WHAT CORNER DO YOU SHINE IN?

 

                                WHAT CORNER DO YOU SHINE IN?

 

Many of you may be struggling with the same quandary as I once did—to make sense of life, especially when you feel you haven’t fulfilled the need that instinctively resides in every human breast, to perform some noble service to humanity through which your life will achieve meaning. You may secretly be wondering: “When am I going to make my significant contribution? And . . . what is it?”

Why is this so important to us? Because deep down we realize that if our own individual life has no meaning, then life in its grander perspective has no meaning either and we can’t handle that. Why? Because it begs a further question: Why, then, are we here? 

In this article, I will share with you my struggle and how a simple little Sunday school song that I learned when a small child gave me the answer. However, it didn’t come as an “Aha” moment until years later as an adult. When it did, this song made a greater impact on me than all the theology, psychology, and philosophy books I've read, and it solved my personal dilemma. 

When did my struggle begin?

My frustration about my own life’s purpose began in grammar school. 

I recall my teachers telling stories about outstanding people in history who started out with humble beginnings but grew up to become these really, really great individuals who influenced the nation, even the world. One teacher told how Abraham Lincoln, despite his poor education and the fact that he was raised in a log cabin, grew up to be President of the United States and made his great contribution by abolishing slavery. Another teacher told about Madame Curie who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work in isolating radium that led to the treatment of illnesses.

Then, of course, there was Mozart, Michelangelo, Sir Isaac Newton, Alexander Graham Bell, and we can’t leave out George Washington Carver (what would the world do without peanut butter?) and many others. 

In more recent times, other individuals have made significant contributions, and the list could go on:

• Martin Luther King with his dream of equality . . .
• Leonard Bernstein’s musical gifts . . .
• Luciano Pavarotti’s voice that thrilled millions . . .
• Albert Einstein’s brilliance in science . . .
• Harriet Beecher Stowe’s world-changing book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin . . .
• Mother Teresa’s charitable work to the needy . . .

I firmly believed that those individuals who contributed so significantly to the world were led by God’s spirit to do exactly what they did.  Similarly, whatever I was supposed to do was what God particularly appointed me to do.

Naturally, the objective of my grade school teachers was to inspire our young minds to realize our potential and convince us that we, too, could do something great for mankind.

Now, I’m sure I was no different than my other classmates who listened to those stories. Sitting there in class, we truly believed that we would some day make a great contribution to the world and influence humanity just like Abraham Lincoln or Madame Curie—for me, especially Marie Curie, after I saw Hollywood’s dramatization of her life starring Greer Garson (I’m sure dating myself). 

So, we students had very grandiose ideas about what we were going to do that would help the masses when we grew up. Back then I seemed incapable of narrowing my contribution down to anything smaller than the whole human race. Unfortunately, I think all of us, myself included, thought it would just happen willy-nilly with no effort on our part. Whatever it was that was inside us would have to break out and express itself and we’d hit the jackpot!

Nevertheless, albeit naïve, what was instilled in me remained and I carried my dream with me for years, determining that I was going to do all these great things and make this terrific, tremendous, significant, outstanding, enormous, colossal (yet, of course, humble) contribution to the world.

My apple cart is turned upside down

The unsettling reality of my naiveté and the perplexing problem that began to gnaw at me by the time I approached middle age was that so far, nothing big and specific had happened in my life to fulfill my pressing need:

• I hadn’t discovered a cure for some deadly disease.
• I hadn’t composed any powerful symphony that thrills people’s souls
• I hadn’t produced a lilting song that the whole world sings; 
• I hadn’t been recognized by the world at large
• Neither had I become a best-selling author (the book subjects I write about only appeal to a small, select audience).

Was I frustrated? Well, yes. My day was definitely not going well . . .  What I was facing was failure as a human being. I also had to face the fact that life itself may be purposeless and meaningless. It frustrated the heck out of me. What was the problem? Was I supposed to wait longer? But I was already 60!!

The need to create the right question

I decided I needed to formulate a question I could ask myself that would help me recognize when I had achieved this.

That’s when I came up with a two-part question: (1)What kind of question can I ask myself so that I’ll  know whether I have achieved my great contribution? (2) What point in time should I ask myself this question? I thought about that and, since my life wasn’t over yet, it came to me—at least my first attempt at an answer.

It would be when I am finally lying on my deathbed and looking back over my life. At that point, I would ask myself the question and, having lived my life, either be able to acknowledge, or not, that I made some great discovery, cured some disease, wrote some great book, or performed some significant service--all of which would have benefited the world and helped the masses.

But whoa! Who wants to wait until their deathbed?

Shouldn’t I be able to determine if I had achieved it sooner than that? If I wait until I die to figure it out and I don’t see any kind of satisfaction in SOME accomplishment at that point, my life would definitely have proved utterly worthless. I absolutely didn’t want to face that . . . I couldn’t.

So, I discouragingly sat down with myself and said, “Self, face it. At the ripe old age of 60, you haven’t become an Abraham Lincoln, a Madame Curie, or even a John Steinbeck—nor will you ever. You’re simply not going to do anything that’s going to influence the whole human race. You’re going to have to settle for just being plain ol’ Janis Hutchinson who isn’t going to do any more than what she’s already doing.” It was a moment of abject worthlessness beyond description, because I realized it would bring me to my deathbed, realizing three things:

1.     I had failed God (or did he fail me?)

2.     There had been no purpose or meaning to my life, and . . .

3.     if there was no meaning to my life, life itself has no purpose either (the latter can be devastating enough).

While I was laboring through all this, something unusual happened! I heard something!

♫

♫♫

Revelation at last!

What did I hear? A simple little Sunday school song I learned when a small child. I began singing it to myself-couldn’t get it out of my mind. What on earth, I wondered, would make me think of it after all these years? Over and over it went in my head, day after day after day.

The song only had four short lines—and please pay attention to the underlined words because even if universal life itself may have no particular meaning for you, individual lives do. This is where the rubber meets the road as far as one’s life’s purpose and meaning goes.

♫ Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light

Like a little candle, burning in the night.

In this world of darkness, so let us shine,

You in your corner—and I in mine. ♫

Well, the first 3 lines were nice, although liking myself to a “little” candle was somewhat troublesome . . . but it wasn’t so much about being a “candle” that grabbed me as did the last line about "corners." Corners were LITTLE! They were SMALL places! Was I supposed to be a little candle in a small, insignificant corner of a room like where spiders hide? Surely, I wasn’t to be relegated to that!

What kind of corner was this song talking about?

So, I began to dig into what corners were.

What is a corner?

A corner, as we already understand, is a small, remote space between two converging lines, like the corner of a room where 2 walls meet. That corner-space is always part of something larger - but it is NOT the large part itself (the whole room)—it’s only a corner of it.

This led to my next question.

Are there other kinds of corners other than where two walls meet?

