Monthly Archives: April 2022

Dan Mitchell: “In reality, the borrow-and-spend approach is akin to thinking you are richer after taking money out of the left pocket and putting it in the right pocket!”

______

Anti-Economics from the Economist

Since I just landed in London, it appropriate that today’s column will be based on an article in the U.K.-based Economist.

A recent issue of the magazine included an article lauding the Internal Revenue Service.

Why?

What could the bureaucrats have done to earn praise?

You’ll be amazed to learn that the Economistbelieves the IRS helped the economy by becoming a vehicle for income redistribution.

I’m not joking. Here are some excerpts from the article.

Despite its awful backlog, the irs has, from another perspective, had a very good pandemic. It has played a critical role in delivering support to Americans. And it has been surprisingly efficient at it. For each of the three rounds of stimulus payments, the irs was the conduit.Within two weeks of Mr Biden’s signing of the stimulus bill in March 2021, for instance, it sent out $325bn via 127m separate payments, mainly by direct bank deposit. Some people fell through the cracks and cheques took longer. But most got the money quickly. The irs operated at even greater frequency in making child-tax-credit payments every month. …It also expanded the earned-income tax credit, a subsidy given to low earners, one of America’s biggest anti-poverty programmes. Putting it together, a poor family with two young children could expect $20,000 from the irs last year, double what they would normally receive.

The Economist seems to think it’s wonderful that the IRS now plays a big role in distributing goodies.

In all, the agency paid out more than $600bn in pandemic-related support in 2021, equivalent to about two-thirds of Social Security spending in the federal government’s budget. “We have seen a substantial share of what used to be the social safety-net migrate from the public-expenditure side of the federal ledger to being run through the tax code,” points out Gordon Gray of the American Action Forum, a think-tank. …the irs…stands as one of the few federal agencies that would generate a large and nearly immediate return on investment were the government to spend more on it. The hope for the harried tax agents is that…irs performance during the pandemic will have earned it grudging support in Washington, demonstrating that it is both overstretched and indispensable.

Needless to say, “delivering support to Americans” should not be an “indispensable” function of the a bureaucracy that was created to collect tax revenue.

Even more problematic, giving out record amounts of money is not what “has kept the economy going.” This is a Keynesian view of the world.

In reality, the borrow-and-spend approach is akin to thinking you are richer after taking money out of the right pocket and putting it in the left pocket.

Sort of the economic version of a perpetual motion machine, all based on the broken-window theory of economics.

P.S. The article also cites the bogus estimate of a $1 trillion tax gap. If the Economist now is in the business of uncritically regurgitating make-believe numbers, I’m also willing to play that game. I encourage that magazine’s reporters to call me and I’ll blindly claim that all tax cuts pay for themselves and that we can have entitlement reform without transition costs.

Actually, I have ethics, so I won’t make those over-the-top claims.

P.P.S. Amazingly (but predictably), the Economistnever mentioned past or present IRS scandals.

P.P.P.S. This isn’t the first time the Economist has engaged in anti-economics journalism. The magazine also has been guilty of dishonest journalism.

April 15 is usually the worst day of the year, giving Americans ample reasons to both laugh and cry.*

Because of a holiday in Washington, D.C., however, tax returns this year are due on April 18.

So let’s celebrate (or commiserate) this awful day by wading into the debate about whether the Internal Revenue Service should have a bigger budget.

Proponents usually claim the IRS is under-funded by comparing today’s budget to how much the bureaucracy received in 2011.

But that was a one-year spike because of all the money in Obama’s failed stimulus package. If you review long-run data, you can see that the IRS’s budget has increased significantly.

And these numbers are adjusted for inflation.

But perhaps proponents are right, even if they use deceptive numbers.

The Washington Post has a new editorial on this topic, arguing that the bureaucracy needs more money.

The IRS is currently limping along without enough staff or funding. Congress, especially Republicans, needs to face up to reality. …It’s not a mystery how the IRS deteriorated. …the core problem is that Republicans slashed the IRS budget about 18 percent in the past decade. That’s not belt-tightening, it’s gutting an agency. …The Biden administration is rightly asking for a big increase for 2023 (a request of $14.1 billion). This isn’t some Democratic wish list item; it’s about restoring the basic functions of America’s tax collection agency.

When this topic was being debated last year, Ryan Ellis explained that the IRS will target small businesses if it gets a bigger budget.

Here are some excerpts from his piece in National Review.

…the idea is that if taxpayers fund the IRS to the tune of $40 billion over the next decade, the IRS will step up audits and collect an additional $100 billion in tax revenue, penalties, and interest. This is lauded as a good because of the supposed “tax gap,”… Apparently, it doesn’t occur to anyone that the IRS, which is seeking this extra $40 billion in taxpayer funding, has every incentive in the world to exaggerate this “tax gap” and to make wild promises about the new money that additional enforcement will yield for the Treasury. …Giving money to IRS bureaucrats to conduct fishing expedition audits on millions of honest self-employed people? The same IRS behind the Lois Lerner scandal a decade ago, when the IRS inappropriately targeted conservative political groups during the 2012 election season, when Obama was running for reelection?

Ryan is right to point out that the IRS is undeserving because of bad behavior.

He mentions the Lois Lerner/Tea Party scandal. I think the recent leak of taxpayer data is equally reprehensible.

Advocates of more funding will argue that the bureaucracy’s malfeasance is a separate issue and that more employees and more audits are needed regardless of whether criminals at the IRS are caught and punished.

But this brings us to another important topic, which is whether it would be best to fix the underlying tax laws instead of throwing more money at the IRS.

In a column for the Louisville Courier-Times, we get this point of view from Richard Williams of George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

…money won’t fix this problem. …Another approach would be drastically reducing the complexity of federal taxes. …The Tax Foundation estimates that we give up 3.24 billion hours and $37 billion to comply with federal taxes each year. Given the headaches and anxiety that come with this, Americans don’t need more IRS workers. We need a leaner agency…individual filers and small businesses represent a huge proportion of the public who would gain from simplification. …There is no need to hire more people to oversee a reformed system. What’s not to like?

Amen.

When proponents say the IRS needs more money, they implicitly are arguing for the current, convoluted tax system.

They want the IRS to be in the business of collecting revenue. But that’s just one role.

And that’s just a brief list of the things that the IRS now does in addition to generating revenue.

Get rid of these added roles, ideally as part of a total replacement of the tax code with a flat tax, and the discussion would be about how much money could be saved by reducing the IRS’s budget.

But that means less power for politicians, so don’t hold your breath waiting for genuine tax reform.

That being said, supporters of good policy should feel no obligation to help prop up the current system by shoveling more money to the IRS.

An underfunded corrupt IRS administering a bad tax code is better than a well-funded corrupt IRS administering a bad tax code.

*April 15 may be the worst day of the year, but there’s an argument to be made that October 3 is the worst day in history.

P.S. From my archives, here are some examples of the bureaucrats who will benefit from a bigger IRS budget.

P.P.P.S. And since we’re recycling some oldies but goodies, here’s my collection of IRS humor, including a new Obama 1040 form, a death tax cartoon, a list of tax day tips from David Letterman, a cartoon of how GPS would work if operated by the IRS, an IRS-designed pencil sharpener, two Obamacare/IRS cartoons (here and here), a sale on 1040-form toilet paper (a real product), a song about the tax agency, the IRS’s version of the quadratic formula, and (my favorite) a joke about a Rabbi and an IRS agent.

IRS not only hated Tea Party but also the Constitution!!!

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 11:57AM

Targeting the Constitution

[Cross-posted from The Volokh Conspiracy]

It is now well known that the IRS targeted tea party organizations. What is less well known, but perhaps even more scandalous, is that the IRS also targeted those who would educate their fellow citizens about the United States Constitution.

According to the inspector general’s report (pp. 30 & 38), this particular IRS targeting commenced on Jan. 25, 2012 — the beginning of the election year for President Obama’s second campaign. On that date: “the BOLO [‘be on the lookout’] criteria were again updated.” The revised criteria included “political action type organizations involved in … educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

Grass-roots organizations around the country, such as the Linchpins of Liberty (Tennessee), the Spirit of Freedom Institute (Wyoming), and the Constitutional Organization of Liberty (Pennsylvania), allege that they were singled out for special scrutiny at least in part for their work in constitutional education. There may have been many more.

The tea party is viewed with general suspicion in some quarters, and it is not difficult, alas, to imagine the mindset of the officials who decided to target tea party organizations for special scrutiny. But federal officers swear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” It is chilling to think that these same officials who are suspicious of the tea party are equally suspicious of the Constitution itself.

What is most corrosive about this IRS tripwire is that it is triggered by a particular point of view; it is not, as First Amendment scholars say, viewpoint-neutral. It does not includeobfuscating or denigrating the Constitution; only those “involved in … educating on the Constitution” are captured by this criterion. This viewpoint targeting potentially skews every national debate about politics or government. And the skew in not strictly liberal; indeed, it should trouble liberals as much as conservatives. The ultimate checks on executive power are to be found in the United States Constitution. Insidiously, then, suppressing those “involved in … educating on the Constitution” actually skews national debate in favor of unchecked executive power.

For example, this IRS tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the NSA should collect the phone records of every American citizen. But it would be triggered by teaching that the Fourth Amendment forbids “unreasonable searches and seizures.” This tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the president should unilaterally suspend politically inconvenient provisions of federal law, like ObamaCare. But it would be triggered by teaching that, under Article II, section 3, the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” This tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the president should appoint NLRB members unilaterally. But it would be triggered by teaching that, under Article II, section 2, such appointments require “the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” This tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the president should target and kill U.S. citizens abroad. But it would be triggered by teaching that, per the Fifth Amendment, no person shall “be deprived of life … without due process of law.” This tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the president should declare war unilaterally. But it would be triggered by teaching that, under Article I, section 8, “Congress shall have Power … To declare War.” In short, the IRS was “on the lookout,” not for those who preach unlimited executive power, but for those who would teach about constitutional constraints.

Even more to the point, perhaps, this IRS tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the IRS should discriminate against the tea party. But it would be triggered by teaching that such discrimination constitutes unfaithful execution of the tax laws. And thus, alas, there is a perverse logic to targeting constitutional educators alongside tea party organizations. Political discrimination in the administration of the tax laws is not merely “outrageous,” as President Obama has said; it is an assault on our constitutional structure itself. For an official who has chosen to go down this road and target the tea party, there is an Orwellian logic to targeting constitutional educators as well. After all, they are the ones who might shed light on this very point.

This is a new low for American government — targeting those who would teach others about its founding document. Forty years ago, President Richard Nixon went to great lengths to try to conceal the facts of his constitutional violations, but it never occurred to him to conceal the meaning of the Constitution itself, by targeting its teachers. Politicians have always been tempted to try to censor their political adversaries; but none has been so bold as to try to suppress constitutional education directly. Presidents have always sought to push against the constitutional limits of their power; but never have they targeted those who merely teach about such limits. In short, never before has the federal government singled out for special scrutiny those who would teach their fellow citizens about our magnificent Constitution. This is the new innovation of Obama’s IRS.

“We the People” do not yet know who first decided to target “political action type organizations involved in … educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.” But there is at least one person who does know. Ironically, though, Lois Lerner, former director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS, is making full use of her own constitutional education: “I have been advised by my counsel to assert my constitutional right not to testify …. One of the basic functions of the Fifth Amendment is to protect innocent individuals, and that is the protection I’m invoking today.”

Five years ago, President Obama, our constitutional law professor-in-chief, presented his first, ringing Constitution Day proclamation: “To succeed, the democracy established in our Constitution requires the active participation of its citizenry. Each of us has a responsibility to learn about our Constitution and teach younger generations about its contents and history.” Quite so. Perhaps this year, Obama could explain why his IRS would target those who answered this call.

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 April 23, 2022 READING A PROVERB A DAY (PROVERBS 23) A Nation in Crisis By Adrian Rogers (Transcript) “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” (Proverbs 23:23) 

Proverbs 23New Living Translation

23 While dining with a ruler,
    pay attention to what is put before you.
If you are a big eater,
    put a knife to your throat;
don’t desire all the delicacies,
    for he might be trying to trick you.

Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
    Be wise enough to know when to quit.
In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
    for it will sprout wings
    and fly away like an eagle.

Don’t eat with people who are stingy;
    don’t desire their delicacies.
They are always thinking about how much it costs.[a]
    “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
You will throw up what little you’ve eaten,
    and your compliments will be wasted.

Don’t waste your breath on fools,
    for they will despise the wisest advice.

10 Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers;
    don’t take the land of defenseless orphans.
11 For their Redeemer[b] is strong;
    he himself will bring their charges against you.

12 Commit yourself to instruction;
    listen carefully to words of knowledge.

13 Don’t fail to discipline your children.
    The rod of punishment won’t kill them.
14 Physical discipline
    may well save them from death.[c]

15 My child,[d] if your heart is wise,
    my own heart will rejoice!
16 Everything in me will celebrate
    when you speak what is right.

17 Don’t envy sinners,
    but always continue to fear the Lord.
18 You will be rewarded for this;
    your hope will not be disappointed.

19 My child, listen and be wise:
    Keep your heart on the right course.
20 Do not carouse with drunkards
    or feast with gluttons,
21 for they are on their way to poverty,
    and too much sleep clothes them in rags.

22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,
    and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23 Get the truth and never sell it;
    also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.
24 The father of godly children has cause for joy.
    What a pleasure to have children who are wise.[e]
25 So give your father and mother joy!
    May she who gave you birth be happy.

26 O my son, give me your heart.
    May your eyes take delight in following my ways.
27 A prostitute is a dangerous trap;
    a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.
28 She hides and waits like a robber,
    eager to make more men unfaithful.

29 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?
    Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?
    Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,
    trying out new drinks.
31 Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,
    how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.
32 For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;
    it stings like a viper.
33 You will see hallucinations,
    and you will say crazy things.
34 You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,
    clinging to a swaying mast.
35 And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it.
    I didn’t even know it when they beat me up.
When will I wake up
    so I can look for another drink?”

