One lesson in life is to never give up. That truism is ever real. There are still millions and billions of people in the world who love their families, believe in respect for humanity, and desire a better world than the past or present. There are tons of redemption stories wherefore a human beings made bad decisions and go back on the road to recovery to be a living, shining example of righteousness. Regardless of what is going on in the world, we will still find our joy, our inspiration, express our humor, and be determined to stand up against fascism. I have no despair. I have wisdom and further motivation to support environmentalism, to stand up against racism, to oppose sexism (including manosphere bigoted propaganda), and to reject xenophobia. There are tons of people in the rural areas and small towns that believe like we believe it. They are just as dedicated to justice as we are. So, we should always realize that a remnant remains firm for freedom. The University of Virginia, USC, and MIT has refused to submit to the demands from the Trump administration to make their universities a pro-Trump front. Universities have every right to maintain their independent views and not be swayed by the political establishment or by the MAGA movement. We are in a battle against authoritarianism. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that Trump has "plenary authority" during his discussion about deployment of National Guard troops in Oregon. Plenary authority means that a single government official has absolute power on a particular matter. Obviously, Trump has no plenary authority over the National Guard. The President must have approval from the Governor to send National Guard troops and the 1878 law of the Posse Comitatus Act bans the military from law enforcement actions during times of peacetime in America. There is the separation of powers which occurs when all three branches of the government have co-equal powers. For example, the legislature can check the executive by vetoing law signed by the President. The Supreme Court can check the executive by making laws unconstitutional by its rulings too. We know of the corruption of the Trump administration when Bondi protects Homan when he took a $50,000 bribe by shutting down an investigation of Homan. Trump is filled with contradictions. Trump claims to want people to feel safer. Still, he has allowed ICE agents to use racial profiling and other aggressive, unwarranted tactics to terrorize communities plus detain even U.S. citizens, beyond just undocumented immigrants. Trump claims to want people to be healthier, but he supports ending legitimate regulations that protect us from being poisoned from the water, air, land, and food supply. Trump claims to support the law, but he has allowed officials to murder people without due process of law in the Caribbean. Even Republican Rand Paul has condemned that action as unconstitutional.
The era of Sardis in Christian history included some of the most life changing events in all of human lives. There was a remnant of born-again Christians who stood up for truth and gave the Gospel to many human beings. Many human beings from Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Australia developed their own civilizations and culture. Many people in the four corners of the world also accepted the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily. There was also the paradox of many other people exploiting the name of Christianity to do unjustified evil in the world. We know precisely what these evils are. These evils included slavery, imperialism, colonialism, murder, rape, assaults, and other forms of abuse that ruined so many lives. These injustices were supported by many European Kingdoms and their racist armies of terrorism. Evil people used these injustices to murder millions of people worldwide (mostly people of color, including my ancestors). These evil people committed some of the worst crimes in history by not treating your neighbor as you would like to be treated. That is why we have to be clear to condemn the Maafa, imperialism, and colonialism in the strongest terms possible. Also, the First Great Awakening helped to save souls forever and inspired future religious movements in the world too. The of Sardis was a transitional age after the beginning of the Reformation, but it was before the American Revolutions (and other Revolutions against Monarchs and empires in the world). Therefore, the time of Sardis reminded people that growing pains will exist as believers, but your core spiritual convictions ought to remind.
