May 26

UVALDE, WILL WE EVER GET THE MESSAGE?

While we mourn the innocent lives lost at the hands of an evildoer in Uvalde Texas, I’m still hearing the cries of concerned Americans, and political opportunists, calling for answers to this murderous epidemic we have seen since Columbine in 1999. For the first time, however, I heard a political leader address the issue head-on when Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said on several TV shows that we must return to God. He referenced 2 Chronicles 7:14 which is the formula for national healing and revival. We must return to God.

I remember when I attended elementary school in Brooklyn, New York, the problems we dealt with were things like chewing gum and running in the hall. Today we’re talking about violence, drugs and even mass murder. How far we have fallen!

What else can we expect when we have taken God out of the classroom, along with such principles as “Thou shalt not murder.” Our children are brought up to believe that there is no God, that they are just a product of evolution with no particular meaning or purpose. We are raising a nihilistic generation, and yet the primary driving emotional need for males is a sense of significance. So, if they can’t find that sense of significance, because they don’t know why they were created by the God, and in His image, they will look for that significance wherever they can find it, even if it means dying in the process. After all, if there is no heaven or hell to be concerned about what does it matter?

The root of the problem is spiritual at its very core. The secular psychologist deals only with the mind, but is incapable of addressing what controls the mind, and that is the very spirit of man. It’s pretty simple. In the absence of God who is love, the mind is occupied with hatred and envy stirred up by demonic forces.

It’s time to bring God back to our public schools, and to our public life. Leaders at every level of government must go back to the principles that have made us the greatest nation on the face of the earth, remembering what Abraham Lincoln taught us, that, “those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

Yes, we have freedom of religion; that is not freedom from religion. Every nation and people will practice a religion either theistic or atheistic, but everyone believes in a highest authority even if it may be themselves. If we continue denying God His rightful place in the life of our nation we will surely sink into the depths of depravity and eventually experience the same end experienced by Sodom and Gomorrah as the historical record confirms.

We are “One Nation Under God.” To the degree that we return to the meaning of that motto, we will see healing and restoration. That must be our North Star, the rallying banner for all Americans to gather under, as we continue our journey to the “more perfect union.”

The question is, will we ever learn? For the benefit of our posterity and God’s glory, I pray we will.

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May 16

The Spiritual Forces Driving the SCOTUS Leak.

Why was it thinkable for someone on the U.S. Supreme Court staff to think it was okay to leak confidential information as the recent Alito draft, for the first time in the history of the Court? It’s actually pretty simple.

George Washington gave us the answer in his Farewell address intended to instruct Americans on the dangers that would present themselves challenging the continuance of the republic. He said,

“Let it simply be asked, where is the security for prosperity, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in the courts of justice?”

If the sense of religious obligation deserts the oath of office there would be no security. You see, for the first time in American history, in the struggle to manage competing factions and ideologies, one side has renounced the sovereignty of God. In the absence of God, the oath keeper becomes his own ultimate authority, and will make any oath in order to advance his own cause. The ends justifies the means. After all, they are the final authority, and whatever will advance their higher goal is certainly justified.

We, in this nation, have survived under one stable form of government, under one Constitution, longer than any other in world history, because even during such trials as our Civil War, both sides of the conflict had a general reverence for the God of the Bible, and despite their imperfect understanding, they were both restrained by their accountability to God as they understood Him.

Today’s Left has renounced the sovereignty of God, and has, by default, assumed the position of the highest authority. They have become their own god subscribing to the Humanist Manifesto that declares independence from God; man will save himself.

In all of American history we have never experienced a significant segment of our population challenge the importance of the general acknowledgement of God, and our allegiance to pursue a more perfect union in accordance with His rules of order and right.

The danger we face today is that the leftist mindset, being accountable to no higher authority, will assume for itself the power to judge right and wrong, good and bad, who lives and who dies. The left becomes the host for every diabolical power to continue the Luciferian struggle that commenced long ago to dethrone God.

The only solution is a reaffirmation of our national motto: “In God We Trust.” That must be our north star, our rallying standard around which we must all join to continue our pursuit of that more perfect union. A house divided cannot stand. We must reaffirm our unity as “One Nation UNDER God.”

