Month: October 2023

Who Is Speaker Mike Johnson?

Congressman Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, Speaker of the House of Representatives

After three weeks, four candidates, two floor voting sessions, and constant chaos, the U.S. House of Representatives finally has a Speaker. And it looks to me like the embarrassing, circus-like ruckus, if that is what it took, was worth it to get to this man. Although Mike Johnson is not a household name, he appears to be the right person at the right time to deal with the mess Washington has become. Let’s take a look at just who he is.

Born January 30, 1972, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the 51-year-old James Michael Johnson was the result of an unplanned birth to a teenage couple who were later divorced. Mike’s father is a disabled firefighter who was critically burned in the line of duty. Johnson graduated from Louisiana State University Law Center and eventually became the senior legal counsel for what is now the Alliance Defending Freedom. In this capacity, he worked to oppose laws that sought to legalized same-sex consensual relationships and defended marriage as between one man and one woman. In 2015, Johnson founded Freedom Guard, a nonprofit legal ministry designed to represent Christian clients in lawsuits. While with this organization, he represented the Ark Encounter theme park that was denied tax breaks for requiring its employees to affirm creationist beliefs. He summarizes his legal career as “defending religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and biblical values, including the defense of traditional marriage, and other ideals like these when they’ve been under assault.”

In 2015, when a Louisiana House of Representatives seat was vacated, Johnson ran unopposed to fill the seat. Less than a year later, Johnson announced his candidacy for the 4th U.S. Congressional District seat held by John Fleming who was running for Senate. Johnson won the election handily. He is now in his fourth term, winning it unopposed. Louisiana’s 4th District obviously loves its congressman.

Congressman Johnson’s congressional career includes Vice Chairman of the Republican Conference, Associate Republican Whip, Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, member of the Judiciary Committee, and member of the Armed Services Committee. He is an adamant fiscal and social conservative with a solid voting record for cutting the budget and taxes. He was among the 147 Republicans who voted to delay the 2020 election results until further investigation, and voted against establishing a commission to investigate the January 6, 2021, Capitol incident. Johnson has worked closely with Christian groups including Answers in Genesis, Alliance Defending Freedom, and Focus on the Family. This year, he became chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government.

On October 24, after the third candidate for Speaker, Tom Emmer, withdrew, House Republicans made Johnson their fourth nominee. He was endorsed by Donald Trump. Johnson had, hours before, distributed a comprehensive and ambitious plan to get back to the basics of governing with a timetable for the next 14 months of congressional action. Absent from the plan was any mention of investigations, impeachment, immigration, or any other highly-charged issue. The next day, the House voted 220-209, strictly along party lines, to elect Johnson as the 56th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was sworn in that same day after giving a very powerful and patriotic acceptance speech, invoking God, the Bible, and his personal Christian beliefs numerous times.

Mike and his wife, Kelly, were married in 1999 in a “covenant marriage” with stricter rules regarding divorce. Kelly has a Master’s Degree in Education and was a school teacher before founding Onward Christian Counseling Services as a licensed pastoral counselor in marriage and family matters. Mike and Kelly are members of the Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, Louisiana. They formerly co-hosted a podcast, Truth Be Told, where they discussed public affairs and other issues from a Christian perspective. The Johnsons have four children. Hannah, 22, is a law student at Louisiana State University. Abigail, 21, is a student at Louisiana Tech University and plans to begin law school in 2024. Jack, 18, is a high school student involved in multiple sports. Will, 13, in junior high school, is a skilled artist and baseball player.

In this dark and dismal time for our nation and the world when competent leadership is extremely scarce, it gives me reason for hope that God has raised up a faithful Christ-follower to be one of the most influential leaders in Washington and the third in line for the presidency. We must keep him in our prayers, though. He will be persecuted. Newsweek has already run the headline, “Mike Johnson’s Ties to Christian Nationalism Revealed.” I close with a caution. We Christians must keep in mind that this man will not always do and say everything like we want. He has a commendable resume as a man of great faith. But he is a sinner as we all are and capable of disappointing us from time to time. Pray for our country, pray for our leaders, and pray for Mike Johnson.

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The Little-known Truth About Israel

Photo: The aftermath of one of the many rocket attacks of the Israel-Hamas War.

