The Crawford Stand

FREEDOM!

We are, America is, the home, the land of the:

BRAVE AND THE FREE.

We are lovers of freedom. It is, you could say, in our genes. We inherited that love of freedom from those who founded our great country, fought against the oppressors more than two centuries ago and built the foundation for the FREEDOMS we now enjoy today. Give us, we say with that great statesman and our forefather Patrick Henry, give us that LIBERTY or if that is taken away, give us death for there is no real life without freedom.

For us, America is in fact exceptional no matter the indifferent attitude of Barack Hussein Obama who thinks that America is no more exceptional than any other country! But all of America and we the people are exceptional in so many ways, including our way of life and our lifestyle. Everything is okay down to the last sentence and raise and champion our great flag, and wear the American flag pin proudly, especially in the world of academia which thinks the American flag is a symbol for racism and xenophobia rather than exceptionalism.

And now, we should take quality time to honor the founding documents which make us great, namely our Constitution, our Bill of Rights and our Declaration of Independence. We should honor these incredible documents by reading them, studying their content, understanding the values therein and resolving as the authors of these documents did, and honor our forefathers who provided them for us recommitting to them and the world at large that we the people will protect and preserve the freedoms contained therein, even to the laying down of our lives.

In this day, there are so many who would CHANGE what we have, or even more radically so, eliminate it. There seems to be an ever-growing number of those in our very own country with little or no respect for our great founding documents, our freedoms, the principles by which we have lived and built THE GREAT SOCIETY, and especially what America has been, our glorious history. They the un-Americans wish to eliminate or erode so many of our freedoms and move this great country toward socialism. THEY are the enemy inside and they must be stopped. We the people, true Constitutional Americans energized and emboldened by our founding documents and founding fathers must make certain we do what is right for our great country, and as true patriots, protect and defend our freedoms as never before. We should do everything humanly possible to prevent socialism of any kind in thought or deed.

We should remember the words of that great statesman, a founding father himself, Benjamin Franklin, who said, when asked, that he and his fellow revolutionaries have given us, Americans then and now, a Republic. Not a Democracy, but a Republic. Franklin went on to warn us then and now that this Republic was FRAGILE, and needed at all times to be protected with vigilance, vigor and valor. That this Republic of the combined United States could never be taken for granted. Nor could any citizen assume it would go on, and on. For freedom, for Franklin and the fathers, was a precious right that could only be sustained by watchful, involved and proactive citizens. We who would live in this free country and enjoy its immense freedoms must at all times be:

WATCHMEN AND WOMEN ON THE WALLS

Not talk, debate or discussion, but action, actively working to protect our freedoms and our way of life, willing to die in the fray if necessary. Would you be willing to die, to lay all on the altar in the cause of freedom? What would you do if ISIS or jihadists attacked America and threatened harm to your family and you? What would you do? Our forefathers never gave the matter a second thought. They, in Second Amendment fashion, took up arms to defend their country, their freedoms and their family. Would you?

In fact, we AMERICANS should be so proud of our country, and our freedoms, that we as a nation are ready at all times to help others in the cause of freedom. We gave the lives of millions of young American men and women to others in the cause of freedom. Witness World War II. One Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman 83 years young arrived in Paris by airplane. At French customs, it took him several minutes to locate his passport. The Customs Officer with sarcasm and disdain asked Mr. Whiting:

“You have been to France before, Monsieur?”

Mr. Whiting answered, yes he had and the smart aleck French official replied pompously:

“Then you should know enough to have your passport ready!”

Mr. Whiting then stared this official in the eye and said the following:

“The last time I was here I didn’t have to show my passport.”

To which the French Customs Official replied:

“Impossible! Americans always have to show passports on arrival in France!”

Mr. Whiting gave this arrogant Frenchman a long hard look and he proudly stated: 

“Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a single Frenchman to show a passport to!”

You could have heard a pin drop. God bless America and God bless Mr. Whiting.

And yet another instance of a proud American at work. When in England at a fairly large conference, Secretary of State Colin Powell was asked by the Arch Bishop of Canterbury if America’s plans for Iraq were simply a rationalization for empire building or land-grabbing by George Bush as American soldiers went to war. Powell simply answered by saying:

“Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those who did not return.”

All attending that conference were deadly silent. Well said, Mr. Powell, well said as a proud American.

There was once a conference in France when a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. One of the French engineers said the following:

“Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?”

Those in attendance snickered and jeered. That is, until an engineer from the Boeing company in America stood up and proudly stated:

“Our aircraft carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people. They are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities. They have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day. They can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day. They carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and the injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such aircraft carriers. How many does France have?”

You could have heard a pin drop.

And again, a U.S. Naval Admiral was attending a naval conference that included admirals from the united states, England, Canada, Australia and France. Every one in attendance was conversing in English. Suddenly a French Admiral complained the Europeans learn many languages but Americans learn only English. This French Admiral arrogantly and pompously said:

“Why is that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?” The American United States Naval Admiral stood up proudly and replied:

“Maybe it is because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so that you would not have to speak German!”

The room was deadly silent.

So, whether here at home or anywhere abroad, anywhere in the world, it is our privilege, our duty, our passion to protect FREEDOM at every turn. That freedom means for us and all in the world the fundamental rights, the God-given rights to:

LIFE

LIBERTY

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

It is our right to live life free, with maximum freedom. It is our right to live and champion liberty everywhere. And, it is our right to pursue happiness as we define that, as free individuals, to pursue life legally and lovingly as we choose. May it always be so, but it only can be if we are willing to do anything possible to protect those freedoms. ANYTHING! Are you?

So now, this Independence week, culminating in the great day July 4, Independence Day, we should honor America, this great country in which we are privileged to live. We should honor all things American and we should honor our flag as a symbol of who we are and what we believe. There are those who would desecrate or cause to be irrelevant the great stars and stripes. There was the action of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) which banned the wearing of the American flag as a lapel pin or otherwise in clothing because the flag in their view was controversial and represented the causes of certain conservatives. How tragic, how ridiculous, how un-American the actions of the American Broadcasting Company. There are times when our President, our Congress, our leading citizens simply do not wear or honor the flag or any other symbol of all great things American. We the people should find all such conduct unacceptable and we should protest. The greatest form of protest is to protect, preserve and defend our freedoms and the symbol of those freedoms, the great American flag, the perfect symbol of our independence and the finest possible expression of freedom on the great day July 4, Independence Day. Do just that loudly and proudly my fellow citizens.

Think carefully, my fellow Americans, about the precious freedoms granted by your Constitution and your Bill of Rights. Remember that you are guaranteed the right to freedom of religion, to worship and practice religion as you please. You are guaranteed the right to free speech, to speak as you wish at anytime, anywhere, with any words. You are guaranteed the right to freely assemble, to petition, to print in press or on the Internet. YOU ARE GUARANTEED THOSE RIGHTS! You are guaranteed the right to bear arms, to purchase, own and use them for pleasure or in self-defense. You are guaranteed the right against governmental illegal search and seizure. You are guaranteed the right a trial by a jury of your peers rather than to be summarily convicted by any governmental agency. You are guaranteed the right to counsel if you can not afford one when charged with a crime. You are guaranteed the right to vote. You are guaranteed to pursue life, liberty and happiness as you wish! You are guaranteed by your Constitution and Bill of Rights the highest and best form of living and lifestyle the world has ever known! You should give thanks for America, for all that it was, is and can be in the future if YOU as Benjamin Franklin so well said standup and do everything possible to KEEP IT that is the great experiment in freedom which our founding fathers intended. Please join with me this Independence Week, this Freedom Week and especially on the set-aside day for freedom celebration, namely July 4 in pledging once again our allegiance to this great country. Please join me in these great words which honor America:

I pledge allegiance

to the Flag

of the United States of America

and to the Republic for which it stands

one nation

indivisible

with liberty and justice

for all!

