Frequently people ask for my thoughts on the US Senate race.  I was a judge at one of the candidate forums, but there’s always so much more we want to know.

As a former candidate myself, I want to assure you that candidates like to be asked questions.  If they don’t want to answer questions, they shouldn’t run for office.   Being a candidate means one must answer questions—a lot of questions!

Candidates should give out their phone numbers and tell us where they live.  If a candidate doesn’t want to share this information, that is a red flag that this person may be unqualified for office.  Being in office involves representing the people, which means we offer our constituents access to us.

Personal integrity is the only way our Country can work.  Companies make location decisions based on the quality of the workforce available.  The quality of the workforce has to do with the work ethic they possess.  It’s all about integrity.

What is the value of a word?  People used to buy real estate on just a handshake.  That standard isn’t recognized anymore.  A handshake means nothing in a court of law.  Yet, there is hope for the future if we want to reclaim the values that made our Nation strong.

The idea of trade sounds good on the surface.  We all like to have neighbors and trade our stuff for theirs.  Specialization propelled our prosperity.

However, now many trade deals have shipped our most productive jobs overseas and thereby, sent some of our prosperity away.   Some of these trades further enrich and prop up hostile foreign dictatorships.

There is a moral component to where we direct our finances.  Is that what we want to do with our money?

Some people are trying to tear down our historic monuments because we don’t want anything that could remind us of the era when our Country allowed slavery.  Yet we support slavery when it comes to slaves from other countries, particularly China, making goods for us to buy at cheap prices.

Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of success at doing something that doesn’t really matter.

So many good activists and patriots are exhausted by living in a state of frantic living instead of enjoying abundant lives.  If the Devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy—too busy to be any good for others.  Ultimately, we will feel starved and unfulfilled in our lives.

We all know we should do something to make the world a better place, but what happens when we’re spread too thin?  The answer is not to lop off everything, but to take time to stay refreshed with what brings meaning and joy in our lives. 

The theme for this year is “Unity”.  I love that idea and know that God loves that idea as well.  Racism is not a skin problem.  It’s a sin problem.  It is very beautiful and Nationally defining when we have desire to come together and ask God for help.

Don’t let yourself be discouraged about our current condition.  Your attendance is not for others as much as it is a statement about trusting God to listen and act.  Why not take our problems and requests to the One who can change things and speak to Him as a group?

Shortly after the last school shooting in Florida, we watched public forums to discuss remedies for school violence.  The wrath of the left-leaning, anti-second amendment activists came down hard on the N.R.A. (National Rifle Association).  Curiously, the Gun Owners of America escaped the fury.  When I asked Larry Pratt, the Executive Director about this, he said it’s because they don’t negotiate.

You’d think these anti-gun activists would be more interested in attacking the Gun Owners of America, but perhaps they were concerned that their target would be too broad.  Just the name implies a broader base.

It’s remarkable what we can accomplish when we band together to help each other.  Many parents have tried going to school board meetings, tried to elect more “family-friendly” school board members and tried political activism, but these techniques have rendered little more than temporary placation.  Many parents will get a token pat on the back or a lecture on how to get used to it.  It’s heartbreaking to watch the sex ed curricula in public schools destroy a child’s conscience, not knowing what we can do.

Schools harm children when they promote sex education that is opposite from good morals and family values.  Most sex ed curriculum teaches homosexuality, pornography, promiscuity and “all things deviant” to the most innocent citizens among us.  It is a crying shame and we must fight back!

This week in church we sang, “Jesus Lover of My Soul”.  On the way home from church my son asked me, “What does that mean to fly into someone’s bosom?”  A few weeks ago we sang “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” and he asked me, “What does that mean when an angel’s prostate falls?”  When we recite words by rote memorization, it’s easy to disregard the meaning.

I’m glad a 14-year-old boy is paying that much attention to what the adults are saying.  Wouldn’t it be great if everyone thought about what we are doing instead of blindly accepting the status quo?

One of the reasons we have our Country today is because independent thinkers considered the situation with the Motherland and decided it was time to go a different direction.  There’s a time to conform to the norm and there’s a time to shake off the old ways when they no longer reflect reality or are no longer meaningful.

The battle for our freedoms will happen in our living rooms and dining rooms.  We will reap what we sow.  Many of us knew the culture was changing, but we may not have realized the implications until the next generation gets in control of the Country.

Never was this more obvious than observing the events of this year.  Would we ever believe law enforcement officers would fail to enter the building to protect the kids?  Would we ever believe a shooter could walk out of the building and buy a drink at a local sandwich shop before anyone removed him from the streets?  Would we believe some students, instead of protesting the failure of law enforcement to protect them, would be staging protests and walkouts to fight against their own Constitutional right to bear arms?