For over two centuries, America has been the staunchest ally of Jews around the world. For over seven decades, we have supported the fledgling, relatively new nation of Israel, often in the face of global opposition. It was largely the influence of the Untied States that secured the UN vote to recognize the nation of Israel in 1949 after their declaration of independence the year prior. Soon afterward, most Palestinians, who were scattered throughout the nation, congregated in what became the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians eventually claimed those territories as their sovereign land within the new boundaries of Israel. However, the war of 1967, initiated by Arab nations, resulted in Israel’s rightful annexation of those areas while allowing the Palestinians to remain there. A 1993 agreement brokered by Washington after multiple skirmishes between Israel and the Palestinians established a separate “state” for the Palestinians on the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip (see map below) governed by the Palestinian Authority.

west-bank

The Palestinians, still not satisfied with Israel’s existence, continued terrorist attacks, mostly by the militant groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, against the Israelis. In response, Israel rejected the separate states status and began settlements of Jewish families and businesses within the West Bank in the late 1990s. The reestablishment of the “two-state solution,” allowing the Palestinian Authority to govern the West Bank and Gaza, is supported by the Biden Administration. This is a wrongful position for America to pursue. Without control of the West Bank, Israel is indefensible. The just solution would be for the Palestinians to live peacefully within Israel’s borders recognizing the entire nation of Israel without challenging its sovereignty. Israel would be agreeable to that status. So far, the Palestinians, particularly their militants, Hamas and Hezbollah, have rejected anything short of total expulsion of the Jews.

This recent history cannot be separated from the more ancient history that futher legitimizes Israel’s right to its status as a nation. First, we need to understand that the right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel goes back about 4,000 years according to a divine mandate that overrides any ethnic or political consideration. Around 1800 BC, God began the process of establishing His chosen people through Abraham, promising him a specifically defined region of land in the Middle East (now Israel). The original boundaries of this “promised land” described in the Bible covered an area even larger than what is now recognized as Israel. Upon bestowing the land on Abraham and his future descendants forever, God included this statement, “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse.”

Through the centuries, the Jews have been driven from their land by their enemies multiple times only to return. The last time, they were ousted by Rome in 70 AD not to return as a nation until 1948, a move that had been prophesied in the Bible for centuries. Ezekiel relayed God’s promise, “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.” Furthermore, through all of Jewish history, a remnant of their people has constantly lived in their God-given land, Israel. Israel is the oldest nation ever to maintain its identity, even when it was sometimes without borders. Jews do not occupy Palestinian land; Palestinians live in the land that has belonged to the Jews for almost four millennia. The Palestinians are not a nation. The history of many of them traces back to the Philistines of the Old Testament who were constant enemies of the Israelites. Other Palestinians are a hodgepodge of people from various Arab nations who have migrated over time to the land forcefully vacated by the Jews. Palestinians have never been recognized officially as a nation and have never had a legitimate government. There is no doubt that Israel has rightful claim to the territory within its borders and even more according to God’s promise. Therefore, since the Palestinians refuse to coexist peacefully within Israel, but rather repeatedly attack their host nation, Israel has every right to defend itself against this most recent savage attack by Hamas and finally expel this enemy from their land.

America has been blessed in wonderful and innumerable ways. I believe that one of the main reasons for our blessings is that we have always supported (blessed) Israel according to God’s Word. If we follow other nations, and even our internal antagonists, in criticizing this crucial ally, we place ourselves in grave jeopardy. Yet, a recent Gallop poll indicated that American Democrats favored Palestinians over Israelis, 49% to 38%. The same poll showed Republicans favored Israelis over Palestinians, 78% to 11%. These statistics are another factor for voters to consider in 2024.

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VULNERABLE NATIONAL TREASURES

On a recent visit to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons National Parks, I was consumed by reminders of America’s blessings of natural riches beyond any other nation in the world. God’s breathtaking creation of majestic mountains, flowing rivers, crystal lakes, towering trees, and endless fields can’t be fully captured in words or even cameras. As one absorbs the awe of such magnificence, the thought of losing the stewardship of this treasure trove to an enemy nation or to an internal socialist transformation is unthinkable but increasingly plausible.

Similar to God’s selective choosing of a people almost 4,000 years ago to receive a beautiful and productive “Promised Land” in which to settle, I believe the land we call America was God’s gift to those He chose to settle here and to their descendants. America’s abundant natural resources, industrial development, democratic government, and stunning sight-seeing attractions from coast to coast are unique and must be preserved at all costs.

Our national treasures and very way of life came close to being lost in World War II and were frightenly threatened in the Cold War. Now, again, everything we hold dear is vulnerable. China and Russia are collaborating to become a combined superpower that could invade or at least hold sway over America. Our own government is proving itself incapable and incompentent of governing and protecting. Morality and family values are at a historical low, leaving us spiritually weak as well.

We need to look no further than the ancient nation of God’s people, Israel, to see the consequences of our own situation. In the 6th and 7th centuries BC, the chosen people who had been blessed beyond measure were defeated because of their ungodliness, overindulgences, and weaknesses. Why America has not already experienced the same eventuality as Israel can only be attributed to God’s patience and mercy.

The sad and frustrating fact is that the gloomy scenario doesn’t have to digress to this destiny. The obvioius solution is for our nation’s people to turn to God. That involves reading and living out the teachings of the Bible, praying for guidance and forgiveness, and becoming active in church which is God’s plan for serving His Kingdom. Then, we must elect godly government leaders who will follow God’s direction for America and reverse our trend toward socialism.

I invite your comments and encourage you to share this post.

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