Freedom to Chains – Paul Harvey

A message we all need to listen to…

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God Bless Paul Harvey. 

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The Potter Molds the Clay – Nations are formed and molded by God

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.  But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter?” declares the Lord.  Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.  

“At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.  

“Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.  

“So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you.

“Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds!”  

“But Israel will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ “

–  Jeremiah 18:1-12 (NASB)

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The lesson…

Not one nation in this world is any different than the nation of Israel back in the days when God spoke these words to His chosen prophet, Jeremiah. 

If God chooses to raise up a nation and bless that nation, He will.  If God chooses to bring calamity on a nation for their disobedience to His laws and statutes, He will.  It’s His prerogative.  If God acts, who can reverse it?

Whether it be a nation of power and influence like The United States of America, Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, China, Germany, Japan…or it be a nation small and insignificant; none of them are out of God’s view.  None of them are out of God’s range.  None of them are out of God’s judgement.  

A nation can climb the ladder of prosperity and fall to ruin just as quickly as it rose to power.  The final decision of whether or not a nation will exist or how powerful that nation will become is completely up to God.

“…for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” — Romans 13:1

Take, for example, the Roman Empire.  It started as a small town around 27 BC. — That’s correct, a small town.  However, God had other plans for this little town. 

Over the course of time God allowed the small town to become a great and mighty Empire, conquering nations and striking fear into the hearts of millions.  At it’s peak the rule of the Roman Empire stretched from Great Britain to South of Spain.  From the Atlantic Ocean to the Caspian Sea.  The whole Empire ruled over every nation that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea.

What’s more, God allowed the Roman Empire to create a barbaric method of execution known as: crucifixion.  The very method God used to bring about salvation to a sinful world through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.  

Consequently, when God was finished with the Roman Empire, He brought an end to their rule.  The once mighty Empire that was feared by every nation was made low once again.  

How is the United States of America any different?   

The USA began as small settlements created by various nations and spread over a vast area.  Over time France, Spain and Great Britain made claim to the land and resources across the North American continent that was known as “The New World”.  Each nation believing they had imperialistic rights to the claims they had made.  And yet….God had other plans.  The USA went from a land segregated from coast to coast to become a very large and powerful nation.  All happening in the short span of a couple hundred years.    

God’s ultimate purposes for the USA are yet to be determined, but I know for certain that His #1 reason for creating the USA was to spread the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ to every people, tribe, nation and tongue.  

However, as God spoke to Jeremiah in the passage quoted above . . . It’s up to God whether a nation rises or falls.  And that all depends on the obedience of the people that make up that nation. 

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“At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.  

“Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.  

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Therefore, if a nation of people turns from their disobedience to God’s commands and heeds God’s warnings…is God not justified by relenting the discipline that is promised?  Consequently, if a nation continually rejects God’s commandments and relishes disobedient rejection to God’s warnings, then is God not justified by exacting His discipline on the entire nation? 

God is and will always be the ultimate authority on the rise and fall of a nation.  Accordingly, the USA has not been obedient to God’s commands, nor have the members of His church.  Churches have refused to condemn sin.  Instead, they embrace it.  Lawless deeds of the heart have become all too common in the USA.  

Acceptance of homosexual behavior, adultery, fornication (for those of you who aren’t aware, fornication means:  having sex with people outside of marriage), acceptance of rampant abortion, stealing, looting, worshiping  idols, worshiping the human body, turning God’s house into a robber’s den, and the list goes on.  Because of these things God is justified in bringing discipline to the nation of the USA.  He’s justified in this because the people of the nation refuse to listen to or heed His repeated warnings that we should condemn these things, stop living this way and start living God’s way.

The warnings are there.  We as a nation need to stop our disobedience.  We need to stop sinning.

Sadly, the USA will not turn from the evil they continue to commit.  Instead, the nation will speak the words that Israel spoke reacting to God’s message through Jeremiah…

“It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.”

Thus, God is justified in bringing calamity on the USA because they reject His voice.  They reject His commandments.  They continue to do evil in His sight.

Whether you believe it or not… GOD is and will ALWAYS be the final authority.

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Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established,

it will not be moved;

He will judge the peoples with equity.” – Psalm 96:10 

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City’s New Closed Captioning Software to be More Inclusive

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If there is any silver lining in this COVID-19 environment, it’s the recognition of the importance of communication.  At a time when relaying information is vital to the success of fighting a crippling and deadly disease, it’s important that everybody is able to get information in a way they can understand.

However, getting information conveyed to everyone in our community hasn’t always been easy.  For one group, especially, it’s been a struggle because not every language has been translated into Closed Captioning.

That is . . . until now.

Today, in a 4 to 3 vote by the local city council of St. Elsewhere, Nebraska, a new era is dawning.  The council has approved funding for a new Closed Captioning software that will be more inclusive to all languages.

“We are delighted and so proud of our community leaders who have shown that they support every American by allowing us to be the first to fund this new software that will provide new and forward thinking communication across our great city,” said June Dive, Mayor of St. Elsewhere.  “We know that the spread of information is vital in combating the ongoing global pandemic, and being able to communicate with people of all languages is our number one goal.”

The new software will be installed at the St. Elsewhere communication building and should be running on closed captioning by the end of this month.  Technical officials have said that the new software will contain phrases such as, “Hey homie!”, “can ya dig?”,  and  “cut me no slack.”  to help deliver information to those who speak Jive.

“We want to make sure everybody is able to get the message; not just English speaking or people who have hearing problems,” the Mayor said, “Personally, it’s a sign of being treated with dignity and respect, and that people in the Jive speaking community are important.”

The service will cost $100,000 dollars for installation and have a running cost of $10,000 per month for maintenance and upkeep.  It’s a cost some city leaders didn’t think was necessary.

“I voted against this measure because I just don’t hear Jive Talkin’ as often as we did in the 1970’s, so the overall expenditure seems a bit high,” said councilwoman Eve Sanders.

Councilman, Jake Wallabee disagreed… “There are a lot of folks that are Jive Talkin’ in our community, and we felt we were undeserving them.  We wanted to make sure we were serving everyone in the community as well as we can.  That includes Jive talkin’ people.”

Some in the Jive Talkin’ community were also excited for the new Closed Captioning software.  Ditty Mac, a Jive Talkin’ Mo’fo’ said, “We is real.  Dis new gig be tha thang all bro’s be hearin’…Shiiiiiit.”

Officials say the captioning is really accurate, but they will have to teach it some current vocabulary and hope it translates well enough for everyone in the community to understand.

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