A Nation in Crisis By Adrian Rogers (Transcript)

Truth2Freedom

 Truth2Freedom

1 year ago

Date Preached: August 30, 1998

Main Scripture Text: Isaiah 59:1–5, 12–15

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

Isaiah 59:2

Outline

Introduction

  1. They Had Bloody Hands
  2. They Had Lying Lips
  3. They Had Wicked Hearts
  4. A Diet of Deception
  5. A Web of Wickedness
  6. The Web of Pornography
  7. The Web of Drugs and Alcohol
  8. The Web of Sexual Immorality

III.          A Trashing of Truth

Conclusion

Introduction

Be finding in your Bibles the book of Isaiah chapter 59; and when you’ve found it, would you look up here, and may I tell you as you’re finding it that our beloved United States of America is in a crisis. And the title of the message today: “A Nation in Crisis.” One by one, the lights of decency and the lights of hope are being blown out in America. And it seems that Americans are content to have scoundrels in leadership so long as they give us prosperity. But one day, calamity will come. One day, we will face perhaps international terrorism, perhaps unparalleled economic reversal, perhaps natural disasters over which we have no control whatsoever. And then we will fill our churches, and we will turn our eyes upward. And we will dial 911, but there will be no answer: the line will be dead. First Samuel chapter 8, verse 18, says, “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” (1 Samuel 8:18) You’ll cry out; you’ll say, “O God, have mercy.” You’ll pray, and your prayers won’t be answered. Why is that?

Well, look in Isaiah chapter 59, verse 1: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:”—God is not palsied, and God is not deaf—“but”—verse 2—“your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.” (Isaiah 59:1–4) Now, what is Isaiah saying to a sinful nation of that day? God is well able to hear your prayers. It’s not that He cannot hear your prayers; it is that He will not hear your prayers because your sin has created a barrier between you and a holy God. And Isaiah tells us what the sin of that day was and how it tracks and parallels the sin of our day.

  1. They Had Bloody Hands

First of all, look in verse 2. They had bloody hands. America is swimming in an ocean of blood. A modern holocaust has stained and flooded America. The blood of some thirty million preborn babies cries out from the ground against us since 1972, that horrendous Roe v. Wade ruling when nine men dressed in black robes said that a little preborn babies can be treated as a piece of protoplasm. And we in America are now killing babies at the rate of four thousand a day. Notice what Isaiah said: “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you.” (Isaiah 59:2) Verse 3: “Your hands are defiled with blood.” (Isaiah 59:3)

When you ask a politician about abortion, he’ll dodge the issue. He’ll tell you, “That’s a moral decision. It is a religious decision. That’s not a proper subject for politics, and that needs to be studied in the church between the priest, the rabbi, and the pastor. It is a personal decision, not a political decision.” But if the priest, the rabbi, or the pastor speaks about it, they’ll rise up and say, “Why doesn’t he stay out of politics?” And meanwhile, the babies die. And we are swimming in an ocean of blood, and the violence of our day has surpassed the days of Noah, the days of Lot. King Herod is in the background today. One man has wisely said, “Today we’re living in the day where twelve-year-olds are having babies, fifteen-year-olds are killing each other, seventeen-year-olds are dying of AIDS, and eighteen-year-olds are graduating from high school with a diploma they can’t read.” That’s where we are in America today: bloody hands.

  1. They Had Lying Lips

But then he goes on to say not only bloody hands, but lying lips. Again, look, if you will, in verse 3: “Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.” (Isaiah 59:3) I’ve been watching the news programs lately, and we’ve been talking about lies in high places and low places. And the going merchandise among those news programs is, “Well, everybody lies. What’s so rare about lies? Everybody lies.” U. S. News & World Report in a report said this: “Governmental officials dissemble; scientists falsify research; workers alter career credentials to get jobs.” And then the magazine asks, “What’s going on here? The answer, a growing number of social critics fear, is an alarming decline in basic honesty.”

  1. They Had Wicked Hearts

Bloody hands. Lying lips. Number three: wicked hearts. Look, if you will, in verse 4: “None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.” (Isaiah 59:4) It’s terrible to raise teenagers today, because we have a day of moral ambivalence; we have a day of ethical fogginess. What are we being told today? We’re being told that adultery is really no big deal: everybody does that. Friend, I want to tell you, if a man will not keep a sacred vow before Almighty God to his wife, I wouldn’t trust him to keep any promise anywhere anytime. We’re being told today that private morality can be disconnected from public service. That’s not what God’s Word says. Ecclesiastes chapter 10, verse 1 says this: “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” (Ecclesiastes 10:1) Dead flies in the ointment, friend; something stinks in America.

Theodore Roosevelt, a man of yesteryear, won his first major election back in 1898. He was elected governor of New York. About that time, Theodore Roosevelt wrote something that’s so pertinent to our day and our age. I want you to listen to it. It sounds like it was written for today, but listen to it. He says, “No community is healthy where it is ever necessary to distinguish one politician among his fellows because ‘he is honest.’ Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest we have no right to keep him in public life, it matters not how brilliant his capacity, it hardly matters how great his powers of doing good service on certain lines may be.” Now what Teddy Roosevelt said was, “If he’s not honest, then he’s just simply disqualified.”

Again, Teddy Roosevelt said this: “If a man lies under oath or procures the lie of another under oath, if he perjures himself or suborns perjury, he is guilty under the statute law. Under the higher law, under the great law of morality and righteousness, he is precisely as guilty if, instead of lying in a court, he lies in a newspaper or on the stump; and in all probability the evil effects of his conduct are infinitely more wide-spread and more pernicious. The difference between perjury and mendacity is not in the least one of morals or ethics. It is simply one of legal forms.” Now what he is saying is the same thing that Jesus said when He said, “[When you speak] let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay.” (James 5:12) It doesn’t matter whether you’re under oath or whether you’re not under oath.

We’re being told today that somehow public approval validates wrong behavior. This same Isaiah, whose book we’re reading, said in Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”(Isaiah 5:20) We’re being told that if a man is approved by society, that that is good. It is not good, no matter how many times we take a poll. We’re being told that a lie about adultery is permissible and that a lie while under oath is not acceptable. And Jesus said, “Let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay.” (James 5:12)

Now, what has brought about this condition? Why is it that Isaiah’s people came to a place where they would look up to God and say, “God have mercy on us,” and God said, “No, I’m not going to hear your prayer”? What brought about bloody hands, lying lips, and wicked hearts? Three things—I want you to see them right here in this text.

  1. A Diet of Deception

Number one: The people had been feeding on a diet of deception. Look in verse 5: “They hatch [viper’s] eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.” (Isaiah 59:5) Now if you’ll look at verse 5, and link verse 5 to verse 4, you’re going to find out that those viper’s eggs, those snake eggs that he’s talking about that are hatched in hell’s incubators, they are devilish lies and philosophies that are being hatched—were hatched in Isaiah’s day and also being hatched in our day—lying, poisonous philosophies that are being swallowed down by adults and by youth alike. Our world, our nation, is on a snake egg diet—a diet of deception. The incubators that hatch those eggs are materialism, humanism, New Ageism, liberalism. They’ve hatched these out. The old granddaddy serpent who has spawned and fertilized these eggs is Satan himself because he is a liar, and the father of all lies. (John 8:44) There are certain philosophical underpinnings that are so incipient in American life today that are poisoning our educational, our philosophical, our religious, and political outlook.

And our young people are going to public schools, and each morning they’re served a snake egg omelet. They swallow these things down. You see, dramatic changes have taken place in America, and in twenty years—twenty years that most of us have lived through—there has been a complete reversal. From 1962 to 1982, let me tell you what has happened in twenty years. In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that voluntary prayer in public schools is unconstitutional. Now they tell us that our children must be in the public schools, but they say, “You cannot have voluntary prayer. We’ll put you there, but you cannot pray.” That’s 1962. Then, in 1963, the same court dismantled classroom Bible reading: no room for the Bible in our halls of education. Then, in 1980, the posting of the Ten Commandments was declared unconstitutional. Now when kids are bringing guns to school, we cannot post on the walls of our schoolrooms, “Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) In 1982, the court prohibited the teaching of biblical creation. In twenty years, God has been expelled from our public schools and been told not to return. Now abortion, infanticide, euthanasia all become possible in a world where you believe that man is the creation of some blind, evolutionary force; that he is not created in the image of God, but he has evolved from some primordial ooze.

So, what do we have today? What is it like? Well, today, children, if they go to school, must receive parental permission before a school-based clinic can prescribe an aspirin. But yet in America a little teenage girl can be given an abortion—abortion guidance counsel, and the abortion itself—without the parents even knowing that this is taking place. That is in America. School-based clinics dispense birth control devices and parental counseling without notification or approval. What is happening in America is that our kids are being served snake eggs everyday. Prayer is out; policemen are in. Bibles are out; values clarification is in. The Ten Commandments, yes, they’re out; but rape and armed robbery, gang warfare, murder, and cheating are in. Creation instruction is out; evolution and blind chance is in. Corporal punishment is out; disrespect and rebellion are in. Traditional values are out; unwed motherhood is in. Abstinence is out; condoms and abortion are in. Learning is out; social engineering is in. History is out; revisionism is in. Is it any wonder that the suicide rate of our teenagers is soaring, runaway statistics are soaring, promiscuity problems, violent crime? Our kids are not being raised in a society, in a school, that says that they have rights that are given to them, unalienable rights given by Almighty God, but they are told that the universe itself exists—not that it was created—and the wisdom that built this great nation is being laughed at.

But here’s the sad thing. Look, if you will, in verse 5: “They hatch [viper’s] eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth,”—now, watch that—“and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.” (Isaiah 59:5) When you come against these things and try to stamp them out, all you do is create more snakes. To stamp out these snake eggs is not the answer.

  1. A Web of Wickedness

Now not only is there a diet of deception, but that is compounded by a second thing in America that makes our nation a nation in crisis: not only a diet of deception, but a web of wickedness. Look again in verse 5, if you will. He says here in verse 5, “They … weave the spider’s web.” I got down my encyclopedia and read something about spiders. I don’t know whether you have a love affair with spiders or not. I don’t. But spiders weave a web—almost invisible, very sticky. And the purpose of that web is to catch an unsuspecting insect who will fly into that web and become entangled in that web where the spider can come out and wrap him out in more strands of that web. Then the spider injects poison into the body of that insect, and the spider sucks that insect dry.

Now Satan has woven some webs, and he is poisoning and sucking dry the generation of young people today. Satan has a network—are you listening to me?—a web of evil that is absolutely terrifying, and our young people can hardly see the web. They don’t understand it.

  1. The Web of Pornography

There’s pornography, for example: the web of pornography. “Pastor Rogers, does pornography lead to degeneracy?” Pornography is degeneracy. That’s what it is. Our kids today can get on the Internet and watch unspeakable, unmentionable things, even in school, as they can access these things. At home they can pick up the phone, dial-a-porn, and listen to lesbian sexual activities, sodomy, rape, incest, bestiality, or sex with other children. There are more adult bookstores in America today than there are McDonald’s restaurants. Pornography is a multibillion-dollar industry. That is a web, and so many kids and adults alike are being caught in it.

  1. The Web of Drugs and Alcohol

Satan has his web of drugs and alcohol—a deadly trap. America is filled today with walking dead, whose lives have been sucked dry by the spiders of alcohol and drug abuse. I read recently where students spend 5.5 billion dollars on alcohol: more than they spend on nonalcoholic drinks like Pepsi or Coke or 7 Up and books put together—on alcoholic beverages! Now these Madison Avenue people come into the living room through their beer ads, and through their sports ads, and they’ll have these boys, as I’ve said before, out there on the bass boat somewhere hoisting a six-pack, and one of them smiles and says to the other one, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Boy, they’re right: it always gets worse. “It doesn’t get any better than this.” And we have a generation of walking dead, who have been sucked dry, embalmed, by alcohol.

  1. The Web of Sexual Immorality

There’s a sticky web of immorality. Young people are being told today there are no fixed standards of right or wrong, and the media, or entertainment, has created the myth that premarital sex, extramarital sex, and homosexuality are on the same level as chastity, monogamy, and heterosexuality. And in our so-called sex education classes in many of our schools they have a threefold goal—and that is to teach children how to fornicate without guilt, without catching a disease, and without conceiving a baby. That’s called “sex education” today.

How would you like your child to go to school and hear what some are being taught? Here’s what they’re being taught. Here’s the textbook. Quote: “Premarital sexual intercourse is both acceptable for men and women if they are involved in a stable, loving relationship. It has been suggested by some marriage counseling authorities that all couples should live together before they’re married.” How would you like that for education? Or listen to this: “Often, promiscuity is labeled as bad by persons who do not accept this type of behavior. As with other patterns of sexual behavior, one should not pin ‘good’ or ‘bad’ on a practice.” Here’s another: “Morality is individual; it’s what you think it is. Your conception of what is right or wrong morally is an individual decision.”

May God have mercy upon us when these tell us we cannot pray, we cannot read God’s Word, we cannot post the Ten Commandments, but we can denigrate God’s Word and God’s law. And kids today talk about “going all the way.” My God, that’s the one thing they don’t do. They haven’t gone all the way. They go a little further when they catch a disease along the way; a little further when a baby is conceived and they have to tell their father or mother; a little further if they decide to murder that baby. But they really haven’t gone all the way until they stand before a holy God who says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”; (Exodus 20:14) a holy God who says, “Flee fornication.” (1 Corinthians 6:18)

III.       A Trashing of Truth

Friend, we are in a terrible situation. What has brought about this crisis in America? Number one: a diet of deception. Number two: a web of wickedness. Number three: the trashing of truth. Fast-forward to verse 12: “For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.” Now, watch this: “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off:”—why has judgment been turned away backward? Why does justice wait in the wings? Here it is—“for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.” (Isaiah 59:12–15) That is, when you stand up and speak against it, you become the bad guy.

Listen. I have been preaching too many years for me not to know that I am the heavy today; I am the bad guy today; I’m making myself a prey when I say “This is wrong” when I speak against these things. When you call for justice, when you call for truth, you become the guy in the black hat. That’s the state to which we have come today. But notice what he says. He says there’s a traffic jam. Justice, equity, cannot come through the streets, because “truth is fallen.”And all of the traffic is backed up, because “truth is fallen in the street.” (Isaiah 59:14)

Well, what caused truth to fall? Notice truth is not dead. There is a traffic jam. Judgment, justice, and equity cannot enter. It’s not that truth is nonexistent. You can’t ever murder truth. It is not that truth is dead. Truth will not die. But truth has stumbled. Truth is lying prostrate on the ground. Why? Well, she has been knocked down in America by doctors of philosophy. She has been tripped up in America by dishonest politicians. And she has been chloroformed by liberal preachers. And she’s lying there in the street. May I say with all of the unction, function, and emotion of my soul; God help me to say it: The job in America today is to put truth back on her feet. That is the job in America: to put truth back on her feet. And I really believe there is not a lot wrong in America that could not be put right quickly, dramatically, if across America, in the pulpits of America, from sea to shining sea, this Sunday and every Sunday, a generation of preachers would open the book of truth and preach “Thus saith the Lord God Almighty” without fear or failure.

