Can Queen Esther’s story save modern America?



In mid-March, Jews and many Christians alike will celebrate Purim, commemorating the events in Jewish history when Queen Esther put her life on the line to save her people from certain death.

The story, found in the Old Testament book of Esther, is about an exalted adviser to King Xerxes of Persia named Haman, who devised a plot to exterminate all the Jews in the kingdom. Esther, secretly a Jew, had a cousin named Mordecai, who caught wind of the scheme and advised Esther to approach King Xerxes and beg for the life of their people. But Esther was well aware of the law: A person could not approach the king unsummoned. If the king did not find favor with a royal subject, that person could immediately be dragged out and executed.

Whether we use our life, the gifts God has given us, and the time he has given us to honor our Creator is entirely up to us.

Queen Esther asked her cousin to gather all the Jews and have them fast, repent of their sins, and pray for three days before she made her risky approach into the king's chambers. At the end of the three days of fervently seeking the Lord, Esther felt confident approaching the king. Through a series of wise and timely actions that followed, Esther was able to turn the tables on Haman. Not only had Haman planned to exterminate the Jewish people, but he had also constructed gallows from which to hang Mordecai for refusing to bow before him.

Because Mordecai had previously saved the king’s life by exposing an assassination plot, Xerxes felt compelled to honor him. And Haman was assigned to dress Mordecai in royal robes and parade him on the king's own horse through the kingdom's streets so that everyone could cheer and honor him!

Well, the story ends with Haman himself being hanged from the very gallows he had built for Mordecai — and all of his wealth and power were given to Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai.

Does any of this story have significance for us today in America? Could the example of Queen Esther be used by those of us in the church to benefit our nation?

For Christians around the world, the Lenten season began on Ash Wednesday. During these 40 days, believers are encouraged to humble themselves, fast and pray, and focus on personally drawing closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This period of reflection and repentance can lead to a renewed spirit and focus on what God desires from our lives. And with lives that are changed and attuned correctly on the things of God, the lives of others, even an entire nation, can be affected for the good.

One of the key verses and ideas that comes from Queen Esther's heroic life is a word of encouragement spoken to her by her cousin Mordecai: “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

God did not make a mistake in Esther’s life, nor in the words spoken to her by her cousin, her wise adviser.

From this story, we must all be assured that every one of us was born for such a time as ours. Why? Because we know that God does not make mistakes, and we, in our time, are not an exception. God does not look down on a person and say, “Oops! Bill has not used his life properly. I should have had him born in the mid-1800s in America, and he could have stopped Abraham Lincoln from being assassinated! Ugh! My bad!”

Whether we use our life, the gifts God has given us, and the time he has given us to honor our Creator is entirely up to us.

And what a time and place in which we find ourselves today!

A window of opportunity allows each of us to help move America from its state of "fundamental transformation" over the past 16 years and participate — in great and small ways — to “foundationally restore” it to the vision of our Founding Fathers.

Pastor Jonathan Cahn recently delivered a powerful, prophetic message at the National Prayer Breakfast attended by members of Congress in Washington, D.C. In that message, he challenged Christians to use this window of opportunity to heed the plea of 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV):

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Many scriptures encourage us in this journey to restoration. For example, in Galatians 5, St. Paul provides two verses that work together to help point the way: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

He goes on: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

And when it comes to dealing with “the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1), Paul says in 1 Corinthians:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

The Christian rock group Casting Crowns has a powerful song that reminds Christians of life's true purpose and focus. The group's song “Only Jesus” includes these lyrics:

And I, I don’t want to leave a legacy
I don’t care if they remember me
Only Jesus
And I, I’ve only got one life to live
I’ll let every second point to Him
Only Jesus

(The entire song is terrific and worth a listen, and the rest of the lyrics can be read here.)

Dovetailing with this, the popular daily devotional “My Utmost for His Highest,” from the February 24 entry, exhorts us with these words: “Many of us are after our own ends, and Jesus Christ cannot help Himself to our lives. If we are abandoned to Jesus, we have no ends of our own to serve.”

When our personal goals align with those of the Almighty who created us “for such a time as this,” we, like Queen Esther, can participate in what God is doing in our own “kingdom” today, with an eye on the one to come.

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at the Christian Post.

The Decline Of American Christianity Might Have Stalled. Will It Reverse?

The number of Americans who identify as Christians has stabilized after years of decline and hopefully has turned a corner.

These men from 'Love Is Blind' dodged a major bullet



“Love Is Blind” is a reality television show where hopeful singles date other hopeful singles without ever seeing each other. But there’s a twist — when they finally do see each other, the expectation is that they get married within weeks.

This season took a bit of an unexpected turn when two of the couples broke up at the altar over their political views.

“I really didn’t get into politics, or like, I didn’t get interested until Trump took office and George Floyd,” Sara, one of the contestants, told her love interest, Ben, while they were still dating from behind a wall.

