October / November / December 2009
Dear ones,
Loss of political freedom leads to loss of religious freedom; this is a lesson from history so obvious and indisputable that I need not cite examples. We are experiencing this in our own nation; in Africa, Asia and the Middle East we have seen it cost Christians and Jews not only their freedom to worship, but also their lives. Today, the poor people of Honduras wish only to be allowed to live in peace under their constitution. Yet the powerful nations of the World, both despotisms and democracies, are joining forces to impose a corrupt, God-less, Communist dictator on the poor Christian people. Unbelievably, our own president is aligning himself (thus our nation) with these forces of evil. Thus, this political crisis is a crisis of faith—of freedom to worship and serve God, and we need to be informed.
IS THIS HONDURAN CRISIS A BAD DREAM?
In Honduras, the corrupt president, Zelaya, decided to become president for life—in other words, a dictator. He tried to change Honduran law, in order to stay in office beyond his constitutional term; but the Honduran Supreme court ruled against him. He attempted to overrule the Supreme Court and fire the Army’s commander. At this point the Army quietly arrested him and he was taken, without a shot’s being fired, to exile in Costa Rica. An interim president, Roberto Micheletti, is in office under the provisions of the Honduran constitution. Now, Zelaya’s friend, America-hating Hugo Chavez, moved his army to the Honduran border. He, along with Cuba‘s Communist dictator Castro, the Nicaraguan Communist Daniel Ortega, Iran’s Ahmadinijad, and North Korea’s dictator Kim Jung Il, are screaming for the dictator’s return to take over in Honduras. And, almost impossible to believe, our president is joining them, and our State Department is imposing sanctions on the poor, free people of Honduras, to force them to take the dictator back. While the Honduran people turn out by the tens of thousands to pray and demonstrate peacefully for their freedom, Zelaya, from his luxurious hotel suite in Costa Rica, called for a bloody civil war to force himself on the people. And now our government wanted to fly him to the U.S. to speak to the U.N.! Who could have believed that our president and his State Department would join forces with the five heads of nations who most hate the USA, and are considered to pose the greatest threat at this moment to our survival as a nation, to force a Communist dictator on the poor people of Honduras?!? It is like a bad dream—except that it is reality.
This is the short version. For a thorough, eye-opening explanation of the situation, from inside Honduras, read my son’s (Dr. Jeff McKenney‘s) article in his newsletter. You can access it on his web site directly (www.crstone.org), or via the “Missions” link on our web site (click on Cornerstone Foundation Hospital Loma de Luz; then on Newsletters). If you don’t have the means to read it on the internet, let us know and we will send you a printed copy. (Various)
OUR PRESIDENT IS A DECEIVER: THE PROOF
I can say without reservation or fear of valid contradiction that President Obama is a deliberate deceiver of the American people. The candidate who promised to end “politics as usual“ and provide a “transparent” administration, has done the opposite; he has brought to the presidency the corrupt, radical, strong-arm Chicago politics of which he is a product, and he has deliberately attempted to deceive the public. How can I say this? Consider the following.
He has pushed with all his might the passing of a gigantic government takeover of healthcare, saying that it is urgent that it be passed before the August recess of Congress. Members of Congress were pressured to pass a bill of 1,100 pages that they had not read, while Obama assured the people that it must he passed before the recess. Otherwise, he assured us, many Americans would die unnecessarily.
But wait—the bill he was (and is) urging on us would not take effect until 2013! If Americans are dying unnecessarily because the radical bill has not been passed, why doesn’t it take effect immediately? Why should we wait for four years, while many more Americans die unnecessarily? This makes absolutely no sense! Since we know that Obama isn’t stupid (he is, in fact, extremely bright), we are left with only one possible conclusion: he is a deceiver. Why, then, his desperate urgency to have the bill passed and signed into law before the August recess? The obvious conclusion is that he wanted it to be passed before the American people found out what is in it. The evidence for this is before our eyes: during August the American people found out—they read the bill, and confronted their members of Congress in angry town meetings all across the nation. As a result, thanks to talk radio and the only honest news channel (Fox), the wheels are falling off the president’s campaign of deception, and the approval of his plan is dropping dramatically, along with his approval ratings; the majority of the people are now opposed to his plan. Now we are seeing the reason for his urgency to get the bill passed before the recess. August was a terrible month for Obama. But our way of life, our very freedom, may have dodged a very deadly bullet. (Sources numerous, with thanks to Prof. Thomas Sowell for this insight.)
GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES: LET THE BABY DIE!
In England, where health care is completely provided, and controlled, by the government, Sarah Capewell watched her newborn baby, Jayden Capewell, die after doctors refused to help him. Jayden, born at the National Health Service hospital in Norfolk, was breathing on his own, his heart function was strong, and he was moving his arms and legs. Little Jayden lived for two hours, was given no care, no water or nourishment, and was allowed to die. Why did they refuse to help the baby? Because government guidelines forbid treating a baby born less than 22 weeks after conception. Sarah’s little boy was born two days too soon—at 21 weeks and five days. When Sarah pleaded for the hospital staff to help her baby, she was told that she should consider it a miscarriage rather than a birth. When she asked doctors about her baby’s right to life, she was told, “He hasn’t got a human right—he is a foetus, not a human.” This is what can be expected when the government controls the medical care system; its horrors can be seen in Britain, Europe and Canada. And it could soon be coming to the hospital near you. (London Telegraph/BP)
COMING BOOK EVENTS
I am pleased (and amazed) to report that my new book, “Jack Hinson’s One-Man War,” has been selected for the Nathan Bedford Forrest Southern History Award for 2009. Also, the book is now published in Great Britain. God is definitely smiling on it. Some of the lecture/signing events already scheduled for the next few months are: 17 Oct., Waverly (Tenn.) Bicentennial; 24 Oct., Dickson (Tenn.) SCV (Sons of Confederate Veterans); 2 Nov., Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Ky.; 7 Nov., Union City (Tenn.) library; 12 Nov., Nashville SCV; 14 Nov., Murfreesboro (Tenn.) library; 21 Nov., Tilghman House Museum, Paducah, Ky.; 4 Dec., Clarksville (Tenn.) SCV; 5 Dec., Paris, (Tenn.) library; 16 Jan., 2010, Myrtle Beach, S.C., SCV.
DO YOU EAT BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM?
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is high-priced, up-scale ice cream. Its founders and owners are proud to be supporters of the “gay” agenda. They are so committed that they have renamed one of their flavors, “Chubby Hubby”; it is now called “Hubby Hubby” in honor of homosexual “marriage.” (ONN et al)
“ANGRY MOB” VS. “PEACEFUL MUSLIMS”
On 12 Sept.,, as the culmination of spontaneous freedom rallies by hundreds of thousands of concerned citizens across the nation, what was almost certainly the largest crowd ever to gather in Washington came together to protest the Obama administration’s radical takeover of our lives by the federal government. The establishment media either ignored the phenomenon, cast it as “racial,” or dismissed it as what they called “an angry mob.”Angry mob? Anyone who watched it knows that this huge crowd was the very opposite—they sang, prayed, and listened to speeches by like-minded leaders. The Capitol Police reported no (zero) incidents and no (zero) arrests. The size of the crowd was reported by the establishment media as anywhere from “a few thousand” to 60-75 thousand. A study by the University of Illinois estimated 1.2 million; other scientific estimates were as high as 2 million. It was undoubtedly the largest crowd ever to gather in DC.
