Compassion! Conviction! Courage!
Compassion coupled with conviction and delivered with courage can change a life for eternity! Have you noticed that this is true in helping those addicted to drugs or alcohol? So why not be consistent enough to apply it to those addicted to any form of perversion (porn, homosexuality, lust, greed, etc.)?
Israel or Palestine – What is the Accurate Name?
I think that I first began to wonder about this question when I was a small boy in Bible school classes. I saw maps and flannel graphs of the “Holy Land” with the name Palestine, but heard Bible verses with the name Israel.
What makes me wonder even more now as an adult, who has been reading the Bible for over 60 years, is why should I call the promised land Palestine when the word of God names it Israel hundreds of times? Also, in Genesis it was first called Canaan, but who was it promised to? Israel! The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary says: “The term ‘Palestine’ occurs four times in the KJV (Exodus 15:14; Isaiah 14:29, 31; Joel 3:4). In all four contexts it refers to Philistia, the coastal strip…”
Another historical reference I found says: “Biblical narrative and historiography are distinct fields but not mutually exclusive ones, due to the historical value of some of the Bible’s passages. In Jewish history, facts and narratives are often intertwined. The various and contentious names of the Land of Israel are a case in point. With the Israelites’ conquest of the land of Canaan in the thirteenth century BCE, the Philistines became the fiercest enemies of the conquering nation. Although the Philistines eventually vanished like most ancient people, their name had many reincarnations thanks to the Latin language. In 135 CE, after the Romans crushed the Bar Kokhba revolt, what used to be the Kingdom of Judah became the province of Judea under Roman rule. The Latin name Iudaea, meaning Judea, was derived from the Hebrew name Yehuda (Judah). The Romans, however, renamed Judea ‘Palaestina’ to humiliate the defeated Jews. The Romans’ choice of the word ‘Palaestina’ reflected their knowledge that the Philistines were the Jews’ historical enemies and that the land of the Philistines was called ‘Philistia.’…”
Why do I take time and space to share this in our Overseas Outreach prayer letter? Because the evil of violent, hate-filled antisemitism is spreading worldwide, and has become like a hissing, coiled rattlesnake on many of our USA college campuses. Please pray for wisdom, clarity, and safety for Israelites – especially Jewish students. And let’s earnestly pray for conversion of multitudes of Israelis, Palestinians, and other students to our Lord Jesus Christ – the one true Messiah!
Also, let’s remember the call of God to Abram, which He also passed on to Isaac and Jacob (Israel): “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV) See also Exodus 6:2-8 and Leviticus 25:38.
Mulling Over the Mission of Marxism
Since Marxism has insidiously and effectively infiltrated the American culture from the White House to the schoolhouse and the silver screen, and since a very large percentage of our younger population has been so thoroughly indoctrinated with the philosophy of Marxism/socialism that they believe it to be good for us, I choose to explore why they tend to think it is good. I invite those who choose to consider some background information to first read a brief summary about Karl Marx from Sparknotes.com – then consider my critique of Marx and his philosophy from a Biblical perspective.
“Karl Marx was born in 1818 in the ancient city of Trier, in western Germany (then Prussia). Marx’s father was a prosperous lawyer, a Jew who converted to Lutheranism to advance his career at a time when unbaptized Jews did not have full rights of citizenship. Marx studied law at the University of Bonn and later at Berlin, where he switched to studying philosophy. He moved again to the University of Jena, where he wrote a doctoral dissertation on ancient Greek natural philosophy. Following the death of his father in 1838, Marx attempted to find a job as lecturer but ran into difficulties because of controversies surrounding his teacher and mentor Bruno Bauer (1809-1882), who had lost his professorship due to his unrepentant atheism. Marx decided instead to try journalism and became editor of the Rhenish Gazette, a liberal newspaper in Cologne but the paper ran afoul of government censors and closed in 1843. Marx then married Jenny von Westphalen, the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, and moved to the more politically hospitable atmosphere of France. There he encountered another German émigré, Friedrich Engels, with whom he took up an interest in economics and class struggle.