Yes. There are 5 different kinds. For example:

1.     We live in a world that is in a particular corner of the universe

2.     We live in a country which is in a corner of the world

3.     We live in a State which is in a corner of the country

4.     We live in a city which is in a corner of the State

5.     We live in a house, apartment or condo, which is in a corner of a city.

The above are all the options we have to shine in. Some people are fortunate to shine notably in all of them (notables we learned about in grammar school). Although Mother Teresa lit her candle in one place, at the same time, she also functioned in five corners:

(1) She lived in a corner of the world, South Asia.

(2) In a corner of South Asia she lived in a corner called India.

(3) In India, she lived in the corner/state of West Bengal

(4) In West Bengal, she lived in a corner city called Calcutta.

(5) In Calcutta, she resided in a corner of West Bengal called “Missionaries of Charity Mission” where she ministered to the sick and dying.

Jesus also functioned in more than one corner—a corner of the world called Palestine; a corner of Palestine called Bethlehem; a corner in Galilee; a corner in Jerusalem; a corner in Samaria by a well; a corner on a hillside.

Similarly, we all have the same 5 locations to function in. I live in a corner of the world called America. In a corner of America, I live in Washington State. In Washington State, I live in a corner called Everett. I live in a corner within the city of Everett—my condo. In my condo and elsewhere, my church for example, is where I function. (Can I call it “shine?”)

Actually, I don’t need to shine in all 5 of them . . . just one, because all our “corners” keep reducing down to one—our individual corner where we function as a human being in whatever unique abilities God has blessed us with. The problem is that oftentimes we don’t realize what they are and that we’re making a contribution.

When Jesus said in Matt 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men that others may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven,” he did not mean that we have to shine to the WHOLE world all at once! Just in our own unique individual corner.

The difference in everyone’s corners

The difference is that your corner will never be like my corner, and my corner will never be like yours. As the little Sunday school song goes: “You in your corner, and I in mine.” We can’t shine in someone else’s corner. Their corner is distinctively theirs, as is yours.

Now, let’s talk more about our “Individual Corner” since this is the one that should concern us the most. This is the one where we function according to our abilities we’ve been blessed with, or a profession we’ve been trained in. However, within our Individual Corner are two sub-corners: (1) a “Specialty Corner” and (2)  “Unexpected Corners.” Here are the definitions of each:

Specialty Corner This corner is where we function in the areas of our expertise, meaning the talents, capabilities and qualities the Lord has blessed us with (teaching, writing, art forms, singing, love, hospitality, friendship, etc.) It may also include what we are trained in (teaching, writing, administration, business profession, church ministry, or music.)

Unexpected Corner(s)

These corners consist of the places we unexpectedly find ourselves—in a corner of the supermarket, parking lot, at church, the work place, on an airplane, etc.

Let’s take our “Specialty Corner” first. And I’ll have to use myself as an example since I can’t speak for the rest of you.

My Specialty Corner

Within the walls of my condo, my "Specialty corner" is my computer room. Lining the walls of that small room are bookcases containing a zillion books, four beat-up filing cabinets, a printer, a computer, and a table with a six-tiered set of filing baskets wobbly perched on top of each other that some have referred to as my “Leaning Tower of Pisa.”

There, I spend most of my time, out of the public eye, writing. This is my passion. And usually one’s “passion” is what God has called you to and we should recognize it as the purpose or calling in our life.

For me, writing books, magazine articles, and my blog (also teaching at church) is the purpose of my life and what I’ve been called to do. How do I know? Simple. Because it’s my passion!

There, in the corner of my computer room, I fulfill my “Specialty Corner.” Plus, I also mentor cultists and ex-cultists worldwide (those coming out of false, sometimes abusive, religions) and spend hours responding to emails from them to help them through the difficult transition into Christianity. I’m able to help because I have expertise in that area.

I didn’t plan for all this. It just progressively happened due to my life’s experiences. It sorta sneaks up on you, which is why we often don’t recognize it as our life-purpose. My Specialty corner is where I feel the most useful and where I would like to think, as the little song goes, “Jesus bids me shine.”

Now, even though I do all this—and this is the point—I’m not some big name that the whole world knows. I am not functioning to the whole world en masse as I once dreamed as a child. I simply function in one tiny corner, hopefully letting Jesus work through me so my “little” candle will shine and affect the lives of those I’m particularly fitted to help.

Hopefully, you will also know that your amount of shining doesn’t have to bring you huge national or worldwide attention—it can be something less than that. Yet, at the same time, it will convey a huge benefit to whomever is on the receiving end.

Now, we come to our second sub-heading of our Individual Corner:

Unexpected Corners

While we all have our Specialty Corner to shine in, Jesus bids us shine in ANY corner we happen to find ourselves in. It consists of those places we spontaneously and unexpectedly find ourselves in, although it may or may not involve your “specialty.”

The following are 6 true stories that illustrate “Unexpected Corners.” (Hang in . . . they’re good ones!)

Story No. 1

This story appeared in Guidepost magazine many years ago: 

A small Christian mission was trying to establish itself in an Asian country by functioning in a rented room in a building in the poor part of town. Their front door opened on to the sidewalk that edged the main street. But so far, the mission hadn’t been successful in gaining converts. 

Then a woman came in and converted to Christianity. She couldn’t speak English and she couldn’t even speak the language of most of the people in that town. But she was so happy to have found Jesus that she wanted everyone to know about Him. 

She thought and thought—What could she do? Where could she shine the best? Having come from humble circumstances, all she knew how to do was sweep. So, every day she went out on the front sidewalk of the mission and began sweeping. 

To everyone who came along she shined each one a great big smile and excitedly told them about Jesus even though most couldn’t understand her. Then she would motion to them and invite them into the mission. 

Day after day after day, week after week, month after month, she continued to sweep and smile, sweep and smile. Many were caught up by her contagious smile and entered those doors and their lives were changed forever. Many who would otherwise never have known the Lord were brought into the Kingdom. She made her contribution as a little candle in the corner she found herself in and she made a difference. 

Story No. 2

The author, Robert Louis Stevenson, went to live in Samoa for his health. The natives loved him. To them he was “Tusitala, teller of tales.” But he was also more than that. He was their kind friend. 

Stevenson became concerned because the natives had only a narrow, rugged path on which to bring provisions from the harbor to the interior. It was a difficult undertaking and so Stevenson, with his own money, had a good road built. In gratitude for his kindness, the Samoans named it “The Road of the Loving Heart.”  

 

Building that road, however, wasn’t Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Specialty Corner” to shine in. His specialty corner was writing books. But he recognized and took advantage of an unexpected corner of the world he happened to find himself in, and seeing a need, acted, made a difference and indeed shined.

Story No. 3
Debbie, a staff writer at a St. George, Utah newspaper, tells her experience:

She pulled into the parking lot of the local supermarket. It was winter and snowing and on the curb at the entrance sat a man, his face red from the cold. He continued to sit there, his hands out of his coat sleeves just far enough to cling to a cardboard sign, “Will work for food or money.”

She went into the store and bought her groceries. As she stood at the counter, she overheard two ladies discussing the man at the curb. One said, “They shouldn’t allow those kind of people in St. George.” The other agreed, mumbling about what a disgrace it was to have “those” people in their city, and concluded with, “The store Manager ought to go shoo him away.” 

