AMERICAN HUMILIATION: ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN TO BUILD A STATUE OF CAPTURED U.S. SAILORS

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN TO BUILD A STATUE OF CAPTURED U.S. SAILORS
BY ROBERT SPENCER
SEE: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/03/islamic-republic-of-iran-to-build-a-statue-of-captured-u-s-sailors; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes, from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/12197979/Iran-to-build-a-statue-of-captured-US-sailors.html

Peace in our time!

“Iran to build a statue of captured US sailors,” by Ahmed Vahdat, Telegraph, March 18, 2016:

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is planning to build a statue of the US sailors who were captured in Iranian waters earlier this year, a senior officer said.

The provocative proposal is likely to cause outrage in the US and be seized on by Republicans opposed to President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran.

Commander Ali Fadavi, the head of the Guard’s naval forces, said the monument of the surrendering Americans would be a “tourist attraction”.

“There are very many photographs of the major incident of arresting US Marines in the Persian Gulf in the media and we intend to build a symbol out of them inside one of our naval monuments,” he told Iran’s Defense Press news agency.

The capture of the 10 US sailors in January was hailed by hardliners in Tehran as a victory over the US and presented as proof that Iran was still resisting America despite the nuclear deal.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said the arrest of the sailors was “God’s deed” and presented medals to the Iranians involved….

 The sailors were held at gunpoint and paraded before the cameras but released after a day following phone calls between John Kerry, the US secretary of state, and Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign ministry.

While the Obama administration expressed outrage over the incident, officials said later that the sailors swift release was evidence that communication between the US and Iran was improving after years of estrangement.

But Republicans, including Donald Trump, lambasted the White House and accused President Barack Obama of weakness in the face of Iranian aggression.

"Those young people were on their hands and knees in a begging position with their hands up and thugs behind them with guns, and then we talk like it's OK. It's not OK. It's lack of respect,” Mr Trump said.

Iran’s hardliners are under pressure after the successful negotiation of the nuclear agreement and the victory of the relatively moderate allies of President Hassan Rouhani in last month’s elections.

The construction of the statue would fit with a pattern of provocative behavior intended to show the Guard are still a major player inside Iran.

Earlier this month the Guard test fired two ballistic missiles with the words “Israel must be wiped out” written on their sides in Hebrew. Joe Biden, the US vice president, was visiting Israel at the time of the launch.

The statue is likely to be built on Kharg, a small Iranian island in the Persian Gulf not far from where the sailors were captured.

The monument could feature as a stop for travelers on the Rahian-e-Nour, a semi-mandatory pro-regime pilgrimage that takes visitors to historical spots from the Iran-Iraq war and extols the virtues of the Iranian military.

Commander Fadavi is head of the Revolutionary Guard’s own naval force, which is separate from the main Iranian navy. As well as a military force, the Guard owns a vast economic empire inside Iran.

The Guard report directly to the Supreme Leader and not to the elected president.

HUNGARIAN PM ORBAN: "EUROPE IS NOT FREE. BECAUSE FREEDOM BEGINS WITH SPEAKING THE TRUTH"

HUNGARIAN PM ORBAN: 

"EUROPE IS NOT FREE. BECAUSE FREEDOM BEGINS WITH SPEAKING THE TRUTH" 

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/03/hungarian-pm-europe-is-not-free-because-freedom-begins-with-speaking-the-truth; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

This is a historic speech. Viktor Orban is a champion of freedom amid the enveloping darkness. “We must therefore drag the ancient virtue of courage out from under the silt of oblivion. First of all we must put steel in our spines.” Luminous and lapidary words shining like a spotlight out of the gloom.

Here is the complete translation of Victor Orban’s speech (via The Rebel):

The destiny of the Hungarians has become intertwined with that of Europe’s nations and has grown to be so much a part of the union that today not a single people — including the Hungarian people — can be free if Europe is not free.

And today Europe is as fragile, weak and sickly as “a flower being eaten away by a hidden worm.” Today, 168 years after the great Wars of Independence of the European peoples, Europe, our common home is not free!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Europe is not free. Because freedom begins with speaking the truth.

Today in Europe it is forbidden to speak the truth.

Even if it is made of silk, a muzzle is a muzzle.

It is forbidden to say that those arriving are not refugees, but that Europe is threatened by migration.