One of Marx’s most important intellectual influences was the philosophy of George Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). Hegel’s signature concept was that of the dialectic, a word that originally referred to the process of logical argumentation and refutation. Whereas earlier philosophers had treated dialectic as a process for arriving at true ideas, Hegel maintained that ideas themselves evolve according to a continual process of contradiction and resolution and that human history is driven by this dialectical evolution of ideas. Hegel’s influence on Marx is evident in Marx’s belief that history is evolving through a series of conflicts in a predictable, unavoidable direction. Hegel also influenced Marx in his characterization of the modern age. Hegel once famously declared that ‘man is not at home in the world,’ by which he meant that while human beings had achieved an unprecedented degree of personal autonomy and self-awareness in the modern age, this accomplishment had resulted in the individual’s alienation from collective political and cultural institutions.
The more conservative of Hegel’s followers, the so-called Right-Hegelians, looked to Hegel’s writings on politics and the state to justify the political status quo in contemporary Prussia, arguing that the modern state represents the height of historical evolution and the final resolution of historical contradictions. The Left-Hegelians, including Marx, believed that society is far from fully evolved and for proof looked not only to the authoritarianism of the Prussian government but also to the social divisions and civil unrest created by industrialization and the increasing polarization of society into rich and poor. Socialism, an ideology advocating the abolition of private property, was then gaining influence among the more politically radical European intellectuals. Although he was attracted to socialism, Marx was dissatisfied with the quality of socialist thought that he encountered in France, such as that of the utopian Socialist Saint-Simon (1760-1825). Feeling that most Socialists were naively idealistic, Marx, following his meeting with Engels, set out to develop a theory of Socialism grounded in a better understanding of both economics and philosophy. From that point on, Marx’s project synthesizes these two distinct intellectual approaches, combining a Hegelian, philosophical view of historical evolution with an interest in capitalism that builds on the insights of classical economic theorists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo.
Together with his coauthor Engels, Marx produced such important early works as The German Ideology (1846), which was a critique of Hegel and his German followers, and The Communist Manifesto (1848), in which Marx and Engels distinguish their idea of socialism from other currents of socialism and demonstrate how socialism arises naturally from the social conflicts inherent within capitalism. Shortly after the publication of The Communist Manifesto, revolutionary unrest broke out in much of Europe. Although the Communist League of which Marx and Engels were leaders was in a state of disorganization, Marx took part in the revolution in Germany as editor of the New Rhenish Gazette in Cologne, which became a platform for radical political commentary. Following the unrest, Marx left Germany with his family and settled in London. The tumultuous events of 1848 and 1849 had impressed Marx deeply and formed the subject matter of later historical studies such as The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852).
While in London, Marx participated in the growing international workers’ movement while working toward a new synthesis of his economic and social theories. In 1867, he published the first volume of Capital (Das Kapital), his mammoth treatise on economics. Having mastered all of the classical political-economic theorists, Marx intended in Capital to explain the modern class struggle in terms of economic principles. Capital remains Marx’s greatest achievement, a powerfully insightful analysis of the nature of capitalism and its effects on human beings. Although most people no longer accept Marx’s conclusion that the contradictions within capitalism will lead inevitably to a worker’s revolution and the worldwide establishment of Socialism, Capital nonetheless remains a uniquely compelling book because of its ability to describe and explain the phenomenon of capitalism. Ironically, the proponents of capitalism are the people most likely to reject Marx as worthy of study, but it is to Marx that we owe the concept of capitalism and the perception that modern society is capitalist. (The word capital first acquired its importance with the publication of Capital.)
One of the main challenges a person faces in reading Marx is in abandoning preconceptions of Marx’s work resulting from the appropriation of Marx’s ideas by Communist political movements throughout the twentieth century. Many see the recent collapse of the Soviet Union as an end to the international appeal of Marxism as revolutionary political movement. At the same time, Marx’s ideas continue to stimulate and engage thinkers in a variety of fields, including political theory, history, and literary criticism.” – Anonymous
(The author of this article is himself or herself a Marxist who neglected or refuses to own up to the devastating consequences of Marxism historically. R.D.)
Who Was Karl Marx? Why is His Philosophy Evil to the Core?
Karl Marx was an Israeli young man who noticed hypocrisy in his father because he changed his religion from Judaism to Protestantism for economic reasons. Karl rejected religion and threw God out with corrupted religion (as in the proverb “threw the baby out with the bath water”). Karl Marx developed his own corrupted viewpoint into the philosophy that carries his name and contends that economics are the basic motivation of human beings and class struggle is inevitable to overthrow the ruling elite. Three of his proclamations are at the core of his distorted philosophy:
“Religion is the opiate of the people!”
