What is My Responsibility as an American Citizen?

What Is My Responsibility as an American Citizen?

Does the fact that “our citizenship is in heaven” release us from earthly responsibilities? Absolutely not! Actually, it should make us better husbands! fathers! and citizens! Here is a copy of a letter I wrote recently to Debbie Critchfield, Superintendent of Public Education in Idaho. Please pray with us for her! For Idaho! For USA!

Good morning, Debbie,

As a citizen of USA and an Idaho taxpayer (one of your many bosses), I’m writing to request that you immediately cease and desist from promoting or allowing our tax dollars in Idaho to be used in any way to promote or allow the Marxist/woke agenda to continue or enter the curriculum of any school in Idaho. This is a matter of deep concern to multitudes of Idaho taxpayers. The reason I wrote “one of your many bosses” is that our country is “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” – and our officials are answerable to us. Our responsibility is to hold you accountable! Therefore, I ask – what are you doing to stop this “woke” trend? Please RSVP! I’m praying for you about this! I have also written to Russ Fulcher and Raul Labrador about this matter. You will find enclosed a copy of my letter to Russ Fulcher plus other important information.

Recently West Virginia has started displaying our national motto “In God We Trust” in their schools. When will Idaho do that?

Respectfully in Christ, Rick Deighton

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.” Philippians 3:20-4:1 (ESV)

God Is Not the Author of Confusion!

When I was in elementary school, if my teacher had asked me, “Are you a Democrat or a Republican?” – I would not have been able to answer because I did not understand the terminology. But if she had asked me: “Are you a boy or a girl?” – I definitely knew how to answer that question! Isn’t it ironic that now many public-school teachers are Democrats committed to the Marxist agenda to undermine and destroy America – and to confusing little kids so they don’t know if they are girls or boys!! “God is not the author of confusion but of peace…” 1 Corinthians 14:33 Question: Is the public school system “evolving” better and better?

Can Someone Assume God Out of Existence?

Recently, on a radio replay of one of Tom Blackburn’s messages, I heard him pose a very potent, pertinent question to his listening audience. He was reviewing the early chapters of the Book of Romans, and pointed out that people who claim they don’t believe in God and say He doesn’t exist do so because they know they are sinners, they don’t like feeling guilty, and they hate His law. Tom pointed out that they assume that if they say, “I don’t believe in God,” then God doesn’t exist, and His law doesn’t exist. Then Tom pointedly said, “If you want to claim God doesn’t exist, try telling Him that when you stand before him on Judgment Day!”

Wisely Choose Your Worldview!

I have often taught my students: “Wisely choose your worldview because it effects everything you think, say, and do!” If you wonder if this is actually true, have you heard another saying: “There is always someone doing something stupid somewhere!”? You will probably agree immediately – “Yes! That’s true!” Have you also considered that the highest concentration of stupid may be gathered in Washington, D.C., or in the mayor’s office in Boise, Idaho? Why? Because pusillanimous politicians pursuing power and popularity can quickly be absorbed into the College of Advanced Applied Stupidity in Washington, D.C. – where they are trained in the tactics of evil through bribery and threats and turned into traitors to their own country, which was founded on Biblical truth and godly principles.

Actually, they are not really “stupid” (because many are very smart intellectually) but foolish, because they are emotionally deceived by Satan’s lies, and trained to promote ideas that are worse than stupid from a Biblical Christian worldview. What ideas? For example:

1. We can spend ourselves into prosperity!
2. Those, poor, innocent homosexuals are a persecuted minority, so we must coddle them, honor them, and allow them to parade perversity down American streets with pride and impunity.
3. Sodomy is normal behavior, even though the Word of God labels it “abomination.” We must call it “gay” and allow them to infiltrate schools to train vulnerable children how to practice all forms of immorality. We let them sneak it in under the label, “sex education.”
4. If a girl wants to be a boy, or a boy wants to become a girl, we can train teachers to sneak them behind parents’ backs to get hormone blockers and surgeries that mutilate their bodies and neuter them for life. And we can have taxpayers foot the bill! (What better way can we use to undermine and destroy God’s pattern of creating male and female, life-long love, marriage, and family?) Can you see that this is satanic to the core?
5. Evolutionism is true science, and the teaching of Biblical creationism must be banned from schools, even though every rational human being knows that everything could not come from nothing, every design must have a designer, and information can only come from a highly Intelligent, Creative Genius! “For  the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” Romans 1:18-28 (ESV)

The Word of God says that “as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:37 What was it like during the days of Noah? There was prevailing violence and, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5 If you want to better understand what is now happening in our beloved country, open your Bible and read the rest of Romans chapter 1!