It is forbidden to say that tens of millions are ready to set out in our direction.

It is forbidden to say that immigration brings crime and terror to our countries.

It is forbidden to point out that the masses arriving from other civilizations endanger our way of life, our culture, our customs and our Christian traditions.

It is forbidden to point out that those who arrived earlier have already built up their own new, separate world for themselves, with its own laws and ideals, which is forcing apart the thousand-year-old structure of Europe.

It is forbidden to point out that this is not an accidental and unintentional chain of consequences, but a pre-planned and orchestrated operation; a mass of people directed towards us.

It is forbidden to say that in Brussels they are concocting schemes to transport foreigners here as quickly as possible and to settle them here among us.

It is forbidden to point out that the purpose of settling people here is to reshape the religious and cultural landscape of Europe, and to re-engineer its ethnic foundations — thereby eliminating the last barrier to internationalism: the nation-states.

It is forbidden to say that Brussels is now stealthily devouring more and more slices of our national sovereignty, and that in Brussels many are now making a plan for a United States of Europe — for which no one has ever given authorisation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,Today’s enemies of freedom are cut from a different cloth than the royal and imperial rulers of old, or those who ran the Soviet system; they use a different set of tools to force us into submission.

Today they do not imprison us, they do not transport us to concentration camps, and they do not send in tanks to occupy countries loyal to freedom.

Today the international media’s artillery bombardments, denunciations, threats and blackmail are enough — or rather, have been enough so far.

The peoples of Europe are slowly awakening, they are regrouping, and will soon regain ground.

Europe’s beams that rest on the suppression of truth are creaking and cracking.

The peoples of Europe may have finally understood that their future is at stake:

Now not only are their prosperity, cosy lives, jobs at stake, but our very security and the peaceful order of our lives are menaced as well.

At last, the peoples of Europe, who have been slumbering in abundance and prosperity, have understood that the principles of life that Europe has been built on are in mortal danger.

Europe is the community of Christian, free, and independent nations; equality of men and women; fair competition and solidarity; pride and humility; justice and mercy.

This time the danger is not attacking us the way wars and natural disasters do, suddenly pulling the rug from under our feet.

Mass migration is a slow stream of water persistently eroding the shores.

It is masquerading as a humanitarian cause, but its true nature is the occupation of territory.

And what is gaining territory for them is losing territory for us.

Flocks of obsessed human rights defenders feel the overwhelming urge to reprimand us and to make allegations against us.

Allegedly we are hostile xenophobes, but the truth is that the history of our nation is also one of inclusion. and the history of intertwining of cultures.

Those who have sought to come here as new family members, as allies, or as displaced persons fearing for their lives have been let in to make a new home for themselves.

But those who have come here with the intention of changing our country, shaping our nation in their own image, those who have come with violence and against our will — have always been met with resistance.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At first, they talk about only a few hundred, a thousand or two thousand relocated people.

But not a single responsible European leader would dare to swear under oath that this couple of thousand will not eventually increase to tens or hundreds of thousands.

If we want to halt this mass migration, first we must curb Brussels.

The main danger to Europe’s future does not come from those who want to come here, but from Brussels’ fanatical internationalism.

We should not allow Brussels to place itself above the law.

We shall not allow it to force upon us the bitter fruit of its cosmopolitan immigration policy.

We shall not import to Hungary crime, terrorism, homophobia and synagogue-burning anti-Semitism.

There shall be no urban districts beyond the reach of the law, there shall be no mass disorder.

No immigrant riots here, and there shall be no gangs hunting down our women and daughters.

We shall not allow others to tell us whom we can let into our home and country, whom we will live alongside, and with whom we will share our country.

We know how these things go. First we allow them to tell us whom we must take in, then they force us to serve foreigners in our own country.

In the end we find ourselves being told to pack up and leave our own land.

Therefore we reject the forced resettlement scheme, and we shall tolerate neither blackmail, nor threats.

The time has come to ring the warning bell. The time has come for opposition and resistance.

The time has come to gather allies to us. The time has come to raise the flag of proud nations.

The time has come to prevent the destruction of Europe, and to save the future of Europe.

To this end, regardless of party affiliation, we call on every citizen of Hungary to unite, and we call on every European nation to unite.