I ask humbly and lovingly that GOD BLESS AMERICA.

And I ask humbly as well that GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!

There is only one America. Keep it that way!

In Revolutionary times, Thomas Paine said the following:

“These are the times that try men’s souls”.

And indeed these are the times that try women’s souls, some at least now that the United States Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.

Thomas Jefferson admonished Americans of his time that the blood of patriots must be shed from time to time in order to refresh the Tree of Liberty. In short, the Constitutional America of 1776 (Declaration of Independence) and the Constitutional America of 1787 needed new patriots, new passion, new commitments to liberty and freedom. Now more than ever that is true. The constitutional, rule of law, freedom–liberty America of old is not only under attack but becomes divided, angry and more violent by the day. Freedom and liberty we have always taken for granted are now all the more at risk and at stake.

The patriot Patrick Henry provided a testimony applicable to all of us:

“Give me liberty or give me death”.

Henry was willing to die for freedom. He would live under no form of bondage. Oppression and bondage in his time was English. Today it comes internally from anarchists, that small virulent, violent minority which wishes the destruction of the greatest country on earth.

Our forefathers fought for freedom. They gave their blood then which we can assume made Jefferson proud. They gave us the greatest ruling document in the history of mankind, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. That incredible document contained the First Amendment which gave every American citizen the following rights and freedoms:

1. Freedom of religion

2. Freedom of speech

3. Freedom of press

4. Freedom of assembly

5. Freedom of petition

Guaranteed, unconditional, unchanging, FOREVER FREEDOMS. Every one of those sacred, inalienable (God–given) rights and freedoms are at risk today, EVERY ONE! We the People seemed to have lost our vision, our understanding, even in some cases our desire to protect and preserve this incredible country. We have become indifferent to the struggles and problems we face. So many of us are ignorant of our history, and our Constitution, and our rule of law, and how we are governed. So many of us have withdrawn from the political process. As few as 10% will vote in some elections and perhaps no more than 60% of eligible, voting Americans will go to the polls in the most serious of elections. It has become tragic how We the People take democracy for granted. It is as though freedom will always be there no matter what we do. We the People are an easy target for violence and anarchism.

One of the most anti–American Americans was one Saul Alinsky. In essence, Alinsky championed the destruction of everything, every institution, every tradition, anything and everything in America so that the country could be rebuilt and reestablished. The philosophy and beliefs of Alinksy were adopted by George Soros among others and the state of objective of Soros and others was to:

BRING DOWN AMERICA.

Bring it down. Destroy it. Rewrite its history. Do away with its Constitution and its rule of law. Get rid of the moral standards of the country today and especially the Judeo–Christian heritage and morality of the past. Do away with it completely! Beneath the violence, disrupt, and the lack of accountability today is this Alinsky model, the destruction of America, the destruction of everything which America holds dear. WOKE better serve to wake up America, defend itself, its values, morality and principles or all will be lost. WAKE UP AMERICANS, WAKE UP. The time may be near when the blood of real patriots will be required once again in America.

We the People assume that we live in a democracy. We live by democratic principles, the core of which is freedom. That is true but our government is not a democracy. Our forefathers who forged our Constitution were suspicious of democracy. They feared an intolerant majority. They created checks and balances which would prevent as much as possible the potentially crushing majority rule. They created for us a REPUBLIC. That of course consisted of a president, senate and house of representatives. It also consisted of an independent federal judiciary with the Supreme Court of essentially nine justices as final arbitrators of the rule of law. Such a republic respected democratic principles but it guarded so very well against abuse.

Those founding fathers gave us the concept of federalism. That is, that each of the individual states of America, then 13 and now 50, would be protected, have rights not specifically granted to the federal government (Constitution Amendment X), and otherwise make certain that its people were protected, and larger states would have no real advantage over smaller ones. It was and continues to be a brilliant system and check and balance.

The founding fathers gave us an electoral college where leaders were not elected by majority vote but by states according to their population. They gave us the rule of law, they gave us the Declaration of Independence, they gave us the Constitution, incredible documents with incredible freedoms, fully protected. They gave us all of this as a result of the blood of so many Revolutionary patriots shed in the cause of freedom. How tragic it is that we sit back and take those then given freedoms for granted, watch them whittle away daily, observe the indifference among younger generations and the beginning of the erosion and eventually the elimination of our great Country, its way of life and government. The great destroyers win, Alinsky, Soros, Sanders the socialist. They refuse, those anarchists and anti–Americans to work within the system for reform. They work for radical change and ultimate destruction. And, We the People sit back and watch it happen and in so many ways do nothing. Violence is everywhere. There are threats, intimidation, radicalism everywhere. A senator threatens a supreme court justice. Senator Schumer from New York threatened Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh as follows:

You will pay the price.

It is simply unbelievable how seemingly everything America stands for, believes in, the fundamental structure of our great Country is not only under attack but is being destroyed day by day. History shows us that democracies as the foundation of government cannot last. Democracies in history last at or about 200 years. America is now 246 years young and We the People, our democracy, our great constitutional republic may be near the end. How I for one hope and pray that simply does not happen.

The Constitution and its Amendments of the United States is the finest document, political governing document which mankind can produce. But it cannot last forever. Only one document can. And that is THE WORD OF THE LORD, the Holy Bible which gives us the world’s only reliable ABSOLUTE TRUTH. The Constitution gives us the freedoms of mankind. The Bible gives us heavenly freedoms, eternal freedoms, the ways of the Lord God Almighty, the most important freedom of all and the most important freedom of all, salvation in Jesus Christ. Man’s democracy cannot last, but the democracy of peace and love of Jesus Christ will last forever.

Human leaders, people, men and women, politicians and those in power can never last. The only person, leader, visionary, difference maker who can is Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of Glory. That eternal leader will never fail.

So, now in America violence reigns. Everything is under attack. The spiritual warfare has begun. The:

FIGHT OF FAITH IS HERE AND NOW!

So, my fellow Americans, my fellow Christians, how will you fight this fight of faith? HOW? Put on for sure the armor of the Lord. And the helmet of salvation. And the breastplate of righteousness and be ready for the spiritual war. It is here, IT IS HERE. You will be called upon to defend your faith with everything you have. If you truly believe as a Christian and you will not compromise, you will take on a danger you never have before. How will you respond? Will you stand up to violence? Would you use any means at your disposal to protect your family, your friends and yourself from violence? You will engage in prayer, more prayer perhaps than ever before. But you will be called upon to ACT, and perhaps act returning violence for violence. Would you do that? We the People, we Christians have choices to make we never have before. In prayer, may our Lord lead us to the right decisions for God, and Country, and family, and all humankind.

Freedom, inalienable rights, God–given rights, are of the most value, the most important to all. Don’t lose them or lose life in the process. May God bless you, my fellow Americans as you energize the courage to stand for Christ, for Christianity and for the greatest Country in the history of mankind.

Always remember. FREEDOM ONCE LOST IS LOST FOREVER!

There are many conservatives, polls say, who have become QUIET.

They fear, these conservatives do, sharing their political and religious beliefs. They fear speaking out and speaking up for fear of cancelled culture retribution. The conservative culture of old has been cancelled and the progressive woke culture rules the day. These new culture majoritarians do not welcome dialogue, much less opposing points of view, and conservatives who entertain such points of view are silenced, threatened, and intimidated to the point, say the polls, where they simply become:

QUIET.