“From each according to his ability: to each according to his need!”
“Redistribution of wealth!”
The last two of these easily appeal to idealistic college students (especially when promoted by popular professors), and easily lead them to adopt the first as well – so they can reject God’s rule and God Himself from interfering with pursuing their perverted passions.
The subtle hook in the second is that it does not tell who determines who has the ability and who has the need!
Another basic principle of Marxism is that “the end justifies the means.” This is clarification of their double talk in calling good evil and evil good. Why? Because in their ideology of creating their own utopia on earth by fundamentally transforming every nation into a socialist (communist) society, anything that helps in the progress of their progressive plan is good. They think that to lie, cheat, steal or murder is “good” if it moves their agenda forward.
Therefore, they are willing to partner with one religion to destroy another. Specifically, the Marxists are using Muslim terrorists to forward their agenda because both of them hate the Biblical Christian worldview and hate America because it is the nation founded on the Biblical Christian worldview. Also, they both hate Israel!
Marxism ends up making everyone equally poor except the ruling elite (who rule with an iron fist and live like kings) – and in the “inevitable struggle” to gain control, the idealist fighters for “equality” become ruthlessly cruel in their battle for conquest. Why did I write in a previous letter that I believe “Marxism is evil to the core!”? Here are my reasons:
1. Rejection of God is a core principle of Marxism.
2. Marxism is the basis for both Nazi philosophy (National Socialist Party of Germany) and Communism.
3. I have personally seen the poverty, hopelessness, entrenched bribery, and corruption of society left behind by Marxist philosophy in country after country in Eastern Europe.
4. If you want to clearly understand what Marxism produces, consider these three prominent historical dictators:
A. Adolf Hitler – whose cruelty and brutality murdered millions in his pursuit of power.
B. Joseph Stalin – whose cruelty and brutality murdered tens of millions in his pursuit of power.
C. Mao Zedong – whose cruelty and brutality also murdered tens of millions.
The worst mass murderers in history could not have done what they did without the writings of “progressive,” perverted philosophers like Karl Marx, G.F. Hegel, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud. No wonder the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” Colossians 2:8-10 (ESV)
Should Christian leaders be ignoring the Marxist take-over of America “because we don’t want to be political”? Remember that when a spiritual/moral issue becomes political, it does not stop being a spiritual and moral issue!! The Holy Spirit also inspired Paul to write: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Ephesians 5:6-11 (ESV)
Concluding Questions
What are you doing to help wake up and rescue your friends, relatives, and neighbors? Are you letting the light of Christ reflect from you to “rescue the perishing, care for the dying”? Jesus, our Savior, is mighty to save! Remember, false philosophies survive and thrive through deception – outright lies – such as, “Christian leaders should never speak of political issues!” Really? When abortion became a political issue, did it stop being a moral issue? Did the Old Testament prophets speak to political leaders about political/moral issues? Absolutely! Did Jesus do so? Absolutely! (The Pharisees and Sadducees were not only religious leaders, they were political leaders as well.) R.D.
Now consider this section of a report we received from James Dobson Family Institute on Thursday, April 18:
Religious Left Smears Christian Conservatives
“As we have repeatedly warned, there is a deliberate effort to intimidate, shame, smear, and even threaten conservative Christians out of the political and public policy arena. It is understandable that the radical, secular Left would want to do that. But it is outrageous that some so-called ‘progressive Christians’ are lending their support to this effort. Earlier this month, Bishop William J. Barber II convened a conference of progressive Christians at Yale’s Divinity School, where they signed the ‘New Haven Declaration of Moral & Spiritual Issues in the 2024 Presidential Election.’ No ambiguity there—they fully intend to use their influence to control the outcome of the November elections.
This declaration attacks ‘many well-meaning Christians’ who they claim have fallen for ‘distorted religious nationalism…to focus on a narrow set of divisive cultural wedge issues while ignoring the real moral issues.’ The document dismissed the concerns important to pro-family, pro-life Christians and conservatives as nothing more than a ‘manufactured controversy about minor issues.’ The signers pledged to ‘launch a season of preaching the moral issues of living wages and union rights, healthcare and ecological justice…a re-imagination of criminal justice, and the protection and expansion of voting rights and equal protection guarantees.’