Freedom is Precious – and Worth Protecting at Any Cost!

Recently, Joe Biden made a sneak trip to Kiev, Ukraine to meet with porn actor/president Volodymyr Zelensky and to deliver to him another half billion dollars for protection (protection from Russia – or from exposure?). While there, Mr. Biden delivered a speech which contained the statement: “Freedom is precious and worth protecting at any cost!” If he really believes this bold statement, then here are my questions to Joe Biden:

1. When are you going to free the hundreds of political prisoners your administration has been unjustly holding without trial or conviction since January 6, 2021?
2. When are you going to free all Americans from the medical mafia mandates concerning vaccines and masks? (When are you going to rightly apply “my body – my choice” to these medical choices instead of wrongly applying that saying to abortion? The baby inside his or her mother is not her body!)
3. When are you going to protect American citizens from drug cartels, fentanyl poisoning, criminal attacks, sex traffickers, and bankruptcy from millions of illegals flooding into our country?
4. When are you going to stop destroying the freedom of speech and practice of conservative, Biblical Worldview Christians by politically pushing the LGBTQ agenda?
5. Unless you do a 180◦ turn around by changing these policies, why should we believe anything you say?

Brethren let’s earnestly pray for the conviction and conversion of Joe Biden! (The Holy Spirit comes to “convict of sin, righteousness and judgment”!)

Christians, What Should We Be Doing?

1. Earnestly, fervently praying for genuine, deep revival in the churches of America and spiritual awakening in society! “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)
2. Boldly, clearly, compassionately sharing the glorious gospel of God’s grace and forgiveness! Remember, God can and does change broken lives and He loves the broken hearted!
3. Remembering and acting on the fact that America is government “of the people, by the people, for the people”! Elected officials and bureaucrats are not our bosses! Taxpayers are their bosses! We need to be holding them accountable! With many of them, it’s way past time to throw the bums out! With courageous elected officials like Russ Fulcher and Raul Labrador, it’s time to say, Thank you!

Dealing with Difficulty

                “Difficulty is inevitable. Defeat is optional. So anytime you face an overwhelming challenge, keep these four principles in mind…

Having problems doesn’t necessarily mean you’re outside of God’s will. The apostle Paul was ‘hard pressed on every side’ at a time when he was doing the very thing God called him to do. That’s the way the Christian life works. Adversity often shows up most when you’re serving God best.

Wait on the Lord rather than quit. When things get difficult, it’s natural to get perplexed or even disillusioned. But the comma reminds us to be patient, because there’s always hope on the other side of our confusion.

Focus on your assignment, not your antagonizers. Persecution takes place when people, not things, come against you. But handled correctly, persecution can make us less dependent on popularity and more dependent on God.

Winners may get knocked down, but they always get back up. Perhaps the most beautiful reminder of this principle is Jesus. The cross was a beginning, not an ending. A comma, not a period. He was knocked down, but He didn’t stay down, and the result was our eternal redemption. Following the steps of your Savior by persevering through your pain. You may be ‘struck down,’ but you won’t be destroyed. All these things are part of the good news we have in Christ! So the next time you’re going through a season of extreme difficulty, remember…That period of time in your life doesn’t come with a period. You serve the God of the comma, and He didn’t bring you this far to only bring you this far.”

~ Pastor Paul Sheppard

The War on Our Unborn Citizens

In our February prayer letter, I mentioned that our own “Civil War” cost the lives of more American soldiers than any other military war in our history, and asked the question, “Is that not enough reparation for the stain of slavery on our American history?” That war cost approximately 600,000 lives. However, the much bigger blot on our stained history is the unscrupulous war on our unborn citizens. Abortion has taken well over 60,000,000 lives of the most innocent American citizens, along with the uncounted number of lives of their mothers from botched abortions. Think of it! Over 100 times more innocent babies’ lives slaughtered on the altars of lust, greed, convenience, compromise (Ishtar) than all the lives lost in the Civil War! Yet the bloodlust of the Left continues! The bloodlust crowd’s war cry is that women’s right to choose is being denied them. I ask, right to choose what? Immoral sexual activity? The killing of the most innocent? However, we must not forget the men involved. Why are they pushing for abortion? So they can use women as “boy toys” to satisfy their lust and bear no responsibility for the children they begat?