Ben, who is very religious, told Sara that he was “kind of ignorant towards that stuff,” but Sara later found out that his church has more “traditional” values and that Ben himself had different opinions on Black Lives Matter and the COVID vaccine.


“I don’t blame her for bringing that up. If that is something that’s important to her, I think it is really important that she brought it up, and I think that he’s a coward,” Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” comments. “‘I just don’t really care,’ to me, that’s conservative coded, that he probably does lean to the right.”

“That’s something that conservatives do or people, at least, who lean right, do when they don’t want to offend the other person,” Stuckey says. “I know that as a guy, you’re thinking ‘I can fix her.’ And that is possible; I absolutely think that the best thing to happen to a liberal girl is to marry a conservative guy and move to the right. That’s good for her, but I would never wish that upon a conservative guy.”

Ben wasn’t the only “Love Is Blind” hopeful who found himself dumped at the altar for his political views.

Devon asked his fiancee, whom he met in the show’s “pods,” whether or not she votes with her faith.

“I do think that I make decisions from my faith. You know what I mean, so that just might be a different view than how Republicans that are conservative feel about it,” his fiancee, Virginia, said. “I think people should have abortion rights, you know, that type of stuff.”

When the pair met at the altar, Virginia cited his views as her reason for dumping him.

“These girls are just so ignorant,” Stuckey comments. “They are just imbibing the left-wing toxic empathy propaganda that is targeted toward women that tells them in order to be a good, compassionate person, you have to be for progressive causes. And she believes that as a Christian, she can support so-called abortion rights, which is just the legal ability to be able to poison, dismember a baby inside the womb.”

“Those two positions are completely irreconcilable,” she adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Christ is king: Why the globalist agenda is doomed to fail



The world isn’t what it used to be — or at least, that’s how it feels.

Every day, we wake up to another headline that sounds more like a dystopian novel than real life. The moral decay, the erosion of individual freedoms, the blatant hostility toward biblical truth — none of it happened overnight, but the acceleration is dizzying. It’s easy to look around and think, "This is it. This is the end."

We may not always see his plan clearly, but we trust in the one who rules over all.

Just last year, the darkness felt particularly suffocating. Conservative parents protesting at school board meetings and Christians praying quietly at abortion clinics were targeted by the Biden Justice Department. Policies were enacted that undermined the family, eroded religious liberties, and weakened our national sovereignty.

Globalist elites smugly declare, "You will own nothing, and you will be happy," while living in luxury and flying their jets around the globe. Big Government, Big Tech, Big Finance, Big Pharma — all marching in lockstep toward a world devoid of personal liberty. And for those who resist? They are silenced, canceled, or crushed.

In moments like these, despair whispers in our ears.

The absolute sovereignty of God

When the world unravels, it’s easy to forget that nothing happens outside God’s control. Governments may rage, tyrants may scheme, and civilizations may crumble, but not one event unfolds apart from the sovereign hand of our king. History is not spiraling into chaos — it is marching toward fulfilling God’s eternal plan.

Scripture makes this clear: "The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). Every ruler, government, and regime — even those that oppose God — are still subject to his authority.

We do not panic when the world grows darker or lose heart when persecution increases. Instead, we stand firm, knowing that the same God who works all things for our good (Romans 8:28) also works all things for his ultimate glory. We may not always see his plan clearly, but we trust in the one who rules over all.

How should Christians respond?

Knowing God is sovereign does not give us an excuse to retreat from the battle. Quite the opposite — it is the foundation for bold, fearless action. So how shall we then live?

1. Reject passivity & despair

It’s one thing to acknowledge God’s sovereignty; it’s another to live like we believe it. Too many Christians have surrendered to passivity, thinking God’s control means inaction while the world burns around them.

But throughout history, the faithful have fought, preached, worked, and suffered, trusting in God’s unfolding plan even when they couldn’t see the whole picture. First Corinthians 15:25 reminds us that Christ is actively reigning, subduing his enemies even now, and we have a role to play. When culture turns hostile and governments oppress, we do not despair — we pick up our tools, stand firm in truth, and advance with unwavering faith.

The gates of hell will not prevail against Christ’s church.

2. Live as people of hope & action

Our mindset should not be dictated by headlines but by the unshakable reality that Jesus Christ is king. We do not cower in fear; we step forward in faith. The kingdom of God is advancing, and we are called to be active participants, refusing despair and apathy. No matter how dark things seem, we press on because we know how the story ends — Christ wins.

As Martin Luther said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

We do not wait for better days to act. We act now, living in faith, planting seeds for the future, and trusting that God will bring the harvest.

3. Strengthen the foundations

The erosion of a civilization does not begin with policies or politicians — it starts with the rejection of truth. When truth is abandoned, families weaken, churches compromise, and societies collapse.

To see lasting change, we must strengthen the foundations by taking responsibility for the next generation, reclaiming education, and equipping children to think biblically and stand firm. But it’s not just education. We must also build Christian institutions, churches that preach the full counsel of God, businesses that operate with integrity, and communities rooted in biblical values. The enemy seeks to dismantle these pillars, but we must be relentless in rebuilding them.