By contrast, on 25 Sept., Muslims gathered on Capitol Hill; their theme was “Our Day Will Come.” The organizer of the rally, Hassen Abdellah, said that the event was inspired by President Obama’s inaugural speech, and by his speech in which he said that “America is no longer a Christian nation.“ Organizers predicted a crowd of 50,000. Having denigrated the amazing gathering of well behaved, concerned citizens on 12 Sept., and reported falsely low numbers, the establishment media were strangely silent about this event once it occurred. It was essentially a flop; only 3,500 attended, most of them from the DC area and the Northeast. (Fox/ONN/AP, et al)
AN HEROIC WOMAN AND THE NOBEL PRIZE
When the Jews were interned in the Warsaw Ghetto, early in World War II, the Germans forbad entry or exit except for guards and others on official business. Irena Sendler was a young Polish public health nurse and, as such, was free to enter and leave the Ghetto. Realizing the Nazi program for exterminating the Jews in Poland (and elsewhere), she devised a plan for smuggling Jewish babies and small children out of the ghetto, thus saving their lives. After the parents agreed to let her take their children, she used various means to smuggle them out. People in the ghetto were dying with tuberculosis, and she took some babies out in coffins. Others were smuggled out in the bottoms of tool boxes. Many of the larger ones were smuggled out in potato sacks. Irena trained a large dog, kept in her ambulance, to bark whenever the guards were near; the dog intimidated the guards, and his barking covered the baby’s crying. Sometimes the babies’ mouths were taped. There was a church against the ghetto with access, and some of the children were smuggled into the church. Taken into the confessional, they came out the other side as “little Catholics” with false papers. By the end of the war, she and her courageous associates had saved 2,500 Jewish babies and small children. One of them was Elzbieta Ficowska, a baby in 1942. Today she has wisely observed, “Mrs. Sendler saved not only us, but our children and grandchildren, and the generations to come.” But Irena was finally caught, tortured and brutally beaten. Both of her legs and both arms were broken, but she refused to tell of any of the others working with her, or how they did it. Scheduled for execution, she was rescued by the bribing of guards, and hid for the rest of the war.
Throughout the rescue operation, Irena kept careful records of the children’s real identities and their parents’ names, and buried the records in a fruit jar, under her apple tree. After the war she dug up the jar and attempted to reunite the children with their parents; but most of the parents had been annihilated. Those children were placed with foster parents.
After the war, she was persecuted and imprisoned by the Communist government. Her sons were not allowed to enter the university. The Communists refused to allow her to travel to Israel to be honored by the Jerusalem holocaust museum.
In later life, with Communism defeated, Irena was decorated by the free Polish Government for her extraordinary heroism; but to the end she refused to see herself as a heroine. In her last days she was nursed by a woman whom she had smuggled out of the ghetto as a baby, concealed in the bottom of a tool box.
In 2007 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize; but she finished second in the balloting. The prize went instead to Al gore for a slide show on “global warming.”
Irena died in Warsaw in May; she was 98.
THE ACLU SPIES FOR THE TERRORISTS
I thought I was un-shockable, but I was shocked to learn of the ACLU espionage program which they call the “John Adams Project.” This is a previously secret project of the ACLU, in conjunction with assisting in the defense of terrorist prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The project consists of locating secret operatives of the CIA, clandestinely photographing them, and making the photos available to the terrorists. Really! John Adams would roll over in his grave if he knew that his name is attached to such treason! If this is not a crime, what is it? (Fox/Human Events)
THE “PEACEFUL” RELIGION OF ISLAM
In September, in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, the Afghan police were observing Ramadan, during which the Muslims fast during the day, neither eating nor drinking until sunset. Serving alongside the Afghan police were American soldiers, training and mentoring them. An Afghani policeman, angered because one of the American soldiers was drinking water during the day, shot and seriously wounded the American soldier. And both presidents Obama and Bush have assured us that Islam, which was born in bloody conquest and makes its converts largely by the sword, is “a peaceful religion.” (AP)
THE FALLEN HEROES PROGRAM: WONDERFUL!
Has a member of your family been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan? If so, there is a wonderful program you should know about. There is a group of artists who will paint a portrait of your fallen loved one, and it is free. This grew out of the desire of Kaziah Hancock, an artist in Utah, to find a way to say “thank you” for the servicemen and women who have been killed in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. She offered to paint portraits of fallen soldiers, for their families, free. At first the offer was only for fallen Utah natives; but now she offers to do this, regardless of the home state. As demand has grown, she has enlisted the aid of other artists. You can contact her by writing to her at Project Compassion, P.O. Box 153, Manti, UT 84642. You can e-mail her at ProjectCompassion@manti.com.
And, incidentally, there are other artists now making the same gift of their time and talent. One such is Lance Smith and his Our Fallen Heroes Project, P.O. Box 921, Loomis, CA 95650.
DO YOU THINK THERE
IS NO WAY FOR YOU TO HELP?