Debbie paid for her groceries, still thinking about the man. When she went out to her car, he was still there with his red face, holding up his sign—and it was still snowing. She got into her car, drove by him, then circled around and drove by him a second time. She studied him for signs of alcoholism or some disorder that would tell her it was okay to disqualify him as a human being. She thought about a recent Association Press’ expose on the amount of money made by professional bums. He could be one of those crooked guys! But as she looked into his face she saw sadness, hunger and desperation. She also saw a brave survivor. She headed for home again¾then turned around and went back. She parked and watched as vehicle after vehicle passed the man by. No one stopped. It continued to snow¾and he continued to sit. 

Then, she thought about the high cost of living and what if she suddenly found herself without a job—could she survive?  Wouldn’t it be nice, she thought, for that man to think that someone, even a total stranger, cared? For less than $5, she purchased a cheeseburger and a hot bowl of chili. She returned, stepped out of her warm car and took it over to the man on the curb. She said in her account: “The spirit contained within that man’s smile was one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received."

She concluded her newspaper article by saying that perhaps if we all cared just a little bit more, it would be a wonderful life for everyone.

In other words, what she was saying was is if we would all anticipate the little unexpected corners in life where we can shine and realize we can make a difference, the world would be a better place because of us. Her "Specialty Corner," as a staff writer, was journalism. But that day she shined in another of life's corners she hadn't anticipated.

Story No. 4
Some years back on the program “Sixty Minutes,” the guest was a black man. He was unemployed—actually, a bum who lived on the streets. But even in those dire circumstances, he found a corner he could shine in, illustrating that we can make a difference no matter who we are.

Every morning, he would stand at a busy intersection. There, he would smile and wave, calling out “Hi” to everybody—not only to those driving to work in their cars, but to passersbys on the sidewalk who, if he came to know them, he’d call them by name. 

People soon came to look forward to passing that corner. He made such a big difference in their lives and became so popular that Sixty Minutes interviewed him. They not only interviewed him, but also took time to interview those to whom he waved. Many of those individuals said that getting up to go to work and facing morning traffic was a real bummer. But when they passed his corner and he smiled and waved, they said it changed their whole attitude for the rest of the day. Person after person who was interviewed said that “bum” made a difference in their life.

Story No. 5

A story in Guideposts entitled “The Conversation I’ll Never Forget.” It took place in a Veteran’s Hospital where someone almost missed their unexpected corner: 

A prospective patient named Bob was sitting in one of the waiting rooms and there was a patient across the table from him who wanted to talk. Now, you know, sometimes we’re in the mood to talk, sometimes we’re not. Well, Bob was deep into thinking about his own medical problems and didn’t want to talk. Every time the patient would try to draw him into conversation, Bob would give him a curt answer. But for some reason the patient persisted. 

Finally, Bob says, “I opened my mouth to tell him off completely. But instead something made me yield, and to my surprise we were soon involved in a lively conversation. I was impressed by the friendliness and enthusiasm this patient put into every word he said. I found myself warming to him—even began to like him as I intently listened. Well, we finished our coffee and I got up to go”. Then, this patient remarked to me very calmly:   

“It was sure nice talking to you. Tomorrow morning I’m to have a laryngectomy on my throat. This is the last conversation I’ll have with this voice.” 

We can shine in so many places. Not only in the expertise and talents God has blessed us with, but also:

• Showing patience when an elderly person can’t move as fast anymore, or hear as well.
• Reaching out to individuals with particular problems and loving them unconditionally.
• Curbing our criticisms and thinking of something positive to say.
• Building people up when they’re down.
• Offering someone a warm shoulder in this often cold world.
• Providing household maintenance to a widow who can’t afford to hire something done, or helping her when she may be ill. (Men: plumbing, moving something heavy, etc. Women: housekeeping, meals, shopping, etc.)
• Giving a pat on the back, or a hug to someone that relays, “I care”

How sad it would be if we were so busy looking for the one great thing that we could do, that we become blind to the people in need standing on the small, common corners of our lives.

Story No. 6
This story took place on a cold, rainy night:  

While I was waiting at a bus stop, an elderly woman got off a bus and walked slowly over to where I stood. “Could you tell me when the next bus is due?” she inquired of him. I asked which bus she wanted, and when she told me, I exclaimed, “But you just got off that one!” 

“Well,” she stammered a bit shyly, “you see there was a terribly crippled young man on that bus and nobody offered him a seat. I knew he’d be embarrassed if an old lady like me got up for him, so I just pretended it was time for me to get off and I rang the bell just as he was alongside my seat. He wasn’t embarrassed, and I—well, there’s always another bus.”

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I know I may have included too many stories, but I wanted to put across that it’s the LITTLE deeds in life that are big and important, and I hope you enjoyed them.

Our corners won’t always include a stage and a spectacular setting with the world as audience. Our life consists of small corners—nothing more, nothing less. All God requires of us is that we let our little candle shine. You in your corner, and I in mine.

Once I realized that I didn’t have to set the whole world on fire, but could function significantly in some corner no matter how small—and knew that this was all God expected of me and designed me for—this led to so much contentment—not to mention excitement. I could make my contribution any place I happened to be—one corner of my computer room or on a street corner—even if the rest of the world can never see me doing what I do. I go about functioning in my individual “Specialty” or “Unexpected corners” quietly, and it’s okay and acceptable to God. 

Conclusion

Inside of us we all want to matter and make some kind of impact on the world. So, it is imperative that we remember these 4 requisites:

• Your individual purpose is what you have a passion for, and it resides “inside” you. It is up to you to discover it. If you can’t decide what your passion is, see the last paragraph.
• You don’t have to achieve or do anything big or important like Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King. 

• You don’t have to shine and affect the WHOLE world or the masses of humanity—only in your own corner.
  
  
• Do not feel you’re a failure if you don’t shine exactly like someone else does. They have their unique corner. You have yours. As the Sunday school song goes: “Jesus bids us shine . . . you in your corner and I in mine.”

Still don’t know what your passion or calling is?

While many will say that to discover it all you have to do is recognize what your passion is (and they’re right), there are many who still find themselves frustrated in this respect.

If you are one of these individuals, the answer to your dilemma is to invite Christ and the Holy Spirit to come inside you so that he can reveal your passion to you. The Holy Spirit acts as a revelatory guide to help you accomplish your God-given purpose in life in all the corners God has designed for you. (He may also give you a gift you hadn’t anticipated.) When he does this, he will magnify your passion and purpose that has lain dim within you all the time, and bring it to a brighter illumination so you can recognize it. In order to enable this, God set up a wonderful way to facilitate it so that he and his Holy Spirit can indeed be inside you (Col. 1:27). To see how the process works, go to Romans 10:9.

And age is no hindrance!

Until next time!

Janis

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A Call to Arms: How to save your children and grandchildren--also the future of America

Please share this article.