The church must lead by restoring truth, strengthening families, and reclaiming the cultural ground we have ceded. We do not need permission to live as God has called us — we need the courage to do it.

The long game

History turns quickly, and just when darkness seems overwhelming, God moves. The early church endured brutal persecution, yet the gospel spread like wildfire. The Reformers stood against a corrupt religious system, unleashing the word of God and transforming nations. Tyrants have repeatedly tried to stamp out the truth, only to fail. This should give us confidence!

Donald Trump’s re-election has shifted policies, reversing some of the damage inflicted by the Democratic Party. This has given us some breathing room in which to make progress. But our hope is not in any politician. Christ reigns now, and our mission remains the same, no matter who holds earthly power.

The church has outlasted empires. Rome fell. The Soviet Union crumbled. Countless oppressive governments have come and gone, yet the body of Christ remains, and his kingdom advances. "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet" (1 Corinthians 15:25).

We do not fight for short-term victories alone — we build for the long haul. We do not merely survive — we advance. And we do so with full confidence that no globalist agenda, no failing civilization, and no oppressive government will overthrow the king of kings.

Christ reigns — now

If there’s one truth that should shape how we live, it’s this: Christ reigns. Not someday, not after some future event — now. He is seated at the Father's right hand, ruling over all things and bringing history to its appointed end. The collapse of nations, the rise of tyrants, the chaos of our age — none of it is outside his control.

That means we have no reason to fear.

Too many Christians today live as if they are on the losing side. But the reality is the exact opposite. The kingdom of God is advancing, and the enemies of Christ are being subdued. Every cultural battle, political upheaval, and struggle we face is just one more step toward the fulfillment of his plan. Our job is not to retreat or despair but to proclaim Christ, make disciples, and take dominion.

So press forward — not with fear but with faith. We build, we fight, we raise our children to love the Lord, and we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We do not measure success by election cycles or news headlines but by the unshakable promise of God’s word.

Victory is certain. Christ reigns. Now, let’s live like it.

Jesus keeps showing up in dreams. Are you paying attention?



Under the weight of reality, humans believe in miracles, although “believe” is an understatement. We “believe” in miracles the same way we “believe” in our own existence, our own two hands.

Sometimes it’s just latent — it needs to wake up.

If miracles don’t exist, then what are we even doing here, on this grassy, wet, populated cannonball spiraling through the Milky Way?

Revelation isn’t about wisdom; it’s about awakening.

Miracles are undeniable. Perhaps they are not scientifically provable, although this assumption, as you’ll see, is itself wobbly.

We don’t know how miracles happen. There’s no script or receipt. And this often, by nature, defies scientific examination. Over the past 2,000 years, one thing has proven true: All miracles come from Jesus of Nazareth, the Word.

In the digital network era of information, Christ has been gliding through the dreams of millions of nonbelievers.

Across the Middle East, where hostility toward Christianity runs deep, people have been dreaming of Jesus. Usually he introduces them to someone, a stranger, who miraculously appears in their life the next day.

Warning shot

When Abraham and Sarah entered Gerar, Abraham, afraid for his life, told everyone that Sarah was his sister.

King Abimelech, unaware of the truth, took Sarah into his household. That night, God appeared to him in a dream with a chilling message: "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman" (Genesis 20:3).

Abimelech pleaded his innocence; he hadn’t known that she was married. God acknowledged this, but warned him: Return Sarah, or suffer the consequences.

This dream was more than a warning. It was a rare moment when a non-Israelite received a direct message from God.

Dreams, in the biblical world, are deeper than unconscious thoughts — they are places where heaven and earth meet.

Synchronicity

A few years ago, I dove into the ideas of Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist who ushered in a new form of Christianity.

Jung saw dreams as a source of prophecy. He called them “paranormal phenomena” — things science can’t explain. If miracles had a theory, this might be it: events bound by meaning, not cause.

I like to think it’s playful. That the Creator, my Creator, leaves clues of His love.

One of his big ideas is synchronicity, the unexplainable occurrence of meaningful coincidences. Think “synchronized,” but the coordination is divine.

Mark Twain was born in 1835, a year in which Halley’s Comet passed Earth. He predicted he’d die when it returned. In 1910, the comet appeared again — the day after his death.

A song comes on just as you’re thinking of someone who died, like a message sent through static. Numbers, phrases, chance encounters. The book that finds you, the right person at the right time. Fate colliding in ways too romantic to ignore.

Synchronicity proves that everything is connected, often in beautiful ways. The whole experience is so well crafted that it feels literary, like a novel tangled with theme, foreshadowing, dramatic irony — all the devices of storytelling.

And dreams — they are agents of synchronicity.

Even before reading Jung, I doubted the idea of accidents and coincidences. But Jung gave me the science — the science of the unprovable. Suddenly, I was drowning in meaningful connections and vivid dreams. A bombardment of symbols. The outer world mysteriously syncs with the most private thing of all: my thoughts, the endless dialogue between a soul and itself.