And what about the greed of Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics that are involved in harvesting millions (billions) of dollars in their bloody business, and selling harvested body parts of aborted babies as an undercover business, while bringing lawsuits against those who expose them. And what about the government officials who are sanctioning abortion and pushing for more deaths to spare our world from over population? Who gave them the right to play God? The one, true, Almighty God created man in His own image as male and female. He created and ordained marriage and family and told the original couple to “be fruitful and multiply” and to have dominion over His creation. He has never rescinded these commands. He will close the curtain Himself at the end of time and call every one of us human beings before His Throne of Judgment! This is what makes the gospel so wonderful. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our Savior, Who paid our penalty for sin with His own precious blood! By His grace we can be forgiven! His offer is free! Our debt of sin is paid! Praise God! Have you accepted His payment? Are you ready to meet Him? Let’s earnestly pray for the end of abortion and for massive spiritual awakening! Let’s pray for the conversion of multitudes of men and women who have believed Satan’s lies about abortion! Let’s pray for the conversion of those who have been attacking and threatening pro-life centers and churches, and for the deceived conservatives (even “Christians”) who attack abortion clinics with words or actions! I recently read a report that since the Dobbs’ Supreme Court decision that nullified Roe vs. Wade, there have been more than 20 times as many threatening or violent attacks on pro-life centers as on abortion clinics. However, any threatening/violent attacks by Christians on abortion clinics are wrong! We do not promote God’s message of love, grace, and forgiveness with Satan’s methods!

From Our Mailbox

“Dear Rick, thank you for your wonderful message and the words of encouragement. They are more than urgent and timely given the current situation in our country. How not to thank Him and glorify for His protection of our lives? The time of war has come to our land, the number of those who perished is enormous albeit unknown to us. And many are doomed to die in the year that has come. But hope is still with us, we trust in the Lord. And, like in the old days of peace, please, accept my best wishes of good health, prosperity and joy for The Christmas and the new 2023 year! Yours in Christ, Sergey Nikonorov”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Thank you so much! These are such powerful and beautiful words! Merry Christmas! Blessings, Lena (Lubyanitskaya)”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Beloved brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all your fraternal care, sacrificial help, and unceasing prayer! With great joy, I present to you the Christian Center for Science and Apologetics first 2023 newsletter. We feel the power of your prayers all the time! On the days like these, God’s mercy and care are especially evident!

Against all the odds, we actually held the session of the “Reliable Foundations” open apologetics club “Does God Exist?” The Power Station allowed the computers, projectors, lights, and cameras to run uninterruptedly independent from the power supply. Couple dozen people managed to attend the meeting despite the traveling troubles. Those who had electricity and internet access during the session time, were able to join us online. Others will be able to watch the recorded video on demand. We now plan the next session (“Does God Exist? Part 2”). God willing, for February. Please pray with us for it. We praise the Lord for the communication means we have even now, while our team is scattered across the country (including occupied territories) and even abroad. Regular executive team meetings provide great mutual encouragement as well as help to maintain the vision and explore the Lord’s guidance. All of us need prayers for safety, health, courage, guidance, and protection. Please pray with us.

After some time of adjustment to the new realities required, we continue to provide master-level teaching for various seminaries in a format that combines online Q&A group sessions with watching the video version of the lectures by students individually when time and electricity allow them. The students highly appreciate that option since they have electricity available for a few hours a day only, and when it gets on, watching the videos is not the main priority for the household. Cooking, doing laundry, charging the gadgets and power banks, etc., definitely go first! We are so glad to have the online video versions of all our courses! We were thinking we are making them for students in restricted areas. But God was preparing us for a time like that. May His name be praised!

