Pastor Greg Laurie on The Importance of Thanksgiving

Posted on November 27, 2019 by Publius Jr

Published November 27, 2019

Greg Laurie: Why Thanksgiving beats Black Friday and Halloween in importance – and is apart from Christmas

By Pastor Greg Laurie | Fox News

Thanksgiving is almost here.

It’s one of my favorite times of the year, yet sadly, this distinctly American holiday has really been played down in our nation of late. Doesn’t it seem we go straight from Halloween to Christmas now?

Perhaps one reason we may not see the focus on Thanksgiving as much as we used to is that it can’t be monetized as the other year-end holidays.

Starting with Halloween, Americans spend nearly $9 billion on costumes and candy, and then on Black Friday after Thanksgiving and into Christmas a staggering $730 billion.

But I think there is a different and more significant reason: we either don’t want or know how to give thanks.

As a nation, we have drifted from God. Fewer Americans believe in Jesus Christ and the Bible than before, and that is especially true of younger people. Millennials today seem more drawn to socialism than faith of any kind.

Perhaps we have forgotten just how unique America is and why we have an official holiday called Thanksgiving in the first place.

It may come as a surprise to some to know that our nation was born out of a spiritual awakening, something that could not be said of any other country on the face of the earth.

Our spiritual founding father was a man named George — not George Washington, as important as he was, but a man named George Whitfield.

Whitfield was a British evangelist who proclaimed the gospel to those living in the colonies shortly before we officially became a nation. By the time his ministry was completed, 80% of the colonists heard him in person. Thousands and thousands believed, and a spiritual awakening broke out across what would soon become America.

As my friend radio host and author Eric Metaxas points out in his excellent book, “If You Can Keep It,” it was in the soil of this virtue and morality, which came as a result of people putting their faith in Jesus Christ, that the seeds of liberty could be planted.

That is why President George Washington established this holiday we call Thanksgiving in 1789 by a proclamation that said,

“Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Can you imagine both the Congress and the Senate setting a day aside urging us to pray and give thanks to God in our current political climate?

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln took it a step further as he called for a national day of humiliation, fasting and prayer. In a proclamation issued in 1863, Lincoln called our divided union to remember God:

“We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”

If that was true in 1863, how much more is it true in 2019?

Yes, we as a nation have forgotten God. But He has not forgotten us.

That is why we should be thankful this Thanksgiving. It’s a day to remind us of God’s faithfulness to us.

The fact is, Thanksgiving is far more important than Halloween or Black Friday, and it stands apart from even Christmas in that it is a day where we are asked to do something: give thanks.

Do you have anything to give thanks for today? I bet you can find a few reasons to be thankful:

You can start with your very life, which is a gift from God.

The breath you are drawing is certainly something to be thankful for.

You can also thank God for your family.

You can give thanks to God if you have a roof over your head and food in your stomach.

You can thank God if you live in the United States and you have freedom and liberty to live a meaningful and purposeful life.

The Bible says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).

Yes, sometimes life is bad, but God is always good. And if you have put your faith in Him you can know that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

So, in this holiday season, let’s not rush by Thanksgiving too quickly. Slow down and pause from the pressure of shopping and just give thanks to God, for He is good.

Greg Laurie is an author, evangelist, pastor and founder of the Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and Harvest Crusades. He is a bestselling author of several books, his latest is “Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Hero”

This post was copied and pasted from a post by Fox News on November 27, 2019, the day before Thanksgiving 2019. The links were turned off, and the ads were deleted. Pastor Greg Laurie’s thoughts are unique but felt by many in this country, this is why it is being reposted. ~~ Publius Jr

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Isn’t it Time to Drop the Race Question on Job Applications?

Posted on November 10, 2019 by Publius Jr

“White” is not a race, but rather a skin color whereas the other descriptions are nationalities. Why does ones nationality so important for a job?

So I, Publius Jr, have been looking for a paying job, this unpaid job I’ve been doing as the admin and writer of this website requires me to have a paying job. I’ve filled out countless applications for private and government jobs. The part about Race in the demographics section when applying for the job seems wrong somehow.

Why does an employer need to know my skin color or race? Does my skin pigment contribute to my overall job performance? Are they hiring only so many blacks, whites? Why that sounds like a quota system!

Does my skin pigment contribute to my overall job performance?

As for the question of Race, I don’t believe in it. The concept of Race is a man-made idea that splits the population into a caste system where a select few get to benefit from the work and misery of others. It is a dated system that unraveled when it met the industrial revolution.