Solomon’s dream of wisdom

Early in his reign, Solomon went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices. That night, God appeared to him in a dream and said: "Ask for whatever you want me to give you" (1 Kings 3:5).

It was a test. Solomon could have asked for power, wealth, or victory. Instead, he asked for wisdom — to rule well, judge rightly, and discern good from evil.

God was pleased. He gave Solomon wisdom beyond measure — and threw in riches and honor.

Unlike other biblical dreams, which often needed interpretation, this one was clear. No riddles. Just a conversation, a moment of divine intimacy. The dreams of Jesus have this same quality, as if he reveals himself in the sharpest, most cinematic way possible, like a preview for the final apocalypse.

The Greek apokalypsis doesn’t mean destruction. It means revelation. A dream given form, a vision laid bare. It is not about God’s wrath but His love. The Second Coming will not be a final explosion of divine fury — it will be love breaking through.

The apocalypse has already happened: at Golgotha, on a hill shaped like a skull. Year 33. The cross was the unveiling — the great revelation that shattered history into before and after.

Simone Weil and the dream of presence

Simone Weil is one of my favorite writers. Weil was a French-Jewish philosopher who, after having a mystical experience at the foot of a crucifix, became deeply influenced by Christian mysticism and theology.

Weil believed that we experience God’s love indirectly through the people and objects of the world.

She believed in a God who withdraws — not to abandon, but to make space for freedom.

His absence, she wrote, is what allows the world to breathe. Yet, in that very withdrawal, He leaves traces — signs scattered like constellations for the soul to follow.

Weil called this the “implicit love of God.”

At the heart of her thought is de-creation, a concept as startling as it is profound. Unlike destruction, which bulldozes and erases, de-creation is an undoing that reveals.

It is a return, not to nothingness but to origin, a movement backward to the moment before something was formed, when it existed in pure potential. In de-creation, Weil saw the soul’s highest calling: to be unmade and remade, to let go of the self until what remains is only presence itself — the light of love stripped of ego.

It is a dream of reversal, an unbuilding that does not diminish but restores. The world, Weil suggests, is not a prison to escape but a teacher guiding us toward that dream of return — toward the place where God waits, hidden and everywhere.

“Love is not consolation,” she wrote. “It is light.”

Hidden since the foundation of the world

Jacob, exhausted and alone, stopped for the night in a barren place. He laid his head on a rock and fell asleep. Then he dreamed a ladder, stretching from earth to heaven. Angels ascended and descended.

At the top, the Lord spoke: "Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth. ... I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go" (Genesis 28:14-15).

Jacob gasped awake. The ground beneath him suddenly felt sacred.

"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it. ... This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:16).

This dream was a turning point. Jacob may have been a fugitive, but he was not abandoned. The ladder — a bridge between heaven and earth — marked the moment he began to understand that God’s presence was not confined to altars or temples. It reaches everywhere, like the wind, unseen yet undeniable.

God's presence in creation is a mysterious paradox. His revelation is also His concealment, so that He reveals Himself in the world but remains beyond our full comprehension.

Revelation isn’t about wisdom; it’s about awakening. It’s about looking up at the sky: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).

Joseph, the dreamer

Joseph’s dreams shaped his life. As a boy, he saw visions of sheaves of wheat bowing before him; of the sun, moon, and stars bending in reverence. When he shared them with his brothers, their jealousy burned. Soon, they betrayed him, selling him into slavery in a foreign land.

But Joseph’s gift did not fade.

In an Egyptian prison, he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker — one would be restored, the other executed. When Pharaoh himself was troubled by a dream of seven fat cows devoured by seven gaunt ones, no one could decipher its meaning except Joseph.

The dream was a warning: Seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh, recognizing Joseph’s divine wisdom, elevated him to power.

The dream that almost stopped the crucifixion

In the middle of history’s most pivotal trial, when Jesus of Nazareth stood before Pontius Pilate, another figure — almost forgotten — received a warning from beyond.

Pilate’s wife, unnamed in Scripture but later called Claudia Procula in tradition, had a dream — and it shook her.

As Pilate sat in judgment, trying to navigate the political and religious storm around Jesus, a message reached him from his wife: "Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him" (Matthew 27:19).

A dream. Not a whisper from the high priests, not a threat from Rome, but a dream.

We don’t know what she saw — only that it tormented her. Perhaps she witnessed the brutal execution before it happened, or saw Jesus in divine glory, or simply felt an overwhelming dread. Whatever it was, she suffered. And she warned her husband to walk away.

Dream logic

Beyond the tiny raindrops of grace that rescue each of us throughout our lives, there’s proof everywhere, like the enormity of our universe, coded into every mystery of life.

Childbirth is a miracle. From the moment of conception and the clustering of cells to the first flutter of a heartbeat, life itself is a divine act. Parenthood is a miracle. Children are perhaps the most miraculous of it all.

The other day my 4-year-old told me, “You’re my king.” It knocked me sideways, the way I felt so honored that my child, my miracle, would see me, in all my flaws, as her king.

