What's Wrong with Us?

AP Photo: Joel Auerbach



An Associated Press photo by Joel Auerbach is imprinted on my memory. It captures a scene from the mass murder in Florida where 17 students and teachers were killed last Wednesday.

Among a crowd of parents awaiting news of their kids, two women embrace. You can almost hear the red-haired woman with open mouth wailing in grief. Another holds her while choking back her own tears. Around the neck of the second woman, is a silver heart locket. On her forehead, is a cross of ashes.

Anyone who has ever worn the cross of Ash Wednesday can tell you at a glance what she had heard a couple hours before the picture was snapped: “Remember, O man, that you are dust; and unto dust you shall return.”

In this single photo, three events converge. The heart locket hangs in the center of the frame, suggesting St. Valentine’s Day, but romantic love is strangely out of place next to the overwhelming grief of the women. But above it all, as if giving meaning to the whole scene, are the ashes of repentance in the form of a cross.

Grief dominates the picture.

There is no explaining it away. Even the most callous materialist who has no earthly reason to be bothered by death, is horrified by it. PETA may argue that human life deserves no more respect than animal life. But such sophomoric rhetoric dissolves in the face of actual human tragedy. Human slaughter is different than animal slaughter, and we know it.

Darwin teaches that people are mere cosmic accidents, with no meaning or purpose. Even more, Darwinism teaches that the violent death of our forebears is the happy reason we have progressed to our current evolutionary state. For over 150 years we have been told that death is our friend and ally. So why should 17 more grieve us?

But they do grieve us, and no one escapes it. In an instant everyone can perceive Darwin’s lie. The deaths of students Alyssa Alhadeff, Martin Anguiano, Jaime Guttenberg, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Alaina Petty, Alex Schachter, Luke Hoyer, Peter Wang, Carmen Schentrup, Nicholas Dworet, Joaquin Oliver, Helena Ramsay, Meadow Pollack, and teachers Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, and Chris Hixon have not made us a better race. We are the poorer for it.

In fact, human death evokes such a powerful loathing that we are tempted to harness it to advance our selfish agendas. CNN broke the news at 2:39 p.m. Within minutes, partisan political memes were pasted on social media. Seventeen victims became mere props to advance gun control, mental health spending, pharmaceutical responsibility, or just to bash the opposing party.

That’s a shame. The universal hatred of human death is a unifying force. Let’s not use it to divide. Instead, let’s take some time to rejoice that there is common ground upon which we all can agree. Then, let’s see if recognizing that common ground might help us build a common foundation.

When people die, we instinctively know that something is wrong. Before we start beating each other up about a thousand policy squabbles, we should simply let those words sink in. “Something is wrong.” That is a singular noun, not plural. Somewhere, at the root of it all, lies a singular problem.

Does anybody really believe that having a perfect health system will fix it? Does anybody really believe that a world with no guns would be a world in which nothing is wrong? If we were all armed to the teeth, would the world be all sunshine and roses? Of course not!

The only way that you could claim them to be even marginal improvements on the world, is if you could show that they contributed to fixing that one thing at the root of it all. So, again, what is the one thing that would cure the whole world?

John Lennon thought, “All you need is love.” By that, he meant romantic love. So, he left his wife, Cynthia, and his son, Julian to take up with Yoko Ono. All three of them needed love. But one sought it out at the expense of two others.

Here is Valentine’s Day gone awry. “Be mine forever,” dissolves into a hookup culture. The vow, “’til death us do part,” becomes a lie, and the promised cure-all becomes a fraud.

Nikolas Cruz was conceived in romantic love, too. But those parents did not continue loving him. By the time he was about a year old, he and his younger brother were adopted by Lynda and Roger Cruz. One bond of love was broken and he and Zachary were forced to form a new bond.

Lynda Cruz and Nikolas

Then, when he was only six, his new father died of a sudden heart attack. His stay-at-home mom had to leave the home to put bread on the table. Thirteen years later, in November of 2017, his mother Lynda died suddenly of flu complications, and once again, he was without family.

I am not claiming that Ash Wednesday’s tragedy was caused by a broken home. There are countless children who endure similar troubles and don’t respond with mass murder. Perhaps psych drugs, video games, or being bullied contributed to his decision to kill the innocent.