The Son of God is Jesus Christ, Yeshua. He has been the most talked about person in religious circles. He has been praised, maligned, and supported. His life was filled with pain, resiliency, death, and resurrection. He rose up to talk with the rabbis, refute the Prosperity Gospel by confronting the moneychangers in the Temple, and made many potent prophecies (like the destruction of the 2nd Temple which happened in 70 A.D., the spread of knowledge, and the rise of the fig tree in the latter days). Many of his followers exist today, and it has been almost 2,000 years after his crucifixion. He lived in Israel. One core tenet of Islam is to deny Jesus as God. One core tenet of Christianity is to view Jesus Christ as God in the flesh. The Bible is clear in Matthew 2:2,11 that the wise men worshiped the Christ child, the Archangel Gabriel said that Jesus Christ is Emmanuel of God with us as found in Matthew 1:23, and Jesus Christ said that he can forgive a person's sins in Matthew 8:2. In the New Testament, when men and women worshiped Jesus Christ as God, Jesus Christ never rebuked them for doing so. John 1:1 is clear that in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus Christ called him the title of God in I Am as found in John 8:58. In John 10:30, Jesus Christ said that I and my Father one. Therefore, it is clear that the New Testament mentions that Jesus Christ is God. In Revelation 1:8, Jesus Christ called himself Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and the Almighty.
Islam has been around for over 1400 years now. It has been a religion that has grown in many communities of the world with over 1 billion followers. Like other religions, it has diverse factions in it. Islam has Sunni, Shia, Sufis, and other different types of Islam. Islam appealed to many people, because many people want direction in life, discipline, and a sense of purpose in life. Islam believes in one God like Judaism and Christianity. Yet, all 3 monotheism have multiple differences too. Islam believes that God has no Son and there is no Trinity. Christianity teaches that God has a Son, and the Trinity is mentioned in many verses of the Bible too. Judaism teaches about the Golden Rules and other important lessons of life. Islam teaches that Mount Ararat was in Saudi Arabia and Abraham's father was a different name than what is mentioned in the Bible. Islam denies the physical resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ when the physical resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is one major cornerstone of the Christian faith. Islam is a works based religion, which means that you have to do almsgiving to be accepted into Paradise (or Heaven). The reality is that no human is perfect. No amount of works alone can merit salvation. Only by the blood of the Lamb can the soul of human beings be saved. Works are important, but they don't merit salvation as we are saved by the grace of God. We do good works after salvation, not to get saved. Also, it is important to condemn Islamophobia. We can disagree with Islam without dehumanizing Muslims. I am not a Muslim, because I won't deny the Son, I don't agree with many of its doctrines, and I have a commitment to Yeshua Ha Mashiach.
The New York City mayoral election has made history in many ways. You have Zohran Mamdani competing against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Both candidates are right on many issues, and both have scandals. Cuomo has a sexual harassment scandal, as many women have accused him of sexual harassment. Mamdani has a social scandal of falsely calling himself black on an application form, his controversial tweets, and his father saying that suicide bombing shouldn't be stigmatized as a mark of barbarism. For the record, suicide bombing is evil and disgusting. Cuomo is wrong to try to whitewash Christopher Columbus. Columbus has nothing to do with Italian heritage. Columbus was an imperialist, murderer, and was even jailed by the Spanish government for his war crimes against Native American people. A genocidal, wicked male like Christopher Columbus should not be glorified. The New York City mayoral race dealt with the issues of housing affordability, policing, opposing racism, dealing with crime, health care, foreign policy, dealing with economic issues in general, infrastructure, and environmental issues. Both Cuomo and Mamdani have different plans for New York City. Andrew Cuomo said that We shall see what the future of New York City will be.
Virginian elections represent a new era of Virginia. As a Virginian, we will have our first woman Governor which is very historic. Two candidates represent two different visions for my state of Virginia. One candidate is Abigail Spanberger, who was a CIA agent and is a more moderate candidate. She talks about schools, investments, and other issues. She doesn't agree with the Trump agenda. The other Republican candidate is Winsome Earl-Sears, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica. She lived in New York City and later became prominent in politics. She served in the U.S. Marine Corps and is the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia since 2022. She is Virginia's first woman lieutenant governor and the first black woman elected statewide. Winsome Earle-Sears is a conservative who supports the Trump agenda. The campaign has been strident and personal at times. There are many political issues in the race like education, social issues, the comments of Jay Jones (Jay Jones has apologized for his repugnant comments), the economy, housing, crime, and other important issues. There are many commercials in the television that either lies or take things out of context. So, what we have here is a race between a moderate and a near theocrat in Virginia. At the end of the day, Virginia deserves to grow into the next level to be a shining example of how a progressive South ought to be.