A “Call to Arms” is a phrase used by leaders when facing a national crisis that requires offensive or defensive weapons. Today’s post-truth culture, which is pulling our children and grandchildren into spiritual and moral decay and obliterating America’s values, demands the same kind of response. 

Why? Because our children and grandchildren, many raised in Christian homes, are leaving the faith. The secular message promulgated to today’s younger generation is loud and clear: “God is dead!”

It’s the same theme begun in the sixties with the “Death of God Movement” that mushroomed into today’s anti-God, secular and atheistic ideologies that have since developed (even in school curriculums) into injurious pressure by cancel culture’s Leftist activists to muzzle free speech—especially about the Christian God—and conform to their point of view, or else suffer the consequences.

This article will tell you how to combat this spiritual corruption and safeguard your family by revealing a special strategy on what you can do—and it’s not just reading scripture to your children.  Read on . . .  

A CALL TO ARMS 

HOW TO SAVE YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN—ALSO THE FUTURE OF AMERICA

Traditional values . . . along with traditional Christian-based morality . . . is our present crisis—not an external threat from terrorists or warlike nations or a viral pandemic, but a decline of faith, truth, and morality.

It is hollowing out our society from within.

(Michael Yousseff, Hope for the Present Crisis)⁽¹⁾

How is today’s post-truth culture affecting our youth?
Many of today’s youths—even those raised in Christian homes—are leaving their faith after high school, never to return. 

“I don’t believe the Bible anymore!”

Swept into spiritual and moral confusion by today’s secular culture, manipulative anti-God ideologies, and atheistic school curriculums, they are being convinced by educators and others that the God of the Bible is not real, and never was—only a mythology, a figment of a past generation’s superstitious imagination

Here are the studies to prove it:

Three-fourths of the 80 million millennials from Christian homes in the US, influenced by today’s atheistic propaganda, are leaving their faith and church, with high percentages swayed to believe the following:

·         68% disregard the reality of God, the Holy Spirit, and consider all biblical accounts,  myths

·         51% percent view Jesus’ resurrection from the dead as a myth

·         63% no longer believe Jesus is the Son of God⁽²⁾

·         60% leave Christianity by their early twenties⁽³⁾

And don’t miss this!

·     Some may return to the faith of their Christian parents, but 69 percent of the above 60 percent leaving in their early twenties will remain gone.⁽⁴⁾ 70% of those in college will leave the faith, with only 35% eventually returning—and statistical trends up to 2050 indicate no change for the future.⁽⁵⁾

No wonder the Barna Report, the leading research organization that strategically tracks the role of faith in America, is adamant about sending the following warning to Christian families:

Families, hoping to ensure “a vibrant, lasting faith in the next generation” will find that the “current state of affairs is not promising.⁽⁶⁾

Further, surveys and studies now show Christian churches admitting that the pervasive secular worldview, societal ideologies of atheism, and disregard of biblical and traditional morals, are exerting a stronger influence on tweens, teens, and young adults than the traditional Christian teachings they are receiving at home and at church.

Wow . . . that’s saying a lot!

Parents and grandparents now recognize that their families are in a state of spiritual crisis!

“What more can we do?”

What is the answer?
The answer springboards logically from the informative groundwork laid in my previous blog, “The Cultural Death of God: Can he be resurrected?” 

That article presented a startling eye-opener on the “why” of today’s purposeful suppression of God and explained why God’s demise and his values is a fundamental necessity for those presently in power to achieve their long-range political goal for America—which intends to be anything but a government by or for the people. It also revealed details on the specific methods being used that are damaging Christian youth, beginning with manipulative school programs that start as early as kindergarten. (If you missed that article, you can check it out here: http://wwwjanishutchinson.blogspot.com/search?q=the+cultural+death+of+god.)

 What I promised to give you
At the end of “The Cultural Death of God: Can he be resurrected?” (see "Archived Articles" on the dashboard), I promised that this article would provide practical suggestions on what you can successfully do to combat the spiritual corruption of your children and grandchildren and build in them an unshakeable faith in God’s reality through reactivating an old, but proven biblical strategy (please don’t yawn and say you are already reading the Bible to your kids and that’s enough—because it isn’t).

This resuscitated strategy, updated for 21st-century application, is drawn from my book, The Joshua Project: Three overlooked biblical strategies for parents and grandparents to strengthen their family’s faith (notice it says “three” strategies) and is available on Amazon.

However, I'll present this special strategy toward the end of this article. First, I want to briefly review the four school programs mentioned in my previous article, why the Left is pushing those programs, what their goal is, and how they plan to achieve it. Then, I'll introduce you to two new programs I haven't covered before.

Here's their "goal" and "why"
In order for the Leftist powers-that-be to successfully bring about their goal of socialism leading to an eventual totalitarian government, it must continue influencing the younger generation by eradicating the traditional God, his values, and morals. Why? To eliminate any competitive loyalty to another entity (God) that would compete with obedience to a future autocratic government and leader. This is not far-fetched. It is already evident to many.

So, to successfully achieve this, the Left must focus on one thing—change thinking patterns.

Here’s the “how:” Since it is difficult to change the thinking patterns of older adults, the easiest way to accomplish this is to begin in schools with children in Kindergarten.

The specific methods promulgated in schools (more fully presented in my previous article), describes the following:

• SIECUS’S (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) agenda for early sex education, deliberate gender confusion,⁽⁷⁾ and rejection of absolutes (morals can now be assessed in the eye of the beholder).

• John Dewey’s Darwinian atheism.⁽⁸⁾

• Purposeful deficient student learning.⁽⁹⁾

• Project 1619, an altered presentation of America’s history depicting America’s founders and US Presidents as “white racists.” Twelve Civil War historians and political scientists in a letter to the New York Times have denounced it as “inaccurate and not historical.”⁽¹⁰⁾

But now . . . prepare to be even more shocked! Here are two new programs being introduced into our school systems not mentioned in my previous article:

• The Ethnic Studies Model.
  This curriculum was approved by the California Department of Education on May 13, 2021, to build unity in the classroom against the Christian God, and cause all to think alike by participating in chants to a variety of non-Christian, pre-Columbian gods in the Aztec pantheon.⁽¹¹⁾ While this goes against the First Amendment, this new curriculum is intended for California’s 10,000 primary and secondary public schools consisting of 6 million students.⁽¹²⁾ The Los Angeles Unified School District states it as a requirement for graduation starting in 2023-2024.⁽¹³⁾ Other states are following.