On college campuses, three out of five employees fear losing their jobs if they mention conservative religious or political points of view at work. Fifty-four percent of those workers and conservative college students say that posting religious or political views on social media could lead to negative consequences in the workplace, including immediate termination.

Corporations entertain charitable giving programs, and they seek the opinions and recommendations of employees. But not-so-conservative or Christian employees simply are not accommodated. One such reliable survey was conducted by ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM (ADF) and Jay Hobbs of ADF said:

“It puts (woke and progressive priorities) religious and political conservatives in the cross-hairs of cancellation.”

As a result of this militant cancel culture philosophy of the liberal, progressive left, conservatives have a legitimate reason to fear being shut out of advancement opportunities, mistreated by coworkers and bosses, and even fired for voicing their beliefs. Consequently, many conservatives go quiet, refusing to exercise their first amendment rights of free speech and the conservative point of view becomes increasingly culture-cancelled moreso each day.

This censorship is everywhere and affects everything said one free market spokesperson. Workers and professionals are just simply not allowed to speak out. Have you ever experienced that in your life, where you live and work, and even you yourself, have you? That seems to be the ever-growing effect of WOKE WORKPLACE POLICIES.

Robust opinion-sharing and aggressive dialog, protected and encouraged by the first amendment, is anathema in the woke workplace. Conservatives, but not progressives, are admonished to be careful how they express their religious or political points of view so as:

NOT TO OFFEND ANOTHER PERSON.

That in itself is intimidation, implied threat, a silent demand to KEEP QUIET. It matters not if woke, cancel-culture, progressive ideologies, and workplace, political dialogue offend the conservative, but only that the conservative does not offend the liberal.

The survey goes on:

“Right now, companies enforce official and unofficial speech and thought codes for their employees which is toxic.”

It is critically important to note that not only is speech involved in censorship, but now comes THOUGHT processes as well. A radical woker is determined not only to control and even eliminate free speech but now THOUGHT as well. We sound the alarm, my fellow Americans and Christians though sadly, that warning is far too often ignored or unheeded. But those freedoms once lost are lost forever. The ADF poll went on to find that this new, aggressive, cancel-culture entered the workplace and so much of the rest of life from recent college graduates, motivated and guided by the speech codes which were officially and unofficially enforced on college campuses. They seem, said ADF, on a mission to cancel and silence anything and anyone who may in any way disagree with the new woke, progressive, cancel-culture.

And yet another poll, conducted by the FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION (FIRE) found that 88% of four-year colleges and universities now restrict the free expression of their students on campus, to the detriment or even elimination of free speech and first amendment rights. It is just simply amazing how so many of our inalienable rights granted by our constitution, and especially the rights of the first amendment including free speech and press and religion, are simply ignored and in reality, done away with. Have you ever experienced this kind of threat, intimidation, and demand to be silent? If you entertain any kind of conservative or religious points of view, have you?

And yet another free speech spokesperson stated the following:

“Religion and politics are vital to the soul, our way of living, and our common well-being. People should feel free to discuss these existential matters, with due respect, with family and friends and at work.”

And that is so even if the feelings of someone, the sensitivities are agitated and made uncomfortable. That process of robust dialogue and disagreement is absolutely necessary and critical to the growth of the mind, the understanding of the total nature of the issues, and of course the preservation of objectivity, fact, and truth.

There is no freedom, no liberty my fellow Americans without free speech, free press, emboldened dialogue, peaceful, non-violent, nonthreatening, but thorough, honest, and open, and always accompanied by the willingness to LISTEN without ignoring, shutting down, or intimidating a confrontational or disagreeing response. America changes daily, right before our eyes, often aggressively, and WE THE PEOPLE slumber, seem unaware, or indifferent and non-caring (A-political), and the America we love and now take for granted slips into uncertainty and change, radical change not for the good. Such a warning seems to come from a voice crying in the wilderness, but the day will come, soon I fear when such a warning will be the new reality. CANCEL-CULTURE WILL HAVE WON THE DAY, and America will be changed forever.

Don’t let it happen, my fellow citizens, please don’t let that happen. Step up, stand up, speak out, and do everything necessary as our founding fathers did to protect and defend the GOD-GIVEN INALIENABLE FREEDOMS OF OUR BELOVED CONSTITUTION AND ITS IRREPLACEABLE FIRST AMENDMENT.

THOSE FREEDOMS ONCE LOST ARE LOST FOREVER.

Two kinds of fathers are there.

The one Heavenly, the other earthly.

The Lord of Glory, the Carpenter of Nazareth said:

“I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE.”

What a claim. Blasphemy by a human being if it were not true. But they were ONE, and the carpenter from Nazareth told us in unequivocal terms that the CREATOR OF THIS UNIVERSE AND OUR EARTH was indeed among so many other things a:

FATHER

To Him and to us. For otherwise, this Creator would be completely unknown, incapable of being known by us, but HE is. And, the Supreme Creator loves us and cares for us. To me that is a thought incomprehensible were it not for:

HIM

Our Lord Jesus Christ took something remote, obscure and unfathomable and made it known, personal, deeply meaningful and loving so that we, the creatures of His creation, could understand who we are, why we are, and what we should believe.

We are to understand and believe said Jesus, that there is for us an ETERNAL FATHER and not merely a cosmic Creator. We are known as individuals, as sons and daughters by this Father, and we are not mere specks in the universe or dust in the wind. We have meaning. We are in fact SONS AND DAUGHTERS of this Father having claimed our inheritance as such through the SON Jesus Christ. Hard to comprehend but true.

We are also told that God the Father is love. GOD IS LOVE, and that love is the essence of God and so available to us. Love is the greatest says the Scriptures, more so than faith and hope, and to know that God is love incarnate is just incredible.

And we who are fathers should love the very same way. Even as the eternal Father loves us, so should we love our children. If a Heavenly Father loves unconditionally, so an earthly father should do the same, love the child unconditionally. The highest attributes of any earthly father are the embracing, heartfelt and unconditional loving openness to the child even as the Father loves the child:

LOVE NEVER FAILS 

But there is another side of love from our Heavenly Father, a TOUGH LOVE. That is, love at work which is ready to:

DISCIPLINE

Love may indeed be meek, warm, gentle and forgiving, kind and open and it should be. But love must also be tough, demanding, disciplined and concerned for all things which are:

RIGHT

For there are indeed prodigal sons and daughters who go astray. As such, they honor not the Heavenly Father nor the earthly. Discipline is required, firm and straight. The rod was used in the old days to accomplish discipline and to carryout punishment. But that has been taken away. Discipline today is more on the order of depriving the child of opportunities and pleasures or requiring the child to make up for the wrong and do what is right. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. But fathers can not SPARE THE ROD however the rod is determined for that is a fatherly duty. No child can grow without discipline for there is nothing worse for a father than a child spoiled and bent upon his own way. Demanding standards, the terms and conditions of sonship, are a father’s duty which can not be delegated or ignored. And the Scriptures make it perfectly clear:

WHOM THE FATHER LOVES HE CHASTENS

Chastening is real love at work. BY THEIR FRUITS, LOVING DISCIPLINE AT WORK, YE SHALL KNOW THE FATHER AND WHO THE FATHER TRULY IS.