The nationwide 2nd No Kings protests have been historic. This rally is made up of urban, rural, and suburban people. It is made up of people of every race and background who protested peacefully in Chicago, Washington D.C., Nashville, Miami, Boston, Dover, Seattle, all over Virginia, New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Concord (in Massachusetts), San Jose, and in other places. There are at least 300,000 protesters in New York City. Almost 7 million protesters have attended No Kings rallies in America. These protesters are unified in opposing the views of a tyrant, who is Donald Trump. There should be no sugarcoating. Trump is a fascist because he has been involved in the murder of people in international waters without due process of law, seeking to suppress the free speech rights of press agencies and universities, desiring to ban birthright citizenship, and desiring the National Guard and other agencies like ICE to occupy American cities for xenophobic motivations. We know that ICE has detained over 100 American citizens, too, and some ICE members have unjustly assaulted people, too. The oligarchy desires monopoly, control over our resources, and authoritarianism. Yet, we desire healthcare, environmental protections, equality, justice, true education (that doesn't sugarcoat American history), etc. This rally is not about hating America. Those who hate America want constitutional laws violated in America. We love America, because we want America to improve and promote liberty, freedom, and justice for all in America. We want to preserve our democracy in the midst of a government shutdown.
There is my paternal distant late cousin Mrs. Roxie Trower-Duncan. She was born on February 23, 1928, to Milton and Carrie Satchell Trower in Northampton County, Virginia on the Eastern Shore. She was educated at the Cape Charles Colored School in Cape Charles, Virginia. She attended Franklin City Schools. She married the late Wade M. Duncan Sr. on February 18, 1968. She worked as a housekeeper, caregiver, and commercial cleaner. She worked in many homes, families, and businesses in Cape Charles and Cheriton, Virginia. She retired from the Eastern Shore Railroad in the 1990s. She was employed with Rayfield Pharmacy. She was part of the Mt. Sinai Gospel Tabernacle, Cape Charles, Virginia. She joined the Full Gospel Church in Cheriton, Virginia. She loved to sing Gospel songs like This Train is a Clean Train, Jesus My Hope is in You, and You've Got to Move. She loved fashion, humor, and to be friends with her neighbors. Roxie enjoyed “sight-seeing” with her husband until his health failed, shopping, being chauffeured around, attending her great-grandchildren Keondre Ames and Courtney Smaw sporting events, spending time with her great-great-granddaughter Nataliah Ames, and dining out. Some of her favorite places to eat were, Sting-Ray’s, Tim’s Place, Rayfield’s, and IHOP. Roxie leaves to cherish her memories: two sons, George Trower and Kenny Trower and one daughter, Johannah Johnson; nine stepchildren, Dorothy (Albert) Chisum, Vivian (John) Robinson, Roseann Finney, Wade Duncan Jr., Charles Duncan, John Duncan, William Duncan, Louis (Rosa) Duncan and James (Laura) Smith; seven grandchildren, Pastor Leroy Trower, Shante (Don) Prestridge, Felissa Thomas, Minister Monica (Donald) Gray, Evangelist Charlena Jones, Joanna (Minister Terrance) Barnes, and George Trower; twenty-two great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; two sisters, Margaret Washington and Mary Trower; one brother, David Trower Sr. and a sister-in-law, Margaret Trower; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, and friends. She was preceded in death by two sons, Curtis Johnson Jr. and Albert Trower; one grandson, James Trower; four brothers, Milton Jr., James Sr., Robert and Elton Trower; one nephew, Michael Trower; and one brother-in-law Lorenzo Washington. Also left to cherish her memories, she would refer to two special friends as her “white daughters” Wendy Harclerode and Pam Froman. So, Rosie Trower-Duncan lived a long, blessed life.
By Timothy
No comments:
Post a Comment