How do I know it is man-made? It is because you never read about the skin colors or “race” of the people in the Bible.  You only read about the different nationalities and tribes encountered in the Bible. The concept popped up at the start of the African Slave Trade to the Americas. Why our country still supports this concept is a good question to answer.  Perhaps it is because it gives some people a reason to blame for not getting hired or why they were fired from a job, or getting arrested, or stopped on the street by police officers.

Legislators made a big deal about “Banning the Box.”  The box was a check box on applications for potential employees to check if they had committed a felony and now they are seeking employment long after they served time in prison for it.  Eventually employers find out about an employee’s criminal history in a background check.

Equally I think the Race Question on Job Applications ought to be banned as well.  Other demographic questions seem reasonable such as gender, though I can see some people who suffer from Gender Confusion Syndrome might object to it.

A step towards that color blind society Rev Martin Luther King Jr dreamed about starts with employers dropping the Race Question from Job Applications.

Until this demographic question is banned, I refuse to answer it if I can.

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MN Attorney General Keith Ellison Wants to Have California Style Gun Control Laws

Posted on August 7, 2019 by Publius Jr

Prior to this last weekend’s mass shootings in places where guns are banned, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a “friend of the court” brief to help the state of California uphold their ban on rifle and pistol magazines that contain over 10 rounds.

Keith Ellison wants this sort of ban on magazine capacity to become law in Minnesota.  This would affect hunters and those who have a handgun for protection of their family, property, and themselves.  Many semi-automatic pistols have double stack magazines that can hold up to 15 or more bullets depending on the caliber of the bullet.  Larger caliber bullets like the .40 or .45 will usually be in smaller single stack magazines

Brian Strawser the Chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, a non-partisan group, sent out the letter below urging people to help stop MN Attorney General Keith Ellison from doing a similar California Ban here in Minnesota.  There are links you may follow if you want using your free will.  ~~ Publius Jr.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals calling for the court to uphold California’s absolute ban on rifle and pistol magazines that hold more than ten rounds and permit states to pass other unspecified gun control measures – claiming that such measures do not infringe upon the Second Amendment.

If this law is upheld, Californians will have to turn in or destroy magazines that hold more than ten rounds.

Keith Ellison is arguing that Minnesota should be able to do the same!

You can read the amicus curiae brief at this link. The case is Duncan v. Becerra.

This could be a dangerous precedent if the court agrees with Keith Ellison – allowing states and other government bodies to pass extreme gun control laws – and have them upheld by the courts.

TELL MN ATTORNEY GENERAL KEITH ELLISON TO REMOVE MINNESOTA FROM THIS AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF

We need to POUR ON THE PRESSURE TODAY in order to get Ellison to REMOVE MINNESOTA from this ridiculous brief.

Visit our Action Center TODAY!

Yours in Liberty,

Bryan Strawser
Chair

 
You can also keep up with Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus on Twitter or Facebook.

MN Gun Owners Caucus is not associated with this site in any way.  We did get permission from Brian Strawser to post the letter.  The content is not altered, but the bold font and colors to the links were added for emphasis.  ~~ Publius Jr.

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Colonel Robert LeBrun an Immigrant Success Story 25 years in the Making

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Publius Jr

    “Colonel” Robert LeBrun works as a lobby manager at the KFC in Roseville MN came to this country on June 14, 1994.

Robert LeBrun, aka Colonel Robert at the Roseville Minnesota Kentucky Fried Chicken is celebrating 25 years today of being in America

Robert LeBrun came to America from Haiti on June 14, 1994 as a legal immigrant.  He came to the United States at the age 28, married with one son he tells in his thick Haitian-French accent that he became a naturalized US Citizen in 2004.

On his uniform on his nameplate it makes a note of his 18 years as a lobby manager at the KFC in Roseville.  If you do the math you’ll realize he was working there when he became a US and Minnesota Citizen officially.

Colonel Robert likes to talk about the better life he has made for himself here in Minnesota especially about his daughter.

If Colonel Robert looks familiar, his picture appears on billboards in the Eastern Metro area advertising mainly the $7.98 Buffet + Soda offer

At the NE corner of Snelling & University avenues.

Colonel Robert is a success story about the kind of immigration all Natural Born Americans can look up to as we have a predecessor who legally immigrated here from somewhere else, to include those ancient migrating ancestors to the American Indians.

We celebrate Colonel Robert’s 25 yrs here today

 

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University of Northwestern in Roseville MN Bans Star Parker from Speaking at a YAF Event

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Publius Jr

Star Parker advocates with Black Conservative Pastors around the country to help people.