The integrity of the father is critical. Dads must do what they say and dads must say what they mean. The father must live by the same standards he requires of the child. The father must be consistent in character, live a life with values and without hypocrisy. Nothing is harder for a child to accept than lectures about right and wrong from a father who lives by neither. So that, a father does not have to explain or justify the demands. The father does not have to negotiate with the child and in the course of discipline ask the child if it is OK.

For it matters not if the child agrees with the father. If a child respects a loving father, that is all that is required. So many families seem to have so little respect for each other and rapidly become dysfunctional. But a true father, a real father is head of household. He is the one in charge, so say the Scriptures, kind, loving, considerate and respectful of all including and especially the wife-mother, but head of the household nonetheless. Discharging all of those functions gives the father the right to discipline and demand. But again, the father has earned that right by the way he lives. When the son is old and ready for his own life, the ways of the father will be his and the son in turn will perpetuate, carryon those values for his family.

It is so very important for the father to incorporate the son into his life. To train up the child is to involve the child in the life, the career, the work of the father. So many sons carry on, inherit and follow the father. Father and son, or daughter, work together, learn together and the father teaches in practical ways. What the father holds dear and in which he has invested his life becomes part of the child, a very practical and worthy training for the child. The child can learn the way of business, work, industry so that like father, the child can be:

A WORK MAN OR WOMAN WORTHY OF HIS HIRE

That kind of fatherly guidance is so very important and it is the duty of the father to invest the time and effort to train up the child in that way.

And so with hobbies, and fun. There are games, trips, sports, theater, dining and all manners of wonderful vacation which must be shared by father and child. Life is difficult and even as there are the demands of work, there must be the pleasures of play. To laugh and cry together. To enjoy the joys of this world as God has indicated is our right. Lasting moments are created in fun and play.

Father and child are intimate, or should be. Their dialogue, their caring for each other should be totally open, transparent. Nothing should be hidden. The child should have the confidence and the trust in father to openly reveal, discuss hurts, ask questions, confess doubt, challenge beliefs and otherwise make certain that the father fully understands precisely who the child is. For the child develops independently and individually, a special and unique creation by God, and not merely as the earthly father would have him be. The answers to questions should come first from the father, not from peers or school but from DAD. The son should want to talk to father first and be assured that he knows what the father thinks. They can not always agree but father and son can always be open and honest with each other. That seems so lacking today. There is little communication, virtually no dialogue. Father’s preach and lecture but seldom practice one of the most important attributes of good fathering:

LISTENING

Really listening. Patiently allowing the child to open the heart, to question, to express love and anger and to know as a child the father will listen and respect. That more than anything builds character and confidence in the child. Fathers are friends and confidants. The father in the mind of the child is the first GO-TO.

If not, the child seeks FATHER SURROGATES and substitutes. Today’s education can often occur without traditional moral values or the standards of old. No third party education is a substitute for a father’s education. Children who are fatherless in actuality or spiritually seek comfort, guidance and acceptance from their peers which can often be secular and even with immoral influences. They are ready to learn and adapt, to be accepted in so many ways different from what the father might believe or want for the child. The conduct of the child can then become permissive, even unlawful as standards or morality are worn down and compromised. That fatherless child goes a different way and the father has forsaken the most important duty of fatherhood, training up that child. If you have a child, if you are a biological father, then you must, YOU MUST be a spiritual, loving father as God would have it. Don’t send a child to church. Take him. Worship with him. Love together the Lord of Glory. Study Scripture and pray, together. Talk about spiritual things for the child is even more interested in what the father thinks and believes than perhaps a pastor. Take time for the child’s life, school events, sports. Be there, lovingly and with respect for the child growing to adult. Nothing means more than a father BEING THERE. That child is YOU, dad. You can not ignore or deny YOU. The child wants YOU more than anything else. There came to you that little bundle of joy, your very own son, your very own daughter, YOU IN EVERY WAY! You are privileged to be a father of that child and he or she should be a clear priority, a first priority. There will never be better earthly love, nothing comes close, than the love of a father for his child. However strong the bond, and even if the father-child bond is broken, in some deep primal way, love is always there, or at least the hope of that love. There is no child, or father however old or hardened who does not feel that way. What a joy, what a privilege to be a father.

Even as an adult, well-educated, perhaps successful, father himself, a son will always seek out a father, for fellowship, for advice, for comfort and caring, and for love. That never changes. Even in death, he the father being dead yet speaketh. All he was and all they were together lives on, it is eternal even as the love of God is eternal. The words, the deeds, the loving deeds will never be forgotten. The understanding, the trust and the respect between father and child will never die.

Perhaps a father’s proudest moment is when the child, adult and ready, leaves the father and becomes his own man. That is a biblical requirement, and at that time, the father should be proud, very proud of the INVESTMENT he has made in the child. For a father can think back, reminisce and remember all of those things which forged the bond, the training, the education and growth of the child, an investment far more valuable than anything financial. That, says dad, is my son. That, says dad, is my daughter of whom I am so very proud. He or she was worth everything I gave. The loving bond between father and child will sustain, motivate and guide the child for a lifetime. It is the earthly component of the Heavenly Father. What a privilege it is to be a father.

So, I and my company the Crawford Broadcasting Company salute fathers, real fathers who love, educate, grow and train up their children in the way in which they should go. You are special, dads like that, very special. The world needs real fathers now more than ever. And, what is so wonderful is that it is never too late to be father no matter what has gone before. Fathering may ebb and flow but the opportunity is always there, always. Never quit, never give up on fathering.

So, enjoy your day DAD. Father’s Day can show love and respect for dad one day. But real fathers are honored by their children every day. For the most priceless thing any child can have is:

A LOVING FATHER!

If you were born, human being created by God Almighty, between the years 1997-2012 you are a member, like it or not, of the newest generation in America:

GEN Z.

You would be of the age 11-26.

Therefore, you are so informed, you and your Gen-Z compatriots have little if any interest in RELIGION, whatever that means. In the extreme, perhaps that means you have no interest in faith, or no faith in your life. Do you?

I personally know a multitude of young, wonderful people that age, who are strong, passionate:

PEOPLE OF FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.

Do you?

And more, you Gen-Z’er. You have little interest in patriotism, so these progressive pundits say. You are not willing to protect and defend your country, your freedoms, your constitution, in fact, your way of life. If you are 30 and under, is that you? Do you have little concern, love, passion, or commitment to your country, to the America in which you are blessed to live? Is that you?

Some of the most Passionate Patriots I know are THE YOUNG, 30 and under. They know what the real America is all about and are willing to do whatever it takes to protect this country, its freedoms, and their way of life, in any way possible. Is that you?

Don’t you just despise generalities like that?

And, you Gen-Z’er, you have little or no interest in marriage and virtually no interest in having children. Is that you? I know any number of wonderful people 30 and under who are married with children, raising families with the blessing of God, and I am privileged to have any number of them in my very own company. Do you eschew marriage and do you, man or woman, not wish to have children of your own? Such generalizations for millions of young people are ludicrous, inaccurate, false, and even fraudulent and perhaps politically purposeful in a very negative way.

And even more. You are supposedly a member of a generation that has a very poor work ethic, cares more about self rather than others, and is negative, critical, and indifferent to the norms of society, and the morality of the past. Is that you?

Again, I know dozens and dozens of human beings, God-created, 30 and under, who are exactly the opposite.