And then I crunched sideways the other way when I realized that God may feel similarly. So I’ll say it because people hear it even when they’re dreaming: Jesus is King.

Self-discovery trap: Finding truth on the battlefield of lies



The ancient Greeks said to “know thyself.” Unfortunately, Western culture has elevated that pursuit to a life goal, as in, “The purpose of my life is to discover who I am, find my happiness, etc.”

But focusing on ourselves is not what we were created to do.

Truth is the first weapon in the arsenal against lies.

That’s the key. We were created by Someone for something. Who we are can only truly be understood in relation to the Almighty Creator of the universe. That understanding, properly acted upon, brings us purpose and meaning and life and joy.

And, according to the apostle Paul, everyone starts in precisely the same place.

"And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest" (Ephesians 2:1-3).

That’s the bad news. Fortunately, Paul doesn’t make us wait for the good news — it's the very next thing he shares.

Ephesians 2:4-10:

But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Light vs. darkness, truth vs. lies

These glorious truths are a light to the world. However, we live in an increasingly dark world of lies. We don’t know who we can trust or believe as we watch current events unfold.

Sometimes we struggle with what to believe about ourselves. It only takes watching a few commercials to be told we aren’t living our best lives. We not only need that new thing, but we’re told we deserve it. Or we’re told we’ll be less without it — less attractive, less successful, less happy.

Always, happiness is held out as the primary goal of our lives. Whatever we must pursue to find happiness is worthy.

This philosophy has done more damage to families than perhaps any other. Is my spouse not making me happy any more? Dump him or her. After all, I have to be true to myself and what makes me happy. Or maybe I’m not being true to my own sexuality. Maybe I need to change my body to reflect my sexual inclinations. I gotta be me. This is my truth. (A lie if there ever were one.)

There is human wreckage left in the wake of these lies — this illusion of multiple truths. And it is staggering.

Those left behind in broken families — children and adults — are left grappling with the ugly reality of betrayal, abandonment, confusion, insecurity, and pain. And Satan steps right into this with more lies — always the lies. A voice whispering in their ears: You’re not worthy. You are less than. You will never be good enough. You will never be loved.

Make no mistake. This is a spiritual battle, and sadly, it is increasingly common (see Ephesians 6:12). But this is precisely the place where we must know who we are in Him. If you belong to God, you are His precious child, redeemed from the pit of hell for His glory. And since you are still alive, that means He has plans for you, also for His glory (re-read the passage from Ephesians 2 above).

Redeemed and precious to God. That is who you are.

Keeping truth top of mind

How do you remember who you are when you’re suffering an onslaught of lies from that pit of hell?

Fortunately, God has given you a complete set of weaponry to fight back. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:10-17:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, also receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God …

Notice that truth is the first weapon in the arsenal against lies. Of course it is! So here are a few more truths upon which to reflect.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. … For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

And Jesus says, "You are My friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:14).

Back to Paul: "For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God ... (Romans 8:14-16).

The Bible has no shortage of truth about who you are in Him. We can meditate on these passages to permeate our hearts with these truths, helping ensure that what we’re telling ourselves is not contradicting His word.

What we say and believe about ourselves must be truth.

This article was adapted from an essay originally published on Diane Schrader's Substack, She Speaks Truth.

Cross-examining Christ: Biden judge distorts Jesus to slam Trump — but at what cost?



WWJD: What would Jesus do?

Based on a concept that St. Augustine developed — and then was popularized centuries later in the 1990s — WWJD became a topic of debate in a federal courtroom last month when U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee, asked Justice Department attorney Jason Lynch how Jesus Christ would respond to one of President Donald Trump's executive orders defending women from trans ideology.

Reyes posed the bizarre question after reading aloud an email that she had received from a Christian who sought to evangelize her.

Reyes said:

Now, that email assumes that I don’t have a relationship with Jesus already. But let’s assume that I don’t, and I want to know what Jesus would think about something because I want to have a closer relationship with him, as I’ve been told to do.

What do you think Jesus would say to telling a group of people that they are so worthless, so worthless, that we’re not going to allow them into homeless shelters? Do you think Jesus would be, “Sounds right to me”? Or do you think Jesus would say, “WTF? Of course let them in”?

To his credit, Lynch, though dumbfounded, refused the bait and told Reyes, "The United States is not going to speculate about what Jesus would have to say about anything."

Though Reyes acknowledged that her question is "unfair" and "impossible," she declared, "But you can't tell me that transgender people are not being discriminated against today."

Shocking as it may be, this exchange actually took place in a federal courthouse last month — and the problems are obvious.

DOJ files complaint

After the hearing, the DOJ filed a complaint against Reyes that accused her of violating the Code of Conduct for United States Judges.

The complaint, among other allegations, accused Reyes of questioning Lynch about his "religious beliefs and then using him unwillingly as a physical prop in her courtroom theatrics."

That specific accusation raises an important question: Did Reyes' question violate the Constitution?