Here are more specifics, including what will take place in the classroom, as described by Christopher F. Rufo, Contributing Editor at the City Journal Magazine on Urban Affairs, and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute:

This model was developed by Marxist theoretician Paolo Freir, designed to “critique and challenge white supremacy . . . displace the Christian God, who is said to be an extension of white supremacist oppression” . . . restore “indigenous gods to their rightful place,” and “develop the capacity to overthrow oppressors.” The basis is to “promote critical thinking and ‘a rigorous analysis of history, the status quo and systems of oppression,’ covering ‘African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans.’”⁽¹⁴⁾

This is what will shockingly take place in the classroom:

“The proposed new curriculum will have teachers leading students in chanting the names of Aztec gods . . . directly appealing to the deities of the Aztec pantheon for the power to become “warriors of ‘love, ecological and social justice.” They will chant and clap “to Tezcatlipoca, a cannibalistic wizard-god who, according to the Aztec tradition, brought the downfall to the Toltec civilization in favor of the human sacrificing Aztecs.” They will also “chant to other deities including Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun god, and Xipe Totek, seeking ‘healing epistemologies’ and a ‘revolutionary spirit.’ The chant ends with a request for ‘liberation, transformation, decolonization,’ after which students shout ‘Panche beh! Panche beh!’ which translates to ‘seeking the roots of the truth’ or ‘think critically.”⁽¹⁵⁾

The other school agenda is: 

• Critical Race Theory (CRT). Described as “harmful and divisive materials in the classroom,” it is a neo-Marxist program that fosters racial conflict and social division and (like Marxism and Communist China which divides people by class), teaches that “all ‘white people’ are racist oppressors with power and privilege, and all non-white people are oppressed victims.”⁽¹⁶⁾ This has also been approved by the California State Board of Education for their schools, with other states following.⁽¹⁷⁾ 

Although, on the surface, the descriptive phrases used (to “assure equality and cultural competency”) sound like a great program for school systems—don’t be deceived. 

The word “equality” means equalizing and elevating the six minority groups (African Americans, American Indians, Alaskan natives, Asians, Hispanics, and Pacific Islanders; also, refugees and immigrants), which sounds fine at first, but seriously discriminates against children who are white. 

The Left (atheists or not) needs to be reminded that God is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11). This means He shows no favoritism to one or more races over others. All are equal in his sight, as stated in Gal. 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." 

While the CRT is not a program directed against God perse, I mention it because your children and grandchildren need to be made aware of it so they won’t suffer shame and a guilt mentality that is going to be foisted upon them for being white (the reason being because America’s earlier whites participated in slavery). 

This is confirmed by Dr. Gary Thompson at the Early Life Child Psychology and Education Center, who also serves on the Advisory Board of U.S. Parents Involved in Education. He said: 

Many public schools are now teaching children as young as second and third grade that “whiteness” is synonymous with evil, that the police systematically hunt down and murder black men deliberately, and all these other highly charged political convictions that they’re teaching as if they’re uncontested fact.⁽¹⁸⁾

Besides California incorporating CRT into their educational program, other states are following. I only mention the below two because the quotes are revealing, as reported by the Epoch Times, and the Liberty in Education organization: 

Oregon's Department of Education is training teachers to “deconstruct White supremacy culture in their classrooms,” and told not to foster “conditions for competition and individual success” (the latter means a student’s success will no longer be based on their individual skill and academic achievement). CRT’s aim is to reduce both teachers and students “to nothing more than the color of their skin and lowering the bar for academic achievements.”⁽¹⁹⁾

North Carolina (Wake County and Rockingham County) has “launched a campaign to eradicate ‘whiteness in educational spaces,’ and “ordered to override families.” A teacher in Rockingham County “forced children of European heritage to stand in front of the class and apologize for their ‘white privilege,’” all of which place feelings of guilt and inferiority on them.  This invoked the “fuming outrage of many parents.” (italics mine).⁽²⁰⁾ 

Jesus said in Mark 9:42:

“If anyone causes, or offends, or makes stumble one of these little ones (the Message Bible says those who “give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of”), it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.” 

The dangers of today’s “wokeness” programs are recognized by many. Hundreds of anti-woke scholars called the “American Scholars Project,” are already working to try and change college curriculums that are promoting CRT, and instead promote traditional values.⁽²¹⁾ 

Fortunately, there are a growing number of states that understand the dangers and are determined to ban CRT in their public schools. They are (as of this writing): Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and W. Virginia. More will probably follow once they realize the underlying discriminatory bias and guilt imposed on white children. 

Schools aren’t the only ones to embrace Critical Race Theory
While the main focus of this blog article is on the harmful programs in our schools that contribute to the diminishing of God, one should also become knowledgeable of its wide-reaching influence in other organizations like the following:

Department of Agriculture: CRT has reached into the US Department of Agriculture and President Biden’s Financial Aid Pandemic Stimulus package by excluding “white” farmers from receiving financial aid under the USDA’s Loan Forgiveness program. They will only give it to the six minority races (listed above), all of which is illegal. A law suit is in motion against President Biden by the AFL (America First Legal) that is representing white farmers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Ohio.⁽²²⁾ 

A federal judge in Texas recently ruled against Biden’s administration from doling out pandemic-relief grants to restaurant owners because it was based solely on race and gender, in a lawsuit that discriminated against a white restaurant owner.⁽²³⁾ 

The American Medical Association has also embraced CRT, stating their objective is to “treat everyone the same.” This sounds good, but the CRT automatically demands that “whites” be discriminated against in favor of the six minority races, and made to feel guilty because of white slave owners in early America.⁽²⁴⁾

The Walt Disney Corporation has also joined in, emphasizing that their “white” employees must “examine and work through feelings of guilt and shame to be healed.”⁽²⁵⁾ 

The Military: On May 14, 2021, Lt. Colonel Matthew Lohmeier, Commander of the 11^th Space Warning Squadron at Buckly Air Force Base, Colo., considered by many as a hero, was relieved of command because his book Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military, revealed how the Marxist-oriented CRT had infiltrated the military,”⁽²⁶⁾ both of which are “antithetical to American values and attack America’s documents.”⁽²⁷⁾ (In an interview, Lohmeier describes the particulars in this endnote.)⁽²⁸⁾ 

America’s downhill slide
America’s schools (besides government agencies and secular organizations) are becoming discriminating, godless indoctrination centers, embracing "plans" that contribute to the erosion of the America God intended. They are incorporating "plans" that contain faulty concepts, not only of America’s founding principles (Project 1619), fostering undeserved guilt and shame in our children (CRT), but particularly replacing the Christian God by chanting to Aztec gods (Ethnic Studies Model), and denouncing the public mention of biblical ethics and morals that perceptive people understand is necessary for the common good of society.

Therefore, America needs to heed the Lord’s stated disapproval before we reap the whirlwind: 

Woe to the rebellious children, to those who carry out "plans" that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin (Isa. 30:1).

 Our responsibility

Parents and grandparents are given the responsibility to pass godly principles of morality, ethics, and high standards, on to the next generation. This is especially important as our children and grandchildren struggle through an increasingly ungodly culture that mythologizes God, negates his absolutes, and instills socialism and Marxist ideologies into the minds of our young children, something our founding fathers never envisioned for America. 

Regrettably, many, including some Christians, are influenced by the loudest voices they hear, especially when those voices sound authoritative.  Author, Steven K. Scott, comments on this in his book, The Greatest Words Ever Spoken: 

Unfortunately, most of us base our lives on a mixture of things we’ve learned from every source we’ve been exposed to. As a result, the foundation of our beliefs is a combination of truth and falsehood, including contradictory information and false assumptions.”⁽³⁰⁾

If families don’t take the proverbial bull by the horns and do something now, it will be too late. Parents need to check their children’s school programs for leftist curriculums (Project 1619, Critical Race Theory, and Ethnic Studies Model), and if present speak out against them, and make a point to train their children and grandchildren against the negatives of these programs they may face. 