If the Twin Cities of St Paul and Minneapolis needs anything, it needs an Urban Cure for what ails them.  Decades of Democrat rule has fostered neglect and poverty.  Instead of opportunity and freedom it fosters dependence on government programs.  So it is quite bewildering to ban someone who used to be on government welfare programs and overcame poverty to be a champion for freedom and opportunity.

Star Parker the head of Center for Urban Renewal and Education was invited by the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at the University of Northwestern – St Paul (Roseville MN) and now the school has blocked her from visiting the campus event.  Here is the UNW Official Statement link from the school.  UNW is a Christian University and they say Star Parker has visited the campus before to give her testimony but the YAF didn’t follow the proper protocol.

Oddly this University is the same one that was led by Rev Billy Graham from 1947 to 1952 before he went into full time evangelism.  Rev Graham also started up the college’s non-profit Christian Radio Station KTIS in 1949.

Here is the article from Black Community News from March 7th 2019, which the content is unaltered.

Did This Christian University Ban Pro-Lifer Star Parker From Speaking on Campus?

BCN Editor March 7, 2019

The Young America’s Foundation (YAF) reported that the University of Northwestern, a Christian institution in Minnesota, didn’t want Star Parker, founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, to speak at a campus event.

The school’s YAF chapter president, Hayley Tschetter, asked the school’s administrators what was going on.

Tschetter requested details from UNW administrators, and on February 20, they responded via email, saying their “main concern is that it is an open event.”

Apparently “it would be different if you were having a speaker just come speak to your club. Speakers open to all UNW students would have more strictness” explained the email before turning to ad hominem attacks on Star Parker’s character:

“There were quite a few concerns about Star. Our staff has been very adamant about bringing speakers to campus who educate and expand worldviews, but we really don’t bring speakers who radically hold beliefs that UNW as a whole would not agree with,” states the email. “In the past UNW has stayed away from sensationalized speakers. I foresee us continuing to do this. After reviewing some of Star’s material online we didn’t feel she was a good fit for our community.”

They called Star Parker, a pro-lifer who believes in what makes America great — capitalism, Christianity, and the Constitution —  “sensationalized” and not a “good fit” to speak at a Christian institution.

“I accepted UNW YAF’s gracious invitation to defend life and traditional Christian principles,” Star said in a statement. “Abortion has devastated the black community and is the moral crisis of our time. Christian universities are precisely where this urgent discussion should be happening.”

The school offered this explanation on its Facebook page:

The University has prayerfully considered how to best address the concerns over Ms. Parker’s appearance on campus. First, student clubs are not permitted to host community-wide, externally-focused events, and any outside speaker to campus must be approved by the University prior to the invitation. Unfortunately, the event was marketed to the public before a signed contract was in place, which makes the University look like it “uninvited” Ms. Parker. The University procedures were simply not followed.

We have a history of welcoming healthy dialogue from various viewpoints, but within an atmosphere that allows the University to guide the process and event. We passionately agree with Ms. Parker’s strong pro-life stance.

This is an unfortunate situation, and we are grieved that it has caused concern and confusion for our students and our broader community.

So which is it — was Star barred from speaking because YAF didn’t follow procedure or because she was “not fit”?

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The Women in White at the 2019 State of the Union Address

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Rev. CJ Conner

It was a sign of resistance to everything Trump, a sign of feminist solidarity, and a sign of single-hearted commitment to refashioning America into a socialist state.  Most of the Democrat women present at Trump’s 2019 address to the nation, perhaps all, were dressed in white.  The image was striking and the symbolism confusing.

These are Democrats, after all, and you would imagine this gaggle of mother geese would be wearing all blue.  The color white was meant to project moral superiority, holiness, and righteousness in their cause.  At least one woman wore a blue clerical stole— typically an ornately decorated knee-length piece of thick woven cloth that hangs around the neck of a pastor over his robe.  Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar wore a striking blue partial hijab tucked into her white collar.  Nancy Pelosi joined them from behind the President as she sat next to Vice President Mike Pence, quietly staking out an opposing claim as the true representatives of God.

For two months now Pelosi has floated little rhetoric balloons and tried out various kinds of messaging as she struggled to take a foothold or place a stiletto boot across the neck of the presidency.  For weeks she has come back again and again to a feeble proclamation of morality, the moral high road, and moral superiority.  The wall is immoral, she says.  The government shutdown is immoral.  Withdrawing from the missile treaty with Russia is immoral.  The President is immoral.  Deporting illegal aliens is immoral.

Nancy has been beating the morality drum faster than Elizabeth Warren can rain dance.

