Here are several more photos from Natan and Sandi’s recent anniversary trip to western Mexico.
The famous arch of Cabo San Lucas
Riding camels in Mexico. Imagine that!
Natan grew up on a farm with many types of animals. He still has a soft place in his heart for our furry earthly coinhabitants.
In Baja California Sur, one finds the largest species of cactus on earth—the cardon or elephant cactus that can grow over 60 feet tall and more than three feet in diameter. Natan, a tree lover, exulted at hanging out briefly with these exotic, ancient giants.
Sunrises and sunsets at sea are incredibly inspiring. Natan and Sandi would rather spend their time relishing the brush strokes of heaven’s 3-D artistic masterpieces than just about any other activity a cruise ship has to offer.
On several occasions, Natan rose early in the morning to greet the sunrise with praise to and worship of our Father in heaven. Sunrise at sea makes you feel so minuscule and YHVH so awesomely great that it’s difficult to explain.
Enjoying the beach walk at Puerto Vallarta. After a short while, the street vendors, like mosquitos looking for a meal, were plaguing us so badly that we fled back to the peaceful refuge of our ship’s stateroom cabin.
Another glorious sunset at sea, and another end to a day of life that YHVH Elohim has given to each of us his heavenly gift to his human children. Yah, help us to thankfully and profitably use each day for your glory and for the expansion of your heavenly kingdom. Amein.
President Donald J. Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House Sunday, March 25, 2018, returning home from his trip to New York. | (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are blasting the Democratic Party for its support of late-term abortion amid a national outcry over statements in support of a proposed Virginia late-term abortion bill.
“Democrats are becoming the Party of late-term abortion, high taxes, Open Borders and Crime!” the president tweeted Thursday morning.
His words come on the heels of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, who in a WTOP radio interview Wednesday defended a proposed bill from state delegate Kathy Tran, also a Democrat, that would have allowed abortions to be performed until the moment of birth.
In video footage of a discussion among legislators that rocketed around the Internet earlier this week, Virginia House of Delegates majority leader Todd Gilbert, a Republican, asked Tran if a woman could ask for an abortion as she was going into labor, delivering a full-term baby. To the horror of many, Tran responded that such a request would be allowed under her bill.
“I thought it was terrible,” Trump said of Tran’s statements in an interview with the Daily Caller Wednesday.
“Do you remember when I said Hillary Clinton was willing to rip the baby out of the womb? That’s what it is, that’s what they’re doing, it’s terrible,” he added, referencing his words in the third presidential debate prior to the 2016 election.
Gilbert’s office said Wednesday that the bill will not move out of subcommittee and no action will be taken on it.
Responding to the fallout, Northam said that when speaking about third-trimester abortions, “these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physician — more than one physician, by the way — and it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus that’s non-viable.”
“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” the Virginia governor said. “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
Like the video of Tran’s admission that her legislation permitted abortion until moments before birth, Northam’s comments went viral as conservative and pro-life advocates accused him of promoting a form of infanticide.
“I have devoted my life to caring for children and any insinuation otherwise is shameful and disgusting,” Northam, who is trained as a pediatrician, saidWednesday, responding to the fallout.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring stated Wednesday that President Trump and Virginia Republicans were “trying to spread shameful lies” about Tran and the governor.
Pro-life legislators and advocates around the world were not moved, given the video tape of his comments and many were quoting him verbatim.
“What’s shameful is that you’re too cowardly to say point blank that it’s wrong to leave babies to die after birth,” said U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, in a statement Thursday.
“You could have said that yesterday. But because you’re terrified of an extremist pro-abortion lobby that now defends even infanticide, you’re still ducking.”
Pro-life senators Marco Rubio, R-Florida, Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, all decried the Virginia bill.
Nigerian pro-life activist Obianuju Ekeocha, author of Target Africa and founder of Culture of Life Africa, did not withhold her disgust.
“Everyone that voted for this man @GovernorVA should wear sackcloth and remorsefully cover their heads in ashes, they should weep for putting power into the hands of a man that defends infanticide,” she said Wednesday, tweeting his radio interview.
In a Thursday National Review opinion piece, Vice President Pence weighed in, noting that the proposed Virginia bill follows similar legislation that was signed into law in New York, something that was celebrated with cheers in the state Senate chamber in Albany and illuminated pink lights atop One World Trade Center in New York City and other landmarks.
“[A]t the base of the same One World Trade Center that was bathed in pink last week to mark the passage of New York’s law, is the September 11th memorial,” Pence noted Thursday. “There, the names of all who died in the horrific terrorist attacks 18 years ago are etched in stone — including the eleven unborn children we lost along with their expectant mothers.”
“This shameless embrace of a culture of death is startling to every American who cherishes life. Not too long ago, the Democratic party’s stated position was that abortion should be ‘safe, legal, and rare.’ It was this widespread rejection of late-term abortion that led a large bipartisan majority in Congress to pass the partial-birth-abortion ban in 2003. But now look at how far the Democratic party has fallen.”
