For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV)
Last Saturday was yet another attempt to assassinate President Trump and, possibly, those around him. While the chattering class talks about this through the lens of finances for security, or control of deadly weapons, or left verses right, ultimately there was a man who made the choice to do this. As the investigation continues we may learn more about his motives, but, I believe the conclusions in the following article are truthful. What happens when people have nothing stronger than politics to give their lives meaning? Our culture often denigrates things like marriage, children, parenthood, faith, duty, patriotism, and responsibility which give people rootedness, and then wonder why they end up in extremism, manifestos, and violence. As you read this article by M.A. Rothman, I invite you to look past the politics in the article, and hear the heart of God calling us to a better way.
The deepest analysis of the [White House Correspondents’ Dinner] ass∗ssination attempt has not come from cable news. It came from attorney and commentator Mehek Cooke…
“𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
“𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.”
𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐀 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐨𝐛. 𝐀 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐀 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞. No wife. No children. No church. No duty. No covenant relationship with anything older than himself. He had a Bluesky account and an idea that history was about to assign him a role.
“𝘈 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, ’𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.’ 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺.”
Cooke walks through who actually benefits from broken people becoming political fuel:
“𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘓𝘔. 𝘖𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴, 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦.”
“𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.”
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.
“𝘈 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.”
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭. 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯. 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘋𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱.”
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘮.”
𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧.
𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡. 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤. 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐲. Rebuild those, and the manifestos stop selling.*
God,
Help us see you as the Way, the Truth, the Life, and our Purpose in living. May we share this Good News with those around us and bring Hope and Light to our world.
We ask this in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6 NKJV)
*https://x.com/MichaelARothman/status/2048565684637139140?s=20&fbclid=IwY2xjawRcdTNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFsbU5JWno4RFpBWmtFdkgyc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHl1Xhs7Ru06PrwyqHdBMtUMC6iC177xYanPCS2WKjw7A_K5uQzOL0BDsQWfS_aem_Dvu_z9p7jtZIXvcadKTX1A