Let me translate that for you: To these leftists, ‘real moral issues’ are socialism, abortion on demand, climate alarmism, soft-on-crime policies, gutting election integrity measures such as voter ID laws, and pushing the extreme LGBTQ+ agenda under the guise of ‘equal protection.’ The message they are sending is that the only Christians who should be involved in politics are those who support Big Government and the Left’s radical agenda. Anything else is illegitimate. If you want smaller government, lower taxes, secure borders, and you believe innocent babies deserve life, they think Jesus would be ashamed of you. Never mind that every communist and socialist nation has gone off the rails and always ends up persecuting Christians. The signers of the declaration want that here.
Why? They will be the ‘preferred Christians,’ welcomed in the corridors of power, like the authorized churches in communist China. Once they have rejected the gospel of Christ and embraced the ‘gospel of Marx,’ they will be celebrated in the new ‘fundamentally transformed’ America that the radical Left is trying to create. Don’t let these ideologues discourage or intimidate you. Our country cannot solve the great issues facing us without the active involvement of millions of us who love God’s Word and love America. JDFI will resist the misguided efforts of the ‘religious Left.’ We will continue to work with pastors to educate and mobilize their congregations to be informed, responsible Christian citizens.”
Insight from Adrian Rogers
“God does not endorse he-women or she-men!” ~ Adrian Rogers ~ In fact, in God’s Word He has inspired specific instructions for men and specific instructions for women. 1 Corinthians 16:13 is one example: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (ESV)
Can You Imagine?
In our church worship songs, we sometimes sing songs directly to God Himself in praise. What if God sang to us? Would it be something like this?
“I own the cattle on a thousand hills,
I write the music for the whippoorwills.
I control the planets with their rocks and rills.
I gave you the freedom to use your own wills.”
Now let’s take a fresh and refreshing look at what the inspired Word of Almighty God actually says to us. First an Old Testament passage: “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV) Can you imagine the King of the universe actually rejoicing over you with gladness; quieting you with His love; rejoicing over you with singing? “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:33-36; “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” 1 John 3:1-3 (ESV) If you want to sing a response to God, how about these verses from the Song of Moses: “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him… Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:2, 11?
The Problem with Propaganda
The problem with propaganda is that it is a lie dressed up as truth! I believe that it was Hitler’s czar of propaganda, Goebbels, who originated the saying: “Tell a lie big enough and often enough, and most people will believe it!” Here are examples of prominent propaganda lies: First, when we boil evolutionism down to its basic ideas, it is obvious lies!
- The universe created itself! (Impossible! To create itself it would have to exist before it existed to create itself.)
- Life came from non-life (cold, dead chemicals). Also impossible! Louis Pasteur did many scientific experiments that demonstrated that life comes only from life – during the same period of time that Charles Darwin’s myth of evolutionism “by means of natural selection” was gaining popularity with people who were looking for an excuse not to be answerable to Almighty God. When the Sixth Edition of The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was published, Darwin himself admitted his “theory” didn’t work and renounced it in print.
- “Man is the measure of all things” – and has the right and privilege to choose their own gender. Therefore, if a girl wants to become a boy, she can. School counselors should be able to help her transition without interference from nosy parents (and likewise if a boy wants to be a girl). This is impossible nonsense (that promotes the agenda of destroying population growth). The truth of the Word of God is found in Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (ESV) The scientific facts of biology are that every human being is male or female down to every cell in the body.
How do we recognize propaganda? Propaganda denies obvious truth, defies logic, and seizes government power to control dissenters.
The Anvil of God’s Word
Last eve I paused beside the blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then looking in, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”
And so, I thought, “The Anvil of God’s Word
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The Anvil is unharmed, the hammers gone.”