We must learn from our history, and from those leaders who led us successfully through challenges such as Abraham Lincoln who told us,

“… it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God… and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

The fissure in our nation will only be healed by a return to God who alone can heal our national wounds and ensure peace and prosperity for our posterity.

Apr 11

Public Schools Sexualizing our Children. What’s a Parent to Do?

New Jersey public school second graders will be getting lessons related to gender identity this fall under state sex education guidelines that will take effect in September. According to Foxnews.com. one school district already distributed sample lesson plans indicating first graders could be taught they can have “boy parts” but “feel like” a girl. We’re talking about six and seven year olds.  If my pastor started talking to my seven year old daughter about her body parts I would have him arrested for sexual child abuse. What makes these educators think they have any right to sexualize my children according to their unnatural and immoral perverted standard? These woke curriculums are nothing less than an attempt to program our children to realize a Sodom and Gomorrah society here in America. They must be rejected by New Jersey parents. Furthermore, we must sound the alarm throughout the nation to be on the lookout for these insidious attempts to steal the innocence of our children. The psychological wellbeing of our children has already suffered, as indicated by the increase in suicides for gender confused children. This new pagan moral standard is literally, killing our children. Parents must exercise their authority to re-establish a standard of morality and decency that reflects natural law and the Judeo-Christian philosophy upon which our nation was founded, a philosophy generally shared by every western civilized society.

We must no longer simply go on the defense to put out these fires when they erupt like the proverbial “whack-a-mole,” but we must go on the offensive to positively reassert the truth of the motto “One Nation Under God.” This national motto suggests that a Biblical standard of morality is to be advanced in all our government institutions. Private schools may teach whatever they like, but public schools must serve the moral standards of the general public, that is still a Biblical worldview.

Someone’s particular moral standard will necessarily prevail in our public schools. That’s not the issue; the issue is whose standard of morality will it be, a pagan uncivilized standard or a Judeo-Christian standard that has produced more peace and prosperity than anywhere in the world.

Parents must go on the offensive to first examine their school’s curriculum, and if there is any attempt to indoctrinate children to a standard that rejects, or disrespects our Judeo-Christian standard, it must be challenged.

What’s the alternative? Take your child out of the government school system, and enroll them in a private school that will reflect your values. What we must not do is to surrender our children on the altar of wokeness, or we will see the same end that was visited on Sodom and Gomorrah. It is true: there is nothing new under the sun.

Feb 26

Should We Assist Ukraine?

SHOULD WE DEFEND UKRAINE?  TO WHAT EXTENT?

Rev. Bill Banuchi

Should we defend Ukraine?  To what extent? This question has been rolling around in my mind since Russia first amassed troops at the Ukrainian border, and now, with the actual invasion, and the devastation and suffering we see on TV every day, it cries out for an answer.  What does the Bible say? How should we apply it to the current crisis?

Let’s first establish some basic facts.

First, there is still evil in the world. Evolution apparently didn’t lead Vladimir Putin to a higher plane of morality and decency. Human nature has not, and does not change. That’s why Jesus told us that in the last days there would still be wars and rumors of wars. Putin is, in fact, the personification of evil. Jesus taught us that it is, in fact, Satan who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). That is exactly what Putin is doing. If evolution was a fact you would think that after thousands of years of human evolution man would have learned to live in peace and harmony with his neighbors. Unfortunately, such is not the case.

Secondly, the evil desire for world conquest still lurks in the hearts of demonized leaders who are the natural manifestation of Lucifer’s continuing rebellion against God. Could it be that an alliance of leaders like Putin, Xi Jinping of China, and perhaps the mullahs of Iran and Kim Jong-un of North Korea might be convinced to unite against the forces of liberty that represent a threat to their tyrannical control of people?

Liberty must be defended wherever it is threatened, or human nature will take its natural course to consolidate power. Freedom is not natural; it is supernatural, and can only thrive where people are willing to govern themselves. The natural state of humanity is authoritarian control. Survey world systems and you will see ample evidence of this truth.