If we don’t, our young people will carry on the false information they are being fed into succeeding generations and adapt to a secular, godless life. Faith in God and his principles will cease to exist, and America will continue its downward decline into what Thomas Jefferson describes as an “abyss from which there shall be no resurrection for it.”⁽³¹⁾ 

Mary Eberstadt, in her book, How the West Really Lost God, says: 

All it takes, “is the failure of a single generation to hand down a tradition for that tradition to disappear in the life of a family and the life of a community.⁽³²⁾

 We are that single generation!

What is the greatest need to combat the Leftist attack on our children?

The Left is working hard to destroy any allegiance in the minds of the younger generation to the Christian God and his absolutes by mythologizing him, and naming and shaming via cancel-culture those who dare to speak out about their traditional beliefs and any wrongs they see.

Therefore . . . the greatest need for today’s youth is to be “convinced” (I mean really convinced) that God actually exists! 

How can we do this?
The below strategy I promised to tell you about is taken from my book, The Joshua Project: Three overlooked biblical strategies for parents and grandparents to strengthen their family’s faith. It presents a proven (but often overlooked) three-step method God mandated to Joshua in Deut. 6:4-9, and updated to a twenty-first-century version. 

It was God’s rallying call to action to Israel’s parents and grandparents to keep Him alive in their families for generations to come. It was faithfully observed by Israel for centuries, and today’s Jews still carry the three strategies on. Christian believers can (and should) do the same, and will achieve the same success. 

Joshua’s modernized, ingenious plan will prove more than sufficient to persuade today’s young people that God is not a myth but real, and still active today. 

My own children and grandchildren’s reaction to this exceptional plan was amazing. The effect was more than I hoped for. It resulted in their impressive statements of deepened faith and renewed awareness of God’s reality. In my book, The Joshua Project, I include the written testimonies of their reaction and what it spiritually did for them. It will do the same for your family! 

An added benefit is that your devoted effort to this much-needed program, and how it has affected your family’s faith, will carry over to your future descendants to give them reassurance about God and also influence a change in America’s present trajectory of decline. The latter will become evident in the way they vote in political elections and the way they pass on their faith (and yours) to their children and grandchildren. 

The first of the three-step strategies
Joshua made it clear what God wanted Israel’s families to specifically do. Step 1 of the three strategies was to “verbally” pass on their faith stories of God’s divine activity in Israel. For example, “telling” their children and grandchildren the handed-down and written stories about their delivery from slavery in Egypt, the splitting of the Red Sea, how God fed them manna in the desert, helped them win battles against enemies, and led them to a promised land—especially by those in the beginning who were eye-witnesses of those events. 

They were specifically told how: 

Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. (Deut. 6:7–8) 

Amazingly, 600 years later, Asaph, who served as choir director under King David and Solomon, rehearsed how Israel was continuing to keep this up, determined to obey God and affect the faith of their future descendants: 

We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders . . .  so the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born—and they in turn will teach their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands (Ps. 78:4, 6–7).

Besides verbalizing their stories about what God did for them, there were two other strategies for Israel to incorporate into this plan—which I’ll get to in a minute. 

But first . . . an important note to parents and grandparents: 

When implementing this plan, families must first understand that it requires more than spouting scriptures to their families to convince their children and grandchildren of God’s reality.

Why? Because too many young people today are already convinced, according to a CARA National Survey, that faith in the God of the Bible is “far-fetched,” similar to believing in “Santa Claus” and the Easter Bunny.”⁽³²⁾ 

Therefore, because of this erroneous belief, youth and young adults are now voicing this challenge: 

 “If God is real, give us proof!” 

What “kind” of proof do they need?
The proof they insist on can’t be from centuries-old scripture, since they have been persuaded to believe God and the biblical accounts are only myths. 

What proof will work?
Like God instructed Israel, it is the declaration of your present-day witness and stories of God’s reality, more especially those based on your own “personal experiences.” 

True-life, supernatural accounts of God’s blessings in your life have the power to combat secular, anti-God influences your children and grandchildren struggle with.

The necessity to be specific
Your witness, however, cannot be just a general statement that you believe in God and are convinced he still blesses people today—it has to be the telling of actual accounts where God specifically intervened in your life. You can also choose one or two scriptures that verify your experience, but the focus will be on God truly doing something specific in your life, the same way he did in ancient Israel and Jesus’ day. Your personal testimonies can prove that God is not a myth, and will produce a decisive effect in your children and grandchildren.

This effect will become evident when they are confronted about God’s reality by others who appear knowledgeable or are faced with spiritual and moral decisions that negate God’s absolutes. They may not remember a scripture, but they will recall the memorable, first-hand testimonies you shared with them that verify God’s actuality in today’s world and think the following:

I know the testimonies of what God did in my parents’ and grandparents’ lives are true; so, God has to be real! (They may even share one of your faith stories with those challenging them.)

 The need for reinforcement using Joshua’s other two-step strategies
While the “verbalization” of your faith accounts is very important, your responsibility doesn’t stop with just the oral presentation.” That’s only Step 1. 

Personal accounts need to be further reinforced and fortified in children’s minds by incorporating all three strategies that God mandated. 

The other two methods, besides verbalizing, are “writing” and “physical memorials.” The combination of all three has the power to combat today’s secular, anti-God pressures with both young and old children and grandchildren, and strengthen their faith in a more persuasive and compelling way. 

Now, to the specifics of Joshua’s three-step plan . . . 

How to start
The following describes how you go about implementing a “Joshua Project” for use in your family with the same strategies ancient Israel successfully used for centuries . . . “verbalizing,” “writing,” and using “physical memorials.” 

Please be aware that far more detail than given below is provided in my book, which includes extensive, step-by-step instructions, with illustrations and examples from my own Joshua Project.

So, here we go . . .

 Step 1 – Collect the testimonies you want to verbalize

• Make a list of all your faith stories that testify to God’s blessings and activity in your life that prove his reality. They can be miracles and healings, or more indirect interventions where there can be no logical explanation other than God.·   

Note: Don’t worry if you can’t recall any particular event yet that you consider miraculous or out of the ordinary. You have at least one very important testimony―your salvation experience with Jesus. It was at that point, as the hymn goes, when you first saw the light, felt the burden of your heart roll away, and were redeemed from the bondage of sin and assured of eternal life. Your testimony should present how it changed you, giving details of the before and after, and witnessing that God’s love and forgiveness are still real and available today.

If you are still at a loss, to begin with, feel free to refer to the supernatural testimonies of others. There are many books on Amazon of personal encounters with God that you can use—although your own (or a relative’s) will admittedly carry more weight.