The pushback to the Virginia bill led one Democratic lawmaker to withdraw her support for it, saying she had not read the proposed legislation’s content closely enough.
“Had I researched each line of removed language, I would have seen that, and known that there was more research to be done. None of this changes that I believe women must have safe legal options for abortion; but I also would have seen the utility of language that provides guidelines for how to ensure this,” wrote state delegate Dawn Adams, a Democrat who represents a suburban district outside Richmond, in a letter to her constituents Wednesday.
“I made a mistake, and all I know to do is to admit it, tell the truth, and let the chips fall where they may.”
Adams is a first-term delegate who won a close victory in 2017 and may face a competitive re-election campaign this year.
The mainstream media, however, framed the events as an unkind attack on Tran.
A Thursday headline in the Washington Post read: “Until this week, Del. Kathy Tran was known for nursing her daughter on the House floor. Now Republicans are calling her a baby killer.”
Tran deactivated her Twitter account soon after she was seen on tape talking about her bills allowance for abortions up until birth, but then reactivated it Thursday sayingthat misinformation had been spread, arguing that her bill does nothing to change the fact that women can request abortions under certain circumstances as long as medical doctors approve it.
The United States House Committee on Natural Resources voted on Wednesday, January 31, 2019, to keep the phrase “so help you God” in the oath. | Twitter/Jason Calvi
The Democrat-controlled House Natural Resources Committee will not remove “so help you God” from the oath taken, reversing course on a proposed rules draft that would have done so.
Fox News reported earlier this week on a draft of proposed rules for the Democrat-controlled committee that showed the phrase “so help you God” being deleted from the oath. However, on Wednesday both Democrat and Republican members of the House committee agreed to keep the phrase in the oath.
Democrat Representative Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey, a member of the committee, said in a statement that it would be “hurtful and harmful” for the committee “to go out of our way to take it out.”
However, Democrat Representative Jared Huffman of California argued against the inclusion of God in the oath, saying that it violated the separation of church and state.
“All of these trappings of religion and God in these oaths certainly have not kept an awful lot of people from lying under oath,” stated Rep. Huffman, as reported by EWTN.
Headed by Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the Committee on Natural Resources seeks to help preserve the environment and defend the rights of indigenous populations.
When news broke about the proposed removal of God from the oath, many, including Representative Liz Cheney of Wisconsin, a Republican committee member, denounced it.
“They really have become the party of Karl Marx,” said Rep. Cheney to Fox News. “It is incredible, but not surprising, that the Democrats would try to remove God from committee proceedings in one of their first acts in the majority.”
In his “Washington Update” on Wednesday, Family Research President Tony Perkins referred to the oath controversy as proof that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other elected Democrats have a “God problem.”
“In a nation whose motto is ‘In God We Trust,’ it is a sad commentary on the mindset of House Democratic leadership that removing God would even be considered,” stated Perkins.
“Although the House committee has reversed course, I believe it’s important that Speaker Pelosi be put on notice that as Americans, we want and need the presence of God in our government.”
Many federal oaths reference God. However, the oath of office for the president of the United States does not include the phrase; instead, figures taking the oath have added it by tradition.
What more proof does anyone need that many of America’s political leaders are God-hating moral and spiritual degenerates? Increasingly, godless America, unless it repents, is like a you know what swirling around in a giant spiritual toilet bowl that is about to be flushed.
If this and other similar actions of the Democrat Party don’t offend you, then what’s wrong with you? And if you have a problem with my posting this article and spotlighting the moral repugnancy of these political leaders who are leading America down to hell, then you’re spiritually and morally sick too! Don’t bother to post your complaints here against me; trust me, they won’t see the light of day. Change the channel; my blog is not for you!
On this blog, we take no political sides. We’re on the side of truth and righteousness as defined by the Bible regardless of one’s race, political party, gender or any other manmade delineations. We give credit to anyone who stands for truth and righteousness regardless of their political affiliation, and when their words and actions disagree with the Bible, then we will criticize them as well and hold them accountable according to the Word of Elohim who will eventually bring the whole world into judgment (Rev 19:11–16).
Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert says that Trump’s decision to reopen the government without funding for a wall is part of his negotiation strategy.
A key committee in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is moving to eliminate the God reference from the oath administered to witnesses testifying before the panel, as part of a new rules package expected to be approved this week, according to a draft obtained exclusively by Fox News.
The draft shows that the House Committee on Natural Resources would ask witnesses to recite only, “Do you solemnly swear or affirm, under penalty of law, that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
The rules proposal places the words “so help you God” in red brackets, indicating they are slated to be cut. The words “under penalty of law” are in red text, indicating that Democrats propose to add that phrasing to the oath.
The draft rules also remove the phrase “his or her” throughout the document, changing those two pronouns to “their.” The rules additionally modify all references to the committee’s “Chairman” to instead refer only to the committee’s “Chair.”
