“In the end, this ballroom isn’t about vanity; it’s about practicality. Trump is reshaping the White House the way he’s reshaped Washington—unapologetically, efficiently, and to the absolute horror of his critics.”
(Matt Margolis – PJ Media) Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard that President Trump’s latest project at the White House is causing quite a stir. A grand ballroom worthy of hosting foreign leaders and dignitaries is now underway in the location where the East Wing once stood. Critics are fuming, pundits are pearl-clutching, and yet again, Trump is living rent-free in the heads of liberals everywhere. But when you cut through the melodrama, the facts tell a very different story—a practical and even historic one. Continue reading
(Kevin Schaal – Proclaim & Defend) I sat across the table from a young man with whom I have been having Bible studies for about two months— I will call him Dave. He was not a believer but clearly interested in the gospel message. I did not need to cajole him to meet with me. We had been working through 
“Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one understands that grief doesn’t come with a uniform protocol. Every person’s internal timeline, emotional rhythm, and public face are different. You only see fragments of anyone’s process — especially in our era of reels, short posts, and soundbites.”
“It’s sickening and stunning to watch all of this play out. This isn’t some leader of a violent radical group who’s aiding and abetting criminals while ginning up hatred for law enforcement; it’s a sitting member of the United States House of Representatives. He did it while standing alongside the mayor of the second-largest city in the country.” 
The second outside-inside turn is from objective truth to subjective truth. This is the rise of relativism and the denial of objective truth. Instead of truth being outside of us, it’s inside. Instead of being fixed, it’s flexible. Truth isn’t out there to be discovered. Rather, it’s inside and relative to you—the subject. As the saying goes, “What’s true is up to you.”
(Stephen Kruiser – PJ Media) The big difference between the previous administration’s Department of Justice and the current DOJ is that this one is going after people who actually did something wrong. That isn’t the story that the Democrats tell, of course, but their relationship with reality and truth is tenuous at best. They would have the public believe that President Trump has directed the DOJ to go after people just because he doesn’t like them. 
22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:22-27 (LSB) 
(Jacob Crouch – Aliens and Pilgrims) At the end of His life, Jesus said something astounding. He was speaking with His disciples on the night that He was betrayed, and He said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away” (John 16:7). Can you imagine Jesus saying that? An advantage for Jesus to leave. Really? What in the world could be better than having Jesus in His first coming? Jesus answers this: “for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). So what is more advantageous for the disciples of Jesus than having Him in the flesh?… 
(The Dissenter) I watched the clip—again and again—Steven Furtick laughing, giving some guy a piggyback ride in what he calls a church. The people around him cheering, clapping, filming on their phones like the presence of God is some novelty sideshow act. Honestly, this stuff just makes me sick. It should grieve us when what is meant to be holy is dragged through the mud and turned into a circus.
“The battle between the “woke” and their opponents has dominated our politics since the late Obama era, at least. It is easy to see that beneath the woke ideology is a streak of cultural Marxism, but knowing this does not explain why woke ideology has come to dominate our key institutions.”
For many, self-control is the most difficult virtue of the Spirit’s fruit. Our society has, for the most part, given up on modeling self-control. What used to be considered a virtue is now labeled restrictive, legalistic, controlling, old-fashioned, and even foolish. Our culture tells us: “Be controlled by self, don’t control yourselves. Whatever impulses, desires, feelings, and thoughts you have, follow, do, and indulge those.”
REPOST
“God forbids any sort of participation in paganism for our own protection. His reason is simple: its roots are steeped in pagan idolatry and drug use. The occult world is an open door to Satan’s world. Those who enter find themselves on a quest for ‘hidden wisdom’ or ‘deeper truth.’ And, not surprisingly, the sought after ‘hidden wisdom’ is not meant for everyone, it’s meant for a select few such as New Age disciples and gurus.”
(Protestia) Russell Moore has stepped down from his position as editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, with senior news editor Marvin Olasky taking his place, according to a 
“These voices are not enemies but allies. The church doesn’t need fewer voices, the church needs a unified voice that covers the full range of Christian witness. Prophets must keep speaking hard truths, evangelists must keep reaching the lost, and shepherds must keep tending the flock. But each must learn to appreciate the others. Each serves a different need, and the church suffers when one is elevated at the expense of the others.”
(Robert Spencer – Front Page Magazine) Monday was a festive day, with the whole world seemingly celebrating the dawn of peace in the Middle East and hailing President Trump for bringing it about. The president himself, while speaking about the release of the hostages in his speech to the Knesset, 
(Protestia) The Family Research Council (FRC), in collaboration with the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University,
“Transgenderism is effectively over. We destroyed it. Clearest and most decisive cultural win that conservatives have ever achieved.”
“The papacy did it as a gesture of hospitality. Who can forget how they allowed a display with a keffiyeh on Baby Jesus in the Vatican? They are very hospitable.”
(Emmy Griffin – The Patriot Post) We have often fretted about the devastatingly low U.S. birth rate and the fact that couples aren’t having many children. However, as podcaster Brett Cooper recently 
As the Anglican priest Bart Gingerich has noted, “If you’re scared of upsetting people all the time and driving certain folks away because of clear moral stances that have political implications, lose that fear or stop pastoring.” While Christians shouldn’t simply be an appendage of the Republican Party—that is, they shouldn’t simply go along with whatever the party dictates—it’s obvious that the political Right is far closer to implementing the moral order that Christianity envisions than the Left. And it’s not particularly close.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump effusively for his support for Israel over the years — a “partial list” that included his role in the hostage deal; for recognizing Israeli rights in Judea and Samaria, for the Abraham Accords, and for opposing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and attacking Iran’s nuclear sites. Netanyahu added: “Donald Trump is the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.”
(Bill O’Reilly) Let’s talk about presidential power. It can cut both ways, and as a loyal American, you should be thinking about this because it directly affects your well-being.
“How does the biblical queen Jezebel fit into all of this? Indeed, Jezebel was an evil queen who was an evil, manipulative conniver and persecutor of God’s prophets, which we read about in 2 Kings. What did she have to do with any of this, especially since the story about hiring witches to do a hit on Charlie Kirk was a satirical response to “Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric over the years”? Nothing.”
(Stephen Kruiser – PJ Media) Apologies for evoking John and Yoko with the headline, but I wanted something pithy.