• Write one to three short descriptive sentences to summarize each event. Print the list out, using a large font (or hand-write), and hang it on the wall in your front room or another well-trafficked place. List them chronologically. You might choose to identify each event either by how old you were at the time, or the year it occurred (suggested formats and decorative embellishment ideas, along with example pictures are in my book).

A later section in my book gives stories of godly interventions to serve as examples of the “kinds” of testimonies you can include in your Joshua Project. They are taken from my own experiences and those of my children and grandchildren. 

Your list will incite curiosity and invoke questions from your children and grandchildren, young and old, as they peruse them. When they read the short description of each, they will definitely want to hear the full details. 

When they inquire, this gives you the opportunity to sit them down, engage them in a face-to-face conversation, and verbally describe the full event and how awesome God is (everyone loves a story). At the conclusion of your verbalization, you can choose one or two scriptural principles, or a biblical account, that coincide with and validate your experience. 

Step 2 – Write “full” accounts of all your testimonies

• Guided by your wall list, write out each event in full, and in first-person story form. Better yet, type on the computer and print the pages out.

• Place the pages in a special three-ring notebook; or, you can have the book professionally printed and bound at a Fed-X, or similar printing service.

Your book can also be mentioned in your Last Will and Testament, signifying who should be responsible for passing it on. Doing this will guarantee your many faith stories that testify to God’s reality will survive your demise and be transmitted to future generations to enhance their faith which, in our growing secular culture, could possibly be hanging like a thread. Detailed legacy instructions are in my book.

Step 3 – Create “memorials”

• Create physical memorials to place in your home (details and pictures of my own memorials are in my book). These are to correlate with two or three (or more) of your favorite faith stories hanging on the wall that testify to God’s reality. 

Here are a few examples on what to use for memorials (more are in my book), but your own imagination can come up with other ideas:

• Seen an angel? Find a statue of an angel in a thrift store. Prepare a statement to attach to your memorial about what the story represents, and include a scripture that confirms it as valid. Suggested scripture, Heb. 1:14: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
  

• Unexpected finances in time of need? Find a piggy bank. Suggested scripture, Phil. 4:19: “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

• Answered prayer? Find a statue of praying hands, or someone kneeling in prayer. Suggested scripture, Matt. 7:7: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

The aim is to create something visually interesting to provoke curiosity and questions from children and grandchildren, especially younger ones who may not read yet. Guests in your home may also inquire about your memorials. This gives you the opportunity to verbalize in detail the faith story the memorial represents.

Memorials can be placed on a coffee table, or small table-easel hung on a wall or included on mantles or shelves. I believe it is best to place them in the front room or family room where they will be seen by more people. You can also place one on a dresser in the guest bedroom. Choose where they will attract the most attention.

For a “holder” of my own memorial objects on my coffee table, I use the bottom tray extension of an “L” shaped bookend (pictured directly below) to secure the statue on and use the upright part to tape a religious picture, an applicable scripture, or anything you want to say about the event that will incite curiosity (see example further below). Office stores have two sizes, short and tall. I prefer the tall:

Bookend

• Tape an envelope against the backside of the upright part of the bookend for each memorial, with the opening flap facing outward for easy access (see picture below). Inside the envelope, put a typed (or handwritten) full account of the specific event. You can also place a note on the part of the envelope that extends visibly out to one side of the bookstand that says, “Feel free to read contents.” Family members who have heard you verbalize the full story before will enjoy reading it again on their own, even when you are not at home.

One of my memorials: a baby shoe with a thermometer in it. Jer. 10:6 is at the top. This represents the event when my baby was instantly healed of an oncoming, high-fever seizure when I called on Jesus' "Name." This story is in my book).

At your passing, your children and grandchildren will likely divide your memorial objects between themselves as permanent keepsakes. You could even ask family members which ones they prefer and list the recipients for each one in your “Personal Property” bequests normally located at the back of your will. 

There is much more detail in my book, but the above ideas give you a general idea.

God provided an effective plan
By establishing a “Joshua Project” (the three methods) in our homes, we can do the same as Joshua did when he instructed ancient Israel. It enables us to testify of God’s reality using our personal experiences where God intervened in our life. It will combat the spiritual corruption being taught to your children and grandchildren by peers and in the schools, and build in them an unshakeable faith in God’s reality. 

God is calling us to action!

Today’s post-truth culture, with its anti-God mythological thrust, denigration of biblical absolutes, and woke-indoctrination programs, demands every family’s immediate attention—not only for your children and grandchildren’s spiritual sake but also for the sake of your future descendants who, influenced by what has been passed on to them, will maintain their relationship with God and influence the nation’s trajectory of decline to gradually change it back to the way God intended.

We have a grave responsibility to bravely stand up against the incorrect concepts being instilled into our children:

Parents and grandparents should consider doing the following in your family:

• Pass on your personal faith testimonies that witness to the reality of God and his biblical truths by using the three strategies mandated by God to Israel—verbalizing, writing, and creating memorials.·        

• Take every opportunity to discuss or mention the truthfulness of the Bible, biblical morals, and stress that God's reality is just as evident today as it was in Bible times.

• Check out the school programs being taught to your children and grandchildren, and stand against the Ethnic Studies Model that divides races into discriminating classes, along with its chanting to Aztec and other pre-Columbian gods, and putting down of the Christian God as a “white supremacist.” 

• Speak out against Project 1619, which portrays an altered view of American history, portraying its founders and US Presidents as racists who started the American Revolution so they could preserve slavery, and promote America’s true narrative, founding values, and principles.

• Do what you can to stop the passing of any bill in your state that allows the Critical Race Theory to be taught in the schools that establish the Marxist racial “oppressor and victim” mentality, classifying all whites as racist oppressors and placing shame and guilt trips on children. If the bill has already passed, arm your children against feeling shamed or guilty because they happen to be white. Parents and grandparents must not assume the old adage, “you can’t fight city hall.” Enough voices CAN make a difference!

• Fight against the “political correctness” extremes, with its Cancel-culture’s unfair “naming and shaming” censorship for those who openly mention the Christian God, and insist on the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion and speech, with the right to mention one’s faith in God publicly, and freedom of the press to voice ideas and opinions.

Declaring your knowledge, beliefs, ideals, and biblical absolutes in a purposeful, and consistent basis to your family over the dinner table, in the car, at bedtime, and through the use of your Joshua Project’s wall list and memorials (as well as your book containing the full accounts), as mandated in Deut. 6:7–8, will shape generations of new conservative descendants and, in the long run, not only save their souls but also America’s founding principles.

Until next time...(I’ll be shifting to a new subject)
Janis

END NOTES

(1) Hope for this Present Crisis: The seven-step path to restoring a world gone mad, Michael Yousseff. (Front Line, Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group, Lake Mary, FLA, 2021) p. xv. 

(2)  J. Warner Wallace, “Updated: Are Young People Really Leaving Christianity,” Cold-Case Christianity, January 12, 2019, http://coldcasechristianity.com/2018/are-young-people-really-leaving-christianity/; quoting from Josh McDowell and David H. Bellis, The Last Christian Generation (Green Key Books, 2006). LifeWay Research says that two-thirds of the 70 percent of all youth in mainline religions who said the church will not play a part in their adult lives return to “some level of church involvement in their late 20s or early 30s.” Nevertheless, one-third remain lost to the culture.