We’re in a situation today that’s in a crisis. Why did God write a Bible? He calls that Bible “the Word of truth.” Why did God send the Holy Spirit? He calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of truth.” How does God describe Himself? He describes Himself as “the Truth.” Who is Jesus? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) What is the church? The church is called “the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) The Apostle John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 1:4) We can get facts from the Internet. There’s a difference between facts and truth. Knowledge may double; truth will never double. There is eternal truth. Truth is what food is to your body, light is to your eyes, and melody is to your ears.

Now, do you know what most of us want to do? Most of us want to be stamping out snake eggs. Most of us want to be sweeping down spider’s webs. But, friend, you stamp out a snake egg: just more snakes. You sweep down a spider’s web—you’ve done it before: it’s back the next morning, is it not? We need something that will slay the snake and destroy the spider—and that is truth. Only truth can keep this daddy serpent from spawning those eggs. Only truth can keep that spider from weaving those sticky webs. We need to lift up truth in America today, to put truth on her feet. And I want to call upon you and every believer to rededicate himself to the truth. Parents, teach your children to live the truth, to love the truth, to tell the truth, to know the truth, and to believe the truth. Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17)

Conclusion

Let me give you a proverb here, and I’m almost finished—Proverbs 23, verse 23: “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” (Proverbs 23:23) There is a prize to possess: it is truth. There is a price to pay: you must buy the truth. You must study it, pore over it, live it, know it. And you must preserve the truth. Don’t let anybody take the truth from you. That truth is in God’s Word. The early Christians did not argue over the Bible. They loved it. They believed it. They expounded it. They poured it forth as white-hot lava.

Now, one by one, person by person, family by family, city by city, church by church, we’ve go to take America back. My heart is broken over snake eggs, spider webs, and traffic jams. What about you? I’m not talking about the person sitting next to you. What about you? Are you right with God? Do you think it’s somebody else’s problem? What about your home? What about your business relationships? Have you been feeding on snake eggs? Some right now are wrapped up in spider’s webs. There’s only one thing that will set you free. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

I want to tell you, the truth is today that God loves you. The truth is today that Jesus Christ died for you. He carried your sins to the cross, and with His blood, He paid your sin debt. The truth is that He walked out of that grave, and He has ascended to high hills of glory. The truth is that one day—soon and very soon, I hope—He’s coming again. And the truth is, if you will believe on Him and trust Him, He will save you. I promise you on the authority of the Word of God not only will have save you, but—praise His holy name—He will satisfy you. What you’re longing for, you’ll never find, until you find it in the Lord Jesus. And not only will He save you, and satisfy you; He will sanctify you. He’ll begin to make you more and more and more and more and more like Him. Now when you come to Jesus, you’re not going to sprout wings and get a halo right away; you’ll have to grow. But this saving Jesus is the satisfying, sanctifying Jesus. And I’ll tell you something else: He will secure you. He will keep you. It’s not a matter of your holding on to Him; He’ll hold you—if you truly give Him your heart and your life.•[1]

[1] Rogers, A. (2017). A Nation in Crisis. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Is 59:1–15). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.

April 22, 2022 READING A PROVERB A DAY (PROVERBS 22) Adrian Rogers Raising Kids That Count Proverbs 1, 22


Proverbs 22New Living Translation

22 Choose a good reputation over great riches;
    being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.

The rich and poor have this in common:
    The Lord made them both.

A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.
    The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

True humility and fear of the Lord
    lead to riches, honor, and long life.

Corrupt people walk a thorny, treacherous road;
    whoever values life will avoid it.

Direct your children onto the right path,
    and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Just as the rich rule the poor,
    so the borrower is servant to the lender.

Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster,
    and their reign of terror will come to an end.[a]

Blessed are those who are generous,
    because they feed the poor.

10 Throw out the mocker, and fighting goes, too.
    Quarrels and insults will disappear.

11 Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech
    will have the king as a friend.

12 The Lord preserves those with knowledge,
    but he ruins the plans of the treacherous.

13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there!
    If I go outside, I might be killed!”

14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a dangerous trap;
    those who make the Lord angry will fall into it.

15 A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness,
    but physical discipline will drive it far away.

16 A person who gets ahead by oppressing the poor
    or by showering gifts on the rich will end in poverty.

Sayings of the Wise

17 Listen to the words of the wise;
    apply your heart to my instruction.
18 For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart
    and always ready on your lips.
19 I am teaching you today—yes, you—
    so you will trust in the Lord.
20 I have written thirty sayings[b] for you,
    filled with advice and knowledge.
21 In this way, you may know the truth
    and take an accurate report to those who sent you.

22 Don’t rob the poor just because you can,
    or exploit the needy in court.
23 For the Lord is their defender.
    He will ruin anyone who ruins them.

24 Don’t befriend angry people
    or associate with hot-tempered people,
25 or you will learn to be like them
    and endanger your soul.

26 Don’t agree to guarantee another person’s debt
    or put up security for someone else.
27 If you can’t pay it,
    even your bed will be snatched from under you.

28 Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers
    set up by previous generations.

29 Do you see any truly competent workers?
    They will serve kings
    rather than working for ordinary people.

Raising Kids That Count

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Proverbs 1:7-9

Psalm 112:2 says, “His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed.”

As parents, our chief desire for our children should be that they love God and honor Him with their lives. The Book of Proverbs is full of wisdom for those who want to raise kids that count in the cause of Christ. 

We must first give them an example: “My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother.” (Proverbs 1:8). Our children will learn more from our lifestyle than they will learn from our words. Good character is not so much taught as it is caught; it must be demonstrated through us.

Second, we should give our children unconditional love, regardless of their misbehavior. This doesn’t mean we give them everything they want. True love is not giving someone what they want; rather, love gives them what they need. 

We must give our children constant encouragement. There’s a difference between praise and encouragement. Praise focuses on the accomplishments of the child, while encouragement focuses on the actual child. Our children need to know they are not a sum of their achievements, and that we love them for who they are. 

We must also give them wise instruction. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” When we teach our children Scripture, it should be joined with training, so they can learn how to apply it for themselves when they are grown.

We should also give them reasonable restrictions. Adrian Rogers says, “Limitations don’t bind children; really they set them free.” When we establish restrictions, our children will naturally push against them. If the restrictions give, our children will lack confidence in themselves. This is the reason so many children are conquered by the things of this world.

We must also give them a listening ear. We must be ready when they’re ready to talk and make time for it.

Finally, give them a happy environment; our homes should be full of laughter, fun, joy, and silliness.

Adrian Rogers says, “A vegetable plate is better than a steak dinner if you have love, joy, and happiness.”

Apply it to your life

If you want to raise kids that count for the cause of Christ, remember to be firm, fair, and fun.


Downloadable Resources

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This message is a part of this audio series.

April 21, 2022 READING A PROVERB A DAY (PROVERBS 21) Adrian Rogers Fathers Who Teach Their Children to Be Wise Proverbs 1,3, 9, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24

Proverbs 21New Living Translation

21 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
    he guides it wherever he pleases.

People may be right in their own eyes,
    but the Lord examines their heart.

The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just
    than when we offer him sacrifices.

Haughty eyes, a proud heart,
    and evil actions are all sin.

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
    but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

Wealth created by a lying tongue
    is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.[a]

The violence of the wicked sweeps them away,
    because they refuse to do what is just.

The guilty walk a crooked path;
    the innocent travel a straight road.

It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic
    than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

10 Evil people desire evil;
    their neighbors get no mercy from them.

11 If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded become wise;
    if you instruct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

12 The Righteous One[b] knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked;
    he will bring disaster on them.

13 Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor
    will be ignored in their own time of need.

14 A secret gift calms anger;
    a bribe under the table pacifies fury.

15 Justice is a joy to the godly,
    but it terrifies evildoers.

16 The person who strays from common sense
    will end up in the company of the dead.

17 Those who love pleasure become poor;
    those who love wine and luxury will never be rich.

18 The wicked are punished in place of the godly,
    and traitors in place of the honest.

19 It’s better to live alone in the desert
    than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife.

20 The wise have wealth and luxury,
    but fools spend whatever they get.

21 Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love
    will find life, righteousness, and honor.

22 The wise conquer the city of the strong
    and level the fortress in which they trust.

23 Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut,
    and you will stay out of trouble.

24 Mockers are proud and haughty;
    they act with boundless arrogance.

25 Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin,
    for their hands refuse to work.

26 Some people are always greedy for more,
    but the godly love to give!

27 The sacrifice of an evil person is detestable,
    especially when it is offered with wrong motives.

28 A false witness will be cut off,
    but a credible witness will be allowed to speak.

29 The wicked bluff their way through,
    but the virtuous think before they act.

30 No human wisdom or understanding or plan
    can stand against the Lord.

31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
    but the victory belongs to the Lord.


Adrian Rogers: How to Be the Father of a Wise Child (1932)

Fathers Who Teach Their Children to Be Wise

June 20, 2021 Save Article

Proverbs

Why do some children adore their fathers and others hate them? What’s the difference between fathers? Sometimes children are caught up in the mistakes and mindset of fathers who won’t do what they should to guide those children into a safe, secure haven. The fathers’ own pride and arrogance make shipwreck both of their own lives and their children’s. It doesn’t have to be this way. 

I’ve observed one characteristic in almost all fathers whose children love and follow them. I’ll tell you what it is in a moment. 

The book of Proverbs is a veritable owner’s manual on how to raise a wise child. From the first chapter, it says the proverbs were written, in large part, so we would come… 

…to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion—A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel…. Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words: “How long, you simple [naïve, immature] ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. (Proverbs 1:2-5; 20-22)

Underline three words in this passage: simple, scorners, and fools. A child isn’t born a scorner or a fool. A long road leads to the evolution of a fool. 

Children need your guidance and protection.

They’re easily molded. “Simple” in verse 22 means open and naïve; children’s minds and hearts are plastic—easily shaped, innocent. 

They lack understanding. There comes a time when the child must be guided from innocence into wisdom and maturity.

They can be quickly led into error. A child is an easy target for Hollywood, false religions, and sinful friends. They’re so open, they’ll believe anything. They’re like a sponge. They can be tricked and misled; they’re living in constant danger, sitting ducks for bad influences.

“The simple believes every word…” (Proverbs 24:15). “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself: but the simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3). 

The young tend to think they’re indestructible, not weighing the future, easy to mislead. 

The older child needs godly correction.

Look at the word “scorner.” Little children aren’t scorners yet but heads up, dads: the older children, if not guided by dad and mom, take the next step down—they become the scorners/scoffers. 

They get their jollies from being the smart-alecky kids, the teenage cynics, the mockers at the university. It breaks my heart to say it, but most teenagers in America now are scorners. Scorners can break a parent’s heart.

They defy instruction because “scorners delight in their scorning” (Proverbs 1:22). 
“A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke” (Proverbs 13:1). 

Scorners will fire back at you. (See Proverbs 9:8.) They won’t listen. It’s like talking to a brick wall—they’ll tune you out. “A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, nor will he go to the wise” (Proverbs 15:12).

He’ll never come and say, “Dad, I need help. Will you help me out?” When you try to correct the scorner, he’ll look at you and say with his eyes, “I hate your guts.”

They’re on a track for destruction
“He who despises the Word will be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:13).

If they laugh at the Word of God, they may laugh their way right into Hell. Scorners are very hard to reach, but there is yet hope; they can still be reclaimed.

Catch them before they self-destruct.

First, there was the simple—naïve, open, carefree. But if he’s not taught, he will become a scorner. We all carry that fallen nature. Then the scorner, if not restrained by parents, becomes a person the Bible designates “a fool.” The scorner is insolent, but the fool is immovable—rebellious, arrogant, and wicked. 

A fool will reject wisdom
“And fools hate knowledge” (Proverbs 1:22).

“The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness” (Proverbs 15:14).

He ridicules righteousness
“Fools mock at sin” (Proverbs 14:9). 

This is why we have sitcoms that laugh at drunkenness, glorify adultery, mock marriage, promote homosexuality and relish perversion. Who does that? Fools. 

He rejoices in iniquity
“Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment…” (Proverbs 15:21).

His moral sense is so perverted, he calls good evil and evil good. His heart is hardened, his conscience is seared, and his mind is defiled.

He rejects reproof
God will chasten those who are His own. “For whom the Lord loves, He chastens…” (Hebrews 12:6). But reproof and correction are lost on a fool. “Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool” (Proverbs 17:10).

Trying to reprove the fool will get you nowhere. Don’t even try. He won’t hear you. He is intransigent. If he were wise, he would repent when God chastised him.

God gives us little children who begin life innocent and open. But if you’re not careful, society will turn them into smart alecks. 

Dad, if they’re not rescued when they become scorners or smart alecks, they’ll become fools. The fool is on the fast track to Hell.

We’re in serious trouble in America. In 1962, prayer in public schools was declared unconstitutional. In 1963, Bible reading in schools was deemed “unconstitutional,” but in 1973 the killing of pre-born children somehow became a Constitutional “right.” Then in 1980, the Ten Commandments had to be removed from where they were posted on school walls because, they said, “The child might be tempted to follow them.” 

Secular humanists have proven to be great strategists. They latched onto the one segment of life almost every child will pass through—public school—and targeted it to become their “Sunday School” for humanist philosophy. To do that, they had to purge any vestige of Christian influence.

In light of this attack on your children, how can you be the father of a wise child and keep from raising a fool?

Dads, with everything in modern culture fighting against you, you must gear up for this battle. 

7 Ways to Be the Father of Wise Children:

1. Expound truth.

Saturate them in the Proverbs. Emblazon the Ten Commandments onto their consciousness. Teach them the Beatitudes, that they might learn these simple, basic truths. It’s your God-given responsibility (See Deuteronomy 6:6-9.) to teach these commandments to your sons, daughters, and grandsons, that your family will survive and your home endure.

The battle is for the mind. As the child thinks, so is he. Get a memorization plan going and make it fun, with rewards when children commit scheduled verses to memory. Get the Word down into their hearts early.

2. Expose sin

The young and innocent will learn by example when they see discipline fall upon the scornerChildren need to see what happens when sin is exposed and consequences are suffered. 

“When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise” (Proverbs 21:11). 

The worst thing would be for your child to live in a sinful society where he never sees the repercussions of sin. Our children today are insulated; often they don’t see the result of sin. Help them understand. Don’t just expound truth, but expose sin. Take your child down to skid row. Take him to the prisons. Let him see the end result of bad choices. 

“Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary; Rebuke one who has  understanding, and he will discern knowledge” (Proverbs 19:25).

The young think they’re indestructible. You need to pull back the veil.

3. Expel scorners. 

Do not let your children hang around with scorners and fools. Just don’t do it. Help them select their friends. That means you may have to be firm and “cast out the scorner.” Show them the door. Impressionable children will succumb to peer pressure. 

Open up your house to your child’s friends. Make your home the headquarters for fun. And while they’re there, you can monitor those friends. Peer pressure is not bad if the peers are good. If there’s a smart aleck or a fool, say, “Son, there’s the sidewalk.” 

“Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; Yes, strife and reproach will cease” (Proverbs 22:10). 

Moms and dads, underline this, a good verse for memorization: 

“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20).

4. Express love

Love your children! Delight in them. 

“For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he  delights” (Proverbs 3:12). 

Be positive. Avoid negativism. Words can hurt your children more than a slap in the face. Learn to listen. Try to see life from their point of view. They’re facing things you never faced.

5. Be gentle

This is that one characteristic I mentioned at the beginning, which I’ve seen in all dads whose children love and follow them: They are gentle. That’s what children want out of their dad. Yes, they want a dad they can look up to, who’s the strongest, wisest, smartest, fastest, best dad in the world…but they want him to be gentle! Touch them, hug them, give them non-verbal affection.

6. Be transparent

Let them know your fears, joys, disappointments, failures, and goals. They already know you’re not perfect; they don’t want you to be a phony.

7. Be available

Make it a priority that you’re available to your child.

If you feel inadequate—so do I. None of us has what it takes to be this kind of dad. That’s why we need Jesus.

We’ve got to have Christ in our hearts! The Christian life is not difficult, it’s impossible. Only one who can do it, and that’s Jesus. 

But He will do it, in and through us, if we’ll let Him. The best thing you can do for your children is to love God with all your heart. Give your heart to Jesus.

Related Video Programs

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Seeing Jesus in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job

July 16, 2013 – 1:28 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 10) Summing up Proverbs study

May 30, 2013 – 1:06 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian RogersCurrent Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 9) “Love your neighbor”

May 28, 2013 – 1:23 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 8) “Manage your money”

May 23, 2013 – 1:35 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 7) “Pursue your work”

May 21, 2013 – 1:05 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 6) “Enjoy your wife and watch your words”

May 16, 2013 – 1:23 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 5) “Control your body”

May 14, 2013 – 1:44 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian RogersCurrent Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 4) “Bad company corrupts…”

May 9, 2013 – 1:10 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 3) “Guard your mind and obey your parents!!”

May 7, 2013 – 1:43 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 2) What does it mean to fear the Lord?

May 2, 2013 – 1:13 am

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The Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

July 8, 2013 – 12:01 am

https://bidding-test.devops.iponweb.net/automattic/dio-passback.html

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Why is Solomon so depressed in Ecclesiastes? by Brent Cunningham

July 3, 2013 – 7:00 am

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Robert Leroe on Ecclesiastes (Mentions Thomas Aquinas, Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, King Solomon, King Rehoboam, Eugene Peterson, Chuck Swindoll, and John Newton.)

June 19, 2013 – 1:30 am

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Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes

June 11, 2013 – 1:55 am

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Ecclesiastes: Solomon with Life in the Fast Lane

June 3, 2013 – 1:19 am

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Ecclesiastes a scathing and self-deprecating attack on hedonism and secular humanism by Solomon

May 31, 2013 – 1:17 am

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Solomon was right in his cynicism–unless……unless there is a God who created us and cares about us

May 22, 2013 – 1:34 am

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The Humanist takes on Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

May 20, 2013 – 1:13 pm

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Tom Brady , Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 3)

December 23, 2011 – 11:12 am

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Adrian Rogers on gambling

July 18, 2013 – 12:44 am

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Book of Ecclesiastes

July 17, 2013 – 1:40 am

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Adrian Rogers: Are fathers necessary?

July 16, 2013 – 12:43 am

Adrian Rogers – How to Cultivate a Marriage Another great article from Adrian Rogers. Are fathers necessary? “Artificial insemination is the ideal method of producing a pregnancy, and a lesbian partner should have the same parenting rights accorded historically to biological fathers.” Quoted from the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, summer of 1995. […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian RogersCurrent Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady, Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 2)

December 22, 2011 – 11:56 am

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FRANCIS SCHAEFFER ANALYZES ART AND CULTURE Part 420 Responding to Dan Barker’s book LIFE DRIVEN PURPOSE (“I think the best hope, the only hope, for a peaceful world is secular government”) FEATURED ARTIST IS Janine Antoni

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Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning

I have read articles for years from Dan Barker, but recently I just finished the book Barker wrote entitled LIFE DRIVEN PURPOSE which was prompted by Rick Warren’s book PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE which I also read several years ago.

Dan Barker is the  Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, And co-host of Freethought Radio and co-founder of The Clergy Project.

On March 19, 2022, I got an email back from Dan Barker that said:

Thanks for the insights.
Have you read my book Life Driven Purpose? To say there is no purpose OF life is not to say there is no purpose IN life. Life is immensely meaningful when you stop looking for external purpose.
Ukraine … we’ll, we can no longer blame Russian aggression on “godless communism.” The Russian church, as far as I know, has not denounced the war.
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In the next few weeks I will be discussing the book LIFE DRIVEN PURPOSE which I did enjoy reading. Here is the first assertion that Barker makes that I want to discuss:

Of course, democracy is no guarantee of morality. If a majority of people in a state lacking constitutional rights and liberties are theocratic, for example, they could vote to limit freedoms—they could use democracy to destroy democracy—not with the intention of minimizing real harm but to protect themselves from the manufactured harm of having their religious opinions challenged. That is why I think the best hope, the only hope, for a peaceful world is secular government.

Below is an article by Dan Mitchell entitled, ”Which Nations Do Best at Providing Rule of Law…and Why It Matters,” notes: 

Readers also should note that the dismal rankings of some other major nations, most notably China (#98) and Russia (#101).

So much for Barker’s secular government bringing freedom and prosperity!

Secondly, Francis Schaeffer points out in the article below that the reformation in Europe help bring forth many freedoms that many have enjoyed and the system of CHECKS AND BALANCES was set up because the Bible teaches we are sinners:

It is clear that the United States Constitution owes much to Reformation and to the basis, the authority of the Bible, upon which the Reformation was built.  It is likely with the Constitution in mind that Schaeffer concludes “To whatever degree a society allows the teaching of the Bible to bring forth its natural conclusions, it is able to have form and freedom in society and government.”

The Reformation’s emphasis on the Bible brought to light two significant items that would provide a profound impact on society and government.  The first was the idea that man does not need to be governed by consensus or by popular vote if the absolutes of the Bible provide the foundation for judgement.  In the words of Schaeffer,  “51 percent of the vote never becomes the final source of right and wrong in government because the absolutes of the Bible are available to judge a society.  The ‘little man,’ the private citizen, can at any time stand up and, on the basis of biblical teaching, say that the majority is wrong.” By practicing biblical teaching “one can control the despotism of the majority vote or the despotism of one person or group.”

The second important item that Reformation thinking helped refine was that of the need for “checks and balances in government.”  The reformer’s understanding that with the fall of man and all men are sinners the needs for a strong system of checks and balances in government, for the people in power.  While the methods and types of checks and balances differed in each Reformation country, they all adopted a system of checks and balances.  One only needs to look at the one that our founders developed for the United States as an example. “The White House covers the executive administration; Congress, in two balanced parts, is the legislature; the Supreme Court embodies the judiciary.”

These two items did much to provide a viable form of government that reduced or eliminated the chaos that comes with a society that is without absolutes, or the recognition of the corruptibility of man.

Which Nations Do Best at Providing Rule of Law…and Why It Matters

Back in 2014, I shared a video explaining why the “rule of law” is important for a just and free society.

Here’s another video on the same point.

When I discuss rule of law (generally when explaining the various components that are used to calculate rankings of economic freedom), I often use a shortcut definition – namely that rule of law exists when government officials don’t have arbitrary power.

In other words, rule of law is present when even politicians and bureaucrats have to adhere to laws and rules.

Where is the rule of law strongest?

According to the World Justice Project, Scandinavian nations are at the top, led by Denmark.

Other European nations – and European offshoot nations – dominate the rankings (there is a benefit to Western Civilization).

A handful of East Asian jurisdictions also get good scores.

And you’ll notice I had to include 27 nations in order to see where the United States ranks.

That’s depressing, especially considering that the U.S. ranked #19 when I first wrote about this report back in 2014.

But at least we’re not Venezuela (gee, what a surprise), which is in last place of the 139 nations included in the rankings.

Readers also should note that the dismal rankings of some other major nations, most notably China (#98) and Russia (#101).

Now let’s consider the economic implications.

In a new working paper from the University of Rome, Esther Acquah, Lorenzo Carbonari, Alessio Farcomeni, and Giovanni Trovato estimate the impact of rule of law on economic outcomes.

We estimate the impact that our measures of institutional quality have on the level and the growth rate of per capita GDP, using a large sample of countries over the period 1980-2015.…Institutions matter especially in low and middle-income countries, and not all institutions are alike for economic development. For this group of countries, we find: i) a positive correlation between our main institutional index and the GDP growth and ii) that improvement in the reliability and fairness of the legal system leads to a higher long-run per capita GDP level. We also document non-linearities in the causal effects that different institutions have on growth, and the presence of threshold effects.

For what it’s worth, I sometimes state in my speeches that rule of law is akin to the foundation of a building.

It needs to be solid in order for the rest of the building (fiscal policy, trade policy, regulatory policy, and monetary policy) to be livable.

One final point is that you don’t necessarily get more rule of law by enacting additional laws. Indeed, that may actually reduce the rule of law because politicians and bureaucrats then can engage in capricious enforcement.

As pointed out back in the 1800s by the great Frederic Bastiat.

Simply stated, over-criminalization is not a good thing.

P.S. In the are of economic development, there’s a big discussion over whether there needs to be more “state capacity” if we want more growth.

I’ve criticized some advocates because they use “state capacity” as an excuse to push for bigger government.

But it is true that very weak and incompetent governments do a poor job of providing rule of law, so it’s also true that there are instances where it would be good to boost state capacity. Assuming the term is properly defined.

Image result for francis schaeffer roman bridge

Francis Schaeffer noted:

In the French Revolution, human reason was made supreme and christianity was pushed aside. In 1789, with the French Revolution at its height, the members of the National Assembly swore to establish a constitution: The Declaration of the Rights of Man. To make their outlook clear, the French changed the calendar and called 1792 the “year one,” and destroyed many of the things of the past, even suggesting the destruction of the cathedral at Chartres. They proclaimed the goddess of Reason in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and in other churches in France, including Chartres. In Paris, the goddess was personified by an actress, Demoiselle Candeille, carried shoulder high into the cathedral by men dressed in Roman costumes.
 Like the humanists of the Renaissance, the men of the Enlightenment pushed aside the Christian base and heritage and looked back to the old pre-Christian times. When the French Revolution tried to reproduce the English conditions without the Reformation base, but rather on Voltaire’s humanistic base, the result was a bloodbath and a rapid breakdown into the authoritarian rule of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).

Image result for Napoleon Bonaparte
 In Sept. 1792 began the massacre in which some 1,300 prisoners were killed. Before it was all over, the government and its agents killed 40,000 people, many of them peasants. Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), the revolutionary leader, was himself executed in July 1794. This destruction came not from outside the system; it was produced by the system.
 The influence of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, as seen within the context of the French Revolution, can hardly be overestimated. Within a period of two years, an extreme form of democracy had been established and all titles of privilege abolished. In subsequent decades, based on the achievements of the revolution, political theorists began suggesting even more dramatic changes in government–changes that in the 20th century are called socialism, Communism, and anarchism. It is no exaggeration to say that subsequent revolutions in Europe, especially the Russian Revolution of 1917, had their antecedent in the ideas and practices that were spawned by the French Revolution.

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December 09, 2007

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Janine Antoni: Milagros | “Exclusive” | Art21

Janine Antoni

Janine Antoni was born in Freeport, Bahamas, in 1964. She received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and earned her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1989. Antoni’s work blurs the distinction between performance art and sculpture. Transforming everyday activities such as eating, bathing, and sleeping into ways of making art, Antoni’s primary tool for making sculpture has always been her own body. She has chiseled cubes of lard and chocolate with her teeth, washed away the faces of soap busts made in her own likeness, and used the brainwave signals recorded while she dreamed at night as a pattern for weaving a blanket the following morning.

In the video, Touch, Antoni appears to perform the impossible act of walking on the surface of water. She accomplished this magician’s trick, however, not through divine intervention, but only after months of training to balance on a tightrope that she then strung at the exact height of the horizon line. Balance is a key component in the related piece, Moor, where the artist taught herself how to make a rope out of unusual and often personal materials donated by friends and relatives. By learning to twist the materials together so that they formed a rope that was neither too loose nor too tight, Antoni created an enduring life-line that united a disparate group of people into a unified whole.

Antoni has had major exhibitions of her work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; S.I.T.E. Santa Fe; and Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. The recipient of several prestigious awards, including a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship in 1998 and the Larry Aldrich Foundation Award in 1999, Janine Antoni currently resides in New York.