The leaders and citizens of Europe must no longer live in two separate worlds. We must restore the unity of Europe. We the peoples of Europe cannot be free individually if we are not free together.

If we unite our forces, we shall succeed; if we pull in different directions, we shall fail.

Together we are strength, disunited we are weakness. Either together, or not at all — today this is the law.

Hungarians, In 1848 it was written in the book of fate that nothing could be done against the Habsburg Empire. If we had then resigned ourselves to that outcome, our fate would have been sealed, and the German sea would have swallowed up the Hungarians.

In 1956 it was written in the book of fate that we were to remain an occupied and sovietized country, until patriotism was extinguished in the very last Hungarian.

If then we had resigned ourselves to that outcome, our fate would have been sealed, and the Soviet sea would have swallowed up the Hungarians.

Today it is written in the book of fate that hidden, faceless world powers will eliminate everything that is unique, autonomous, age-old and national.

They will blend cultures, religions and populations, until our many-faceted and proud Europe will finally become bloodless and docile.

And if we resign ourselves to this outcome, our fate will be sealed, and we will be swallowed up in the enormous belly of the United States of Europe.

The task which awaits the Hungarian people, the nations of Central Europe and the other European nations which have not yet lost all common sense is to defeat, rewrite and transform the fate intended for us.

We Hungarians and Poles know how to do this. We have been taught that one can only look danger in the face if one is brave enough.

We must therefore drag the ancient virtue of courage out from under the silt of oblivion.

First of all we must put steel in our spines, and we must answer clearly, with a voice loud enough to be heard far and wide, the foremost, the single most important question determining our fate:

The question upon which the future of Europe stands or falls is this:

“Shall we be slaves or men set free — That is the question, answer me!”

Go for it Hungary, go for it Hungarians!

TED CRUZ EQUATES OPPOSITION TO BIZARRE & DANGEROUS GMOs TO: ANTI-SCIENCE ZEALOTRY"

ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATE THROUGH & THROUGH

TED CRUZ EQUATES OPPOSITION TO BIZARRE & DANGEROUS GMOs TO: 

ANTI-SCIENCE ZEALOTRY" 

SEE: http://the-trumpet-online.com/ted-cruz-equates-opposition-to-bizarre-and-dangerous-gmos-to-anti-science-zealotry/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Sen. Ted Cruz said Saturday that the nation should push back against the “hysteria” over food made with genetically modified organisms, saying these innovations in science should be celebrated for the positive impact they’ve had both at home and abroad.

Speaking the Iowa Agricultural Summit, Mr. Cruz said he is sick of politicians “blowing smoke” in Washington and vowed that Iowans have no bigger ally then him when it comes to pushing back against the federal government.

Mr. Cruz said GMOs helped to provide food for people across the globe and strengthen farms across the nation. He said that people who oppose GMOs and want to buy organic food can do that.

“People who decide that is what they want, they can pay for it already, but we shouldn’t let anti-science zealotry shutdown the ability to produce low-cost quality food for billions across the globe,” Mr. Cruz said.

The freshman lawmaker and tea party was among a slate of candidates to sit down Saturday for a question and answer sessions at the first annual Iowa Agricultural Summit, which was put together by Bruce L. Rastetter, a GOP power broker who has made millions off the agricultural industry.

During a question and answer session, Mr. Cruz knocked the approach that the Obama administration and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took to international affairs, describing it as a foreign policy of “appeasement.” He said he is the biggest advocate of legal immigration in the Senate.

Defending his opposition to wind tax credits and renewable fuel mandates, Mr. Cruz said he will fight for limited government.

“When it comes to getting the federal government out of your lives, trying to stop the EPA, trying to stop OSHA, trying to stop federal regulators from descending on your farms and making it harder for you to produce, for you to do your jobs, you have no greater friend and ally then I am,” Mr. Cruz said. “I have every bit of faith that businesses can continue to compete, can continue to do well without having to go on bended knee to Washington, asking for subsidies, asking for special favors.

ENGINEERS THREATEN TO QUIT IF FBI FORCES GOVERNMENT'S OPERATING SYSTEM ON APPLE COMPUTERS, DEVICES

ENGINEERS THREATEN TO QUIT IF FBI FORCES GOVT. OS ON APPLE

Encryption is the frontline against the surveillance state

BY KURT NIMMO

SEE: http://www.infowars.com/engineers-threaten-to-quit-if-fbi-forces-govt-os-on-apple/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Engineers and programmers told The New York Times on Thursday they will give up their jobs if the government forces Apple to undermine encryption on its devices.