The real YOUNG PEOPLE of today are people of faith. They have strong faith in Jesus Christ, living out that faith in a passionate young way. They are patriots believing in the real America, working to change and solve its problems, all the while protecting its fundamental concepts of freedom, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equality, and justice for all. They are married or will be. They will then have children, God willing. The real young Americans, the real Gen-Z’ers are workers, people of strong work ethic and commitment, workmen and work women, worthy of their hire. Those are the Gen-Z’ers I know, and like, and respect, and have the highest hopes for turning over my America to them and not the stereotypes, negative and demeaning, individuals who woke, progressive, radical, anti-Americans described and categorized in such negative ways.

You and I, human beings, all, were created by the God of the universe, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as unique individuals. There is no human generalization or categorization which can apply to any of us. Every human being thinks differently, more or less. Believes differently, more or less. Lives life differently. Works and plays differently. Worships differently. EVERY HUMAN BEING IS DIFFERENT! He or she is not Gen-Z, not millennial, not baby-boomer, not a member of the so-called silent generation, but a unique, specially crafted, INDIVIDUAL, different from any other and striving to be better in every way. Those are the young, the 30 and under I know, respect, and believe in. If you are of that age, privileged to be young, with many more years of productive life to live, I pray that you are:

YOU.

That you will be all that you can be and that you will never fall victim to some generation, age, or category classification. Just like so many of those RIGHT young people 30 and under whom I know so very well, productive, faithful, patriotic, believers in marriage and children, and with a work ethic as good as anyone anywhere. I personally thank God for every individual male and female in my company, 30 and under, who brings fresh vision, commitment, passion, the dynamic of youth, and the love for:

GOD AND COUNTRY,

the twin pillars of the right, ethical, and moral life. If you are 30 or under, I pray that is you. We should be about the business of encouraging the young, educating and edifying, for they are the ones who will replace us, live in a world and an American society far different from ours, face challenges not before faced, and be responsible to our God with risks and rewards intensified as never before. They will battle an enemy internal, determined to destroy and seize power, control, and demand conformity. Their faith in God and Country will be challenged like never before. The courage the young will need will increase day by day and it is absolutely critical that their vision be clear, bold, and steadfast, just like that which so many young 30 and under in my company exhibit and live by.

The young who inherit America must have a new grit, a rekindled passion, and a mental fortitude that allows them to endure intimidation, threat, even violence, and of course criticism, backlash, slander, and opposition. They will be tested like never before, tested like we of previous generations never experienced.

Thankfully, I know many, many young people 30 and under who are that way, TOUGH. They are ready for the fight of faith. They are anxious to run the race and win the prize. In them, there is no quit, no give-up. They will not be bullied or intimidated. They know in whom they have believed, and they are persuaded that HE IS ABLE and together, they are invincible.

They, the real young, are biblically guided. They are Holy Spirit-led. They know right from wrong. They learn, grow, and work for the night is coming. This generation of young Americans has the God-given potential to be the best of any, THE BEST! It has to be because the challenges have never been greater. I have seen enough of the right thinking, right living, and right believing young Americans, 30 and under, young human beings, GOD-CREATED to whom I’d gladly turn over my beloved country and to whom I pledge my allegiance as they FIGHT THE FIGHT OF FAITH. I only wish I had the years they have to serve God and Country.

Encourage them, WE THE OLDER. Support them, give to them. Guide them. Advise them. Share wisdom. For in them, ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD, in the purpose and rule of God, and for the incredible America in which we and they have been privileged to live.

Categories and stereotypes are dead wrong, DEAD WRONG! There is purpose, meaning, and individuality for every human being, no matter the age. YOU ARE YOU! May every privileged young person 30 and under be all that he or she can be as God intended. The more of them I know, the better. The more of them who work for CBC, the better. For, my fellow Americans, there is only one category that matters. And that is whether one is fully committed to Jesus Christ, born again, saved by Grace. That category is real Christian:

GEN-JESUS.

No other category matters, none.

In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May, echoing the words and sentiments of the proclamation of General John A. Logan of the grand Army of the Republic in 1868 who stated:

“Memorial Day is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion (the Civil War) and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet, church yard in the land.”

So it is that the primary purpose of Memorial Day is to strew with flowers literally and figuratively the graves and memories of America’s daring defenders. They the fallen died for freedom, liberty, for America, for us, for YOU AND ME. We were asked to remember those who died in the great American Civil War, but the day to remember now incorporates all who have given lives in defense of our country. Far too many wars, my fellow Americans, and far too many fallen defenders by the millions who believed in America, and in its fundamental principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all mankind. How grateful we should be.

We are descendants or contemporaries of patriots, men and women who cherish freedom and were willing to fight and die to defend it if necessary. These warriors lived by the words of Patrick Henry who said:

GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH.

Our nation was formed in the fight for freedom for there was no life worthwhile without it. There came our great Constitution and our incredible BILL OF RIGHTS, the rights and freedom amendments which are the finest in the history of mankind. But no matter the origin, it seems as though in so many ways the passion for freedom may have been lost today as they once had it. We seem to take for granted what they died for. And the courage they the fallen had seems lost today in so many ways and the change in our country, produces in so many ways an America in decline, at least politically, philosophically and certainly passionately. Our ancestors fought for the Constitution, for the Bill of Rights and the freedoms those now 27 Amendments allow us. They were ready to die for them, but we the current people allow them to be watered down, interpreted away and often ignored without the fight or conviction to protect and defend them. Perhaps the freedoms of Patrick Henry are giving way to a slow but sure death. Perhaps we have failed to meet the challenge of Ben Franklin who told us that the Republic they created for us was a marvelous way of government IF we could keep it. I wonder if we can. So, in the midst of barbeques and baseball, it is so healthy to look back and remember. Remember a George Washington, a general, a leader, a President, a warrior, a patriot. Or a Paul Revere who rode the land warning that the enemy was coming, sounding the alarm. It seems as though we need more Paul Reveres, warning us that enemies to our Constitution and way of life are coming, and in fact are HERE. We the people should be ever mindful of the threats and sound the alarm as he did, like those who energized our country once before, THE BOSTON TEA PARTY PATRIOTS and the revolution their courageous acts energized and inspired. They took a stand against taxes and so must we. Ours continue to rise, and rise to the point of confiscation and nothing but nothing destroys freedom like taxes. President John Adams reminded us that the two killers of liberty are slavery and debt. The debt of confiscatory taxation strangles freedom and that is happening at an incredibly rapid pace today. Shame on us.

It is hard for us to think back and remember the early days in America when slavery, slavery was a way of life in America to our great shame and embarrassment. We the moderns find that inconceivable, and the practice of slavery of any kind abhorrent, do we not? Right-thinking men and women fought and fell to rid America of the scourge of slavery, God bless them.

And to rid the world of despots like Hitler, evil to the core, Mussolini and those who in war would destroy the freedom and liberty of all. God bless them.

There can hardly be a family anywhere in America which has not laid a son or daughter on the altar of freedom. So many fought and fell, lives given willingly for us in war after war. And there were those who supported those who fought. We honor them. Many of our warriors and defenders came home hurt and damaged in body or mind perhaps for a lifetime. On Memorial Day, we honor these veterans of wars, these HEROES, these wounded warriors who gave us our freedom:

WE OWE THEM!

A debt we can never repay. To honor them is the least we can do, to thank them as we remember and as we encounter those in our military who follow after them. We should help and support them. They lived and died for what they believed. Whenever I encounter a member of our military, I thank them for what they did and what they do for our great country, for me, and for you, and for my friends and loved ones and all Americans whether I know them or not. But I really do know them for I know what is in their hearts and minds and I know they love America as much as I do. I will salute them as a sign of respect. I wish them to know that I will always be grateful for everything they do for me and the America I love. Perhaps YOU should do the same, not on one Memorial Day, but all days. They the heroes and defenders are the very best of us.

