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Showing posts from June, 2014

Freedom of Religion

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As we approach the 238th birthday of the United States of America, it’s important for Americans to remind themselves why our Founding Fathers came to this land. One reason was to avoid persecution from the Church of England. Although originally settling in Holland, the Pilgrims desired an English-speaking nation where they could worship God without man-made laws imposed upon them. Just before making landfall in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims drafted a document called the Mayflower Compact. One of its provisions was to protect the rights of religious conscience. Nowadays God-fearing Americans are fighting for religious freedom again. Ever since prayer was removed from public schools over 50 years ago, our learning institutions have become more atheistic. One of the resulting by-products is business owners fighting for their right to make decisions based on Judeo-Christian principles. Earlier today, Hobby Lobby won a Supreme Court decision challenging an Obamacare mandate regarding bir...

Secret Salvations

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Last Tuesday night while evangelizing in a park, I approached two men and a woman who all claimed to be Christians. But when I asked them to say “Jesus is my Lord”, none of them would do that. The woman replied, “My relationship with God is personal.” I then pointed out Jesus said He won’t confess us before the Father if we won’t confess Him before men (Matthew 10:32-33). After ministering to the three for a few more minutes, they all prayed to get born again. There are examples in the Bible of people being afraid of professing faith in Jesus. His brothers didn’t speak openly of Him “...for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13) as well as the parents of a blind man healed by Jesus. These parents insisted their son speak for himself “..,for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.” (John 9:22) Following the crucifixion, a secret disciple named Joseph of Arimathea who also feared the Jews asked for Pilate’s permission...

My Prayer for Casey

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At the time of this writing, a well-known radio personality who had a big influence on my life is in poor health and may pass away soon. 82-year-old Casey Kasem is best known for hosting “A merican Top 40” plus voicing various cartoon characters. In recent years, Kasem has suffered from a form of dementia similar to Parkinson's Disease that has left him barely able to talk. Casey’s radio show was one of the things that inspired me to become a DJ. It also got me through difficult times during my childhood. Growing up in Moorhead, Minnesota, I first listened to “American Top 40” with my family on our way home from spending weekends at the lake. In January 1978, I started writing down the Top 40 every Sunday plus recording snippets of Casey’s show with my Panasonic tape recorder. My mother got annoyed because I listened to Casey’s commentaries more than the actual songs. Eventually, I made weekly trips to music stores that subscribed to Billboard magazine whose record charts AT...