“If the government tries to compel testimony or action from these engineers, good luck with that,” a former Apple engineering manager told the newspaper.

Window Snyder, a former Apple senior product manager, said if the government “attempts to force them to work on something that’s outside their personal values, they can expect to find a position that’s a better fit somewhere else.”

Simply refusing to code the new operation system while employed at Apple would not be an option. If engineers did this, according to Joseph DeMarco, a former federal prosecutor, the government “would be much more likely to find Apple in contempt” and impose heavy fines.

The Times cites the case of Lavabit, an encrypted email service used by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. In 2013, the government issued a warrant demanding the company surrender private encryption keys allowing it to read Snowden’s email. After the company refused, a judge imposed a $10,000-a-day penalty. Instead of paying the penalty the company ceased operations.

FBI Does Not Need Keys to Read iPhones

The federal government has cited the All Writs Act from the 18th century to force Apple to unlock two phones linked to the alleged San Bernardino killers.

Following the attack Verizon provided the FBI with data from the phones allegedly used by Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, including calls, locations, SMS messages and internet data.

“The FBI probably knows everyone that Farook and Malik were in contact with. The FBI probably know everything of interest already. If there was a hint of any connection with a terrorist organisation they would have announced it already. They have, instead, been clear that there was nothing suggesting any such contact took place,” an information security researcher wrote in February.

According to former White House cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke the government has the ability to crack the passcode on Farook’s iPhone 5c.

Clarke said on March 14 he would have told FBI Director James Comey to “call Ft. Meade, and the NSA would have solved this problem… Every expert I know believes that NSA can crack this phone.” He said the government is not serious about gaining access to the phones, but “they just want the precedent.”

Encryption: the Frontline Against the Surveillance State

“The government is mostly concerned that someday down the line ubiquitous encryption will take hold—that is, strong encryption by default—that would be time consuming for the spooks to crack on an independent basis,” writes Lauren Weinstein. “The rise of ubiquitous encryption will over time likely be unstoppable.”

Following Obama’s call for government access to all devices during the South by Southwest festival in Austin last week, Infowars reported on the rise of encrypted apps.

A number of apps—Wire, Telegram, WhatsApp, TextSecure and others—provide end-to-end-encryption. The system allows only those engaged in communication to read messages and prevents others from gaining access to the cryptographic keys needed to decrypt conversations, including telecom providers, ISPs, the company operating the messaging service and the government.

BILLY GRAHAM'S GRANDSON TULLIAN TCHIVIDJIAN FIRED BY WILLOW CREEK AFTER CONFESSING TO ANOTHER AFFAIR~A MAN WHO DENIES GOD'S DISCIPLINE OR WRATH

WARNING: FALSE TEACHER PROMOTES LICENSE TO SIN

HABITUAL CHEAT FAILS AGAIN! 

HE JUST CAN'T HELP HIMSELF?

REPENTANCE FOR ONE AFFAIR, BUT ANOTHER COVERED UP; 

"GRACE FOR THE PROMISCUOUS"?

James 3:2-"For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body."

Galatians 3:3-"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"

2 Corinthians 7:1-"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

John 17:23-"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

Matthew 5:48-"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

1 John 5:18-"We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not."

Romans 6:1-7-"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

THIS TIME, IS IT "GLORIOUS" OR GRIEVOUS RUIN?

BILLY GRAHAM'S GRANDSON TULLIAN TCHIVIDJIAN FIRED BY WILLOW CREEK AFTER CONFESSING TO ANOTHER AFFAIR

BY HEATHER CLARK

SEE: http://christiannews.net/2016/03/18/billy-grahams-grandson-tullian-tchividjian-fired-by-willow-creek-after-confessing-another-affair/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — Just over six months after hiring him as the Director of Ministry Development following his resignation as lead pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church upon admission of an affair, Florida’s Willow Creek Church has fired Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of Billy Graham, as he has now confessed to a second inappropriate relationship.