The only point I am making is that love failed him. It’s a nice song, but something stronger is needed than a flutter in the heart. Valentine hearts are a good start, but what’s really needed is an examination of our own hearts.

Even the lack of love in this world is not the root cause, but only a symptom. The root cause is sin. Ultimately, the problem with our hearts is not what others do to them. The problem is what is inside of them.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

But destroy it, we must. It is the only path to sanity, the only cure for what ails us.

What’s wrong with us? We are.

That basic insight is the meaning of the cross of Ash Wednesday. The ashes remind us that we are destined to die, but they do so without diminishing the horror of death. They also mean repentance. If we were to spend even half as much time examining our own moral failings as we do examining the sins of others, we would all be better off.

But the death and repentance of the ashes, are reformed into the shape of a cross. That cross makes everything right. It is the symbol of One who neither approves of evil, nor hates the evildoer. The cross is about the One who dies that you might live.

Assistant coach, Aaron Feis, and Geography teacher, Scott Beigel, and Athletic Director, Chris Hixon became living examples of Jesus last Wednesday. All three teachers sacrificed themselves for their students. That’s stronger than the Valentine kind of love. It’s the Ash Wednesday kind.


Further Reading:
The Federalist: How Ash Wednesday Answers Our Grief at the Ashland Park Murders
Wyoming Tribune Eagle:
Uinta County Herald:
Kemmerer Gazette:

The Federalist: How Ash Wednesday Answers Our Grief At The Parkland Murders

 

The universal hatred of human death is a unifying force. Let’s not use it to divide. Instead, let’s take some time to rejoice in common ground.

An Associated Press photo by Joel Auerbach is imprinted on my memory. It captures a scene from the mass murder in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and teachers were killed last Wednesday.

Among a crowd of parents awaiting news of their kids, two women embrace. You can almost hear the red-haired woman with open mouth wailing in grief. Another holds her while choking back her own tears. Around the neck of the second woman is a silver heart locket. On her forehead is a cross of ashes.

Continue reading on the Federalist.

Religion and Politics

Increasingly, I am noticing the open and unapologetic use of religious ideas and arguments in political debate. This is quite a departure from recent decades.

For the last 50 years we have seen signs and bumper-stickers from “Free Love” to “Keep your laws off my body.” Such slogans opposed the “intrusion” of biblical morality into policy debates about sexual ethics—from birth control and abortion, to divorce and child-rearing.

James Carville ran a successful 1992 presidential campaign on the slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid.” This mantra was repeated during the Lewinski scandal in 1998. Defenders of the president fanned out across the media outlets to explain that the moral failings of politicians were of no consequence, so long as the economy was booming.

During these decades, much of the morality, ethics and character that came into Western culture via Christianity has been stripped from legal code and public expectations. They have been overthrown, not by sound arguments that they are bad for human society, but by raw claims that all religion should be driven out of politics.

Since 1947 (Everson v. Board of Ed.), the phrase, “separation of Church and state,” has been drummed into the ears of media consumers. By sheer repetition, many perceive this phrase to be “constitutional,” even though it is only found in a private letter of Thomas Jefferson.

So why is it, after all these years, we are seeing a resurgence of religion into public policy debates? It’s not Christian conservatives who are leading the charge. Rather, those seeking to overthrow historic Western morals are claiming a superior moral ground—calling their political opponents “haters,” “discriminators,” and “bigots” – all morally charged words.

The first thing we should notice, is that today’s trends are not replacing morality with amorality. They are replacing one morality with another. Put more starkly, they are replacing one religion with another.

The second thing we should notice is that this is a natural human impulse. Nature abhors a vacuum. When one religion is chased out of the front door, two more slide in the back.

Human beings simply cannot live without religion. The relationship between human beings and the divine is unbreakable. Whether or not you, personally, believe the words of Scripture, “God created man in His own image,” you live by this creed.

We all justify our desires, aims, and behaviors by appealing to the nature of God.

• Those who think the Bible infallibly describes the one, true God, seek to conform their lives to every word of the biblical text.

• Those who think that there is no God, set “nature” in His place. This religion seeks to live as though matter, energy, and instinct should guide them at every step.

• Those who think that God is always changing along with the culture, then treat the latest cultural changes as being sacrosanct, and the only civil opinion allowed.

The thing to notice here is that these three opinions (and there may be more) do not offer the possibility of no religion. They force us to choose one.