Other rules changes relate to expanding the committee’s authority over natural gas in Alaska and fossil-fuel resources.
While many federal oaths include the phrase “so help me God,” some — most notably the presidential oath of office — do not.
The full committee is set to vote on the new language this week, and the rules would take effect immediately if adopted. Other committees were still in the process of finalizing their rules on Monday.
Republican leaders reacted with dismay to the proposed change, and suggested it was a sign of the Democratic Party’s leftward shift.
“It is incredible, but not surprising, that the Democrats would try to remove God from committee proceedings in one of their first acts in the majority,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., told Fox News. “They really have become the party of Karl Marx.”
Spokespeople for the Natural Resources Committee did not immediately reply to Fox News’ requests for comment. The committee, which has oversight of national parks, wildlife and energy, is chaired by Democratic Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva.
The proposed change was not the first time Democrats have sought to strike references to God in official party documents. In 2012, the floor of the Democratic National Convention erupted over a sudden move to restore to the platform a reference to God and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — after heavy criticism from Republicans for initially omitting them. Democrats, though, were hardly in agreement over the reversal.
A large and loud group of delegates shouted “no” as the convention chairman (then-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa) called for the vote. Villaraigosa had to call for the vote three times before ruling that the “ayes” had it. Many in the crowd booed after he determined the language would be restored.
Hard-left Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is facing backlash and accusations of homophobia after repeating baseless allegations pushed by MSNBC and liberal activists that South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is being blackmailed into supporting President Trump. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The battle marked the biggest platform fight in either party’s convention, and signaled Democrats were worried the prior language could have been politically damaging in a tight election year.
A senior campaign official told Fox News at the time that then-President Barack Obama personally intervened to change the language in both cases. On the God reference, the official said the president’s response was, “Why did it change in the first place?”
The House panel’s proposed change comes as far-left progressive Democratic freshman in Congress, including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Ilhan Omar, have come under fire from Republicans for pushing what they call radical and unfounded religious-based attacks.
Omar, for example, wrote in 2012 that “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” Tlaib was accused of engaging in an anti-Semitic slur earlier this month by suggesting Republican politicians were truly loyal to Israel, not the United States.
Omar and Tlaib made history by becoming the first-ever Muslim women in Congress.
Sandi and I just returned from a cruise to the west coast of Mexico in celebration of our 28th anniversary. Now it’s time to get back to work. YHVH granted us safe passage, despite some jet plane mechanical problems coming and going.
I will start posting articles again and open the comments section.
Today, my boys and I have a very large tree to remove, and I will be up in the tree for hours taking it apart piece by piece. A lot of rope work on this one. I’m getting to the age where someone else needs to do the climbing, but until I find someone with my skill level to take my spot, I still have to do most of the high tree climbing.
Here are a couple of pictures from Mexico. We still haven’t transferred most of the photos to our laptops yet.
Sunrises and sunsets at sea are incredible! Sunrises are definitely worth rising early for. As for sunsets, Sandi and I would spend hours watching them as they changed minute by minute—a kaleidoscope of colors. This is why we always get a balcony stateroom when we cruise, so we can watch the ever-changing, never boring movie screen of YHVH’s creation in front of, below and above us. We find savoring the natural wonders of nature much more thrilling and entertaining than the shows, music and party life on the ship, which, quite frankly, bore us. Some folks may think we’re weird, for this, but I don’t care. We’re wired differently than most people. On several mornings, I arose early to find an unoccupied deck on the ship where with the wind in my face, I’d sing and pray to Elohim as I welcomed the morning sun rising. I couldn’t help think about Mal 4:2; Ps 84:11; 2 Cor 4:6; John 8:12; 3:18–20; Rev 1:16.
Giant cacti in southern Baja California. Being a tree lover, these plants fascinated me. Had never seen any before.
Lady Gaga the wild brown pelican has learned to land on excursion boats and to take fish from tourists’ hands. Amazing fun. Maybe I’ll show you some video of this later.
A quiet paradise-like cove south of Puerto Vallarta.
I will not be posting any blog articles for the next week, since I will be on vacation celebrating our anniversary with my wife of nearly 28 years. Also, the comments section on this blog will be disabled while we are gone, since I won’t be able to manage it. No internet.
This will be a great time for you to catch up on your back reading. You can simply scroll down through the blog to read any posts that you may have missed. You can also use the search engine on the main page and type in your favorite biblical subject that you want to learn more about. See what comes up and go from there. Also, read the comments after each article for additional insights and discussions.
This is what Natan does when he’s not writing for and managing this blog. Check out his Good News Tree Service website at www.goodnewstree.com.
Today Good News Tree Service, Inc. welcomed a new member of our family—a Stihl MS880 chainsaw. This is the biggest saw that Stihl makes and has a five foot bar and stands at about seven feet tall. In Nathan’s left hand is the smallest chainsaw that Stihl makes. Can’t wait to bury this new big boy saw into a log!