As previously reported, Tchividjian, 43, the son of Virginia Graham, took over the pulpit of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in 2009 following the passing of founder D. James Kennedy. However, the selection divided the congregation, as some approved and others disapproved of his leadership. Several months after he accepted the job, Kennedy’s daughter and others began calling for his removal.

When a vote was taken over the matter and it was decided to keep Tchividjian as pastor, some left the church and started their own congregation.

As an author, Tchividjian wrote against what he saw as “spiritual performancism” and legalism in the Church, outlining his beliefs in the hyper-grace book “One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World.”

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ announces that because Jesus won for you, you’re free to lose; because Jesus was strong for you, you’re free to be weak; because Jesus was extraordinary, you’re free to be ordinary; because Jesus succeeded for you, you’re free to fail,” he wrote.

Tchividjian announced in June that he had resigned as senior pastor of Coral Ridge after admitting to leadership that he had inappropriately become close to another woman after he discovered that his wife had been having an affair.

“I resigned from my position at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church today due to ongoing marital issues,” he wrote in a statement. “As many of you know, I returned from a trip a few months back and discovered that my wife was having an affair. Heartbroken and devastated, I informed our church leadership and requested a sabbatical to focus exclusively on my marriage and family.”

“As her affair continued, we separated. Sadly and embarrassingly, I subsequently sought comfort in a friend and developed an inappropriate relationship myself,” Tchividjian continued. “Last week I was approached by our church leaders and they asked me about my own affair. I admitted to it and it was decided that the best course of action would be for me to resign.”

The former megachurch leader was then stripped of his ministerial credentials, and soon filed for divorce from his wife.

Less than two weeks after the filing, Willow Creek Presbyterian Church in Winter Springs announced that it had hired Tchividjian to serve as Director of Ministry Development. Some expressed concern over the timing of such a move.

“I understand that some might disagree with the timing. We sense genuine confession and contrition from Tullian, and are eager to welcome him to Willow Creek,” leader Kevin Labby said in defense of the decision. “We want to see the process of repentance continue in the context of a loving church family. We believe that it is important for the church to demonstrate faith in the reconciling power of the gospel by running toward those pastors caught in public scandal, not away from them.”

But on Thursday, Labby confirmed to reporters that the church has now fired Tchividjian as he confessed to another affair earlier this week. The affair reportedly had occurred before the last affair he confessed—and before he discovered that his wife was in a relationship with another man.

“When we heard the disclosures he made just a few days ago, the session acted within hours to end his employment at the church,” Labby told the Christian Post. “The disclosures that he made involved the fact that he had a previously unconfessed inappropriate relationship with another woman. He didn’t share specifics with us.”

“The feeling of the elders was that Tullian had a long period of time to share that with the church and for one reason or another he elected not to,” he said. “I can’t really comment on what motivated him to not come out with that, but one thing that led him to come out with the confession was the knowledge that there were rumors swirling in Florida where he was previously ministering.”

He outlined that while the elders of Willow Creek have terminated Tchividjian, “they have not distanced themselves from caring for Tullian and calling him to repentance.”

“The process of repentance is progressive and painful. It involves ongoing confession, not just of what’s going on in my life at the present but what’s happened in my life in the past,” Tchividjian said in a statement. “I am praying earnestly about what God would have me to do and remain wholeheartedly committed to the painful process of ongoing repentance that God began last summer. I am so sorry for how my sinful and selfish choices have hurt so many, especially my family. I kindly ask you to pray that God would bring real healing across the board.”

______________________________________________________

FAILURE TO ACKNOWLEDGE WEAKNESS
"There Are No Strong Christians" - Tullian Tchividjian

Published on Jul 24, 2014

Pastor Tullian says that the Christian life isn't a progression from weakness to strength. It's actually a progression from perceived strength to acknowledged weakness. www.liberate.org

SERMON: 

"Grace For The Promiscuous And The Pious"
by Tullian Tchividjian

DISGUSTING: JERRY FALWELL, JR. COMPARES DONALD TRUMP TO KING DAVID, TALKS ABOUT WATCHING ELTON JOHN TOGETHER ON PRIVATE JET

LOVING SINNERS & LOVING SIN TOO?