The Lord provides various opportunities to develop our 2 Timothy 2:2 approach. Thus, we are going on with online Bible studies. Initially, we intended to do it for our team during the COVID lockdown but carried on after the massive war started. Now ministers of some churches joined our lessons. Some of them are from the occupied territories; some have left the ministry and were recruited into the army. But even there, they seek out opportunities to join us from time to time. One of them, Ruslan, is the main pastor of the Church we attend in Kyiv. He is a gifted young man I have been mentoring since I came here. Now he defends the country at the frontline. And, since my health condition is back to normal, I decided to increase my preaching at the church while he was away. Please pray for both of us.

We are so glad to have small book storage at our Center. Refilling it once in a while, we are always fitted to do a book table at any event, as well as to ship the books within the country to whoever needs them. Special time together spent in fellowship and prayers is a great blessing of the food storage used as a bomb shelter. We remember you in our prayers constantly!

Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine, for the protection of our fellow workers wherever they are, and for the Lord’s guidance to us in this time of uncertainty. Please continue to pray for our teammates who defend our land. They are at the hottest spot in the Northeast of the country. May the Lord protect them! Please pray for Ukraine, for the Lord’s intervention in the midst of troubles, for many people in other countries who care and help. Please pray for the lives of soldiers and civilians and the peace in our country! Most of all, please pray for the Lord’s guidance for us in these difficult times. Yours by the grace of Jesus, Sergei”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Now I want to back up in time and share with you a portion of what John Murphy (another Overseas Outreach representative) wrote for June 2022. Love for Ukrainians by John Murphy.

   “Due to the enormous needs of Ukrainians in the aftermath of the war the Odessa Mission is now networking with Mercy Partners, which specializes in conflict zone assistance and solutions, better equipping ourselves for the challenges ahead. Our joint initiative is called “Love for Ukrainians” and our goals are simple: 1) save lives, 2) mitigate suffering, and 3) reach as many Ukrainians with the gospel as possible. Ukrainians have never been this receptive to the good news since the collapse of the USSR so the time to act is now, especially given the looming prospect of a Russian victory.

   The wake of hyperinflation since March has sent food and gas prices in Ukraine soaring upwards of 160% while unemployment numbers surge. Starvation is quickly becoming a legitimate threat to much of the population and many lack ample means for evacuating. Thankfully, with the Odessa Mission’s extensive contact list of Ukrainian ministries in country, which is based on first-hand knowledge, coupled with Mercy Partners’ unique skill set and contacts in neighboring countries, we now have a team capable of effectively rescuing Ukrainians, helping them get established elsewhere in Europe, and putting funds in the hands of trustworthy Ukrainian believers on the ground in a timely manner. How Can You Help Ukrainians? ➢ Pray for them. ➢ Hold a fundraiser. Many folks are reaching out to their communities through yard sales, benefit dinners, and concerts/productions to help Ukrainians.”

The Molodchiy Family (Note: Evgeniy is Zhenya’s legal name. Zhenya is his nickname.)

   “In 1994 I moved to Kharkiv, Ukraine to help plant Christian Life Church and a local, Evgeniy Molodchiy, served as one of our translators. After his baptism in 1997 he earned a theology degree at TCM International Institute where he later taught modular courses while simultaneously ministering back in his hometown. Evgeniy’s now preaching at a small church tucked away somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains. While this wasn’t his original agenda Russian missiles sure have a way of altering our plans.

   When the heavy shelling in Kharkiv began Evgeniy and Natasha were quickly able to pray with their two teens, hug them goodbye, and send them westward. Fortunately, the kids quickly exited the country and found sanctuary in Austria with Evgeniy’s TCM colleagues. Things for Evgeniy, however, were more complicated. For one, his parents were still holed up in Kharkiv. Moreover, a woman from the church named Milana desperately needed back surgery and with their van they had the means of transporting her to the proper hospital in a safe zone. The problem, however, was that the hospital was over a thousand kilometers away and they lacked the necessary funds for gasoline, food, and lodging during this grueling four-day journey until our mission stepped in to assist. Shortly after leaving Milana at the hospital Evgeniy’s family found this tiny congregation in the mountains of western Ukraine… His parents, thankfully, have since joined him there while Natasha and Jacob have been reunited with the older kids in Europe. Finally, Milana’s surgery was successful and now she’s on her way to Latvia.”