God bless them.

Memorial Day is always celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery, a very special place, a burial site for some of America’s bravest. At 3 PM on that Monday, a very special ceremony occurs and each grave is decorated with a small American flag. The highlight of the celebration is a speech in honor of these brave men and women from the President or Vice President of the United States honoring their contributions to America and laying a wreath at the tomb of The Unknown Soldier. That tomb represents tens of thousands of other unknown soldiers who gave their lives in service to our country, but in death never got the recognition and respect they so justly deserved. Do remember them, my fellow Americans, do remember them as well on Memorial Day as there may be no one else, no loved one, no friend or family to do so. And as you do remember these American heroes, thank our God, the God who blesses America for all those who gave so much for us. They allowed us to be parents, to have and enjoy family, they allowed us to be workers and fully participate in the great opportunities America offers. THEY allowed us to be all that we can be because our soldiers, they were determined to be all they could be. Have a special place in your heart all week for any loved one, family or friend of yours who should be MEMORIALIZED AND REMEMBERED this day and always.

And, as we pay tribute and remember, let us become better citizens of this great country, ready more than ever to preserve, protect and defend all it stands for, all of our blessed and precious freedoms which exist like there are nowhere else in the world. Let us stand for what is right with actions, protests, town meetings, marches, debate, fact and truth at work, counteracting government spin and disinformation. Let us stand tall for the right, for truth, for all things moral and valuable. Let us resolve, we the people, we who own and control this country to do our job as citizens far better. And remember to cherish and exercise the greatest privilege which every American has. That is:

THE VOTE

There is no more powerful weapon than the vote of the American citizen. It is the most precious Constitutional right we have and for which our forefathers fought and died. Let us make certain that we vote for those to represent us who so passionately believe in these very special freedoms as we do, and they the fallen did. It is only then, when we do our part, day in and day out, that we would have the right to say with conviction and passion as our forefathers did:

GOD BLESS AMERICA

For that can not happen unless we the people do what is right, remembering whom and what went before and committing with conviction to follow in their footsteps. These men and women died for GOD AND COUNTRY and for you and me in the never-ending fight to protect and preserve:

FREEDOM

Memorialize their memories Memorial Day and every day!

God bless America and God bless you.

You matter to God Almighty. You matter perhaps far more than you know.

You are:

UNIQUE,

one-of-a-kind, special, individual with different and better talents, capabilities, and above all:

POTENTIAL.

There is no one like you and you cannot be stereotyped, put in a category, or labeled, especially by age for there is only one:

YOU.

In the beginning, scripture and the precious book of Genesis tell us, God created them:

MALE AND FEMALE

MAN AND WOMAN.

There are no other categories, no other creation, types whether biological, psychological, or spiritual. There are only two, male and female. You are one or the other and no other.

In the eyes of God, the creator, categories, types, stereotypes like Italian, Irish, African American, Russian, English, Kenyan, Caucasian, Hispanic, old or young, all of that matters little or nothing to:

GOD THE FATHER – CREATOR.

You and only you, a unique creation, matter.

It matters not to God whether mankind categorizes you as a BABY-BOOMER, whatever that means, or MILLENNIEL, whatever that means, or GEN-X or GEN-Z, whatever those categories mean, for they can do nothing but prevent you from understanding who you really are, God created, the potential you have to live and serve and be all that you can be for HIM. All such terminology does nothing but distracts and destroy WHO AND WHAT you really are:

A ONE-OF-A-KIND, ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE, DIVINE CREATION!

How the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ must rejoice when we are all that He intended us to be. And how our Great Creator must grieve when we ignore or fail to live to the fullest potential which our God has given us. What a world this would be, dramatically transformed for the good, if you and I lived as God intended us to live. We matter, we really do, to God the Father – Creator.

It is undoubtedly a devil’s tool to make you think less of who you are and what you are capable of. There is nothing wrong with living lives mediocre, safe, and average, says the world secular to the core, avoiding risk, growth, challenge, and even opportunity. Accepting and living something else as some other way is A-Okay no matter the potential lost or unused. Devil wins if you or I do not live up to our God-given potential, whatever that is.

We know whether or not that is happening, for good (God-given eyes to see) or for worse, we know. For the CALL of God is always on our heart, challenging, and convicting. You, and I, hear that still small voice that no one else hears calling, constantly calling. You and I, individually, and only you and I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, showering us with discontent, calling, constantly calling, YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL GOD-CALL, for you alone asking that you do more for HIM, that you live to the fullest with the talents, abilities which HE has given to you, you and you alone, uniquely so. I do believe we can never be content unless we heed that call. The Holy Spirit will not be denied, will not leave, and will not give up. You can know that in your head, your heart, your conscience, and as one put it:

YOUR SPIRITUAL GUT.

There is no greater joy, no greater satisfaction than to fulfill that CALL. The called life lived is energizing, satisfying, joyful, and fully productive. Nothing satisfies like living life the way God intended, nothing. You are not a millennial. YOU ARE HIS! In the eyes of God, you are not Caucasian or African American or Hispanic, you are not old or young:

YOU ARE HIS SON OR HIS DAUGHTER.

You matter to the God who made everything, EVERYTHING, and everyone. Perhaps our supreme task is to understand who we are, what our potential is, what our God-given talents and abilities are, and work, WORK to be all that He intended us to be.

You matter. All lives matter. Every individual male and female whom God created matters. If we who believe in the SON of the Living God understand that, and live that way, we change the world in dramatic fashion. Nothing else will!

Do you believe that Jesus lived a SINLESS LIFE?

Or do you, like 56% of so-called born-again Christians today, believe that Jesus did not live a sinless life, but rather committed sins during his life?

Is that the kind of Jesus of Nazareth you believe in?

A recent poll in which the well-respected George Barna, a Christian researcher, was involved, indicated that some 56% of all so-called born-again Christians believe that Jesus did not live a sinless life! That is so, no matter that Hebrews 4:15 states emphatically that Jesus lived a life without sin. Other scripture passages indicate the same thing. No matter, in this pick-and-choose spiritual Christian day and age, so many Christians are apt to interpret for themselves, ignore, or even deny any part of scripture, 66 books, which they do not like, or with which they do not agree. That, says George Barna, is even true of so-called born-again Christians. Scripture, the Holy Word of God is no longer believed by so many so-called Christians to be inspired, infallible, the perfect Word of God Almighty. So, when asked by these pollsters, the 2000 so-called born-again Christians interviewed had no problem indicating that they thought, in their infinite wisdom, that Jesus did not live a SINLESS LIFE.

That, my fellow Christians, is the attitude and spiritual approach of this HE GETS US woke Christian approach. The false teachers abound, progressive, changing, spirituality is the rule of the day and Jesus needs to come to us, accept us, understand us, rather than the traditional biblical way of our coming to Him, understanding Him, and asking of Him, especially for forgiveness.

So, they believe that our Savior, who went to the cross, did so as a sinful carpenter from Nazareth, subject to, and perhaps even yielding at times to such sins, the true Son of Man, and not the perfect Son of God, a flawed, sinful, human being perhaps in need of a blood-washing himself. That, to me, is shocking, heresy, blasphemy, and just plain dead wrong in every way.

Again, do you believe that Jesus lived a sinless life? Or a life sinful like ours?