~ John Clifford ~
From Our Mailbox
“Dear Rick & Della, Happy Spring! I am so glad to see flowers and blooming trees again. And also warmer weather. I hope you are both doing well, and that the winter wasn’t too bad for you. I’m doing pretty well health wise. Just the normal things that come with age. But – I am so thankful that there is nothing serious, as I turned 89 in March. I am really blessed. I still appreciate so much your newsletters. I don’t know if I thanked you, Rick, but I really enjoyed the one that had the ballads. The Ballad of Sandra Joy (my middle name is also Joy), Della Lu, and of course Trin-Tin-Tin. I still read them every once in a while. I also really enjoy your pages, Della. Keep them coming. Your friend in Christ, Gwen (Eichel)”
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“May 1, 2024 – Dear Rick and Della, thank you so much for your gift! I am very excited to share big news from Ukraine: we have registered our very first charity foundation there! Our national Director, Volodymyr Kavkosvsky, assumed the Director’s position of the foundation. Our foundation ‘Because I Believe’ will now be able to operate in partnerships with local organizations and physical persons to acquire provisions, materials, first aid items to provide faster relief to the people on the ground. Also, it will protect our staff and volunteers as they minister in quickly changing legal landscape of a country at war. Please pray for Volodymyr as he leads the foundation and organizes teams of volunteers to minister to hundreds of people in Kherson and Zhytomyr regions.
Our ministry in Ukraine is growing in other areas as well. In the southwest corner of Ukraine, Chernivtsi region, our team started reaching out to the displaced people in neighboring villages. They visited 45 new people in one village and brought them food packets. Upon meeting them, our workers realized that these Ukrainians have not received any aid since they first moved there, and desperately need food, clothes and some other basic items! We quickly adjusted our budget to include these new people. However, when our volunteers came for a second visit, they saw that number doubled! Close to 100 new displaced people flocked to the meeting place to greet our team!
The Lord is opening more and more doors for us in Ukraine. As the war turns more brutal and devastating every year, the people become more open to the Good News. When their lives are so volatile and every safety measure has been stripped away, they realize that only God can protect and provide for them. Thank you for being a part of our global team to bring hope and healing to the hurt and desperate Ukrainians!” Natasha Reimer (Director of Mulberry International)
Note: Natasha included this personal note after the print message: “Wow! Praise the Lord for this blessing! I just got a request for firewood right before getting this check! God is good!”
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“Hi Rick, thank you so much for sending this. It is amazing to see the work that is being done by Mulberry International, but heartbreaking at the same time. I can’t begin to imagine what the people of Ukraine are enduring! How do they continue each day with so little food and provisions? Goodness, how spoiled we are here in the United States! We will continue to pray for the entire war situation. Only God knows how and when this senseless conflict will end. Thank you, again. June (Kirk)”
Potent Quotes from Jerry Dake’s Letters
“I don’t know much, but three things I do: There is a God, His word is true. Stay close to Him, He’ll see you through.” ~ Anonymous “Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people; a heart that forgives the worst; a mind that forgets the bad; and a soul that never loses faith in God.” ~ Anonymous “Complaining and being gracious is like bending over and standing up at the same time. It is impossible.” ~ Shannon Perry. I think we need to stick to being gracious if we want to follow God’s word which says, ‘Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.’ Philippians 2:14, 15. God bless! Keep shining like stars for Jesus! Love you! Jerry (Dake)”
Prayer Requests
- The Kharkiv region of Ukraine is now under heavy attack. Please pray for protection and boldness for all the Christians there, and for continuing spiritual awakening.
- Please pray for all our co-workers.
- Please pray for God’s clear and continuing guidance for us and our Overseas Outreach mission.
Della’s Page
This month I want to share with you the latest update we received from Stephen Y. about the situation in Ukraine. It brought tears to my eyes as I read about the young soldiers in their caskets. Please join us in prayer for the families of these soldiers, as well as all who are there trying to help in these horrific circumstances.
“Greetings in Him and His peace.
I speak about peace because of the escalating war in Ukraine and Israel.
In Ukraine they have lifted all restrictions for drafting men into the army…everyone must be ready to serve.
In the little city of Mala Vyska, there is now a steady return of young soldiers in their caskets being sent home for burial. Our manager of the Ministry Center, Inna, shared with me that many of the young men returning are recent graduates from her school…she said, “It is painful to see.”
This past week the skies throughout Ukraine have been darkened by a large number of rockets and bomb ladened drones. She mentioned that they are flying non-stop over Mala Vyska, but none have dropped on the little city.
She said, “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
I’m attaching a few pictures of the Ukraine refugee families here in Blackduck, MN. and the ‘greet and meet’ gathering we had last Sunday. It was a special time of fellowship for everyone.
The Humanitarian Container arrived two weeks ago, and we are working on distribution…the focus is to use as much of the supplies to help/promote summer camp programs for children.