This may rankle Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, but even they operate by this principle. Their recent lawsuit, filed in Wisconsin, challenges an IRS rule going back to the 1954 Code 107(2) by claiming a clergy tax exemption for themselves. That's irony.

So, why is religion unavoidable? Because the Latin root of the word “religion” is “ligio,” “to bind or tie.” It is about how human beings are tied together in human society. The prefix, “re-,“ means “again.” Religion recognizes that people who were once bound together have been cut apart and need to be re-connected – i.e. religion.

That’s exactly what American society needs right now. As we spiral apart, everybody is seeking a common religion to bind us back together. The bad news, is that there are at least three distinct opinions. The good news is that only one of them can be true.

Ultimately, there is one God capable of binding all mankind together. There is a truth, and a way, and a life that is common to all of us. To find it (or, to be found by it) can re-establish the bonds of love.

Notice here that society is all about bonds and ties. It is not, and can never be, about radical freedom which recognizes no duties or permanent relationships to other people. When people say, “Civil society demands that we not make any moral judgments,” they are speaking utter nonsense.

The very word, “demands,” speaks of a duty to behave in a certain way towards a certain person. Anybody who utters it, no matter from which side of the aisle, is proving my main point. Justice demands recognition of the truth—truth about God and truth about man.

In fact, denial of the truth can only lead to injustice. When Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment, He replies: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

Love for our neighbor flows from our love for God. Without the love of God, no love of neighbor is possible, and vice versa. Love for both begins by recognizing the bonds between us. To acknowledge that we are all tied to God as creatures, is to recognize that we are also tied to one another and have duties toward one another that are given by our Creator, and not subject to our wishes or feelings.

For the past century, Western society has been hacking away at natural bonds between people. Beginning over a hundred years ago, the bonds of husband and wife were weakened by making divorces more and more simple to obtain. This was kicked into hyperdrive with so-called “no-fault divorce” in 1970.

When a society denies the duties that a man has toward a woman in marriage, the duties that he has toward women, in general, are also denied. The main culprits in the “#MeToo” movement are Hollywood moguls who have made millions undermining marriage on the silver screen and powerful men and women who have been undermining marriage in law and culture. Are we supposed to be surprised?

Also, we have seen the denial of natural bonds and duties between mother and child / parents and children. The breakup of the modern family has neither benefitted children, nor society at large. Can anybody argue that our neighborhoods and towns are stronger as a result of more broken homes?

As we enter a new phase of political debate, where religion is more openly discussed, I am encouraged that we have a renewed opportunity to talk frankly about the things that matter most. In a sense, James Carville was right. It is about the economy.

But we have forgotten that “economy” comes from the Greek word “oikos,” meaning “household.” We will never get the economy right if all we can think about is wages and prices, Wall Street and Main Street.

In fact, the economy is about Elm Street and Center Street. It is about supporting the household of fathers, mothers, and their children. To recognize and protect those natural bonds between persons, is to advocate for a just society. For, when these bonds are recognized and protected, so also are the bonds and duties of all other human beings toward one another.

America’s founders were not all Christians, but they were realists. They didn’t agree on the nature of God, but they did recognize that there is only one, and that the more perfectly his nature is recognized, the “more perfect [will be] the Union” (Declaration of Independence). That’s “re-ligio,” a binding together of society. “One nation, under God.”

The Federalist: 4 Ways Moms And Their Children Remain Physically Bonded For Life

 

Every mother is a chimera made up of her own genetic cells living side by side with the cells of every child she has ever carried.

The miracle of birth is always a sacred moment, but it is not the first moment of your existence. You did not suddenly come into being on the day you were born. Your birthday is the day you first showed your face to the outside world, but it was already your face for months before anybody saw it.

During those months you were not a part of your mother’s body. Your growth and development were self-directed. Your mother provided a safe place and nutrition, but she didn’t add anything to your being.

Continue reading on the Federalist.

 

2918 Miles

From time to time, seemingly random events intrude into our predictable routines. These occurrences, unbidden and unanticipated, give opportunity to reflect on profound matters otherwise unnoticed.

For the past nine months, I have been totally unaware that a couple from Utah had undertaken to hike across America. Then, last Sunday, our paths crossed right here, in Kemmerer. Kolton and Amanda began their journey at Tybee Island, Georgia on May 1, 2017 and spent the last weekend of January right here.