There is no doubt that Jesus was tempted and tested like we are. But there is an enormous difference between being tempted, exposed to sin, and yielding to sin. There are three illustrations of that temptation. The spirit led our Lord into the wilderness, where he was subjected to fasting for 40 days and nights, and the tempter, the tester, Satan himself, came to Jesus in this weakened physical-human state, knowing HE was hungry and thirsty. So said the devil, turn these stones into bread. Jesus told him to back off, for all humans should live from the bread of life, every word out of the mouth of God.

Satan, undeterred, led Jesus to the highest point of the holy temple in Jerusalem, and said JUMP! Cast yourself down and nothing will happen to you, because His Angels, your angels will watch over you and protect you. Jesus rebuffed him again. And yet, a third time Satan tried. Our Lord was led to a high mountain where there was a view of all the Kingdoms of the world, and Satan promised to give all of them to him if Jesus of Nazareth would worship him. Again, he refused and Satan, defeated, departed. There was no way that Jesus would worship and serve the tempter, the evil one.

So, that eliminated the potential sins of power-hungry, ego, pride, and greed. Tempted, yes. Tested, yes. Sinful, NO!

But the Christ haters never give up. They claim Jesus was guilty of violating the commandment that all should honor their father and mother. They say he rejected his own father and mother, encouraged children to leave their parents, dishonored his mother by refusing her requests, and claimed that his followers were his father and mother. Commandment broken, they say. But, not so, for his intention was for all children to live the life which God Almighty had ordained for each of them. Still sinless was the Son of Man, the Son of God.

But, they say, HE was guilty of the sin of anger. He angrily treated the money changers with contempt and even violence as he threw them out of the temple. Wrong again. That was nothing more than the right attempt to protect the integrity, the purity of the Temple of the Living God. So, that spotless, sinless record was still intact.

But, these anti-Christians say, Jesus used curse words, first-century curse words, calling religious rulers, the Pharisees, VIPERS, snakes, and poisoners. He swore at them, they say, by calling them white as sepulchers, hypocrites, dead and deadly. But in reality, there was nothing more than describing them as they were. Sinless record still intact.

Then comes Gethsemane, where they say that Jesus, in temptation, was a quitter. He asked out of His mission, His purpose in coming. He knew the horrific ordeal which awaited him, a Roman crucifixion on a wooden cross, and with sweats of blood, He asked the Father to let him out, to let this CUP pass from me. Not once, not twice, but three times. But, at the end of the third request, He knew what He had to do, what He came for, and that it was the will of the Father to be done, and not his will. The human side of our Lord was tempted to quit, but for the good of the world and all of us, He knew He had to fulfill his divine mission. To the cross our Lord went, SINLESS, and that SINLESS BLOODSHED was the greatest act of redemption in human history.

Do you believe that Jesus lived a sinless life? Do you accept the truth of Hebrews 4:15 which states emphatically that he did live a sinless life? Let it be known that I surely do, and I hope and pray that you do as well. If you don’t you had better have some incredibly strong, powerful, convincing evidence to the contrary. I hope you are not like 56% of 2000 so-called born-again Christians interviewed who, in their infinite wisdom, believed that Jesus of Nazareth sinned and consequently lived at least to that extent a sinful life. Scriptures say that is wrong in every way.

May the sinless but tempted LIFE OF OUR LORD be a source of joy, inspiration, and hope for all of us as being truly born again, we love and respect the life of our Lord, and seek to be like Him, LIVE LIKE HIM!

In our world, love rules.

It is the highest attribute, with fundamental characteristic of all humankind.

Perhaps the finest expression of love is:

MOTHER LOVE

The definition of mother, a real mother is simply put:

LOVE

A mother’s love is the ultimate human love.

It is said that THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE RULES THE WORLD. Perhaps so because so much of a child is formed in the early years by mother. One is in life so much of what a mother was. A real mother is part of the life of a child forever. What we learn at mother’s knee is so often what we are. Her values become ours. We are HER.

The egg of a woman is the source of all life, the fundamental stuff of the universe and when fertilized by the sperm of the male:

LIFE

The most precious thing of all happens. The egg and the sperm unite and become one but it is:

GOD

Who gives life. At that very moment of conception, the life of a HUMAN BEING begins.

That life is not a mere collection of cells as one biologist so flippantly said, but in reality the first moments of the life of a human being, a child on the grow in the womb. That fertilized egg is a BABY. So much for abortion which is nothing more than murder of that baby at any stage in the womb.

And so the mother begins mothering, and the baby grows. The enriched womb of the mother nourishes and cherishes the baby, sensitive to every need. The morning sickness is a small price to pay for the life within. Moods and diets may change as the womb grows large and beautiful. It is really wondrous to behold the change of mother in the making with that womb at work.

It is marvelous indeed to touch the nine month home of that child. The ear presses down, hoping to hear any sound from the baby. Touching, hearing, kissing, sensing life at work are really more important than any ultrasound. God at work through Mother Nature creating life is wondrous, even miraculous.

Some today are actually privileged to see the baby born. Out of the womb comes a bundle of joy, of life and yet another miracle happens. The pain of childbirth is so well worth the end result. Perhaps it is the most loving moment, the ultimate loving moment when brand new baby lays firm on mother’s breasts. Having seen that, how I wonder could any potential mother abort, kill her very own child? To do so is to abort a miracle.

Early on, it is the still, small voice of the mother which is perhaps the greatest teacher in life. We the infants hear that voice and remember what the voice of our mother sounds like and says for a lifetime. We do so consciously and perhaps even more importantly subconsciously. That loving voice in many ways is angelic, the early words of love. They come with touch, and they are spiritual, psychological, character forming and building. The love of a mother is every bit as important as food itself. So, in a sense, these early words are eternal for they train up the child in the way the mother wishes the child to go and to grow is not to depart from the right ways of the mother.

The words of a mother to her child are melodic, soothing, comforting. They support, encourage and they make a child feel safe. A mother touches, hugs, strokes, talks and sings to her baby, episodes never to be forgotten. When all else fails and all others as well, a truly loving mother never does. She is forever, eternal.

A loving mother is kind. In a world rough and confrontational, the kindness of the mother is a most necessary characteristic.

A loving mother is never jealous, never envious, always willing to put the child first, in love. A real loving mother is proud of her child no matter what the child becomes.

Motherly love is always positive, not negative. It looks for the best, the good and the right. But the mother renders discipline when things are wrong. The love of a real mother is tough love. That love has standards, clear, straight and simply and lovingly communicated. Real love is without compromise. A loving mother never bargains with a child.

A mother explains and answers perhaps better than any teacher, helping a child to understand. A mother stretches but never pushes knowing that her child must be challenged in order to grow. There is always demand and discipline from the right mother, both easy to implement when the child knows he or she is:

LOVED 

A loving, Godly mother makes certain her child understands her standards and values and those of God as well.

A loving Godly mother teaches the child the things of her Lord. Train up that child in the ways of faith, of Christian faith, the faith of the mother. There is no better witness for the child than a loving Christian mother, living life by those standards and the child along with her. That is faith with works, the best kind.

A real loving mother gives time, quality time to the child. There is for mother and child that quality time to talk and much more importantly, and especially for mother, to:

LISTEN

In an age of cell phones, babysitters, fast foods, carpools and demanding social life, all of that and everything else should never, ever interfere with quality time spent by the mother with child. Truly listening, and touching, and hugging, and encouraging, respecting the child produces some of life’s finest lessons. Those bonding moments are, as one psychologist has well said:

PEAK MOMENTS

Never to be forgotten by either. Patient, kind and understanding. Truly interested in the life of a child, not superficially so. Perhaps that is why so many mothers wished more than ever, so we are told, to stay home, build that home for husband and child and all children and to spend full time training up that child in the way in which he should go. That is what mothers are for and no other job can ever come close to that incredible responsibility and opportunity.