Constitutional law professor Josh Blackman thinks it does. Citing the Religious Test Clause (Article VI, Section 3) — which states that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States" — Blackman argued that Reyes asked Lynch a "purely theological question."

"It is, in every sense, a test about religious belief," he explained. "And the question is premised on the existence of Jesus as a deity."

Jesus, defiled

Potential misconduct aside, Reyes, acting like an anti-Trump activist, tried to use Jesus as her prop, stripping the risen Christ of his identity and reforming him into her own image: a political activist.

But Jesus is not a foul-mouthed LGBTQ activist.

The question is nothing more than a rhetorical sleight of hand full of irony.

When Reyes invokes Jesus, she is attempting to use Jesus' moral authority to bolster her case that the Trump administration is immoral. But her mischaracterization of him shows that she rejects Jesus' actual teachings.

Yes, Jesus preached a gospel of love; loving God and loving your neighbor is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). But Reyes neglects the other side of the equation: To love in the biblical imagination is not simply affirmation — but necessarily includes obeying Jesus' teachings.

"Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching," Jesus said (John 14:23).

Importantly, Jesus does not abrogate the Old Testament. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is clear that he is not abolishing the Old Testament but fulfilling it, later explicating the true meaning of many of the Old Testament commandments, including laws related to sexuality. Jesus, moreover, reaffirms what Genesis teaches about men, women, and human sexuality.

"Haven’t you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate" (Matthew 19:4-6).

While Reyes thought she was appealing to Jesus' moral authority, what she really did was recast Jesus into a progressive mold. She ignored the fact that Jesus came to redeem the world from sin, she ignored the fact that Jesus called for repentance, and she ignored the fact that Jesus told his followers to take up a cross and follow him through death to eternal life.

Ultimately, Reyes' argument is build on a false dichotomy: that Jesus either would have demonstrated her version of compassion, which in this case means affirming transgender ideology, or he would be cruel.

What we're left with is a "Jesus" who looks nothing like the King of Kings, the righteous Lord who demands repentance and faith.

What would Jesus do?

For a moment, let's entertain Reyes' question because it's clear that Jesus neither would have said "Scram!" nor "You're just fine as you are."

First, Jesus would not intentionally mischaracterize his interlocutor because his kingdom is build on truth.

To that point, the Trump administration has not described trans-identifying persons as "worthless," and neither would Jesus. Sin doesn't make us worthless. Rather, God created every human with such incalculable value that he took on human flesh and stood in our place to reconcile us to himself. And because we are valuable, Jesus would probably meet the real needs of those presenting themselves to him, as he repeatedly did throughout his earthly ministry.

Second, Jesus would share the good news about his kingdom.

"The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" Jesus said (Mark 1:15).

It goes without saying: Repenting and believing the good news definitionally means turning away from all behavior that is incongruent with the kingdom of God. This includes all sexual immorality, which is not only a sin against God but a sin against ourselves.

In other words, Jesus not only meets our physical needs but our eternal needs, too. And in so doing, Jesus invites us to live in truth.

Third, Jesus would probably turn the question back onto Reyes as he often did to those questioning him. Perhaps, he would even challenge Reyes with the same question he asked his disciples: Who do you say that I am?

The real question isn't "What would Jesus do?" or "What would Jesus say?" The question is: Are we willing to follow Jesus instead of using him to bolster our own agendas?

Disney did something it hasn't done in nearly 30 years — it will delight Christian parents and drive liberals crazy



After years of Disney pandering to a woke agenda, the House of Mouse has done something conservative that it hasn't done in nearly 30 years. The surprising decision by the entertainment behemoth will delight Christian parents while driving liberals crazy at the same time.

Pixar's first animated series, "Win or Lose," is about "the intertwined stories of eight different characters as they each prepare for their big championship softball game — the insecure kids, their helicopter parents, even a lovesick umpire."

LGBTQ activist websites were 'uneasy' with a cartoon character praying.

In the series premiere episode, titled “Coach’s Kid,” which aired on Disney+ on Feb. 19, young Laurie is grappling with self-doubt and anxiety while preparing for an upcoming game. To deal with her lack of confidence, Laurie bows her head and folds her hands in prayer to ask God for strength.

“Dear heavenly Father, please give me strength. … I just want to catch a ball or get a hit," Laurie says. "I promise I'll be good, and I, uh, won't do that thing again."

In a different scene, Laurie prays, “Please help me be good. I’m gonna train so hard.”

The Christian Post reported, "The scene marks the first time a Disney character is portrayed offering an explicitly Christian prayer since 1996’s 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and its song 'God Help the Outcasts,' which includes the lyrics, 'God help the outcasts / Hungry from birth / Show them the mercy / They don’t find on earth / God help my people / We look to You still / God help the outcasts / Or nobody will.'"

WDW News said, "Laurie is the first character to be openly Christian from Disney since the 2007 film 'Bridge to Terabithia,' which featured the children Jesse and Leslie attending church together and discussing religion on their trip home."