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April 8, 2013 – 7:07 am

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Carl Sagan v. Nancy Pearcey

March 18, 2013 – 9:11 am

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Review of Carl Sagan book (Part 4 of series on Evolution)

May 24, 2012 – 1:47 am

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Review of Carl Sagan book (Part 3 of series on Evolution)

May 23, 2012 – 1:43 am

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Carl Sagan versus RC Sproul

January 9, 2012 – 2:44 pm

At the end of this post is a message by RC Sproul in which he discusses Sagan. Over the years I have confronted many atheists. Here is one story below: I really believe Hebrews 4:12 when it asserts: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the […]

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Review of Carl Sagan book (Part 4 of series on Evolution)jh68

November 8, 2011 – 12:01 am

Review of Carl Sagan book (Part 4 of series on Evolution) The Long War against God-Henry Morris, part 5 of 6 Uploaded by FLIPWORLDUPSIDEDOWN3 on Aug 30, 2010 http://www.icr.org/ http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWA2http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWASGhttp://www.fliptheworldupsidedown.com/blog _______________________ This is a review I did a few years ago. THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl […]

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Review of Carl Sagan book (Part 3 of series on Evolution)

November 4, 2011 – 12:57 am

Review of Carl Sagan book (Part 3 of series on Evolution) The Long War against God-Henry Morris, part 4 of 6 Uploaded by FLIPWORLDUPSIDEDOWN3 on Aug 30, 2010 http://www.icr.org/ http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWA2http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWASGhttp://www.fliptheworldupsidedown.com/blog______________________________________ I was really enjoyed this review of Carl Sagan’s book “Pale Blue Dot.” Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot by Larry Vardiman, Ph.D. […]

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Atheists confronted: How I confronted Carl Sagan the year before he died jh47

May 19, 2011 – 10:30 am

In today’s news you will read about Kirk Cameron taking on the atheist Stephen Hawking over some recent assertions he made concerning the existence of heaven. Back in December of 1995 I had the opportunity to correspond with Carl Sagan about a year before his untimely death. Sarah Anne Hughes in her article,”Kirk Cameron criticizes […]

By Everette Hatcher III|Posted in Atheists Confronted|Edit|Comments (2)

FRANCIS SCHAEFFER ANALYZES ART AND CULTURE Part 18 “Michelangelo’s DAVID is the statement of what humanistic man saw himself as being tomorrow” (Feature on artist Paul McCarthy)

April 25, 2014 – 8:26 am

In this post we are going to see that through the years  humanist thought has encouraged artists like Michelangelo to think that the future was extremely bright versus the place today where many artist who hold the humanist and secular worldview are very pessimistic.   In contrast to Michelangelo’s DAVID when humanist man thought he […]

By Everette Hatcher III|Posted in Francis Schaeffer|Tagged David LeedsJ.I.PACKERJoe CarterMassimiliano GioniMichelangeloMichelangelo’s DAVIDMichelangelo’s Florence PietàPaul McCarthyRenaissanceRick PearceyRush LimbaughTony Bartolucci|Edit|Comments (0)

Was Antony Flew the most prominent atheist of the 20th century?

April 25, 2014 – 1:59 am

_________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his death […]

By Everette Hatcher III|Posted in Current

________________

AFTER LIFE 3 Review and Open Letter to Ricky Gervais Part 37 AFTER LIFE Soundtrack is the best! Kate Rusby – Who Will Sing Me Lullabies END OF EPISODE 2 of season 3: Ken: See you tomorrow. Coleen: See ya. Ken: See you. Don’t bother getting up. ( door closes ) ♪ Oh, lay me down gently ♪ ♪ Oh, lay me down low ♪ ♪ I fear I am broken ♪ ♪ And won’t mend, I know ♪ ♪ There’s one things when ♪ ♪ The stars light the skies ♪ ♪ Who now will sing me lullabies? ♪

Kate Rusby – Who Will Sing Me Lullabies

Not Dark Yet (+lyrics) Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan – Not Dark Yet (Official Video)

Aaron Espe – Back to the Beginning

10cc – The Things We Do For Love (W/Lyrics)

10cc – The Things We Do For Love

Death Cab For Cutie – I Will Follow You Into The Dark +Lyrics

Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You into the Dark (Official Music Vi…

BBC Radio 2 My Life In A Mixtape – Ricky Gervais – Opening

After Life Season 3 Soundtrack | Back to the Beginning – AARON ESPE |

After Life

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After Life TV Show on Netflix: canceled or renewed?

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After Life TV Show on Netflix: canceled or renewed?

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After Life TV Show on Netflix: canceled or renewed?

World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes

After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix

episodes will be released on January 14th.

Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows

After Life TV Show on Netflix: canceled or renewed?
After Life TV Show on Netflix: canceled or renewed?
After Life TV Show on Netflix: canceled or renewed?
After Life TV Show on Netflix: canceled or renewed?

April 21, 2022

Ricky Gervais

London, W1F 0LE
UK

Dear Ricky,


After Life season 3 soundtrack: Every song featured in Ricky Gervais sitcom

The series finale is particularly jam-packed with recognisable tunes.

Ricky Gervais blowing an airhorn

By David Craig

Published: Friday, 14th January 2022 at 12:07 pm 

The third season of After Life launches on Netflixtoday, bringing the latest comedy project from Ricky Gervais to an emotional conclusion.

The so-called ‘sadcom’ has tackled some heavy themes during its rollercoaster run, which has seen widow Tony Johnson (Gervais) give into self-destructive tendencies as he struggles to come to terms with his wife’s tragic death.

Adding some extra heft to the most dramatic scenes are the music choices, which are usually directly relatable to the difficult situation that Tony finds himself in.

After Life season 3 features a wide range of musical acts, including legendary songwriters Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens, as well as rock bands Radiohead and Death Cab for Cutie.

For any viewers who hear something they like in the last six episodes, we’ve compiled a full list of the licensed songs in After Life season 3, of which the finale has the largest jukebox.

Read on for the full tracklist, while we also have details on the After Life cast and locations for you to peruse at your leisure.

Episode 1

The Things We Do for Love by 10cc

Back to the Beginning by Aaron Espe

Episode 2

Not Dark Yet by Bob Dylan

Who Will Sing Me Lullabies by Kate Rusby

Episode 3

Let Down by Radiohead

Episode 4

The Wind by Cat Stevens

Episode 5

Hammer and Felt by Beneath the Mountain

Episode 6

I Will Follow You Into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie

Love Is the Answer (Single Version) by England Dan & John Ford Coley

Introspective Inquiries by Margaret Dahlberg

Mandolin Wind by Rod Stewart

Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell

END OF EPISODE 2 of season 3:

Ken: What?

Coleen: Night, Ken!

Ken: Yeah, all right. See you tomorrow.

Coleen: See ya.

Ken: See you. Don’t bother getting up.

Hmm. Hmm. Cheers. Bye. Bye. ( door closes ) ♪ Oh, lay me down gently ♪ ♪ Oh, lay me down low ♪ ♪ I fear I am broken ♪ ♪ And won’t mend, I know ♪ ♪ There’s one things when ♪ ♪ The stars light the skies ♪ ( whimpers ) ♪ Who now will sing me lullabies? ♪ ( toy squeaks ) ♪ Oh, now who will sing me lullabies? ♪

( laughs ) Is that a new toy? ( toy squeaks ) 

Lisa: I’m doing your accounts! 

Tony: I would never get bored with this. Unless I was working. 

Lisa: Yeah. 

Tony: Then it’d be annoying. Yeah. It is annoying. ( Tony laughs ) 

Lisa: Can you take the squeaker out? 

Tony: No, look at her. ♪ Oh, angels in heaven ♪ Hello. ♪ Don’t you care for me at all? ♪ ♪ You’ve heard my heart breaking ♪ Squeak it. Squeak it. ♪ For it rang through the skies ♪ Oh! ( laughs ) ♪ So why won’t you sing me lullabies? ♪ ♪ Oh, why won’t you sing me ♪ Lullabies? ♪ Tony: Bedtime. ♪ I lay here ♪ ♪ I’m weeping ♪ ♪ For the stars, they have come ♪ ♪ I lay here not sleeping ♪ ♪ Now the long night has begun ♪ ♪ The man in the moon ♪ ♪ Oh, he can’t help but cry ♪ ♪ There’s no one to sing me lullabies ♪ ♪ Oh, there’s no one to sing me ♪ ♪ Lullabies ♪ ♪ So lay me down gently ♪

—-

This is a great song that is written from the perspective of Davy Steele’s young son who just lost his father to cancer. It is truly a very sad song too!

Better Music Through Chemistry
 
  
Two recent folk concerts in Northampton underscored the magic of better music through chemistry between gifted musicians. On April 17, Yorkshire folk songstress Kate Rusby and her multi-instrumentalist husband, John McCusker (also of the Battlefield Band), enthralled a sell-out audience at the Iron Horse. A week before, the up-and-coming Portland, Oregan based duo, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, were equally disarming before a coffeehouse audience at Smith College.

Following an impassioned standing ovation, Rusby and McCusker returned for an encore that turned out to be the saddest song of the evening. Who Will Sing Me Lullabies? is Kate’s lament honoring Davy Steele, the ebullient vocalist and song writer who graced the Battlefield Band before his recent death from brain cancer at age 53.

This song , written by Rusby as a tribute to Scottish musician Davy Steele, is told from the point of view of Steele’s young son who mourns the loss of his father.

Kate Rusby – Who Will Sing Me Lullabies? Lyrics

from album: Little Lights (2001) 

Lyrics 

Comments 

Song info 

More lyrics 

Lay me down gently, lay me down low,
I fear I am broken and won’t mend, I know.
One thing I ask when the stars light the skies,
Who now will sing me lullabies,
Oh who now will sing me lullabies.

In this big world I’m lonely, for I am but small,
Oh angels in heaven, don’t you care for me at all?
You heard my heart breaking for it rang through the skies,
So why don’t you sing me lullabies,
Oh why don’t you sing me lullabies.

I lay here; I’m weeping for the stars they have come, 
I lay here not sleeping; now the long night has begun. 
The man in the moon, oh he can’t help but cry, 
For there’s no one to sing me lullabies, 
Oh there’s no one to sing me lullabies. 

So lay me down gently, oh lay me down low, 
I fear I am broken and won’t mend, I know . 
One thing I ask when the stars light the skies, 
Who now will sing me lullabies, 
Oh who now will sing me lullabies. 

Who will sing me to sleep 
Who will sing me to sleep 
Who will sing me to sleep 
Who will sing me to sleep 

From Tony Johnson’s perspective this is just a result of chance.

Francis Schaeffer examines this point of view in his commentary on Solomon’s predicament in ECCLESIASTES. If a person lives life UNDER THE SUN (phrase used 29 times in Book of Ecclesiastes) as if there is no God then it makes sense that all is left up to chance.The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus CHANCE plus matter.

Chance is king.

__

Ecclesiastes 9:11

11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

Chance rules. If a man starts out only from himself and works outward it must eventually if he is consistent seem so that only chance rules and naturally in such a setting you can not expect him to have anything else but finally a hate of life.

Ecclesiastes 2:17-18a

17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. 18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun…

That first great cry “So I hated life.” Naturally if you hate life you long for death and you find him saying this in Ecclesiastes 4:2-3:

And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

IS THERE ONLY CHANCE AND TIME THAT WILL DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE?

Adrian Rogers discusses Solomon conclusion in ECCLESIASTES:

He tried all of these other things and he looked everywhere he knew to look but then he discovered the meaning in his quest for the best. Do you  know he tried last of all that really  satisfied him? 

 The Answer is found in  Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

He tried the LORDLet us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God.. He said take it from a man who tried everything and give your heart to the LORD. Not only is Solomon saying give your heart to the LORD but he is saying do it while you are young. I  know what a lot of you are thinking which is “One of these days I will try the LORD when I get old and it is no more fun to go around and party then I will try the LORD when I get to be an old man like Solomon was.” Well, hear is what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:1:

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

God knew there would be preachers like Adrian Rogers talking to guys and gals like you. So God put this in the Bible. You don’t have to learn certain things by experience. You can learn some things from God’s word. 

The Bible is true and can be trusted.Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” The first part of this verse is about the judgment sinners must face if not pardoned, but the second part is about Christ who paid our sin debt!!! Did you know that Romans 6:23 is part of what we call the Roman Road to Christ. Here is how it goes:

  • Because of our sin, we are separated from God.
    For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)
  • The Penalty for our sin is death.
    For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
  • The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ!
    But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
  • If we repent of our sin, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from our sins!
    For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Romans 10:13)
    …if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9,10)

In 1978 I heard the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas when it rose to #6 on the charts. That song told me that Kerry Livgren the writer of that song and a member of Kansas had come to the same conclusion that Solomon had and that “all was meaningless.” I remember mentioning to my friends at church that we may soon see some members of Kansas become Christians because their search for the meaning of life had obviously come up empty even though they had risen from being an unknown band to the top of the music business and had all the wealth and fame that came with that.

Livgren wrote:

“All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see, Dust in the Wind, All we are is dust in the wind, Don’t hang on, Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and Sky, It slips away, And all your money won’t another minute buy.”

Both Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope of Kansas became Christians eventually. Kerry Livgren first tried Eastern Religions and Dave Hope had to come out of a heavy drug addiction. I was shocked and elated to see their personal testimony on The 700 Club in 1981 and that same  interview can be seen on youtube today. Livgren lives in Topeka, Kansas today where he teaches “Diggers,” a Sunday school class at Topeka Bible Church. Hope is the head of Worship, Evangelism and Outreach at Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin, Florida.

You can hear Kerry Livgren’s story from this youtube link:

Kerry Livgren/Dave Hope: 700 Club Interview (Kansas) Part 2

Kansas – Dust in the Wind (Official Video)


The answer to find meaning in life is found in putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible is true from cover to cover and can be trusted.