It’s worth knowing how we came to meet. It starts with a heart open to others. T.C., a pipeline operations supervisor from Kemmerer, saw the two. More importantly, he noticed them. How many thousands of eyes have seen them over the last 2,200 miles is anybody’s guess. But one pair of eyes didn’t just see them. He noticed them.

He turned his attention to them. He learned their story. His wife joined him in opening their home. By inviting strangers into their world, one loving couple gave St. Paul’s Lutheran Church an opportunity to share in the love. In our day of busy and insulated lives, it is profound what can happen when a single person simply notices other persons.

As it turns out, while it only took one caring couple to bring them into our orbit, Kolton and Amanda have been eyewitnesses to hundreds of similar acts along the way. A trucker stopped to give them his lunchbox. A woman gave Amanda a pair of shoes. A store-owner gave them a shopping spree. A homeless man pressed a ten-dollar bill into her hands and would not take “no” for an answer.

All across America they have benefited from the kindness of strangers. This is not how they planned it. Their intention was to work their way from town to town. They planned to earn their keep. Instead, the generosity they encountered took them by surprise.

For me, their story is very heartening. Following the 24-hour news cycle, it is easy to get the impression that heinous crimes, fake news, and acrid politics define American life. The fearmongering that sells products and garners votes contributes to a culture of self-defense. The more we give in to our fears, and assume our fellow citizens will do the same, the more America becomes a hostile place.

That narrative is blown away by the constant stream of care and protection that Kolton and Amanda have received from strangers. American generosity and love are still alive and well from coast to coast, even if doesn’t often make the evening news.

For them, personally, crossing America on foot has worked a deeper appreciation of our dependence on God and others than most of us are aware of. When all your worldly possessions are carried on your back, priorities must change. Like the character, Christian, in Pilgrim’s Progress, they have learned that an accumulation of worldly possessions is far more of a hindrance than it is a help.

You cannot possibly carry enough stuff to meet every possible problem that life could throw at you. It would be enough to crush and paralyze you. They have learned by experience what St. Paul taught in plain words, “We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 Timothy 6:7-8 ESV).

A small change in weather, in surroundings, or within your own body, can suddenly take you from a blissful stroll through nature to an agonizing struggle for survival. In this situation, you are reminded, daily, of twin truths: 1) life is far more fragile than you ever imagined; 2) God’s gracious providing is far more reliable than you ever dreamed.

For instance: while travelling through Missouri, Kolton’s ankle grew steadily worse. A previous injury, repaired by surgery was becoming aggravated and forced him to use crutches. That was nearly five months ago. Why he is still walking over 1,000 miles later, only God knows. But God does know.

A second instance happened as they were crossing the southwest corner of Iowa. Amanda was feeling an unknown sickness which slowed her pace in the early autumn air. Then, just before crossing the Missouri River into Nebraska, she found the joyous reason for her illness. She is no longer walking for herself alone, but she carries another person within.

Such are the wild swings of emotion on the trail of life. Forced to rely on others and to trust in God, we come to know the world in a different way. Amanda wrote about it this way:

“It’s extremely humbling to rely so heavily on others. And it’s faith-building to have to lean on God daily to provide for needs and comforts others have without thought. We are also having a unique approach in that we are intentionally trying to learn to manage ourselves well enough to not fear or worry. And it’s been beautiful. During moments that look so helpless, we usually end up talking about the fear trying to creep in and then start talking about how God has kept us safe this whole way. It’s been interesting to be more aware of our fear than ever before.”

Kolton and Amanda are not alone in their journey. Thousands of people from around the country are following them on Facebook (2918 Miles) or following their progress at site.2918miles.com. They walk to raise awareness of the Make A Wish Foundation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

However, in some sense, their story is not unique. It is just like yours. The things they have learned about humility and thankfulness, trust in God and peace of mind, are lessons that God also wants to teach you through your daily walk (even if it’s not as many miles).

As we see Kolton, Amanda, and their child walk out of Wyoming and into their Idaho adventures, let us not only see them, but notice them. We send them with our prayers into the care of God through loving hearts of friends they have yet to meet. They hope to make it to Oregon before the baby is born. God will take care of that, too. If you want to help them too, send a note of encouragement or contribute to gofundme.com/2918miles.