No matter the love, child rearing is work, and hard work. It demands the time of the mother at all times. The real needs of a young child are great and they demand full time, mother always on the ready. How beautiful it is for father and husband to watch the baby breastfeed. How beautiful to see mother and child so intimately and sensitively connected. There is special nourishment from the milk of the breast but there is also the psychological nourishment, the nourishment of love and bonding, one with each other, the young and often subconscious memories lasting for a lifetime. A mother’s touch, feel and taste are vitally important to the growth of the child.

Some mothers homeschool. They want to train up that child in the right ways themselves. Others work to send the child to special schools, private schools or schools of faith. Loving mothers are more than willing to sacrifice to accomplish the right objectives for the child they love.

And all the while, a mother encourages the love of a father for child and the child for the father. There is respect, as important as love, between mother and father, husband and wife. There is a sense of equality as both parents love their child in different ways. Perhaps the love of a father for a child is different but as the child grows and matures, the love, the real love of a real father becomes as important to the child as that of the mother. Without both loves, something fundamental is missing. 

So that, when a child is ready for the world, and independence, and a life for itself, both loving parents have formed the young adult and are ready proudly so to watch a brand new life unfold. They have earned, these loving parents have, the right to be proud parents.

Small wonder that loving children love to give back. There comes a time when the priorities are reversed and the child becomes the support, the loving support of the parents. Loving children love to give back to loving parents. That love which began in the womb is eternal. It never fails. It outlasts faith, and hope and all the wisdom and riches of the world. It endures forever even as the love of Christ does.

And so it is with the deepest admiration, respect and love that we, all of us at Crawford Broadcasting Company, salute all real loving mothers on Mother’s Day and all year long. If you are a loving mother:

YOU ARE SPECIAL

There is one day set aside to honor loving mothers which in reality should be done every day of the year. We are admonished, commanded to:

HONOR OUR FATHER AND MOTHER

It is a commandment that we honor real loving parents with our love and respect. Give back the love you owe to your mother. Give it back with tears, with laughter and with joy. With gratitude and thanksgiving for all that she has done for you. Let her know how much you love and appreciate her, knowing as you do that you can never repay the loving debt you owe. No child can ever give back all that he or she has gotten. Never.

If she is here, make sure she gets what she deserves. There are so many mothers, like mine, not here. My mother is with her Lord as she has been for more than a quarter century. How much I would love the opportunity to give her one more hug. Do that for yours while you can.

We salute you and thank you, mother. There is really nothing like you in this world:

NOTHING!

God created man in his own image. God created male and female in his own image. And he blessed them, male and female.

MALE AND FEMALE! Not lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, much less queer, whatever that is (LGBTQ). But male and female:

MAN AND WOMAN.

The woman, like the man, was created in the:

IMAGE OF GOD.

Why would anyone want to be less than what God created, especially if one, either male or female, man or woman, is created in the image of God, why? Can there be any higher status, identification, human understanding of WHO WE ARE then to know, BIBLICALLY SURE, that we are God’s creation, and we are created in his image.

God created man (Adam) and then God created a helper, woman who was:

COMPARABLE TO HIM.

Comparable! Equal to him, like him, and also, this woman was created in the:

IMAGE OF GOD.

To be sure, they were different, this man and woman. They, and consequently we, were created for different purposes, objectives, ROLES. But as each developed and sought the wisdom and understanding of the GOD CREATOR, those differences, divinely intended, became stronger and more evident. The man, the male, developed as God intended. The woman, the female, also and equally developed as God intended. So, there was at the beginning, at the time of creation a certain equality (comparable) between man and woman, a respect, and as husband and wife, a joining together, loving and caring. And that, the Lord God creator Almighty, fully intended. That was the divine purpose for:

MALE AND FEMALE

MAN AND WOMAN 

God intended that they should leave father and mother, grow and mature, populate the earth, join together as one flesh. Not that man should join with man as one flesh, or woman with woman as one flesh, but as man and woman as:

ONE FLESH.

That and that alone is the divine way.

But again, the woman, created by God as Genesis tells us from the rib of a man, is both:

COMPARABLE AND EQUAL

to that man. God created no second-class citizens. There were different roles, purposes and objectives, differences in the physical but the very same in spirit, mind, heart and understanding. Neither was inferior to the other!

And so, says our GOD ALMIGHTY, creator of everything, of heaven and earth, there is the role, objective and purpose of the woman to join with the man in marriage become wife, with the responsibilities and privileges of a wife, and to become mother and bear children, perhaps the most important and vital function of the woman as wife. What an honor for that woman to be mother, and what an honor for that man to be father. There is probably nothing finer for either. NOTHING!

Today, there are any number of women who are not married, not wife, not mother. They yet remain what God intended, COMPARABLE to and EQUAL to man. They live independently, strong, capable, productive. They pursue another way, perhaps a different calling. These women, not married, are often well educated, developing wisdom and understanding. They often themselves become teachers, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional examples to children and even adults.

They are often strong professionals, these independent women are. They are competent in business, the world of finance, and they are often every bit as talented and capable as any man, and in any number of cases even more so. Many women have been highly successful in business, some having achieved the status of:

BILLIONAIRE

A possibility never imagined years ago. Many believe that women control the majority of the wealth of the world and in most such cases, that wealth is in good hands, well managed and productively utilized. Success in business and finance is yet another way, a modern way, that a woman, created in the image of God, is both:

COMPARABLE TO AND EQUAL TO ANY MAN!

So many women, females God created, are strong Christians. They know scripture. They study the Bible. They are led by the Holy Spirit. They begin and develop strong faith in Jesus Christ, and they become some of the finest Christian examples in the entire world, often more so than any man. They bring a unique, loving, caring to the young. Whether mother or not, children gravitate to them. They can be a source of tender love, comfort, and support and at the same time, strong, independent, vital, and competitive in the business world with any man.

That woman can be respected for often times a superb work ethic. A woman can be fully disciplined, straight, and honest, every bit as any man and often more so. That honest work ethic exists in so many places in our very own company, the Crawford Broadcasting Co. There are many proud examples of comparable, competent, and productive females at work in CBC.

Some find ways to be mother and pursue careers at the same time. They have the ability to do what is right in their eyes, and before God, always on call, work and responsibility never ending. Most females, women God created, are blessed caregivers, especially concerned with the health of children, but with all human beings, and equally concerned with rendering care and affection to the elderly. They follow proudly the individual call of God for their lives, they know in whom they have believed, and they pursue His purpose for their lives, always pressing on for the goal, the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ, the very same as any man.

Jesus Christ loved and respected women. They ministered to Him and HE to them. There was the unforgettable encounter of our Lord with the woman at the well. There was that generous and loving woman who poured incredibly expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus, washed them, and dried them with her hair. That loving female act reverberates through the years, a vitally important Christian teaching. Women were the very first to know that Jesus, the Christ was risen, resurrected from the dead as He said. The very first to discover the empty tomb and to know that this Son of God:

LIVES ETERNALLY.

Women were the very first evangelists to spread the good news to Peter and the disciples that Jesus Christ was risen from the dead. What an honor.

So, it is good to be a woman, that woman created in the image of God, that biological woman who can be joined with a man as one flesh, comparable before God in every way. We honor women as wives and mothers. We should as well honor them for what they are, who they are, as strong, independent, productive, servants of the living God, comparable to and equal to:

ANY MAN.

How good it is that both man and woman were God created!