The United States is not immune to conquest. Don’t think it can’t happen here. Ukrainians didn’t think it would happen to them. The Israelites didn’t think it would happen to them, but it did. The historical record reports that Babylonians conquered Israel about six hundred years before Christ, and the nation ceased to exist until 1948 when it experienced a rebirth. The Bible tells us that these things happened to be an example to us, to warn us to never become so complacent that we take our liberty for granted. Thomas Jefferson warned us that, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”.

So the question is, “Should we be helping Ukraine guard their liberty, and if so, to what extent?”

Perhaps we should resurrect the Truman Doctrine issued in 1947

On March 12, 1947, President Harry Truman went before Congress to request $400 million to help Greece and Turkey resist Communist-led rebels bent on overthrowing their governments. The president laid out a policy that became known as the Truman Doctrine – a pledge that the United States would help nations struggling to resist anti-democratic forces. Truman’s words still resonate, and are still important:

“At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one….

One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression.

The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.

I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. . . .

The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms.

If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world – and we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation.”

Yes, Truman was a Republican, but remember also what this Democrat President intended to say in this speech. Unfortunately, he was assassinated before he got a chance to deliver these words, but nevertheless, they still speak to us today. JFK said,

“We in this country, in this generation, are-by destiny rather than choice-the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint…, Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

So then, should we support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by authoritarian dictators? What does it mean to pay any price to assure the survival and the success of liberty?

Can it be that a threat to liberty anywhere is a threat to liberty everywhere? I believe so. In the same way our American Revolution spawned a series of revolutions throughout the western world, I believe it’s possible for such a trend to also work in the reverse. When tyranny finds success in the conquest of liberty it becomes emboldened, and the contagion emboldens other authoritarian tyrants to consider expanding their rule like a deadly cancer. Consider China and Taiwan.

What does the Bible say about that? Actually, it’s pretty clear:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”—Matthew 7:12

”You shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”—Luke 10:27

It is my firm belief that we must give ourselves to defending the cause of liberty, trusting the outcome to God who reigns above all and determines the destinies of nations. Obedience is ours; results are God’s.

 

 

 

Nov 08

IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES

Before I responded to the call to the ministry I was successfully developing a career in mechanical design and engineering. One might think that would be totally inconsistent with a calling based on faith. After all, isn’t faith the opposite of engineering and science?

What I’ve learned over the years is that my background in science and engineering has actually helped to bolster my faith. The more I study Biblical principles and see how science actually supports the Biblical narrative the more assured I am that “Thy Word is Truth.”

In the same way God’s Word is verified by experience, we have learned much practical lessons from our marriage counseling practice. We have learned that there are very few issues that can be categorized as irreconcilable differences. Most of even the most difficult issues can be resolved when both parties are committed to the common goal of seeking God’s will for their lives. There has been one issue, however, that has truly been a real irreconcilable difference. That is when one is a believer and the other is not. Unless the unbeliever chooses to genuinely pursue a spiritual transformation, the two individuals see the world through different lenses and have different frames of reference.  Even the words they use mean different things. They pursue different goals. They are a house divided, and Jesus taught us plainly that a house divided cannot stand, (Mark 3:25).

Throughout our history America has overcome times of trial and difficult challenges that would have destroyed any other country. The fact that we have been under one Constitution for more than 230 years is an anomaly in the history of the world. The reason we have overcome all these challenges that would have destroyed any other nation is because despite our differences, the general population has been committed to the common proposition that we are “One Nation Under God.”

Even during the horrendous Civil War, and the years of instability following, both sides were committed to the God of the Bible and were guided by their imperfect understanding of His will for a nation. There was a common standard of honor, of good and of evil. There was a recognition of restraint and respect for one another created in the image of God that superseded political divisions.

For the first time in the history of our nation this is no longer true. For the first time an entire segment of our population does not recognize the God of the Bible as the ultimate authority. They have replaced God with their own sense of right and wrong. They have, in fact, taken the place of God and their opinions have replaced the truth of the Bible.