YES, WHEN YOU'RE "OF THE WORLD"

TWO APOSTATES SEE EYE TO EYE, EVEN WITH AN OPENLY GAY PERFORMER; PUBLICLY PUT STAMP OF APPROVAL ON GAY LIFESTYLE

CONFIRMS LIBERTY IS ONE OF THE MOST CORRUPT "CHRISTIAN" UNIVERSITIES, 

& NOT FUNDAMENTAL

THE BUDDING FRIENDSHIP BASED ON LOVE OF THE WORLD

TRUMP & FALWELL ADMIRE ELTON JOHN'S "TALENTS" ?

ELTON JOHN WITH GAY PARTNER, DAVID FURNISH, LESS THE KIDS

TRUMP WITH MICHAEL JACKSON ON PLANE

FALWELL'S UNBIBLICAL, LUDICROUS COMPARISON

JERRY FALWELL, JR. COMPARES DONALD TRUMP TO KING DAVID, TALKS ABOUT WATCHING ELTON JOHN TOGETHER ON PRIVATE JET

BY HEATHER CLARK

SEE: http://christiannews.net/2016/03/16/jerry-falwell-jr-compares-donald-trump-to-king-david-talks-about-watching-elton-john-together-on-private-jet/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

With presidential campaigning in full force, Jerry Falwell Jr., president of what heralds itself as the world’s largest Christian university, is defending and cozying up to the lead contender on the Republican ticket, recently recalling to the university newspaper how he and Trump watched an Elton John concert together on the billionaire’s private jet—a man whose sins he dismissed by comparison to God’s appointment of King David.

As previously reported, Falwell has repeatedly sought to assure the American people of the mud-slinging, foul-mouthed candidate’s Christianity, pointing to the candidate’s good deeds as being the “fruit” that Jesus spoke of that characterizes a man who is born again.

“I’ve seen his generosity to strangers, to his employees, his warm relationship with his children,” he said on CNN’s “Legal View With Ashleigh Banfield” last month. “I’m convinced he’s a Christian. I believe he has faith in Jesus Christ.”

“I’ve had conversations with him just within the past few weeks about his faith, and I have no doubts he is a man of faith and he’s a Christian,” Falwell also stated on Fox’s “Hannity.”

“Matthew 7:16 tells us that ‘By your fruits you shall know them.’ Donald Trump’s life has borne fruit,” he told students during Trump’s appearance at Liberty University in January. “Fruit that has provided jobs to multitudes of people, in addition to the many he has helped with his generosity.”

“In my opinion, Mr. Trump lives a life of loving and helping others as Jesus taught in the Great Commandment,” Falwell declared.

In a recent interview with the Liberty University newspaper, the Liberty Champion, Falwell explained his endorsement of Trump, and recalled the time he spent with the presidential candidate on the campaign trail in Iowa—including on his 757 jet, where the two watched an Elton John concert together.

“He’s got this big living room with this big screen TV. He’s got a master bedroom he showed us,” he remembered. “Then he let my son and his wife actually sit in the cockpit to take off because my son’s a pilot. Then we sat there with him the whole time, just across the table.”

“[W]e ate cheeseburgers. Then he put on a concert,” Falwell said. “He found out that when I grew up in the 70s, I was an Elton John fan. So, he put the concert on the big screen.”

As previously reported, Trump, who states that he personally believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, celebrated Elton John’s “marriage” to his same-sex partner in 2005.

“I know both of them and they get along wonderfully. It’s a marriage that’s going to work,” he wrote on his Trump University blog. “In any event, I’m very happy for them. If two people dig each other, they dig each other. Good luck, Elton. Good luck, David. Have a great life.”

In Falwell’s interview with the university newspaper, he asserted that Christians shouldn’t be concerned about a candidate’s sinful lifestyle as much as the need to “save the country.”

“Jesus said, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged. Let’s stop trying to choose the political leaders who we believe are the most godly because, in reality, only God knows people’s hearts. You and I don’t, and we are all sinners,” Falwell contended.

He acknowledged that some disagree with his endorsement of Trump.

“It is sad to see Christians attacking other Christians because they don’t support the same candidate or the candidate who they believe is the most righteous,” Falwell stated.

He pointed to King David in his reasoning, asserting that God still used him as a leader despite his sin.

“God called King David a man after God’s own heart even though he was an adulterer and a murderer,” Falwell said. “You have to choose the leader that would make the best king or president and not necessarily someone who would be a good pastor. We’re not voting for pastor-in-chief.”