Dmytro and Iryna

   “Over the years Christian Life Church in Kharkiv has produced daughter congregations and Dmytro Gritsenko is now serving as minister of evangelism in one of them. After marrying Iryna in 2015 Dmytro went on to graduate from seminary and begin conducting small-groups’ based outreach, which continues even now. In fact, since March 11^th Dmytro’s six-member team has spearheaded a ministry that’s successfully provided food to over 1700 people while collecting everyone’s contact info to follow up with a presentation of the gospel message. Naturally, their budget’s extremely tight so we relish the chance to assist them monetarily.

   Periodically share our website (www.LoveForUkrainians.org) and Facebook page (Odessa Mission Updates) to keep people informed and engaged. ➢ Make a tax-deductible donation to our mission. Though fees apply, online giving is now available through our website (ACH transfers are the most cost-effective online option). Checks should be payable to Calvary Christian Church with “Odessa Mission” in the memo and mailed to Steve Dunham at: 338 North Snead Street, Ashland, VA 23005.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hello Rick & Della… we are doing well and our plates are full, we are thankful. I have attached a few photos of Denieka family of 8 that have just arrived…we settled them next to us and three of their children started school today. We are working right now to help another Ukraine refugee family of 10. I was able to get another semi-truck full of medical and food supplies for Ukraine out to the New Jersey port…my hope it will be on its way to Ukraine next week.

Rick, Della, it’s much worse in Ukraine than what is being reported. The causalities are high as Ukraine tries to hold on. The only way Ukraine will prevail, is if NATO puts boots on the ground. Russia has a population of about 145 million people, Ukraine, about 30 million as many Ukrainian people have been displaced. Remember what Stalin said to the Germans, “We have more people than you have bullets.” Rick, Della…Russia isn’t going away. Please keep Ukraine and us in prayer. We are praying for you.

In His Grace, Steve (Yagilnicky)”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Dear Rick,

Thank you for your letter. No, we are not together. The war in Ukraine is still going, Vova is still in Kharkiv, delivers food and medicine to the needy. He is very stressed out, because Kharkiv has been under a massive missile attack last 10 days. More buildings, university, factories are destroyed, more injured and killed… Please keep on praying for him because it’s extremely hard emotionally. Men are not allowed to leave the country, so there is no opportunity for us to be together. And it’s still very dangerous in Ukraine. My daughters and I are in Michigan. My friend who was a missionary in Ukraine is helping us here. I don’t work because I don’t drive. Will try to learn how to drive. Girls go to school and like it. That’s it. Thank you for remembering us.

God bless you, Maryana”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Dear Rick,

Thank you for your Valentine’s congratulations. Happy Valentine to you and Della and to Sandy! I’m doing well. No big changes. The church is doing well. Mom is doing well. Cats are also ok. The world is not ok. But we know that already. I will translate both your letter and the meaning of Anatoliy’s name and pass it on to Lena. How are you doing? – Inga” (Lena is Anatoliy Shalbyetski’s daughter)

Prayer Requests

1. Praise God that the church in Simferopol is doing well, and that Inga’s widowed mother is doing well!
2. Praise God that Anatoliy Schalbyetski and his daughter, Lena, are continuing to reach out to destitute children to raise them in the love of Christ, and please pray for the God of all Comfort to continue healing Anatoliy’s broken heart over the loss of his beloved wife, Larissa.
3. Please pray for a shield of protection for Volodia (Vova) and all the rest of the Ukrainians on the front lines of danger, as well as the Russians involved in this terrible war. Please pray for a massive spiritual awakening throughout all of the former Soviet Union Nations.
4. Please pray that American Christians will wake up and become responsible citizens and bold witnesses for Jesus!

Are You Seeking the Will of God for Your Life?

Consider this pertinent advice: “…As you follow the direction of the Word, you will be led to walk into the exact and specific will of God that is your destiny. You see, the Scriptures are not so much focused on finding the will of God that you don’t know, but on obeying the will of God that you do. Obey the will of God you do know, and it will lead you to the will of God you don’t. Follow, with all your heart, that which is revealed, and it will lead you into that which is not…” ~ Jonathan Cahn

Pictures of two refugee families that Stephen Yagilnicky sent us.