Pelosi wants the country to know that them boots are made for walking, but the long planned symbolism of the democrat women’s caucus dressing in white— the color of the #metoo movement, incidentally— betrays the truth about the Democrat agenda for America.

After all, these women aren’t the first to wear white.  Abortion Doctors wear white.  The last two weeks the nation watched in horror as Democrat women and their beta-male co-conspirators began implementing a national strategy for infanticide.  Governor Northam in Virginia calmly explained that an unwanted child who was accidentally born could be resuscitated if the woman liked, until she and a doctor could discuss how to kill her.

White is the color of the Klansman Uniform.  It was particularly striking to see eugenicist women Democrats wear the color of the KKK.  Margaret Sanger, the real mother of infanticide, worried that some uppity blacks might catch on that her mission as the founder of Planned Parenthood was to wipe out the black race and “other undesirables.”  Never-mind that the KKK was the militaristic arm of the Democrat Party much the same as Antifa or Black Lives Matter are today.

And of course we can’t forget how Governor Northam’s yearbook photo, a man nicknamed “coonman,” solidly placed his white uniform and pointed hood in it’s rightful context of abortion.

All good Christians these folks are, or at least they want you to think so.

Most perplexing, however, is their particular hatred for White Men— especially conservative straight white men of power.

CNN praised Alexandra Ocasio Cortez for “Threatening White Men.”

Ilhan Omar lauded herself as “America’s hope and the president’s nightmare” while pushing leniency for jihadi recruiters in Minnesota and speaking out against “white privilege,” “the white man’s burden,” and a smiling high school student— white Catholic student no less— Nick Sandmann.

Mazie Hirono, a voice in the midst of the biggest smear campaign in U.S. History against a Supreme Court Justice Nominee, put her boot not just on the neck of the presidency but of all men when she said, “I just want to say to all the men in this country— shut up and step up!”  Her impassioned plea for men to stand with her in the violent persecution of Justice Kavanaugh was, at the end of the day, completely without merit.  Kavanaugh might be a bit of a conservative, but no evidence was ever found to support Hirono’s claims that he was also a white rapist.

The most perplexing thing about the Democrat Women’s Caucus wearing the color white:  The women said they were representing the suffragettes, that the color of women’s suffrage was white.

They claimed to be celebrating one of the most historic developments in women’s rights and civil rights in the whole world.

They were celebrating the time that Republicans won the right of women to vote in the face of fierce and bloody Democrat opposition.

These women won’t wear white often though as they carry on their proud Democrat tradition into a communist future.  Two things are almost impossible to get out of a white garment: Red Wine and Blood.  These ladies plan to have plenty of both on their hands.

That is, unless President Trump has anything to say about it.

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Billy Graham a Great American Christian Evangelist

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Publius Jr

In the years since we started up this practice of writing about Christians in American History for the month of December, it’s odd we never wrote about Billy Graham who has some ties to the Twin Cities (founded KTIS radio station while as the President of University of Northwestern in Roseville MN).  Now it being close to a year after his passing at the age of 99 years we are posting this.

There are too many stories to cover, so we visited the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website and copied and pasted the biography below.  Here is the original from the Biographies Page.  If you would like to know more about this Great Ambassador for Christ feel free to check out their website and also the Decision Magazine.  ~~ Publius Jr.

 

William (Billy) F. Graham, Jr.
Evangelist and Chairman of the Board

Evangelist Billy Graham took Christ literally when He said in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

Mr. Graham preached the Gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history—nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories—through various meetings, including Mission World and Global Mission. Hundreds of millions more have been reached through television, video, film, and webcasts.

Beginning with the 1949 Los Angeles Crusade, which vaulted Mr. Graham into the public eye, he led hundreds of thousands of individuals to make personal decisions to live for Christ, the main thrust of his decades-long ministry.

Born November 7, 1918, four days before the Armistice ended World War I, Mr. Graham was reared on a dairy farm in Charlotte, N.C. Growing up during the Depression, he learned the value of hard work on the family farm, but he also found time to spend many hours in the hayloft reading books on a wide variety of subjects.

In the fall of 1934, at age 15, Mr. Graham made a personal commitment to Christ through the ministry of Mordecai Ham, a traveling evangelist, who visited Charlotte for a series of revival meetings.

Ordained in 1939 by Peniel Baptist Church in Palatka, Fla. (a church in the Southern Baptist Convention), Mr. Graham received a solid foundation in the Scriptures at Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida). In 1943 he graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois and married fellow student Ruth McCue Bell, daughter of a missionary surgeon, who spent the first 17 years of her life in China.