But above all, we can let their story remind us of the God who watches over them and us. He has promised the same to you as He has repeatedly shown to them: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26 ESV).



P.S. - April 19, 2018 - https://www.facebook.com/2918miles

As we have walked across America we've learned to let go of fear. The more we seemed to let go of the more incredible things we saw. When we found out we were carrying a hitchhiker it was a totally different level of fear. Once again feeling in our hearts the best thing was to keep going we got to be amazed at what decided to unfold.

On April 19th, 2018 at 5:27 am we saw our little stud for the first time. Onyx Wolfric Rackham made his debut bright and early weighing in at 6 ...LBS 3.5 OZ and was 18 inches long. Onyx had perfect timing. We had dreamed of a natural birth at home and we got one. Our little man showed up while we were staying in the home of a retired midwife, our little genius knew when to come so his mommy and daddy would know they had support to keep him safe. We couldn't have planned it better if we had tried. We had received a birthing kit the week prior and had just bought a couple things in case baby came "early."

Delivery went smooth. Onyx is doing amazing adjusting to this world. He is healthy and strong. Momma is doing well, after an intense workout getting Onyx here her body is already having great recovery. She's feeling really good. Papa is doing great too, he was supportive through the birth and continues to support mommy and Onyx with so much love and tenderness. Our little family is adjusting to this next chapter and seeing what we can do to get ready.

Onyx showed up just in time to walk across our last state border. After a bit of recovery we plan to complete the last 12 miles of Idaho and see how Onyx feels about this trek. If he is on board we will finish our last state as a family.

We can't begin to express the graditude we have in our hearts for every person who was involved in keeping Onyx safe while his momma was still carrying him, and the support we are receiving to keep him safe now that he's here. Miracle seems too small a word and thank you's don't seem nearly enough. Just know we are full of awe at how the people across America came together on behalf of this couple from Utah who has now become a family of 3. The people are what make things beautiful, thank you for allowing us to be front row center to see that masterpiece.

#2918miles #Onyx #safeandsound #youmadethedifference #divinetiming #Babyboy #hesaboy #healthyandstrong #proudparents #overcomefear #faith

To Celebrate Life

Thanks to Laramie County Right to Life for inviting me to speak with you today. It is deeply humbling.

In many ways, I still feel like an interloper who joined the fight way too late. For decades before I first walked with you, others carried the torch.

They are my heroes. Let me name just two: Pastor Mark Maas from Cheyenne’s King of Glory has been quietly supporting this march for decades; and for those same decades, Pastor Chris Brandt from Lovell annually drove his flock the 820 mile round trip to be here.

I name only two, but they are proxy for thousands. People just like you, who take the time to be here, and embody the quiet strength of the pro-life movement. We do not have mega-donors and paid demonstrators or lobbyists. We have a love for people who cannot speak for themselves, and the conviction to make their voice heard, and be the conscience of the Nation. You are my heroes.

This year our theme is “Celebrate Life.” I want to talk about this theme in two parts: Why is life worth celebrating? And How do we do it?

First, what is it about life that we should celebrate it?

I answer: It is an utter gift! Human beings are capable of building and destroying practically anything. In the age of technology, we can build rockets that put men on the moon and explore the solar system. We can split the atom and create new elements.

But we are no closer to creating life than we were when Mary Shelly first imagined Frankenstein… Not human life, Not animal life, Not plant life, Not even single-cell life! We celebrate life because the one and only way for a new life to come into the world is for God to give it.

Life is the blessed intrusion of the divine. It is an uncontolable power that comes into our dying world. The one thing that we need above all others, and the one thing we cannot get for ourselves.

When you think about life in this way, it’s no wonder that it is under attack on every front. Every. Single. Life. Irrefutably declares that there is a Lord and Giver of Life.

Life stands as a challenge to all godless creeds. As godless man claims total control over mind, body and spirit, his utter inability to create LIFE shatters the illusion.

In John chapter 11, we are told how the risen Lazarus became the target of the wrath of the priests. The very fact that he was walking around, alive, was a living Testament to Jesus’ power for life. Lazarus marked Jesus as the very God they wanted to deny. “So, the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well.” (John 12:10)

Mankind, despite all our powers, cannot create life. We can either celebrate and cherish it, or to hate and destroy it, but we can’t make it.