LGBTQ activist websites were "uneasy" with a cartoon character praying.

PinkNews claimed, "The introduction of an explicitly Christian character is fairly innocuous on its own standing, but the context surrounding the show — and Disney at large — has left some LGBTQ+ TV lovers a little uneasy."

"While Laurie’s Christian beliefs aren’t depicted as being anti-trans, and Christian characters aren’t incongruous with trans characters — of course, someone can be both religious and transgender — some viewers feel the two conjunctive decisions are indicative of Disney moving back towards a more traditional, conservative worldview," the outlet added.

LGBTQ Nation said, "The opening episode now introduces Laurie, whose first lines depict her praying to the 'heavenly father.'"

The outlet ranted, "Her introduction comes as Donald Trump and the Republican party continue to terrorize the trans community and use Christianity as justification, all the while claiming that Christians are being persecuted by diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts."

The site trashed Disney for "bending to conservative will."

"Win or Lose" originally had a much more progressive agenda.

As Blaze News reported in December 2024, Disney buckled to pressure from conservative parents who called for the removal of a transgender character in the animated children's show.

One of the characters in the show, based on middle-school-aged children, was initially slated to feature a transgender storyline.

Disney cut the scene with the transgender child discussing gender identity.

A spokesperson from Disney said in December 2024, "When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, "The character remains in the show, but a few lines of dialogue that referenced gender identity are being removed. A source close to 'Win or Lose' said the studio made the decision to alter course several months ago."

The character is to be voiced by 18-year-old transgender actor Chanel Stewart.

Liberals launched a petition to have the transgender storyline reinstated, but it only received 8,300 signatures.

As Blaze News reported in November 2023, Disney, which is Pixar’s parent company, warned investors that the company's wokeness presents risks to its "reputation and brands" in its annual financial report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Chris Pratt reveals the deal he made with God — and what he's doing for Lent



Big-time actor Chris Pratt, on the media circuit promoting his new Netflix film "The Electric State," recently spoke to the Christian Post about his faith, the evangelical nature of his platform, and the unnerving moment that prompted him to strike a lasting deal with God.

While Hollywood script-readers frequently churn the waters ahead of a big premier with superficial insights into their personal lives that they or their handlers reckon might turn out select demographics and fill theater seats, Pratt's simultaneous Lenten outreach and relatively consistent messaging over the years suggest that there might be something to his recent divulgences to the Post.

Pratt, one of the highest-grossing actors of all time, who was on at least one occasion rolled into Time magazine's top-100 list of influential people, told the Christian Post that his priority is Christ.

"I care enough about Jesus to take a stand, even if it cost me. It could cost me everything, but I don't care. It's worth it to me because this is what I'm called to do; it’s where my heart is," said Pratt, who told Men's Health magazine in 2022, "I'm not a religious person," and claimed that "religion has been oppressive as f**k for a long time."

"I'm a father of four. I want to raise my children with an understanding that their dad was unashamed of his faith in Jesus, and with a profound understanding of the power of prayer, and the grace and the love and the joy that can come from a relationship with Jesus," added the actor.

Pratt noted further that while similar expressions of faith aren't common in the entertainment industry, he has no intention of hiding his own, quoting Matthew 5:14-16: "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden."

While the actor has apparently suffered no break in his faith, Pratt indicated that he has repeatedly strayed from the straight and narrow.

'My heart softened, and my faith hardened.'

"I'd make promises, but I didn't keep them," said Pratt, a father of four who remarried in 2019. "I said, 'God, save me in this moment, and I'll give you my life.' And then He did, and I was unburdened from the weight of my shame, my guilt, and my sin. And then months later, maybe a year later, two years later, I'm off doing the same stuff that got me down the wrong path in the first place. The sinful, broken nature of humans was living in my heart."

After making and breaking his share of promises, Pratt apparently found one that he had to keep for the sake of his own flesh and blood.

Pratt revealed at the March of Dimes Celebration of Babies in 2014 that when his first wife, Anna Faris, gave birth to their son, Jack, in August 2012, the baby boy was nine weeks early, weighing just 3 pounds, 12 ounces, reported Variety.

Pratt and Faris were told that their boy might have special needs and possibly would require surgery to correct his eyes.

"He had all of these issues going on," Pratt told the Post. "I prayed hard to God. I was in a season of transition spiritually at that time and didn't quite fully understand. I made a deal with God again: 'I'm sorry, God, here I am again, asking for your grace again.'"

"He really saved my son," continued Pratt. "And that was the moment [my faith] was cemented. My heart softened, and my faith hardened. That was the moment that I was like, 'Moving forward, I'm going to give my platform to God.'"

Pratt indicated in the time since, he attempted to use his celebrity status and influence both to "affirm the people who are believers in Christ" and to "reach out to the people who have no idea who God is."

'If people don't understand me, I'm going to pray for them.'