After graduating from college, Mr. Graham pastored The Village Church of Western Springs (now Western Springs Baptist Church) in Western Springs, Ill., before joining Youth for Christ, an organization founded for ministry to youth and servicemen during World War II. He preached throughout the United States and in Europe in the immediate post war era, emerging as a rising young evangelist.

The Los Angeles Crusade in 1949 launched Mr. Graham into international prominence. Scheduled for three weeks, the meetings were extended to more than eight weeks, with overflow crowds filling a tent erected downtown each night.

Many of his subsequent early Crusades were similarly extended, including one in London that lasted 12 weeks, and a New York City Crusade in Madison Square Garden in 1957 that ran nightly for 16 weeks.

Today, Mr. Graham’s ministry is known around the globe. He preached in remote African villages and in the heart of New York City, and those to whom he ministered have ranged from heads of state to the simple living bushmen of Australia and the wandering tribes of Africa and the Middle East. Beginning in 1977, Mr. Graham was given the opportunity to conduct preaching missions in virtually every country of the former Eastern bloc, including the former Soviet Union.

In 2013, Mr. Graham had the vision for proclaiming the Gospel across the United States and Canada, prompting the implementation of My Hope with Billy Graham, a grassroots evangelism outreach combining personal relationships with the power of modern media. Based upon a pioneering outreach that had already resulted in millions of decisions for Christ around the world since 2002, churches and individual Christians across the two countries were encouraged and equipped to pray and reach out to friends, family and neighbors using a powerful new film from BGEA. Approaching 95 years of age, Mr. Graham recorded a new video message, called “The Cross,” for the project, which was made available for use in homes and churches as a tool for sharing the Gospel.

Mr. Graham founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) in 1950, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., until relocating to Charlotte, N.C., in 2003. Through BGEA’s ministry, Mr. Graham started:

  • the weekly “Hour of Decision” radio program, which was heard around the world for more than 60 years;
  • television programs that are still broadcast today on national Christian networks.
  • a syndicated newspaper column, “My Answer,” which is carried by newspapers both nationally and internationally; and
  • “Decision” magazine, the official publication of the Association, which has a circulation of more than 425,000, making it one of the most widely circulated religious periodicals in the world;

Mr. Graham wrote 33 books, many which became top sellers. His autobiography “Just As I Am,” published in 1997, achieved a “triple crown,” appearing simultaneously on the three top best-seller lists in one week. In it, Mr. Graham reflected on his life, and decades of ministry around the world. From humble beginnings as the son of a dairy farmer in North Carolina, he shared how his unwavering faith in Christ formed and shaped his career.

Mr. Graham’s most recent works included “Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity, and Our Life Beyond” (2015), “The Reason for My Hope: Salvation” (2013), “The Heaven Answer Book” (2012), “Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well” (2011) and “Storm Warning” (2010). “Nearing Home” was selected as the 2012 Christian Book of the Year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Of his other books, “Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (1983) was listed for several weeks on The New York Times best seller list; “How to Be Born Again” (1977) had the largest first printing in publishing history at the time with 800,000 copies; “Angels: God’s Secret Agents” (1975) sold one million copies within 90 days; and “The Jesus Generation” (1971) sold 200,000 copies in the first two weeks.

Mr. Graham’s counsel was sought by presidents, and his appeal in both the secular and religious arenas is evidenced by the wide range of groups that have honored him, including numerous honorary doctorates from many institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

Recognitions include the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award (2000) for contributions to the cause of freedom; the Congressional Gold Medal (1996); the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion (1982); and the Big Brother Award for his work on behalf of the welfare of children (1966). In 1964 he received the Speaker of the Year Award and was cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations. He was recognized by the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith in 1969 and the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1971 for his efforts to foster a better understanding among all faiths. In December 2001 he was presented with an honorary knighthood, Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years.

Mr. Graham was listed by the Gallup organization as one of the “Ten Most Admired Men in the World” whom it described as the dominant figure in that poll since 1948—making an unparalleled 61st appearance and 55th consecutive appearance in 2017. He also appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Life, U.S. News and World Report, Parade and numerous other magazines and was the subject of many newspaper and magazine feature articles and books.

Mr. Graham lost his wife of nearly 64 years, Ruth Bell Graham, in June of 2007. Together they had three daughters, two sons, 19 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren. Mr. Graham lived in their home in the mountains of North Carolina until his death on Feb. 21, 2018.