Still in our day, the high priests in the halls of power show their power by killing and perverting life that God has made. Incapable of making a single zygote, they have built an industry around playing with them like tinker-toys. Unable to be gods, they take what God alone has done, and twist, dissect, freeze, thaw, reassemble, and kill.

Neither can the high priests of secular religion preserve a person’s life perpetually. So they exercise the illusion of control by killing prematurely, before God’s intention. This, they euphemistically call, “physician assisted suicide.”

When we celebrate life, we rejoice in the fact that One who is both more powerful and infinitely more Good remains in control. And our celebration stands in stark contrast to the macabre rage against the Creator, and the grasping to keep human control.

So how shall we then celebrate life?

I simply answer with the Psalmist: “Blessed is He who considers the poor….” (41:1) That’s where it all begins.

There are thousand things that you can do to love your neighbor’s life. They are all important. No one can do all of them, but none of them should be left undone.

This can easily lead us either to freeze-up in indecision, and do nothing at all. …or it can lead to burnout, frustration and other hinderances to our love for life and for one another.

There’s a better way.

God promises: “Blessed is He who considers the poor.” …and that’s not just a future, eternal blessing. To consider the poor produces immediate dividends. Love, Joy, peace, patience and kindness… all the fruits of the Spirit are gifts for this present life.

So, simply consider the poor. Set your mind on lives that are considered less valuable than yours. Think about what it’s like to be in their shoes. Set your heart to care for them. No need to guilt yourself, or others into action. God will take care of the action. He calls you to start with mind.

Make it your business, every day, to learn one story of some person whose life is in danger, or not valued.

It may be an unborn child, or a mother. An elderly person, or a suicidal adolescent. It may be a person you know personally, or a may be a whole class of people collectively. Whoever it is, think about them. Inform yourself about them.

Put yourself in their shoes during their time of trouble, and also when their trouble is past. Think about what you would like to say to them if you could. Think about what you would like someone to do for you if you were in their shoes.

Then pray for them. Ask God to give them those things. Ask God for somebody to speak those words. Pray the LORD of the harvest to send laborers into that harvest. And having commended them to God, go about your day with a happy heart, carrying them with you.

Make this a regular habit. As a part of your daily routine, deliberately think about someone who doesn’t know what an incredible gift their life is, or somebody whose life is in danger because others don’t know how precious God’s gift is.

As days turn into weeks, and weeks into months, God will be bringing all sorts of people to your attention. What begins in fits and starts and in weakness, God will take and bless, filling your mind with all sorts of people… the unborn, and also their mothers, their fathers, their siblings and grandparents, their uncles and aunts.

The depressed and confused, those in danger of doing themselves permanent harm and even death driven by false believe, despair and the prophets of hopelessness. God Himself will cast your gaze upon all these people and more.

And as He does this, He will also do several things for you.

First, distant theory is incarnated. You see more clearly when you are thinking of actual people in flesh and blood. Issues that are humanized, are no longer complicated issues but singular people, seen in singular clarity. Our love for actual living people has the ability to blow away the fog and the confusing rhetoric of the prophets of death.

Second, God Himself will fill your prayers with purpose and particularity. That’s a promise. As the scope of the world’s problems becomes more fully known, we are given an ever-deeper humility. We are convicted of our own utter weakness. This, blessedly, drives us to pray to the One who does all things; and to trust the cause ever more to Him, alone.

Third, God will—sooner or later-- also lay on your heart a special task. He will start a fire deep within you and present you with opportunities for service that are unique to you. He doesn’t drive us like cattle, He leads you like sheep. He doesn’t dictate slaves, but invites you to serve.

And in this service, and in this prayer, and in this awareness of your neighbor’s needs, God accomplishes the greatest thing of all. He gives you to see that the most blessed One of all, is the One who considers YOU.

Your ultimate and eternal blessing is because Jesus considers you. We are all in this together. None of us knows the value of life as much as the One who gives us life. All of us live in deeper poverty than we can ever know. But Jesus knows.

He knows what you are lacking and what you can be. He comes that you may have life and have it abundantly. He sets His mind on you. He prays to the Father for you. He gives His life in service for you. Because He is the most blessed and holy, the Lord and Giver of Life.

“Blessed is He who considers the poor.”

God bless you all.