Is the Bible historically accurate? Here are some of the posts I have done in the past on the subject: 1. The Babylonian Chronicleof Nebuchadnezzars Siege of Jerusalem, 2. Hezekiah’s Siloam Tunnel Inscription. 3. Taylor Prism (Sennacherib Hexagonal Prism), 4. Biblical Cities Attested Archaeologically. 5. The Discovery of the Hittites, 6.Shishak Smiting His Captives, 7. Moabite Stone, 8. Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III9A Verification of places in Gospel of John and Book of Acts., 9B Discovery of Ebla Tablets10. Cyrus Cylinder11. Puru “The lot of Yahali” 9th Century B.C.E.12. The Uzziah Tablet Inscription13. The Pilate Inscription14. Caiaphas Ossuary14 B Pontius Pilate Part 214c. Three greatest American Archaeologists moved to accept Bible’s accuracy through archaeology.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher, everettehatcher@gmail.comhttp://www.thedailyhatch.org, cell ph 501-920-5733, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002


Taking on Ark Times Bloggers on various issues Part I “Old Testament Bible Prophecy” includes the film TRUTH AND HISTORY and article ” Jane Roe became pro-life”

April 12, 2013 – 5:45 am

I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control  and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical ArchaeologyFrancis SchaefferProlife | Edit|Comments (0)

John MacArthur on fulfilled prophecy from the Bible Part 2

August 8, 2013 – 1:28 am

I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too.  I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian RogersCurrent Events | Edit|Comments (0)

John MacArthur on fulfilled prophecy from the Bible Part 1

August 6, 2013 – 1:24 am

I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too.  I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry King’s Show. One of two most popular posts I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian RogersCurrent Events |Tagged Bible Prophecyjohn macarthur | Edit|Comments (0)

John MacArthur: Fulfilled prophecy in the Bible? (Ezekiel 26-28 and the story of Tyre, video clips)

April 5, 2012 – 10:39 am

Prophecy–The Biblical Prophesy About Tyre.mp4 Uploaded by TruthIsLife7 on Dec 5, 2010 A short summary of the prophecy about Tyre and it’s precise fulfillment. Go to this link and watch the whole series for the amazing fulfillment from secular sources. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvt4mDZUefo________________ John MacArthur on the amazing fulfilled prophecy on Tyre and how it was fulfilled […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (1)

John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 2)

August 1, 2013 – 12:10 am

John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 2) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too.  I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)

John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 1)

July 30, 2013 – 1:32 am

John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 1) I have posted many of the sermons by John MacArthur. He is a great bible teacher and this sermon below is another great message. His series on the Book of Proverbs was outstanding too.  I also have posted several of the visits MacArthur made to Larry […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit|Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers: “Why I believe the Bible is true”

July 9, 2013 – 8:38 am

Adrian Rogers – How you can be certain the Bible is the word of God Great article by Adrian Rogers. What evidence is there that the Bible is in fact God’s Word? I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God. First, I believe the Bible is the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian RogersBiblical Archaeology | Edit|Comments (0)

The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy by Jim Wallace

June 24, 2013 – 9:47 am

Is there any evidence the Bible is true? Articles By PleaseConvinceMe Apologetics Radio The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy Jim Wallace A Simple Litmus Test There are many ways to verify the reliability of scripture from both internal evidences of transmission and agreement, to external confirmation through archeology and science. But perhaps the […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical ArchaeologyCurrent Events | Edit|Comments (0)

Taking on Ark Times Bloggers on various issues Part M “Old Testament prophecy fulfilled?”Part 3(includes film DEATH BY SOMEONE’S CHOICE)

April 19, 2013 – 1:52 am

  I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control  and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis SchaefferProlife | Edit|Comments (0)

Evidence for the Bible

March 27, 2013 – 9:43 pm

Here is some very convincing evidence that points to the view that the Bible is historically accurate. Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible Archeology consistently confirms the Bible! Archaeology and the Old Testament Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | E

On Saturday April 18, 2020 at 6pm in London and noon in Arkansas, I had a chance to ask Ricky Gervais a question on his Twitter Live broadcast which was  “Is Tony a Nihilist?” At the 20:51 mark Ricky answers my question. Below is the video:

Ricky Gervais 25/07/2021 Facebook Live at 28:29 mark Ricky answers my question about Sam Harris

Dan Mitchell: “[With Laffer Curve] entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners have more incentive to earn money when tax rates are modest!”

Corporate Taxes and the Laffer Curve

During the debate about the Trump tax plan, proponents made three main arguments in favor of reducing the federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.

  1. A lower rate would be good for workers, consumers, and shareholders.
  2. A lower rate would boost American competitiveness.
  3. A lower rate would produce some revenue feedback for the IRS.

The last item involves the “Laffer Curve,” which is a graphical representation of the non-linear relationship between tax rates and tax revenue.

Put in simple terms, entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners have more incentive to earn moneywhen tax rates are modest.

High tax rates, by contrast, discourage productive behavior while also giving people a bigger incentive to find loopholes and other ways of avoiding tax.

This does not mean that lower tax rates produce more revenue, though that sometimes happens.

The main takeaway is the most modest observation that lower tax rates will lead to more taxable income, which means some revenue feedback.

In other words, tax cuts don’t lose as much revenue as predicted by simplistic models (and tax increases don’t generate as much revenue as predicted).

I’ve shared many, many realworld examples of this phenomenon.

And here’s another. Look at how corporate tax revenues in the United States are increasing at a faster rate than projected.

The chart comes from Chris Edwards, and he helpfully explains what has happened.

The revenue surge came as a surprise to government economists. The chart…compares the new Office of Management and Budget March 2022 baseline projections to prior baseline projections from the OMB in May 2021 and the Congressional Budget Office in July 2021.…congressional estimators figured that the government would lose an average $76 billion a year the first four years… Corporate tax revenues were down from 2018 to 2020, but then soared in 2021. Revenues in 2021 of $372 billion (with a 21 percent tax rate) are 25 percent higher than revenues in 2017 of $297 billion (with a 35 percent tax rate). …we’re learning that a lower corporate tax rate is consistent with strong corporate tax revenues. …lower rates…broaden bases automatically through reduced tax avoidance and higher economic activity. Other nations have learned the same lesson. Keeping the corporate tax rate low is a winner for businesses and workers, but it can also be a winner for government budgets.

The Wall Street Journal has a new editorial on this topic. Here are some relevant excerpts.

…the 2017 tax reform that cut corporate tax rates…has been a winner for the economy and federal tax coffers. …Corporate revenue was supposed to fall to historic lowsas a share of the economy. Big business supposedly got a windfall and government was robbed. It hasn’t turned out that way. …the big news now is that more corporate tax revenue is flowing into the Treasury at record levels even with the lower rate. …In June 2017, before tax reform passed, CBO predicted corporate tax revenue of $383 billion in fiscal 2021. But in April 2018, after reform passed, CBO lowered its estimate to $327 billion.

So what happened in the real world?

Actual corporate income tax revenue in 2021 was $372 billion—nearly as much at a 21% rate as CBO expected at the 35% rate that was among the highest in the world.Fiscal 2022 is turning out to be even better for the Treasury. Corporate tax revenue for the first six months was up 22% from a year earlier to $127 billion. …What accounts for this windfall for Uncle Sam…? …the Occam’s razor policy answer is that corporate tax reform worked as its sponsors predicted: Lowering the rates while broadening the base by eliminating loopholes created incentives for more efficient investment decisions that paid off for shareholders, workers and the government.

Notice, by the way, that corporate tax revenues have increased faster than projected in both the 2017 forecast and the 2021 forecast.

All of which shows that I may have been insufficiently optimistic when I wrote about this issuelast year.

P.S. The goal of tax policy (either in general or when looking at business taxation) is not to maximize revenue for politicians, but rather to maximize prosperity for people. Indeed, if better tax policy leads to a lot of revenue feedback, that’s an argument for further reductions in tax rates.

P.P.S. Both the IMF and OECD have research showing that lower corporate tax rates do not necessarily lead to lower corporate tax revenues.

March 3, 2021

President Biden c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

______________________________

Dan Mitchell shows how ignoring the Laffer Curve is like running a stop sign!!!!

I’m thinking of inventing a game, sort of a fiscal version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Only the way it will work is that there will be a map of the world and the winner will be the blindfolded person who puts their pin closest to a nation such asAustralia or Switzerland that has a relatively low risk of long-run fiscal collapse.

That won’t be an easy game to win since we have data from the BISOECD, and IMF showing that government is growing far too fast in the vast majority of nations.

We also know that many states and cities suffer from the same problems.

A handful of local governments already have hit the fiscal brick wall, with many of them (gee, what a surprise) from California.

The most spectacular mess, though, is about to happen in Michigan.

The Washington Post reports that Detroit is on the verge of fiscal collapse.

After decades of sad and spectacular decline, it has come to this for Detroit: The city is $19 billion in debt and on the edge of becoming the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy. An emergency manager says the city can make good on only a sliver of what it owes — in many cases just pennies on the dollar.

This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois.

I could continue with a long list of profligate governments, but you get the idea. Some of these governments are collapsing at a quicker pace and some at a slower pace. But all of them are in deep trouble because they don’t follow my Golden Rule about restraining the burden of government spending so that it grows slower than the private sector.

Detroit obviously is an example of a government that is collapsing sooner rather than later.

Why? Simply stated, as the size and scope of the public sector increased, that created very destructive economic and political dynamics.

More and more people got lured into the wagon of government dependency, which puts an ever-increasing burden on a shrinking pool of producers.

Meanwhile, organized interest groups such as government bureaucrats used their political muscle to extract absurdly excessive compensation packages, putting an even larger burden of the dwindling supply of taxpayers.

But that’s not the main focus of this post. Instead, I want to highlight a particular excerpt from the article and make a point about how too many people are blindly – perhaps willfully – ignorant of the Laffer Curve.

Check out this sentence.

Property tax collections are down 20 percent and income tax collections are down by more than a third in just the past five years — despite some of the highest tax rates in the state.

This is a classic “Fox Butterfield mistake,” which occurs when someone fails to recognize a cause-effect relationship. In this case, the reporter should have recognized that tax collections are down because Detroit has very high tax rates.

The city has a lot more problems than just high tax rates, of course, but can there be any doubt that productive people have very little incentive to earn and report taxable income in Detroit?

And that’s the essential insight of the Laffer Curve. Politicians can’t – or at least shouldn’t – assume that a 20 percent increase in tax rates will lead to a 20 percent increase in tax revenue. They also have to consider the degree to which a higher tax rate will cause a change in taxable income.

In some cases, higher tax rates will discourage people from earning more taxable income.

In some cases, higher tax rates will discourage people from reporting all the income they earn.

In some cases, higher tax rates will encourage people to utilize tax loopholes to shrink their taxable income.

In some cases, higher tax rates will encourage migration, thus causing taxable income to disappear.

Here’s my three-part video series on the Laffer Curve. Much of this is common sense, though it needs to be mandatory viewing for elected officials (as well as the bureaucrats at the Joint Committee on Taxation).

The Laffer Curve, Part I: Understanding the Theory

Uploaded by  on Jan 28, 2008

The Laffer Curve charts a relationship between tax rates and tax revenue. While the theory behind the Laffer Curve is widely accepted, the concept has become very controversial because politicians on both sides of the debate exaggerate. This video shows the middle ground between those who claim “all tax cuts pay for themselves” and those who claim tax policy has no impact on economic performance. This video, focusing on the theory of the Laffer Curve, is Part I of a three-part series. Part II reviews evidence of Laffer-Curve responses. Part III discusses how the revenue-estimating process in Washington can be improved. For more information please visit the Center for Freedom and Prosperity’s web site: http://www.freedomandprosperity.org

Part 2

Part 3

P.S. Just in case it’s not clear from the videos, we don’t want to be at the revenue-maximizing point on the Laffer Curve.

P.P.S. Amazingly, even the bureaucrats at the IMF recognize that there’s a point when taxes are so onerous that further increases don’t generate revenue.

P.P.P.S. At least CPAs understand the Laffer Curve, probably because they help their clients reduce their tax exposure to greedy governments.

P.P.P.P.S. I offered a Laffer Curve lesson to President Obama, but I doubt it had any impact.

___________________________

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733,

Williams with Sowell – Minimum Wage

Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell – Reducing Black Unemployment

By WALTER WILLIAMS

—-

Ronald Reagan with Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman The Power of the Market 2-5

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April 20, 2022 READING A PROVERB A DAY (PROVERBS 20) Proverbs 20:1 Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls.  Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.  ADRIAN ROGERS on alcohol in proverbs

Proverbs 20New Living Translation

20 Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls.
    Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.

The king’s fury is like a lion’s roar;
    to rouse his anger is to risk your life.

Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor;
    only fools insist on quarreling.

Those too lazy to plow in the right season
    will have no food at the harvest.

Though good advice lies deep within the heart,
    a person with understanding will draw it out.

Many will say they are loyal friends,
    but who can find one who is truly reliable?

The godly walk with integrity;
    blessed are their children who follow them.

When a king sits in judgment, he weighs all the evidence,
    distinguishing the bad from the good.

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart;
    I am pure and free from sin”?

10 False weights and unequal measures[a]
    the Lord detests double standards of every kind.

11 Even children are known by the way they act,
    whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right.

12 Ears to hear and eyes to see—
    both are gifts from the Lord.

13 If you love sleep, you will end in poverty.
    Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!

14 The buyer haggles over the price, saying, “It’s worthless,”
    then brags about getting a bargain!

15 Wise words are more valuable
    than much gold and many rubies.

16 Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt.
    Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.[b]

17 Stolen bread tastes sweet,
    but it turns to gravel in the mouth.

18 Plans succeed through good counsel;
    don’t go to war without wise advice.

19 A gossip goes around telling secrets,
    so don’t hang around with chatterers.

20 If you insult your father or mother,
    your light will be snuffed out in total darkness.

21 An inheritance obtained too early in life
    is not a blessing in the end.

22 Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong.”
    Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.

23 The Lord detests double standards;
    he is not pleased by dishonest scales.

24 The Lord directs our steps,
    so why try to understand everything along the way?

25 Don’t trap yourself by making a rash promise to God
    and only later counting the cost.

26 A wise king scatters the wicked like wheat,
    then runs his threshing wheel over them.

27 The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit,[c]
    exposing every hidden motive.

28 Unfailing love and faithfulness protect the king;
    his throne is made secure through love.

29 The glory of the young is their strength;
    the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.

30 Physical punishment cleanses away evil;[d]
    such discipline purifies the heart.

Adrian Rogers on Alcohol, Drinking, Wine

Adrian Rogers (AD 1931-2005) was the well-known pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, Tennessee. He was three times elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention and was a leader in the SBC Conservative Resurgence. His radio, TV, book ministry has reached around the world and continues today. He is one of the best for young, and not so young preachers, to learn from today. Get his books and listen to his sermons.  

What did Adrian Rogers believe about alcohol, drinking, wine?  
Some of his quotes are below.  

“The most dangerous drug in America is beverage alcohol. Number one because of it’s acceptance. Number two, because of it’s availability. Number three, because of the effect that it has upon our hearts and our lives and the misery that it brings.”  

“The Bible uses the word wine in two difference senses. The word wine may mean that which may intoxicate you, or it may mean that which may not intoxicate you. The word wine in the Bible may refer to that which is fermented, or that which is not fermented; that which has alcoholic content or that which does not have alcoholic content.”  

“God says not to look on it, but to the contrary, we are to shun it when it is fermented (Proverbs 23:31).”  

“When a bunch of grapes are hanging on the vine, it’s called wine (Isaiah 65:8).”  

“They knew how to check the fermentation of grape juice.”  

On the Old Testament Hebrew word for wine, “Yayin may mean that which intoxicates, or that which does not intoxicate (Isaiah 16:10; Proverbs 20:1).”  
“The word yayin is a generic word.”   

“You are going to have to find out from the context, where the Bible says wine, whether it means that which is intoxicating or whether it isn’t.”  

On the New Testament Greek word for wine, oinos. “That too may mean that which is intoxicating or that which is not intoxicating.”  

“When you read the word wine in the New Testament, you can only know by the context whether or not it means that which can make you drunk. It does not always mean that which will make you drunk. It frequently means that which is not intoxicating.”  

“Did Jesus turn water into wine? Jesus turned water into oinos. Is that the kind of drink that would make a person drunk? Of course not!”  
“Do you think Jesus had anything to do with making people drunk? If you do, you don’t know the Jesus that I know.”