In writing for the National Review on Monday, attorney David French found Falwell’s comparison to be faulty, noting that God punished David for his sin, and the nation suffered as a result.

“To mention King David in the same breath as Donald Trump is to insult our theological intelligence,” he stated. “Yes, David did terrible things—among them, committing adultery and sending his mistress’s husband to die in war—but God imposed terrible punishment—a punishment that cost David his son and ultimately plunged his nation into civil war.”

“And while God forgave David—as He forgives us today—He did not spare David from the cost of disobedience,” French continued. “Ultimately, David’s story is a story of both the awful consequences of sin and God’s mercy in response to true repentance.”

He said that the same will happen if America elects a leader living in open rebellion against God.

“Trump will bring us sin without repentance and consequence without the mercy,” French opined.

“Trump’s evangelical cheerleaders aren’t leading a flock—they’re following the mob,” he declared, expressing dismay at Falwell and others. “And as they follow the mob, they engage in ever-more bizarre theological and intellectual gymnastics to justify the unjustifiable.”

_______________________________________________________

FROM DAVID CLOUD'S "WAY OF LIFE": 

http://www.wayoflife.org/friday_church_news/17_12.php; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

JERRY FALWELL, JR. COMPARES TRUMP TO KING DAVID (Friday Church News Notes, March 25, 2016,www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Jerry Falwell, Jr., Chancellor of Southern Baptist-aligned Liberty University, likens U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump to King David. In an interview with the school newspaper, Liberty Champion, he said that he has been friends with Trump since his first visit to Liberty in 2012 and has joined Trump on the campaign trail. He speaks of Trump as a down-to-earth guy who served Falwell and his family Wendy’s cheeseburgers and personally set up a big screen Elton John concert for Jerry, Jr., after learning that he is a long-time Elton John fan. The latter tells us a lot about Jerry, Jr.’s spiritual life as well as Liberty University’s true soul, and it goes far to answer why Falwell would be so enthusiastic about Trump for president. To love Elton John’s music is to affiliate intimately with the evil things of the world and is gross disobedience to God’s Word. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11). “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). Falwell said, Trump “is the kind of guy that will walk into Washington, kick over the tables, kick over the chairs, throw the bums out, start over, and do things that a career politician would never do.” He said further, “God called King David a man after God's own heart even though he was an adulterer and a murderer. You have to choose the leader that would make the best king or president and not necessarily someone who would be a good pastor.” We would reply, first, that God called David a man after His own heart and called him to be king BEFORE his adultery and murder. Beyond that, while it is true that Trump will probably kick things around, and that is what his supporters want, since they are fed up with the status quo, this perspective does not take into account two fundamental issues: what will he kick? And how much power does a president have for kicking? Even the best president does not have the power to make substantive changes to the American government, let alone to America’s moral fiber. Such things would require overwhelming support from the American people, which does not exist on the good side, and an overwhelming majority in Congress, which is nowhere in sight. Substantial changes would require a massive dismantling of the incredibly bloated federal government and the welfare state. It would start with disbanding the Department of Education and putting education back into the hands of the families and communities. It would require impeaching hundreds of state and federal judges for ruling by fiat rather than according to the U.S. Constitution, for raising modern political correctness to the level of the Bill of Rights. It would require dramatic reduction of the power of vast bureaucracies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Homeland Security, and Occupational Health and Safety Administration. It would require the government to live within its means and not bankrupt future generations with a pile of debt so massive it can barely be conceived. Fundamentally, “winning American back” would require bringing the American people back to moral character and the fear of God. Can Donald Trump do any of that? Not a whit. I have never seen evidence that he aims to do any of that, even if he were dictator. A president is not a pastor, tis true, but a man lacking moral character will not make moral decisions nor promote national moral character. A man who vows “till death do us part” and breaks that holy covenant two times over has a serious moral problem. A man who signs his word on documents and then uses bankruptcy to back out of his financial obligations when things get sticky (which is legal but not moral), is a liar and a thief. Someone says, “But if not Trump, it will be Hillary.” That’s no choice at all, but though I might not have a choice at the ballet box, I am not left without a choice. I can pray to the One who has ultimate control over human affairs, and I can urge others to pray, and prayer is a powerful thing that has been known to change the course of nations. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).