(3) Natasha Crain, “How Sunday Schools Are Raising the Next Generation of Secular Humanists” (blog), CrossExamined.org, January 20, 2019, https://crossexamined.org/how-sunday-schools-are-raising-the-next-generation-of-secular-humanists/. 

(4) Wallace, “Updated: Young People.” See also, Aaron Earls, “Most Teenagers Drop Out of Church as Young Adults,” LifeWay Research, January 15, 2019,  https://lifewayresearch.com/2019/01/15/most-teenagers-drop-out-of-church-as-young-adults. 

(5) Wallace, “Updated: Young People.” (italics mine)

(6) “Parents and Pastors: Partners in Gen Z Discipleship,” Research Releases in Millennials & Generations, Barna Group, July 17, 2018, https://www.barna.com/research/parents-and-pastors-partners -in-gen-z-discipleship/. (my italics).

(7) “The Sordid History and Deadly Consequences of ‘Sex Ed’ at School,” Alex Newman (The Epoch Times Nov. 5-10, 2020) A20-21. 

(8) “Revolution via Education” by Samuel L. Blumenfeld, nd. http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/Articles/Revolution%20Via%20Education.pdf 

(9) Amazon blurb on The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, by Charlotte Thompson Iserbyt, September 1, 1999

(10) “Twelve Scholars Critique the 1619 Project and the New York Times Magazine Editor Responds,” Jan. 26, 2020. https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/174140

(11) “After 8 hours, 250-plus speakers, California Board Adopts Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum,” by John Fensterwald, March 19, 2021. 
https://edsource.org/2021/after-8-hours-250-plus-speakers-california-board-adopts-ethnic-studies-model-curriculum/651641#:~:text=With%20a%20March%2031%20deadline,organizer%20Dolores%20Huerta%20and%20social

(12) “Revenge of the Gods: California’s proposed ethnic studies curriculum urges students to chant to the Aztec deity of human sacrifice,” by Christopher F. Rufo, City-Journal, March 10, 2021; https://www.city-journal.org/calif-ethnic-studies-curriculum-accuses-christianity-of-theocide. Cited in The Epoch Times, “California’s Proposed K-12 Curriculum Encourages Chanting to Aztec Gods,” by GQ Pan, March 17-23, No. 347.

(13) “Revenge of the Gods,” Rufo. See also, “Echoes of Mao: Weaponizing Schools with ‘Critical Race Theory,” Alex Newman. The Epoch Times, Apr. 21-27, 2021, No. 352, p. A20.

(14) “After 8 hours,” Fensterwald. March 19, 2021. https://edsource.org

(15) “Revenge of the Gods,” Rufo.

(16) “Echoes of Mao: Weaponizing Schools with ‘Critical Race Theory,” Alex Newman. The Epoch Times, Apr. 21-27, 2021, No. 352, p. A20.

(17) “How Critical Race Theory is Changing the California Classroom.” Interview of Dr. Wenyuan Wu, Executive Dir. of Californians for Equal Rights Foundation. https://theepochtimes.com.

 (18) “Echoes of Mao,” Newman.

(19) “Oregon Department of Education adopts Critical Race Theory in Mathematics,” by Oregonians for Liberty in Education. Feb. 19, 2021. https://www.libertyineducation.org/blog/oregon-crt-in-mathematics.

(20) “Echoes of Mao,” Newman.

(21) “Scholars Line Up to Join Anti-‘Woke’ Online Education Platform,” Petr Svab, updated May 10, 2021. https://www.theepochtimes.com/scholars-line-up-to-join-anti-woke-online-education-platform_3808796.html.

(22) “Trump-Tied Group Sues Biden Administration Over Racial Bias,” by Ivan Pentchoukov. The Epoch Times, April 28-May 4, 2021, No. 353, p. A5. The AFL fights against any lawless Executive actions and Leftist agendas, such as racial discrimination, Critical Race Theory, and protecting the rights of the unborn. www.afl.org.

(23) “Judge Blocks Biden Administration from Doling Out Grants Based on Race, Gender” by Zachary Steiber, The Epoch Times, May 19, 2021 Updated: May 19, 2021

(24) “American Medical Association Rejects “Equality,” Backs Critical Race Theory,” by Kyle Becker. https://trendingpolitics.com/american-medical-association-rejects-equality-backs-critical-race-theory/

(25) “Disney Embraces Race Politics, Critical Race Theory in Employee Training.” Janita Kan. The Epoch Times, May 12-18, 2021, No. 355, pg. 7.

(26) “Space Force Officer Relieved After Denouncing Marxism, Critical Race Theory in Military,” by Jack Phillips, May 16, 2021 Updated: May 16, 2021. https://www.theepochtimes.com.

(27) “Relieved Space Force Officer: I’m Being Misportrayed,” by Samuel Allegri. The Epoch Times. May 18, 2021 Updated: May 18, 2021. See also: “Relieved Space Force Commanding Officer: ‘I Condemn All Forms of Extremism’” by Janita Kan.  The Epoch Times, May 18, 2021 Updated: May 18, 2021. See also, “Space Force Officer’s Book on Marxism in the Military Reaches No. 1 on Amazon After He’s Relieved,” by Jack Phillips. The Epoch Times, May 17, 2021 Updated: May 18, 2021. All at https://www.theepochtimes.com.

(28) In Lohmeier’s book, and also in a Hannity interview on May 17, 2021, Lohmeier describes the military and the Secretary of Defense’ statement about being against extremism and discrimination of any kind within the military. But later, in contradiction to this, “videos were sent out to every base service member in preparation for Downdays where extremism and discussions on race” would be addressed, and stated the country was evil, was founded in 1619, not 1776, and all whites are inherently evil.

(29) Pat Williams, Extreme Dreams Depend on Teams (Nashville: Hashette Book Group, Center Street, 2009), 97. Cited in Hope for the Present Crisis, Michael Yousseff, p. 68.

(30) Steven K. Scott, The Greatest Words Ever Spoken: Everything Jesus said about you, your life, and everything else.” (Waterbrook Press, 2008) 7.

(31) “From Thomas Jefferson to Levi Lincoln, 25 October 1802.” https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-38-02-0513

(32) How the West Really Lost God, Mary Eberstadt (Templeton Press; First edition, April 1, 2013); cited in GFA World magazine, “We Need Tracks to Stay on Course,” K. P. Yohannan (GFA World, Inc., Willis Point, TX) p. 23.

(33) Wallace, “Updated,” quoting Mark M. Gray, “Young People Are Leaving the Faith. Here’s Why,” Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, 2016. Research by CARA National Study (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) http://coldcasechristianity.com/2018/are-young-people-really-leaving-christianity. From a study of Catholic Church youth 15–25 who left their church. The figures parallel studies of defecting youth from other Christian denominations.