“Didn’t Jesus serve wine at the Lord’s Supper? No!”  

“Time magazine said alcohol is involved in one half of all murders.”  

“Have you ever stopped to think what the word intoxicated means? It means you have toxins put in.”  
“When a man is intoxicated he has poisoned himself.”  

“Liquor and immorality go together.”  
“Liquor removes the inhibitions.”  

“Moderation is not the answer to the liquor problem, in most cases it’s the cause of it.”
“It is the moderate drinker that encourages other people to drink.”  
“You may be very surprised at who you may hurt with your ability to hold your liquor.”

“The position of a man, woman, boy or girl ought to be total abstinence.”  
“If you don’t drink, don’t start!”    

“These Scriptures (Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35) tell us, I believe plainly and clearly, that the Christian’s position, so far as beverage alcohol is concerned, is total abstinence.” -Adrian Rogers (AD 1931-2005), pastor, author, SBC president. lwf.org

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May 30, 2013 – 1:06 am

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May 28, 2013 – 1:23 am

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May 23, 2013 – 1:35 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 7) “Pursue your work”

May 21, 2013 – 1:05 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 6) “Enjoy your wife and watch your words”

May 16, 2013 – 1:23 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 5) “Control your body”

May 14, 2013 – 1:44 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 4) “Bad company corrupts…”

May 9, 2013 – 1:10 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 3) “Guard your mind and obey your parents!!”

May 7, 2013 – 1:43 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 2) What does it mean to fear the Lord?

May 2, 2013 – 1:13 am

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The Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

July 8, 2013 – 12:01 am

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Why is Solomon so depressed in Ecclesiastes? by Brent Cunningham

July 3, 2013 – 7:00 am

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Robert Leroe on Ecclesiastes (Mentions Thomas Aquinas, Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, King Solomon, King Rehoboam, Eugene Peterson, Chuck Swindoll, and John Newton.)

June 19, 2013 – 1:30 am

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Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes

June 11, 2013 – 1:55 am

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Ecclesiastes: Solomon with Life in the Fast Lane

June 3, 2013 – 1:19 am

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Ecclesiastes a scathing and self-deprecating attack on hedonism and secular humanism by Solomon

May 31, 2013 – 1:17 am

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Solomon was right in his cynicism–unless……unless there is a God who created us and cares about us

May 22, 2013 – 1:34 am

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The Humanist takes on Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

May 20, 2013 – 1:13 pm

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Tom Brady , Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 3)

December 23, 2011 – 11:12 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. _______________________ Tom Brady ESPN Interview Tom Brady has famous wife earned over 76 million dollars last year. However, has Brady found lasting satifaction in his life? It does not […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers on gambling

July 18, 2013 – 12:44 am

Adrian Rogers: How to Be a Child of a Happy Mother Published on Nov 13, 2012 Series: Fortifying Your Family (To read along turn on the annotations.) Adrian Rogers looks at the 5th commandment and the relationship of motherhood in the commandment to honor your father and mother, because the faith that doesn’t begin at home, […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian RogersCurrent Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Book of Ecclesiastes

July 17, 2013 – 1:40 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers: Are fathers necessary?

July 16, 2013 – 12:43 am

Adrian Rogers – How to Cultivate a Marriage Another great article from Adrian Rogers. Are fathers necessary? “Artificial insemination is the ideal method of producing a pregnancy, and a lesbian partner should have the same parenting rights accorded historically to biological fathers.” Quoted from the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, summer of 1995. […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian RogersCurrent Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady, Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 2)

December 22, 2011 – 11:56 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. To Download this video copy the URL to http://www.vixy.net ________________ Obviously from the video clip above, Tom Brady has realized that even though he has won many Super Bowls […]

RESPONDING TO HARRY KROTO’S BRILLIANT RENOWNED ACADEMICS!! (Pausing to look at the life of Steven Weinberg who was one of my favorite authors!) Part 169H In my Jan 5, 2016 letter to Dr. Weinberg I have enclosed two CD’s of Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) in 1968 taking the time to read the crucial parts of Michael Polanyi’s groundbreaking article, LIFE TRANSCENDING PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY, in the magazine CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING NEWS, August 21, 1967!

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—-

Whatever Happened To The Human Race? (2010) | Full Movie | Michael Hordern

——

January 5, 2016

Professor Steven Weinberg, The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Physics, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, TX 78712-0264

Dear Dr. Weinberg,

Although I knew that many people knew John Polanyi since he won the Nobel Prize but little did I  know that anyone would have known his father Michael Polanyi who died in 1976 but I have discovered there are those who knew him well.

DID YOU EVER HAVE A CHANCE TO HEAR HIM SPEAK OR ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH HIS WORK?

Actually he was born in Budapest in 1891 and graduated from the University of Budapest in 1913 as a doctor of medicine. From there, he went on to study chemistry at the Technische Hochschule in Baden, Germany. and in 1915 he wrote a thesis in physical chemistry for his Ph.D. from the University of Budapest.

Dr. Polanyi taught at the University of Budapest in 1919 and, in 1920, began teaching at the Kaiser Wilheim Institute, Berlin. In 1929, he was appointed life member of the institute, but he resigned four years later (after being run out by HITLER’S THUGS IN BERLIN) to accept the chair of physical chemistry at Victoria University, Manchester, England. In 1948, he exchanged his chair in physical chemistry for one in social sciences at Manchester. In 1950, he began a series of visiting professorships and fellowships and he has taught at the universities of Aberdeen, Keele (Staffordshire), Oxford, California (Berkeley), Chicago, Duke, Stanford, Wesleyan (Middletown, Conn.), and Yale.

I thought this would be of interest to you so I have I have enclosed two CD’s of Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) in 1968 taking the time to read the crucial parts of Polanyi’s groundbreaking article, LIFE TRANSCENDING PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY, in the magazine CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING NEWS, August 21, 1967, and then Schaeffer comments on them. Polanyi’s arguments confront those of Francis Crick (1916-2004) and James D. Watson concerning the ramifications of the DNA discovery.

I have always been amazed at the ability of the Jewish people to dominate the sciences as they have. That impression was strengthened in  1976 when I visited Israel and realized how they were able to take a small piece of land in 1948 and make it such a thriving community that exports all over the whole world. Of course, I believe that Genesis 12 was inspired by God and it says:

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Thanks again for your time.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher, everettehatcher@gmail.com, P.O. Box 23416, Little Rock, AR 72221, USA, cell ph 501-920-5733

N

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John C. Polanyi, Michael Polanyi, and Eugene P. Wigner around 1934, on the lawn of the. Polanyi home in Didsbury Park, Manchester,

X

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Steven Weinberg died by Jerry Coyne

July 24, 2021 • 1:00 pm

Reader Rick informed me of this news, summarized in the piece below from Not Even Wrong (click on screenshot):  Steven Weinberg, a physicist, writer, and popularizer of science, died yesterday at the age of 88. (In fact, his Wikipedia biography hasn’t yet been updated.) For his work on unifying two of the fundamental forces of nature: electromagnetism and the weak force in nuclei, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics along with Sheldon Glashow, and Abdus Salam.

I’ve read several of his books (he was an excellent writer), and of course all of us know his most famous bon mot: “”With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil – that takes religion.”  He was a diehard atheist.

Click on the screenshot to read more about him:

As the obituary above gives you the relevant information about his career, I’ll tell just one story about him. In October, 2012, we were both participants in the small “Moving Naturalism Forward” conference organized by physicist Sean Carroll in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I sat next to Steve during the two days of the meeting, and watched as he worked out physics equations on a notepad during the talks. When he left the room, and his notes, I asked him if I could have them. He said, “sure”, but I included them as lagniappe in the autographed version of WEIT that he signed and we put up for auction.

Here’s a photo I took of Weinberg and the hard-core materialist Alex Rosenberg at the meeting:

And here’s Weinberg’s signature (circled) in my book, which was illuminated by Kelly Houle and auctioned off for charity for more than $10,000. I’m not sure what that diagram shows, but I am sure that one reader will tell us.

Although I had lunch with Weinberg one day, and remember that it was fun, I can’t recall what we talked about. My Weinberg story is this. At the meeting, Dan Dennett and I gave dueling presentations about free will, with Dan claiming, of course, that we had a form of it—a compatibilist one—while I argued not only that we had no libertarian free will, but also criticized compatibilism. (This led to Dan haranguing me for the entire three-hour drive back on the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston, which wasn’t covered with snow.)

At any rate, at some point after my talk, Weinberg asked me something like this: “Are you telling me that at any given point in time when I’m making a choice, I could not have chosen otherwise?” I said “Yes.” And he said he didn’t believe that. I was a bit taken aback that an atheist, determinist physicist of the stature of Weinberg could still accept what seems like libertarian free will. But we never got to discuss it further.

We’ve lost another great one—not just a scientist, but a writer, scholar, historian of science, and nice guy.

The Bill Moyers Interview – Steven Weinberg

How Should We Then Live (1977) | Full Movie | Francis Schaeffer | Edith …

Steven Weinberg Discussion (2/8) – Richard Dawkins

RESPONDING TO HARRY KROTO’S BRILLIANT RENOWNED ACADEMICS!!

Steven Weinberg – Dreams of a Final Theory

Steven Weinberg Discussion (3/8) – Richard Dawkins

Steven Weinberg, Author

How Should We Then Live | Season 1 | Episode 6 | The Scientific Age

—-

Steven Weinberg Discussion (4/8) – Richard Dawkins

I am grieved to hear of the death of Dr. Steven Weinberg who I have been familiar with since reading about him in 1979 in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE? by Dr. C. Everett Koop and Francis Schaeffer. I have really enjoyed reading his books and DREAMS OF A FINAL REALITY and TO EXPLAIN THE WORLD were two of my favorite!

C. Everett Koop
C. Everett Koop, 1980s.jpg

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Steven Weinberg Discussion (5/8) – Richard Dawkins

Francis Schaeffer : Reclaiming the World part 1, 2

The Atheism Tapes – Steven Weinberg [2/6]

The Story of Francis and Edith Schaeffer

https://youtu.be/DLSzfZszLXM

Steven Weinberg – What Makes the Universe Fascinating?

On November 21, 2014 I received a letter from Nobel Laureate Harry Kroto and it said:

…Please click on this URL http://vimeo.com/26991975

and you will hear what far smarter people than I have to say on this matter. I agree with them.

Harry Kroto

_________________

Below you have picture of Dr. Harry Kroto:

______________

I have attempted to respond to all of Dr. Kroto’s friends arguments and I have posted my responses one per week for over a year now. Here are some of my earlier posts:

Sir David AttenboroughMark Balaguer, Patricia ChurchlandAaron CiechanoverNoam Chomsky,Alan DershowitzHubert Dreyfus, Bart EhrmanIvar Giaever , Roy GlauberRebecca GoldsteinDavid J. Gross,  Brian Greene, Susan GreenfieldAlan Guth, Jonathan HaidtHermann HauserRoald Hoffmann,  Bruce HoodHerbert Huppert,  Gareth Stedman JonesShelly KaganStuart Kauffman,  Lawrence KraussHarry Kroto, Elizabeth Loftus,  Alan MacfarlanePeter MillicanMarvin MinskyLeonard Mlodinow,  Yujin NagasawaDouglas Osheroff,   Saul PerlmutterHerman Philipse,  Robert M. PriceLisa RandallLord Martin Rees,  Oliver SacksMarcus du SautoySimon SchafferJ. L. Schellenberg,   Lee Silver Peter Singer,  Walter Sinnott-ArmstrongRonald de Sousa, Victor StengerBarry Supple,   Leonard Susskind, Raymond TallisNeil deGrasse Tyson,  .Alexander Vilenkin, Sir John WalkerFrank WilczekSteven Weinberg, and  Lewis Wolpert,

____________________________

In  the 1st video below in the 50th clip in this series are his words. 

50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God (Part 1)

Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God (Part 2)

A Further 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God (Part 3)

_________________________________

Steven Weinberg: To Explain the World

I have a friend — or had a friend, now dead — Abdus Salam, a very devout Muslim, who was trying to bring science into the universities in the Gulf states and he told me that he had a terrible time because, although they were very receptive to technology, they felt that science would be a corrosive to religious belief, and they were worried about it… and damn it, I think they were right. It is corrosive of religious belief, and it’s a good thing too.

Steven Weinberg

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April 19, 2022 READING A PROVERB A DAY (PROVERBS 19) The problem of Anger ADRIAN ROGERS PROVERBS 14:17, 29; 15:18; 19:11-12; 25:8; 29:11, 20;

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Proverbs 19New Living Translation

19 Better to be poor and honest
    than to be dishonest and a fool.

Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good;
    haste makes mistakes.

People ruin their lives by their own foolishness
    and then are angry at the Lord.

Wealth makes many “friends”;
    poverty drives them all away.

A false witness will not go unpunished,
    nor will a liar escape.

Many seek favors from a ruler;
    everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!

The relatives of the poor despise them;
    how much more will their friends avoid them!
Though the poor plead with them,
    their friends are gone.

To acquire wisdom is to love yourself;
    people who cherish understanding will prosper.

A false witness will not go unpunished,
    and a liar will be destroyed.

10 It isn’t right for a fool to live in luxury
    or for a slave to rule over princes!

11 Sensible people control their temper;
    they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

12 The king’s anger is like a lion’s roar,
    but his favor is like dew on the grass.

13 A foolish child[a] is a calamity to a father;
    a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.

14 Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth,
    but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.

15 Lazy people sleep soundly,
    but idleness leaves them hungry.

16 Keep the commandments and keep your life;
    despising them leads to death.

17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—
    and he will repay you!

18 Discipline your children while there is hope.
    Otherwise you will ruin their lives.

19 Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty.
    If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.

20 Get all the advice and instruction you can,
    so you will be wise the rest of your life.

21 You can make many plans,
    but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.

22 Loyalty makes a person attractive.
    It is better to be poor than dishonest.

23 Fear of the Lord leads to life,
    bringing security and protection from harm.

24 Lazy people take food in their hand
    but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

25 If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson;
    if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

26 Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother
    are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.

27 If you stop listening to instruction, my child,
    you will turn your back on knowledge.

28 A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice;
    the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

29 Punishment is made for mockers,
    and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.

What were five euros for students in a bar with Tyler he would. Former CEO of what were fighting. 

Today Adrian Rogers starts a brand-new series getting a handle on your emotions and I’m emotional right now right arm all play some up on down him all around. But that’s is to try to harness that. Many times Adrian Rogers would stop by the studio. 