NOAH WEBSTER’S WISDOM COMPARED TO THAT OF JERRY FALWELL, JR. (Friday Church News Notes, March 25, 2016, www.wayoflife.org,fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Noah Webster, author of the American Dictionary of the English Language of 1828, who knew many of America’s Founding Fathers personally and was one of the most influential voices calling for the Constitutional Convention and the creation of America’s federal government, believed that it is necessary to elect righteous men to positions of authority. “When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. ... When a citizen gives his suffrage [vote] to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor; he betrays the interest of his country” (Noah Webster, Letters to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education: to which is subjoined A Brief History of the United States, 1823).
REVIVAL COULD COME (Friday Church News Notes, March 25, 2016, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The America that exists today simply could not do what it did 70 years ago to save the world from oppression. What’s missing today? God’s blessing. This is the answer that secular libertarians and unregenerate political conservatives don’t understand. Though America was not a godly nation in the 1940s when measured by the perfect standards of God’s Word, she was a nation that loved Israel, and she was a nation filled with churches that were much more faithful to God’s Word than they are today, and she was a nation of people that were much more God-fearing than they are today. The unchurched generally believed in God and feared Him and respected the Bible and respected churches and pastors, which was the salty influence of God’s people. Even Hollywood was bound by a moral code. The military chaplaincy program was robust and nearly universally respected. What was true during the war in my mom’s Baptist church in Kathleen, Florida, was true across the land. The church was open every day, and every day people knelt before God and confessed their sins and begged His help. American’s victory in WWII was not a foregone conclusion. Had Hitler developed the atomic bomb first, he would doubtless have used it first on Russia and then on America, and it could have been America surrendering rather than the Axis Powers. 
    America’s root problems are spiritual, and the only real solution is spiritual. The only thing that will help America out of her terrible plight is a true revival, and there could be revival. Though the time on God’s prophetic calendar is late, there is no reason to believe that genuine revivals can no longer occur. But revival in America or Canada or England or other lands with anything like a biblical heritage will happen only on the basis of 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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). In context, this is a promise for Israel, but it has application to the church age. See Romans 15:4 and 1 Corinthians 10:11. 
    Nothing like a revival and lasting change will happen through Moral Majority programs or Tea Parties or Chick fil-A Days or Duck Dynasty support campaigns or bombastic, foul-mouthed Trump candidacies. As these have been tried repeatedly and enthusiastically over the past few decades, the moral depravity has only increased and the power of the forces for right and liberty has only decreased because these are carnal weapons that deal merely with symptoms and cannot affect the fundamental spiritual issues. These are band-aids on cancer. They can win minor socio-political skirmishes but not spiritual wars. Keeping Duck Dynasty on the air two years ago was not a sign of moral victory at a fundamental level; it was a sign of the power of the almighty dollar. At the very time that A&E was being pressured into keeping Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson on the air by an outpouring of support via social networking and “new media” sites, federal judges were ruling against biblical marriage in Utah and Ohio, and the Supreme Court ruled against biblical marriage laws in New Mexico. Which of these events will have the most far-reaching and lasting consequences? The heart of the tree is being eaten away even as the watchers are rejoicing at supposedly keeping a few leaves alive. 
  Revival could happen if individual Christians and individual churches repent before God at a deep level, repent of their adulterous love for this God-hating world, repent of their spiritual carelessness and lukewarmness, and beseech His help. 
    If even 100 Bible-believing churches took 2 Chronicles 7:14 seriously, who knows what would happen? If they started a weekly prayer meeting specifically for revival, specifically to beseech God’s help for the nation, if they called for fasting and prayer, and if the members of those churches would spend time seeking God’s face in a persistent manner, who knows how far the forces of evil could be driven back? God has never needed a majority. Gideon’s brave and vigilant few are enough. 
    The very fact that it is unlikely that even 100 Bible-believing churches will call for such prayer meetings, and that the majority of the members would not attend such meetings even if the pastors exhorted them to do so, is evidence that what I have often said is true about the root problem being the churches themselves. Even the best, for the most part, are lukewarm, settled down and comfortable in the world, not pilgrims but dwellers, mighty for pot luck and parties but weak for spiritual warfare.