Billy Graham Memorial Site

Biography

Born

William (Billy) F. Graham, Jr.
November 7, 1918
Charlotte, North Carolina

Died

February 21, 2018

Parents

William Franklin Graham, Sr. (deceased 1962) and Morrow Coffey Graham (deceased 1981)

Married

Ruth McCue Bell, 1943 (deceased 2007)

Children

Virginia, 1945
Anne Morrow, 1948
Ruth Bell, 1950
William Franklin, III, 1952
Nelson Edman, 1958

Grandchildren

19 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren

Residence

In the mountains of western North Carolina

Education

Graduated, Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida), 1940
B.A., Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, 1943

Vocation

  • 1939: Ordained to the ministry by Peniel Baptist Church, Palatka, Fla. (a church in the Southern Baptist Convention)
  • 1941: Pastor, The United Gospel Tabernacle, Wheaton, Illinois
  • 1943-45: Pastor, The Village Church of Western Springs (now Western Springs Baptist Church), Western Springs, Ill.
  • 1945-50: Charter Vice President, Youth for Christ International, Chicago, Ill.
  • 1947-52: President, Northwestern Schools, consisting of three institutions: a liberal arts college, Bible school and theological seminary
  • 1950 — : Founded Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Minneapolis, Minn.
  • 1950 — : Began weekly “Hour of Decision” radio program, which was heard around the world for more than 60 years

Published

  • 1947: Calling Youth to Christ
  • 1952: Author of syndicated newspaper column “My Answer” carried by newspapers across the country with a combined circulation of 5,000,000 readers
  • 1953: I Saw Your Sons at War
  • 1953: Peace With God — over 2 million copies sold in 38 languages, revised and expanded in 1984
  • 1955: Freedom from the Seven Deadly Sins
  • 1955: The Secret of Happiness
  • 1958: Billy Graham Talks to Teenagers
  • 1960: My Answer
  • 1960: Billy Graham Answers Your Questions
  • 1965: World Aflame — The New York Times and Time magazine Best-Seller Lists for several weeks
  • 1969: The Challenge
  • 1971: The Jesus Generation
  • 1975: Angels: God’s Secret Agents — Publishers Weekly & The New York Times Best-Seller Lists (21 weeks each); Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Platinum Book Award
  • 1977: How to Be Born Again
  • 1978: The Holy Spirit — ECPA Gold Book Award
  • 1981: Till Armageddon — ECPA Platinum Book Award
  • 1983: Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — The New York Times Best-Seller List; ECPA Gold Book Award
  • 1984: A Biblical Standard for Evangelists
  • 1986: Unto the Hills
  • 1987: Facing Death and the Life After — Christian Booksellers Association Best-Seller List (21 weeks)
  • 1988: Answers to Life’s Problems
  • 1991: Hope for the Troubled Heart
  • 1992: Storm Warning
  • 1997: Just As I Am
  • 2002: Hope for Each Day
  • 2003: The Key To Personal Peace
  • 2005: Living in God’s Love: The New York Crusade
  • 2006: The Journey
  • 2008: Wisdom For Each Day
  • 2010: Storm Warning
  • 2011: Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well
  • 2012: The Heaven Answer Book
  • 2013: The Reason for My Hope: Salvation
  • 2015: Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity and Our Life Beyond

Awards and Honors

The following is a partial list of the numerous awards received by Mr. Graham:

  • Ten Most Admired Men in the World from the Gallup Poll since 1948—a total of 61 times, including 55 consecutive as of 2017—more than any other individual in the world, placing him at the head of the overall list of those most admired by Americans for the past six decades
  • Clergyman of the Year from the National Pilgrim Society
  • Distinguished Service Medal of the Salvation Army
  • Who’s Who in America annually since 1954
  • Freedoms Foundation Distinguished Persons Award (numerous years)
  • Gold Medal Award, National Institute of Social Science, New York, 1957
  • Annual Gutenberg Award of the Chicago Bible Society, 1962
  • Gold Award of the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute, 1964, for contribution to race relations, presented by Senator Javits (NY)
  • Speaker of the Year Award, 1964
  • Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement, 1965
  • Horatio Alger Award, 1965
  • National Citizenship Award by the Military Chaplains Association of the U.S.A., 1965
  • Wisdom Award of Honor, 1965
  • Big Brother of the Year Award, at the White House, Washington, D.C.,1966, for contribution to the welfare of children
  • The Torch of Liberty Plaque by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, 1969
  • George Washington Honor Medal from Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, for his sermon The Violent Society, 1969
  • Honored by Morality in Media for “fostering the principles of truth, taste, inspiration and love in media,” 1969
  • International Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1971
  • Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Broadcasters, 1972
  • Franciscan International Award, 1972
  • Sylvanus Thayer Award from United States Military Academy Association of Graduates at West Point (The most prestigious award the United States Military Academy gives to a U.S. citizen), 1972
  • George Washington Medal Award for Patriotism from Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, 1974
  • Direct Selling Association’s Salesman of the Decade award, 1975
  • Philip Award from the Association of United Methodist Evangelists, 1976
  • First National Interreligious Award, American Jewish Committee, 1977
  • Distinguished Communications Medal, Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission, 1977
  • Jabotinsky Centennial Medal presented by The Jabotinsky Foundation, 1980
  • Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame award, 1981
  • Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion award, 1982
  • Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award,1983
  • National Religious Broadcasters Award of Merit, 1986
  • North Carolina Award in Public Service, 1986
  • Good Housekeeping Most Admired Men Poll, 1997, #1 for five years in a row and 16th time in top 10
  • Congressional Gold Medal, highest honor Congress can bestow on a private citizen, 1996
  • Inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame by the Gospel Music Association –the first non-musician to be inducted, 1999
  • Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award, for monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom, 2000
  • Honorary Knight Commander of the order of the British Empire (KBE) for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years, 2001
  • Charlotte Broadcast Hall of Fame, inaugural class, 2015
  • Many honorary degrees
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Mike “Bones” Hartzell Vietnam Vet & Rice St Resident Passes Away Memorial On Dec 11, 2018

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Publius Jr

Rice Street has lost its most famous Resident Mike Hartzell aka Bones.  We at SaintPaulRepublicans.us will miss Mike. Here is an article written by Fred Melo a reporter at St Paul Pioneer Press on December 3, 2018. ~~ Publius Jr

Mike “Bones” Hartzell, shown in a Jan. 1997 file photo, has been a familiar sight winter and summer along Rice Street from University Avenue to Maryland Avenue. Hartzell is known for his caravan of carts and wagons, including his heavily-loaded wheelbarrow. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

| fmelo@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press

In St. Paul’s North End, Mike Hartzell was known by another name, one that drew familiar nods and warm smiles from storefront to storefront. “Bones” called Rice Street home, and residents and business owners claimed him as their own.

When television and newspaper reports described him as homeless, some bristled.

“The writer missed the point,” said a reader, responding online after a Feb. 2017 news article about a state legislative proclamation recognizing Bones on his 70th birthday. “Bones isn’t homeless. Rice Street is Bones’ home!”

In Feb. 2017, two state lawmakers read a proclamation at Lonetti’s Lounge on Rice Street honoring Bones on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The celebration included a nacho bar, cake and ice cream.

The proclamation recognized “Bones as an upstanding citizen of St. Paul and icon on Rice Street.” It noted that Bones attended Washington High School and, after graduation, served in the U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam, a period that Rice Street locals say he never liked to talk about.

It went on to say: “After discharge, Bones became highly independent, caring for the North End neighborhood to the best of his ability … He is a steward of the community, cleaning up streets and sidewalks along Rice Street and caring for the health of abandoned pets.”

“He believes the world without walls is his home and has worked hard to keep the community safe … Bones became an iconic figure on Rice Street, and all stores in the area welcome him with respect.”

A Facebook page that was created a few years ago to track his exploits drew more than 11,000 followers, and a smattering of impromptu pictures of Bones on his bicycle. When his bicycle was stolen, the neighborhood sprang into action, scouring corners until it was returned to him.

Keith Skip Duffney, one of many Rice Streeters who considered Bones an unofficial extension of his own family, told the Facebook community on Nov. 20 that “Mike is still in hospital with pneumonia and a very weak heart. He is being stubborn about his care and he would like to go to VA hospital. We are trying to get him moved but that is not easy. We don’t really know what will happen here but praying for recovery.”

“I know Mike has been lucky to have all of you caring for him all these years,” he added.

On Sunday morning, as it became clear Bones had been transferred to hospice care, Jeremiah Welter posted, “I don’t know when things took such a turn for the worst? He seemed alright when we went and (saw) him in the hospital. He is very strong-willed and resilient though.” By Sunday night, Welter and others associated with Tin Cup’s Bar were fundraising for an engraved bench in Bones’ memory

Memorial Gathering on December 11th

A memorial gathering will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Dec. 11 at Bradshaw Funeral Home, 1078 Rice St. There will be a time of sharing at 3 p.m. and a prayer service at 4 p.m. A community gathering at the Klub Haus, 1079 Rice St., will follow.