We have the privilege of asking him questions regarding the series about getting a handle on your emotions. 

We asking the question what can our listeners learn from the series about our emotions, they can learn how to use their emotions rather than letting their emotions abuse them. 

They can learn how to have the joy in the victory. 

The piece, the satisfaction, the contentment that is our legacy in the Lord Jesus Christ carry today’s message is called God’s answer to anger. Proverbs chapter 19 verses 11 and 12 will be looking at that with Adrian Rogerssaid that unjustified anger is like an acid brings harm to anything this Portland including the very container it inhabits. And sometimes that container is our very lives. That’s true also think a righteous anger you know doing it in the right way for the right reason at the right time God cannot lie. I think that’s so true Carrie learning how to use our emotions the right way. Adrian Rogers said it this way when it comes to learning how to use our emotions the right way. Someone is wisely said the only way to be angry and sin not, is to be angry only at sin if single children abuse doesn’t make you angry of seeing dope pushers take advantage of the innocent youth doesn’t make you angry. 

If racial pride than the arrogance our prejudice doesn’t make you angry. In the something wrong with you but that anger needs to be channeled. 

It needs to be controlled. 

It needs to be righteous anger, and so this is a very important subject for us. 

You know that’s a great word. 

I think many times we have to remember that your people are looking at us almost as the pacesetter and that depends on our emotions and that depends on our reaction to the action you what I think that’s a great point Adrian Rogers makes about righteous anger. It is expected. In fact, injustice all to stir us and move us to act with Jerry. We love hearing from our lobar fighting listeners and I think you have a comment is coming recently. 

This is having been saying for over 70 years and I’ve taught Sunday school for over 30 of those years, yet I’m still learning so much from the teaching and preaching of Dr. Rogers. 

Thank you for sharing these timeless messages coming. We love to get this in mind that this is a affirmation it’s a shot in the arm. What we did well. If you been listening, you know, just for the first time are like this listener for 30 years benefiting from the ministry of lobar fighting in your Christian walk in us the ripple effect of the ministry and and that’s our prayer that it will continue to saturate Carrie as we wrap up, 20, 21, the year winds down no lover fighting really appreciates and values the prayers and the faithfulness of our friends we do in and let me say this. 

This is a critical time of year for us. This is the time of year that our supporters and friends really rise to the occasion and they just give me they give of their time. They give of their treasure. 

They give of their of their prayers and we welcome all of that because that is the livelihood of lobar funding so I just want to encourage our supporters our listeners to raise the bar no go one step higher this year. All that money goes right back into the ministry so that we can reach the world for Jesus Christ. If we do want to challenge our lobar fighting community to give at this year’s event to help share the gospel of Jesus Christ through those timeless messages of Adrian Rogers. You can call with your calendar year and gift at 1877 love God or you can give online@lwf.org/radio. Once again we appreciate so much your support will what today’s message called God’s answer to anger part one. Here’s Adrian Rogers that they were going to be. It was something that I believe I just believe may be personal important to you, but I want to check out. 

So let me ask your question while you turn Proverbs chapter 19. How many of you ever get angry, lose your temper or find it. Whatever the case is were going to be speaking today on God’s answer to anger God’s answer to anger. 

Proverbs chapter 19 in verse 11 the discretion of a man for it is aimed that is a smart fella not quick to get mad. 

The discretion of a man before his anger and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. The king’s wrath is as the roaring lion, but his favor is as good do upon the grass God’s answer to anger as somebody said that anger is an acid that destroys its container. Indeed it does and is a corrosive acid that does harm to anything that it is portal not talk about ungodly anger, unjustified anger. Not all anger is bad as we can see in a moment to modify some anger is good to see in a moment that the Bible on at least one place commands us to be angry so we going to learn about God’s answer to anger unjustified on godly anger. Now, therefore, basic thoughts and the first is this that saddening sudden anger is to be controlled. 

That is if you’re a person who pride yourself and having a short few, you better be careful. Bible has a lot to say about you. Rather, some people you know I just I was my Irish. It just runs in the family. Whatever it is and there like a loaded shotgun with a hairtrigger time they jostle they blast away last little while, will so did that tornado I want to see what the Bible has to say about getting angry in a hurry about being to be angry. Now our verse. Our text says here the discretion of man before his design. That is a man who is a wise man does not fly off the handle some of the Scriptures and by the way, the book of Proverbs has things that go all the way through it, so you must will just lick your fingers. We’ll look at a lot of passages in Proverbs Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 17 look at it. He that is so great deal of foolishly friend in plain, unvarnished language, you are a fool if you quit getting is I don’t call me a fool I didn’t God. He that is so angry foolishly like again if you will, in chapter 15 and verse 18 are wrathful man startups try but he that is slow to anger a piece of strife you want to get in trouble. I mean if you want somebody to rearrange your face that you be one of these kind of fellas who is quick to anger and somebody’s going to explain something to you that you don’t explain one of these days. That’s what God is saying right here in Proverbs 15, verse 18 Proverbs chapter 25 in verse eight does not hastily describe. That is, don’t jump into an argument quickly less. I will not want to do in the end thereof that is you start something you can’t finish and when thy neighbor had put me to shame. You put your mouth in action before you brains in gear and you go to find out that you’re not going to be able to finish what you started is what God’s words is what you will hear in Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 20 says now a man that is hasty in his words, there is more hope of a fool than of him. You come up being you got improve your food. 

Now when you get angry, dear friend. There is so much that you you can lose your job you can lose your friends lose you children English a while you lose your health may lose a few teeth you can lose your testimony is nothing more debilitating your Christian testimony of the fact that you just fly off the handle. Now the Bible tells us here that we are to deferring. 

That is, sudden anger is to be control how you control over all you have to confess now that a lot of us who just would like to admit. We getting a Christian and I am not mad with sweet little bear little us that we can get angry because we can. And so the very first thing we must do is confess by the way, if you repress it rather than confessedly all kinds of damage you may say that you not angry, but your stomach keeps the school not apply to be surprise what kind of physiological, psychological and spiritual problems take place when you have repressed anger are in for that matter even expressed anger that is not handled properly football your body responds begins to pump that adrenaline into your bloodstream and then your blood pressure rises and then your muscles get tense and ready for flight or flight are both in your heart beat your hands become sweaty your eyes dilate and up. One man said my life is at the mercy of any rascal who can make me angry. My life is at the mercy of any rascal who can make me angry. And every time you get needlessly unjustifiably angry, drive another nail in the coffin. So first thing when you find these feelings coming confess. 

Confess don’t repress contestant to the Lord bring them to the Lord say Lord is some movement in the Ottoman line and tell Lord about someone as well said that if you repress anger is like lighting a wastebasket and putting it in the closet and closing the door. It may burn itself out or it may burn the house is burning. There is very first thing you need to do is just open the closet door and say there is Lord in the here has my wastebasket and I set it on fire. Now is the very first thing you need to do is to confess, and then the second thing you need to do. You need to consider. You say I’m getting upset that you need to consider and say what is it, Lord. That is making me upset, looking you in Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 29 here for moment. Chapter 14 verse 29 he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding you see when you don’t get angry right away or when you feel his anger coming you just kind of confess it to the Lord and say now, Lord, show me he will show he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding you need to analyze what it is this making a they don’t all have to confess it, consider control is I can’t control yes you can. This something comes over me. 

I can’t control myself yes you can. 

Yes you can. Sometimes husband widely and when these family discussions can be heard. About two blocks away and they will just be at one another’s throat and the phone will ring hello, don’t tell me you can’t turn it on and turn it off. You can write, you know, don’t surpass you and I know to telling you folks, I’m telling you that all is just a lot of excuses to say that we can control we can control what we can control and we better learn out of control in Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 11. Letter of his mind. 

A wise man keep the land you keep just about everything, all wise man can control it if you will know it� Way, help to welcome with. So what I’m trying to say is that if you find that first class of anger over and over and over again in the book of Proverbs and in other places in the Bible. 

The Bible says that we are to control something we have a chance confess considerate and contain all right now look. Sudden anger is to be control. Secondly, sinful anger is to be condemned. 

Why do we defer anger as our text tells us to do. Why is it that we are slow, so we might find out whether it is righteous anger sampling if it is sinful anger is to be condemned is to be dealt with harshly. 

It is to be repudiated is to be repented. I don’t treat anger, unjustified anger, sinful anger as weakness is not weakness. It is wickedness. One thing that God will not accept percentages in alibi by the way, what is sinful anger well number one is anger without a call when Jesus said, except to be angry with his brother without a cause to be in danger of hell fire. 

Anger without a call. Many times the problem is not what somebody is done with the problem is within us is our own frustration. It’s our own lack of peace with God and sinners in our lives. By the way, nobody outwardly can control your motion. You do that anger without a call that a something else that is sampling is anger that is centered in a person rather than anger that is centered on an offense when you get angry so that your anger makes you hate a person rather than hate what that person is done will say more about that in a moment that sampling sinful anger is anger that burns and desires remain. That is sampling sinful anger is anger that is cherished up and stored up in the hard way not to stir up anger and when not to start paying some people love their anger they hold onto sinful anger is anger that has an unforgiving spirit that will not refuses to forgive. Now we must deal with sinful anger as we would be with any other sin. 

It must be condemned. 

It must be repented of God will not accept an alibi. All right. Sudden anger is to be control sinful anger is to be condemned now. Stubborn anger is to be conquered now. The Bible goes on to say in our textbook at again if you will hear in Proverbs chapter 19 the discretion of Amanda Firth is anger and it is his glory to pass over transgression. What a glorious victory. 

It is when we learn the Passover transgression. That is to forgive and to get some people don’t seem to be able to do that you not to be copied by anger God wants you to be victorious. Now how you going to do it. I going to get rid of the stubborn anger welling the book of Proverbs, in turn, if you will for moment to Ephesians chapter 4, and I’m sure you some amazing scriptures here on anger in the book of Ephesians and will use Proverbs as a steppingstone to the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 be angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath not here to talk about stubborn anger again when you let the sun go down upon your ring. That is when you live with during their husbands or wives get into an argument and then rather than meeting by the bed and getting right with God. 

Get right with one another. You go to bed. 

Back to back and let the sun go down upon your knee what you’ve done. 

You open the door whole slew foot what you’ve done is this you said that will come in and write my home that will come in and destroy my family that will come in and write my testimony. You have given the devil place. 

The Bible says let not the sun go down upon your wrath need to give a place to watch of God as you give the devil a beachhead a foothold abound asked and believe you me, he’s ready to come in and it is that anger that’s stubborn pain. That’s stubborn anger that the devil loves to have the campground now let me show you how the devil works when you open the door, you let the sun go down upon your wrath and you come in. The devil has six this is going to destroy you with this matter of stubborn anger that I’m talking about beginning verse 31 when Ephesians 431 let all bitterness, one, and wrath to an angry three and clamor for an evil speaking. Five. Be put away from you, with all malice. Six those are the six steps six the number remain. And when you open the door to the devil you let the sun go down upon your wrath. Sudden anger becomes stubborn anger sure what happens. First of all he talked about bitterness here. 

What is bitterness bitterness is that feeling of resentment when somebody does your wrong or you think they’ve done your wrong and you get better in your heart. 

Now the Bible in the book of Hebrews calls this a root of bitterness trying to ban a lineup. So Jim dealt with at rascal because the room is down there and there is that root of bitterness and it gets in their and you began to feel hurt somehow you feel that your rights have been trampled on. Somehow you been overlooked. 

Somebody wrong and you feel that you are justified and that’s what the Bible calls bitterness that step number one bitterness now what happens to bitterness. Well the next thing is the next word he uses here is that step number two. The word wrath come from the Greek word that means you get all hot about you get all hot and bothered as a slow burn start and the bitterness turns the burning you just feel at fire starting and its mole smokers, you know, I feel it’s an ugly feeling that bitterness I felt that business becomes that hotness that burning that smoldering thing. Look at the third step here. 

The third word is anger now wrath speaks of that which is on the inside. 

But anger speaks of that which is only outside and the Greek word for anger here means that which is open and outward. It is outward hostility. Now, as the smoldering rags that are in the attic of the mind now burst into playing we may been better for quite a while. We may be doing the slow burn for quite a while and then just the right catalyst happened and that is anger. That’s the third step. This is outward now and is active now and then. 

That’s followed by number four clamor. Now the word clamor as the idea being vocal being live and maybe tears, but most often it is shouting you ever notice when people get angry and begin their divorce rises and saying you talk to the person is that when I you don’t have to shout and clamor comes in but I want Paul is when we start we lift our voices that way. That clamor turns to evil speaking, then when we hear ourselves talking that way and open hostility breaks out. Then we start to say things we never really meant we began to speak evil is evil speaking, slander, I hate you. I wish you’d never been born. A stupid shop person I ever knew, and we began to say thing that we know not true but will the role I’m doing good now me and telling this and you start to say those things you know me, but you verbalize because that bitterness turned up burning and burning to anger and that anger turned to clamor and I clamor turns an evil speaking men that evil speaking, does one turns to malice, no analysis as when you hurt somebody you can hurt them with the official hurt, with words can hurt them with words you hurt them with money get hurt with Mike. That’s when a mother will slap as when a husband will that’s when somebody goes for go on a ghost or sticker are just some foolish, silly thing about just sitting over there grinning and having a time and you’re the one who open the door, only write my home right my life write my help destroy the whole thing your you gave a place that because you let the sun go down upon your wrath. And that’s great anger. 

They begins to take its toll. Terrible and awful. It is not is not one of his had been at one time another pastor is exactly the way work you only some psychologist dictate God’s word is already here to tell us exactly what the devil wants to do the harm is the hardest to rightist directors to destroy us to destroy testimony, listen to you, not going be able to conquer anger, or anything else of the Christ on the inside is not victory over the devil you need. It is the victor of the devil, the Lord Jesus Christ and having Christ on the inside and you know whatever you feel with Watts Bills Ave., Jocelyn the right you will know what you feel with this. He Was Bills Ave., Jocelyn you feel with Jesus, somebody just as Jesus your part to this message coming up tomorrow on love worth finding today. If you have questions about who Jesus is what he means to you. How to begin a relationship with God through Christ were discovered. 

Jesus page@lwf.org/radio you find resources and materials there that will answer questions you may have about your faith again go to LWF.org/radio and click Discover Jesus, so glad you joined us for today studying God’s word start receiving daily devotions and links to our program sign up for our daily emails LWF.org/radio and join us tomorrow for the conclusion of God’s answer to Hank right here on love

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