Andrew Jackson, Indian fighter and hero of the Battle of New Orleans.

For America to be great again it only requires a relatively few great men, who are dedicated to the cause. Forget the superheroes, sports figures, rappers, rockers and movie stars, although the movie stars can do much to revive truly heroic figures like John Wayne and Fess Parker did for Davy Crockett.

Who are your heroes of the past and the present? We know there are many heroes, who do not get the recognition they deserve and some who get more than they deserve. As for me, I love the stuff of legend whether it is always true about the men or not. Sometimes the legends tell us more about the man than the actual facts.

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Eusebius, Father of Church History, Against Original Sin

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Eusebius (260-340), widely known as the father of church history, believed that men were sinners by their own free choice and not by the necessity of their natures.

 

Eusebius taught, “The Creator of all things has impressed a natural law upon the soul of every man, as an assistant and ally in his conduct, pointing out to him the right way by this law; but, by the free liberty with which he is endowed, making the choice of what is best worthy of praise and acceptance, because he has acted rightly, not by force, but from his own free-will, when he had it in his power to act otherwise, As, again, making him who chooses what is worst, deserving of blame and punishment, as having by his own motion neglected the natural law, and becoming the origin and fountain of wickedness, and misusing himself, not from any extraneous necessity, but from free will and judgment. The fault is in him who chooses, not in God. For God has not made nature or the substance of the soul bad; for he who is good can make nothing but what is good. Everything is good which is according to nature. Every rational soul has naturally a good free-will, formed for the choice of what is good. But when a man acts wrongly, nature is not to be blamed; for what is wrong, takes place not according to nature, but contrary to nature, it being the work of choice, and not of nature.”–The Christian Examiner, Volume One, published by James Miller, 1824 Edition, p. 66

Thus, Eusebius confirms that the doctrine of original sin, or an inherited sinful nature did not come into prominence until Augustine (354-440), who developed his doctrine in his controversy with Pelagius (360-418), who was defender of the historical, traditional, rational, intuitive, and scriptural view of free-will, which was the prevailing view of the church until Augustine.

 

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Columbus Day

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“The only certainty about Columbus is that, for better or worse, he chose to live bold life rather than settle for mediocrity,” wrote Martin Dugard, author of “The Last Voyage of Columbus: Being the Epic Tale of the Great Captain’s Fourth Expedition, Including Accounts of Swordfight, Mutiny, Shipwreck, Gold, Hurricane, and Discovery.”

Christopher Columbus was a great man of faith, who should be an inspiration to us all to aspire to greatest, like Joel Osteen challenges and President Trump represents.

BTW, Martin Dugard co-authored the “Killing” books of Bill O’Reilly.

Reader, are you living boldly or settling for mediocrity?