So How's Your Fireworks Weekend Going?

I hope you'll have the best Fourth of July weekend of em all, with your loved ones close. Man, 250 years is a long time! 

Americans, don't you still feel so grateful to live in this unique Land? We indeed aren't better than those of other countries by any means and shouldn't be filled with pride like we somehow are, but we are so radically blessed! I never want to take that for granted. I always want to keep at it too, so that those who come after me can also know this kind of blessing here.

Q: Why have so many people tried to come to this nation (the USA) to live, to work, and to raise a family ..rather than to stay in their own country?

I think it's because of the foundation that was laid by our forefathers.

Have we no large issues to deal with here? Sure. Yeah, we certainly have got em after drifting away from God and the Bible, but grace and full cleansing via Christ's precious blood that still flows free of cost from Calvary ..is still available for all of us sinners.

And we saved sinners ought to walk in holy fear and indeed keep short accounts with God when we blow it ...I mean get up and run back to Him with true repentance quickly (See 1 John 1:9).

Praise God that our basic laws are still biblical and were set according to the Judeo-Christian ethic. How cool is that for a nation! Of course our founding fathers never envisioned or desired that abortion would be made legal here. They never even intended for the Supreme Court to even make laws. That is and was for the Legislature to take care of.

But I love the freedom of worship that we can express and enjoy here too! Let Christ continue to be magnified!

Many unbelieving progressives (perhaps some with deep religion/church-hurt?) are fighting hard to have God removed from students in schools (who still pray before tests etc) and from everything, but we all can still sing of our love to Christ almost anywhere we want if we aren't disrupting others.

We had a great time today hanging with our friends the Stropes and the Gandias.. and also while teaching the Bible with zeal and inner passion. Want to do that more and more and more!

It was a blast!!!

And guess what.. no one got all up in my face to say, "Hey Kurt, you can't teach that part anymore. Hate crimes!" Listen, I love people. I only hate sin and Mr Lu Cifier for how they rip people off.

The Bible says, "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever" (1 Peter 4:11).

Let's all pray that the Gospel Message and teaching from all the counsels of God with power ..will continue to go out wisely in His love ..until all have heard and can choose on their own! We aren't responsible to choose for them, so we'll leave the results up to the Lord.

I want to thank you for your prayers for us! I like what Paul said, "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith" (2 Thess. 3:1-2). Keep on fighting the good fight of faith (in the Spirit not in the flesh) and have a great Sunday in Jesus!

Happy Independence Day To You -- Let's All Live Free!

Did you know that not everyone signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th? Only two men are believed to have signed it that day, while most signed later. The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin. Yet beyond America’s treasured political freedom, there is an even greater liberty that every soul desperately needs—the freedom that only Jesus Christ can give.

Freedom from sin is the highest freedom of all. I know this personally, because I know what it is to be a sinner in need of mercy. Before Christ rescued me, I was anything but free. Sin promised excitement and fulfillment, but its pleasures faded quickly, leaving emptiness, bondage, and regret behind. Scripture tells us that sin is pleasurable “for a season” (Hebrews 11:25), but eventually it corrodes the soul and enslaves the heart.

Many people proudly claim they are free, yet in reality they are controlled by appetites, addictions, fears, bitterness, lusts, pride, or selfish ambitions. The Bible says, “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). What appears to be freedom often becomes a cruel master.

In 1776, thirteen colonies broke away from tyranny and formed a new republic founded upon principles deeply influenced by biblical truth and the recognition of God-given rights. The Declaration of Independence boldly affirmed that our rights ultimately come not from government, but from our Creator. That truth still matters today.

Yet even more important than political liberty is spiritual liberty. A nation may possess wealth, military strength, and constitutional freedoms, while multitudes within it remain inwardly chained. No government can liberate the human heart from guilt, corruption, or the fear of death. Only Christ can do that.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ—the sinless Son of God—was nailed to a rugged cross between two criminals. There, He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). At that moment, He paid in full the debt of sin for all who would trust in Him. Through His sacrifice, believers are declared forgiven before a holy God and set free from the eternal penalty and dominating power of sin.

Humanity has long lived under the cruel tyranny of sin and death. That truth became deeply personal to me in 1977 when I turned from my sinful ways and began a relationship with Jesus Christ. He alone lived the perfect life we could never live, then willingly died in our place. Having satisfied the righteous justice of God, He now offers forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal life freely to all who humble themselves, repent, and believe in Him.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me… Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” — Psalm 51:10–12. It's a prayer we can earnestly pray. 

And Jesus Himself declared:

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” — John 8:36

Martin Luther King Jr. once proclaimed, “From every mountainside, let freedom ring!”  The deepest freedom bell rings not merely across nations, but within redeemed hearts.

When we look around the world and see injustice, corruption, violence, division, moral confusion, and human suffering, we are reminded that sin—not freedom—is humanity’s greatest problem. Sin separates people from God and from one another. It destroys families, corrupts nations, hardens hearts, and blinds minds. At times we cry out with the Psalmist, “How long, O Lord?”

As citizens, believers should pray for leaders, pursue truth, defend justice, value human life, exercise discernment, and think biblically rather than merely politically. Christians may strongly disagree about policies, parties, economics, immigration, foreign affairs, or the role of government. Yet Scripture calls us to speak the truth with humility, pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1–2), and remember that no earthly ruler is mankind’s ultimate hope. Jesus Christ alone is King of kings.

Cultures rise and fall. Political movements come and go. But the Gospel remains unchanged. The deepest need of America—and every nation—is not merely better policies, but transformed hearts reconciled to God through Christ.

I love the glorious truth that salvation is a free gift of grace. Romans 5 teaches that eternal life is not earned through human goodness, religion, or effort. It is received by faith in Jesus Christ.

One day every one of us will step into eternity. Earthly fame, wealth, popularity, and success cannot prevent death. Elvis Presley is gone. James Brown is gone. Kurt Cobain is gone. Michael Jackson is gone. But Jesus Christ—the risen King of kings—is alive forevermore.

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” — Revelation 1:18

Christ conquered the grave. He rose bodily from the dead and now offers eternal life to all who come to Him in repentance and faith.

So this Independence Day, celebrate the freedoms we have been graciously given—but do not stop there. Seek the Lord and a greater freedom that no government can ever grant, that no enemy can steal away: freedom of the Spirit in Jesus Christ.

And if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.