This year, Pratt has teamed up with Mark Wahlberg, "The Chosen" actor Jonathan Roumie, Sister Miriam James Heidland, and Fr. Mike Schmitz on the Pray40 challenge, an initiative championed by the Catholic prayer and mediation platform Hallow to encourage people to pray every day during Lent, which began on March 5, Ash Wednesday.

Pratt, whose wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt, was baptized Catholic but met Pratt at the evangelical Zoe Church in Los Angeles, indicated that he came across the Hallow app's "Bible in a Year" podcast a few years back and "did the whole thing."

"It gave me a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the Bible," said Pratt. "It totally strengthened my walk with Jesus."

"I thought, if I partner with Hallow, maybe I can amplify what is ultimately a really beautiful thing. This 'Bible in a Year' podcast, the prayers, meditations, it's all soul food," added Pratt.

According to the Hallow site, Pratt will join Wahlberg in sessions focused on fasting. Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Catholic Church's prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, will apparently lead Saturday sessions that focus on meditation in silence, and Fr. Schmitz will lead Sunday homilies.

Last year, nearly 2 million joined the Pray40 challenge.

Pratt indicated that he is certain "there's going to be blowback" from his open profession of faith and promotion of prayer.

Actress Elliot Page attacked Pratt in 2019 for allegedly belonging to a church where homosexuality was not universally embraced as an acceptable preference. He was also mocked for his Christian faith and not attending a Biden event with other Marvel stars in 2020.

When faced with such criticism, Pratt indicated, "I am just going to rely on God. ... I was called by God to do it, and if people don't understand me, I'm going to pray for them, and then I'm going to go back and hang out with my kids and play tag."

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Pedophile priest who impregnated teen to be deported after lying to gain US citizenship



A Catholic priest who once worked in Maryland and Louisiana will soon be deported to his native Colombia after he impregnated a teenage girl and lied in the process of obtaining U.S. citizenship.

On Monday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced that Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez, 69, had been "civilly denaturalized as a United States citizen" after District Judge Dee Drell sentenced him to 12 months in prison for passport fraud.

Velez's case actually started all the way back in 2001, when he moved from Bogota, Colombia, to serve in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Within a few years, whispers began that he had been having an inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl. According to a 2023 investigative report issued by the Maryland Attorney General's Office, he was even caught naked in bed with the girl, though both separately denied it.

The complaints against Velez were initially not deemed credible. However, they eventually "cast some doubt regarding Father Velez’s ability to minister effectively," according to a 2010 letter written by an individual identified in the AG report only as Official B, and the archdiocese stripped Velez of his ministerial "faculties" there, the AG report said.

Velez was then transferred to the Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana. Before he left Baltimore, however, the girl became pregnant with Velez's child. While in Louisiana, Velez signed an affidavit acknowledging that he is the father of the child, and the child's birth certificate lists him as the father, the AG report said.

The victim claimed the sexual relationship with Velez began when she was just 15 years old, the AG report said. Velez claimed it began in June 2005, according to the U.S. attorney's office press release, when he 49.

'We will ensure that justice is done.'

Meanwhile in 2013, Velez took steps to become a naturalized citizen. During that process, he swore under penalty of perjury on his application that "he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested." He also swore that he had never given "false or misleading information ... for an immigration benefit" or "lied to any U.S. Government official to gain entry or admission to the U.S.," the press release from the U.S. attorney's office said.

He later confirmed during an oral interview with an immigration officer that he had never lied or given false or misleading statements to secure citizenship, the press release said.

So in May 2013, Velez took the Oath of Allegiance and became a U.S. citizen. Four months later, he applied for a U.S. passport and his citizenship certificate. Once again, Velez swore under penalty of perjury that he had not submitted any false documents as part of the application.

By 2016, the victim had come forward and reported the abuse by Velez. "When confronted, Velez admitted that everything the victim said was true," the AG report said.

That same year, the Diocese of Alexandria issued a decree declaring that "well-founded allegations of sexual misconduct with a female minor" had been leveled against Velez and that he had been removed from his duties at two local parishes, his Hispanic outreach, and his ministerial work at a federal prison.

In 2020, Velez was arrested in Maryland and charged with five counts of third-degree sex offense and one count of fourth-degree sex offense. The following year, he pled guilty to sexual abuse of a minor for whom he had temporary responsibility for supervising and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, though 16 years of that sentence was suspended, leaving him to serve nine years.

Since then, Velez has been locked up in Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland. He has also been forced to register as a sex offender.

Velez will remain in the U.S. until he completes both his state-level sentence related to child sexual abuse and federal-level sentence for passport fraud. Once they are over, he will be remanded to the custody of ICE and deported back to Colombia. Whether he has been laicized by the Catholic Church remains unclear.

"The United States Department of Justice, ICE, and our other federal law enforcement partners will use every tool in our arsenal to protect children and will prosecute and seek deportation of those who fraudulently obtain U.S. citizenship," said acting United States Attorney Alexander Van Hook.

"This case sends a clear message to individuals who commit any type of sexual offense, particularly those involving children, during the naturalization process — we will ensure that justice is done," said acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth.

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