Many people would like to do something for the Lord, something to help advance the cause of truth; but they feel that they have no platform, no voice. Let me tell you what Ron and Mary Ann Haendiges of Ramsey, Indiana do. On every envelope that they mail, they stamp (front and back), in red ink, “Pray for the UNBORN, 3,600 will die today.” Every person who handles that envelope, beginning with the first postal clerk to pick it up, and ending with the recipient, will be confronted with a concise bit of terribly important truth. You can do this. It only requires a small investment in a rubber stamp and ink, and seconds of your time; and it may save lives—of innocent babies and misled mothers. And it will definitely make God smile. Of course, there are other messages you can send this way; one who writes to me stamps the envelope with John 3:16. The possibilities are limitless.
“THE BORROWER IS
SERVANT TO THE LENDER” (Prov 22:7)
More than half of the national debt is owed to foreign nations; and most of that debt is owed to Communist China. (Fox News)
A POINT TO PONDER
“Educate a man in mind, and not in morals, and you educate a menace to society.” (Teddy Roosevelt)
MARTY’S CORNER
Time and time again, we find that God laid out clear instructions for every aspect of life. They had to be repeated over and over to rebellious man for various violations—some blatant and some subtle. A subtle one is the clever promotion of the word “diversity.” It has so deceived our culture that truth supposedly depends upon how one feels about something, but “diversity” was not part of God’s guidelines. The first of His Ten Commandments, Thou shall have no other gods before me, is clearly in conflict with the national prayer gathering of Muslims on Sept. 25 in front of the U.S. Capitol Building. The organizers say that it was Obama’s inauguration speech in January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for such a gathering on Capitol Hill. They were expecting at least 50,000 to attend and pray to other gods from 4 a.m. until 7 p.m. President Obama had also joined dozens of American Muslim leaders and foreign dignitaries at the White House on Sept. 1 to commemorate Ramadan with an “Iftar” dinner. However, on America’s National Day of Prayer (7 May, 2009), he distanced himself by nixing a formal early morning Christian service and not attending other observances.
The first four Commandments are about our God, the fifth is honoring our parents and the sixth is Thou shalt not murder. Recently World Magazine raised the question, why don’t kids come out to play these days? Reasons such as children’s busy schedules were given, but it was noted that there just aren’t many children and that “we can’t discount the fact that almost one-third of their peers are missing.” MIA – Missing in Abortions. Yet this administration in its health care plan wants taxpayers‘ money to fund more MIAs. Here again, God has given us—my people—guidance: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
(2 Chron. 7:14)
MILESTONES
Married 29 Aug. - Lora Burton of Montgomery, Ala. and James Denzil Brown, in Montgomery. Lora is founder of Rooftop Ministries, an outreach to those entangled in the paganism of all forms of Freemasonry, especially the youth.
Died 18 Feb. - Michael James Palmer of Lafayette, Tenn. Mike and his family were regulars at the Believers’ Retreats. He was the grandfather of little Rachel, who weighed less than one pound at birth, the smallest baby born at Vanderbilt to survive. She is now 14 and in perfect health.
4 Aug. - Timothy Jennings McKenney of Morganfield, Ky. Timothy, my grand-nephew, was a champion athlete, a brilliant student with a 4.0 academic record, and a committed Christian. During a workout at school he collapsed and died the next day, of cerebral aneurisms. He was 16.
19 Sept. - Bob Boardman, Seattle, of cancer related to his World War II wounds. Bob, an inspirational friend, was a Marine, disabled on Okinawa. When he recovered, he went to Japan as a missionary for more than 30 years. Since then he has written inspiring books, has been chaplain to the 1st Marine Division Ass'n. and served with Navigators. I will tell his story in the next issue.
A FINAL WORD
Treasure and use each day as if it were your last, and never give up hope; God has a limitless supply of new beginnings, and He makes beautiful things out of broken pieces.
You are precious,
(Sources: AP-Associated Press; BBC-British Broadcasting Corp.; BP-Baptist Press; Fox (Fox News); FOF-Focus on the Family; FRC-Family Research Council; HC-History Channel; IMG-Israel My Glory; JP-Jerusalem Post; LAT-L.A. Times; NM NewsMax.com; NW-Newsweek; NYP-New York Post; NYT-New York Times; ONN-OneNewsNow; PWB-Pastors' Weekly Briefing; USAT-USA Today; VOM-Voice of Martyrs; W-World Magazine; WND-World Net Daily; and WT-Washington Times.)