Thank you.

The Bundy Mistrial: What's It About, and Why's It Important?

The Bundy Ranch, Bunkerville, NV

After nearly two years of incarceration without either a conviction or bail, 71 year old Cliven Bundy is a free man. Monday, January 8, 2018, Judge Gloria Navarro declared that the mistrial, involving him, two sons, and two other co-defendants, was “with prejudice.” This means that the charges against them are thrown out.

Now that they have been cleared of 16 federal felonies stemming from a 2014 standoff between supporters and federal agents, their challenge to federal land ownership in Nevada is back on the table.

When Nevada became a state in 1864, the federal government retained ownership of nearly 85% of its land. This was sharp departure from previous federal policy, which had either sold or ceded federal lands to states which had joined the union earlier.

Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and California all share Nevada’s plight. States east of the Mississippi have sovereignty over more than 95% of their land. But these ten western states own just over 40% of their land. The constitutionality of this situation has never come before the Supreme Court.

In Wyoming, the federal government owns almost half of our surface land, and two thirds of our mineral rights. While we struggle to fund our schools and roads, the federal government prevents us from taxing half of the land within our state, and forces our mining taxes, a third of Wyoming’s annual budget, to be routed through Washington, D.C., where it is regularly delayed and siphoned off.

When the Bundys established a ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada in 1877, the federal lands surrounding their homestead was free range. Like thousands of ranchers in the mountain west, they used it to graze livestock and they improved it with water systems and fences.

But, after 55 years of this arrangement, Congress passed the 1932 Taylor Grazing Act. Suddenly, ranchers were charged grazing fees and required to apply for permits. Since the fees and red-tape were relatively light, they complied and carried on.

As six more decades passed, land regulations became increasingly burdensome and politicized. In 1993, after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) informed him that the desert tortoise would restrict his grazing enough to threaten the entire ranching operation, Bundy had had enough.

He challenged the right of the federal government to own and control Nevada’s lands. Reverting to a pre-BLM agreement, he paid his grazing fees to Clark County, Nevada, instead of to the federal government.

Contrary to much false reporting, Bundy is not anti-government. He simply believes that the legitimate government over these lands is state and not federal. His action, however, was litigated in federal courts, where he predictably lost over the course of 20 years.

On September 20, 2011 the BLM sent a demand for payment of $8,815.50 in back grazing fees plus $283,776 in administrative fees. Claims that he owes $1.2 million are ubiquitous, but undocumented. Even so, the BLM gave him an impossible choice: pay the money or forfeit his cattle. Either way, he would lose the ranch that had been in the family 130 years. When he refused to comply, the federal government raised the stakes.

Federal agents used helicopters to drive Bundy’s cattle off the land. Some cattle were run to death. Others lost their calves, and still others were shot. They also placed surveillance and snipers around the Bundy home, raising the specter of another “Ruby Ridge.” By late March in 2014 about 200 heavily armed government agents were amassed around the Bundy ranch.

In response, the Bundys sought support by posting their plight on the internet. At first, about 60 people came. When these were roughed up by federal agents, an outpouring of people came from all over America. As many as 1,000 armed protesters confronted the federal agents holding Bundy’s livestock. They demanded that the cattle be released and that the operation be stopped. After several tense hours, the federal agents backed down and left.

On February 10, 2016, Cliven was arrested. He and two sons, along with two others, were charged with 16 federal felonies related to the April 2014 standoff. They have been held without bail ever since.

Judge Navarro called a mistrial with prejudice because thousands of pages of evidence had been willfully withheld from the Bundy defense team. Among these documents was evidence that, although government threat assessments did not consider the Bundys to be a risk of violence, snipers and surveillance cameras were deployed at their home.

Still, the story is far from over. Is it possible for the Bundys and the BLM to resolve the decades-long dispute in a way that allows them to keep their ranch? Was the range of the desert tortoise extended in a scheme to drive the Bundys off the land? Do we have enough protections in place to make sure such things cannot happen?

Behind all of this is the underlying question of why ten western states have been treated differently by the federal government from every other state in the union. While the Bundys have certainly taken an extreme stand, which is not shared by the majority of western ranchers, they have nevertheless given national prominence to a concern that is shared by all.

It’s time for a serious conversation about whether we will ever be given the sovereignty that eastern states take for granted.