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Ray’s Challenge

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Publius Jr

Shopping can be a pain especially when you don’t like to shop in the first place. Going to this shopping center, or that mall to buy a gift, for groceries, or to shop for something you need can be a real hassle. Parking is no fun in sub-freezing temperatures, the snow pack, the frozen slush can make hunting for that ultimate parking spot in the several acre parking lot a real deterrent. Ah, then you spot it two spots away from the handicapped parking spot you get a little closer and you wonder how it is possible no one has taken this providential parking spot. Then you find out why.

There’s a shopping cart in the spot. Argh!

The dreaded shopping carts hidden in a parking spot.

I, Publius Jr, have a friend from Wordsmiths Toastmasters Club of which I’ve belonged to since April 2, 2007. My friend’s name is Ray Wallin.  Ray is a painting contractor at A & W Painting and he has a hobby of photography, he likes to camp out in subzero weather, and he is a single father of two boys.  He is an active volunteer at Rondo Library. He has been named as “The Bard“–a title given to the audience favorite at the Annual Wordsmiths Toastmasters Poetry Contest I’ve organized since 2009, held on the 3rd Monday of April.

Ray has some unique observations. During Wordsmiths Toastmasters there is a portion of the meeting in which we practice impromptu speaking called Table Topics. The Table Topics leader will ask an unknown question to a person who doesn’t have a speaking role for the evening to answer and to explain your answer from 1-2 minutes. During a meeting a question was directed to Ray.

His reply was a challenge to those who were listening at the meeting. It went something like this:

“One of things I hate about shopping is when you go to park and you see a spot really close to the entrance of the store and you think you’re really lucky to spot it. When you get ready to turn into it you notice a shopping cart in it.  Argh!

So, what I’ve been doing is when I’m returning to my car, or as I’m walking into the store, or mall, I return those stray carts back to the cart corral or all the way back to the front of the store before I continue on my way.  It isn’t much more than a few minutes out of my day, but I have the feeling I’ve made someone’s day or helped someone without ever meeting that person.

So I challenge you to do the same.” — Ray Wallin’s Table Topics response.

We pick up Ray’s Challenge and pass it along to you to do. It’s not a karma thing, which we don’t believe in. It doesn’t even have to be about wrangling a shopping cart to a proper place, it can be just about anything that helps someone else out without being asked to do it.

If you’re on Twitter please post your completed task by saying what it is and the hashtag #RaysChallenge

It’s all about being a good neighbor and a good citizen.

Please fill this cart corral up and keep those stray carts from ruining other people’s day

We are posting this as a courtesy.  Ray is not affiliated with Saintpaulrepublicans.us, nor is his Painting Company.  This is one of those #BrightIdeas everyone can do no matter their political stripe.  We did get permission to use Ray’s full name and mention his Business.  Wordsmiths Toastmasters is always looking for new members so we added its link as well. We originally posted it on January 23, 2018, it applies to this shopping season and winter in general so we are reposting it. ~~ Publius Jr

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DAV MN Needs Volunteer Drivers to Bring Vets to VA Hospital

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Publius Jr

Ford Donated several Ford Flex to the DAV of MN for their program to drive area Veterans to the VA Hospital in Bloomington MN.

Every Tuesday & Thursday around noon time I get picked up by one of these Volunteer Driven Ford Flexes.  After my appointment I get a ride back, usually with another Vet who lives in the area.

On the way in and the way back I enjoy chatting with the driver.  Usually the driver is former military but not always and they are usually retired. [We’ve been meaning to do a comprehensive article about the things We’ve learned about the Disabled American Veterans as their free ride program is the tip of the iceberg of their services].

Last week I found out from Rick, one of the office guys at the DAV they are short of drivers so they have to cut back on the hours they can give rides to Vets.

So I asked him what I can do.  He gave me the number of the person in charge of organizing the Drivers.  He said if I find anyone who would like to volunteer they should call Trent 651-788-3186.

Those who are interested have to pass a physical and have a clean driving record. I’m told they get a lunch paid for.  The cafeteria and the coffee shop Patriot Brew are pretty good.

Most of the drivers I know do it on a part-time basis.

The VA Hospital is located at 1 Veterans Drive in Bloomington, a Minneapolis suburb at Ft Snelling, in Minnesota.

So if you’re interested call Trent at 651-788-3186.

Thanks ahead of time to those who volunteer.

This article was done by a subscriber to our site who is a Veteran and it is from their blog. They would like to remain anonymous.  The DAV ride service is available to all Veterans, one does not have to be disabled to use the service. —admin

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