For the first time in American history our differences are projections of two different worldviews. The “Left” rejects the idea of a sovereign God to whom we must all be accountable. The “Right” still believes there is an authority higher than man, and a fixed law stated in the Bible.

This cleavage, unfortunately, will prove to be one of those irreconcilable differences that will prevent the restoration of national unity and may very well cause a tear in our nation never before seen, even since our very founding.  We may never again be “One Nation Under God.”

There can be only one of two ends to our American story.

If the “Left” prevails, we will see a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah where people will be driven by their carnal impulses. As the Scriptures warn us, good will be called evil and evil called good. As Lincoln warned us in his address to the Young Men’s Lyceum in 1838, we will die by national suicide.

If the “right” prevails it will only be because the remnant of Spirit-filled Christians have gotten on their   knees to fulfill the formula for revival God gave us in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

That will only happen when Christian leaders take their rightful place at the head of the columns to lead the Church in an appeal to Heaven until we see the manifest glory of God tearing down demonic strongholds, and transforming hearts and renewing minds.

This is not speculation; it is certainly no mystery. We have the historical record of Israel to illustrate what happens to a nation when it rejects the sovereign rule of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We have no excuse. Unlike Israel, we have history to be our teacher. We have no excuse. How foolish, and ignorant it would be to know history and repeat it anyway.

One of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, warned us when he said,

“It is the duty nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proved by all of history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

If we are to avoid the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah it will be up to the Church to rise up out of its complacency to lead the way back to God.

Judgment begins in the house of God, and that begins with the clergy. The clergy must rise up out of their comfort zones and begin leading their people to engage the culture to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It’s no longer acceptable to be the salt in the church and the light in the prayer closet. The Kingdom of God must forcefully advance, rather than passively submitting (Matthew 11:12).

The future of America and the stewardship of liberty is in the hands of the Church. If the Church does not rise up there will be a national divorce. What exactly that will look like, I dare not anticipate, but as has been said, “There’s no such thing as a good divorce.”

We don’t have the power to make things change; God has the power. But God doesn’t have the choice to make the change; we have the choice. It’s a cooperative effort, our choice and God’s power.

Irreconcilable differences? It would take a miracle to overcome. We believe in miracles. With God all things are possible!

Jan 26

MIGHT MAKES RIGHT?

NEW GOVERNING PHILOSOPHY: ”MIGHT MAKES RIGHT”
Rev. Bill Banuchi

Since Joe Biden assumed the office of the presidency and the Democrats took a working majority in the Senate they wasted no time displaying their new governing philosophy: “Might Makes Right.”

One only has to look at the Democrats’ move to impeach Donald Trump and conduct a trial in the Senate even though it is unconstitutional on at least two clearly defined points: First, he is already out of office, and therefore the Senate has no jurisdiction over a civilian. Secondly, the Constitution explicitly calls for the Senate trial to be presided by the Chief Justice. Since Chief Justice Roberts has refused to preside over such a trial that should be the end of it. The Constitution does not provide for an alternate. But this Democrat Congress simply makes up its own rules and decides it will go through with a trial anyway. They will do it because they can. They have the power. After all, the Constitution is a “living document” and can mean whatever they determine it to mean. They have the power to define what the Constitution says about impeachment or anything else for that matter—might makes right!

This is the very essence of totalitarianism. No longer are we ruled by a fixed set of laws and principles. Laws and principles can now change to suit the desires of those in power, so that we are no longer a nation of laws but rather a nation of self-serving politicians. John Adams warned us about such a condition:

“…Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other…:

Our founders understood that a constitution is only a piece of paper if corrupt leaders choose to disregard it, or to twist its meaning to suit their agenda. If the Constitution can mean anything, then it will mean nothing.

We must replace these godless politicians with men and women who are humble enough to submit to the founding principles which have afforded us the greatest nation this world has ever seen. If we fail liberty will be but a blip in the annals of world history. Might does not make right, and every concerned citizen must do all he or she can to re-establish the rule of law and classic righteousness which alone can exalt a nation. We must pray like it all depends on God and work like it all depends on us to restore the supremacy of Constitutional principles and law. God have mercy on the United States of America if we don’t.