MikeSlater
Politics • Spirituality/Belief • Culture
Better Is The House of Mourning
Politics By Faith, August 5, 2024
August 05, 2024

Some of the finest people I know are dealing with unbearable loss right now. I don't know what grieving looks like in this magnitude. Ecclesiastes 7:2 is where I turned this morning. And I love this line form Spurgeon, "The heart is made better by sorrow because it is made more free from earth."


Welcome to Politics by Faith brought to you by the Patriot Gold Group. Maybe an aside from politics here, this does have a political connection to it, but I don't want to share the details of that yet for fear of speaking out of turn. Some of the greatest people I've ever known. Just the countryest of country people in all the best ways imaginable. I'm not exaggerating if an alien came from outer space and said show me the quintessential American family. As country as can be. The country's people ever. The dad had CBCS tattooed across his back in huge letters. Country boy can't survive. They're the kindest, most generous, loving, adventuresome, live life to the fullest people

0:01:12
I've ever met. I cannot sing their praises enough and there was a period in my life where I needed them and they were for many years and they were just integral in it and their son just passed away. He was maybe 20 and I don't want to share the details it feels gossipy at this point but just know that it was unjust. This is how life and politics goes when you're going into politics and who's Kamala's VP pick and then poof. Something like this just slams you in the face. It's not my kids, imagine how they feel. It's like oh, nothing else matters I don't know how you get through this I don't know how you get through the death of a child I do not know at all I just you know we had gratitude Monday

0:02:17
segment yesterday someone just sent me an email I'll give you the very short of it he crafted this email this is a crafted email is a story that he beautifully told. It started off with, did you get those bad kids yet? I'm on my way to get those horrible children. He says, of course, my wife and I are joking when we say this, but it's a common pair of phrases between us as we head to work to grab our kids.

And his wife is pregnant with their fifth kid. And they, let me read this, today, like every other day with our four young kids, it started off in chaos. And then they went to the 20-week test. When the technician began the ultrasound, I found it odd that our baby wasn't active like he'd been during the previous ultrasounds.

0:02:56
The tech only did three of what would have been dozens of measurements before she told us he was small and excused herself from the room. After a good amount of time, we were asked to go to a different department to speak with a doctor. When the doctor came into the room, you could have heard a pin drop. She informed us that our son's heart was not beating.

0:03:13
Sometime between our last checkup five weeks ago and today his heart stopped. My wife broke down. As a man and as a husband I never felt more empty, frustrated, and useless as I did at that moment. Ashton was scheduled to be removed for later in that afternoon. While I was sitting next to my wife in the waiting room a conversation from the movie Lucky Number Slevin came into my head. It's between Slevin and the rabbi after

Slevin refers to himself as unlucky and he sent over the text. I found the clip

0:03:47
here. Well if I must. Do you know for what reason you've been brought here?

0:03:52
For starters I'm unlucky. You're lucky and nothing more than a frame of

0:03:56
reference for the lucky Mr. Fisher. You are unlucky so that I may know that I am not. Unfortunately, the lucky never realize they are lucky until it's too late. Take yourself for instance. Yesterday you were better off than you are today, but it took today for you to realize it. But, today has arrived, and it's too late. You see? People are never happy with what they have.

0:04:19
They always want what they had, what someone else has.

0:04:24
I said yesterday was a normal day for us. Today was one of the worst days of my life. And it took today for me to realize just how absolutely amazing my horrible children are. Life is such a blessing and I'm truly grateful for the life God has blessed me with. We just got home about an hour or so ago. My wife is safe and time will heal our heartbreak.

0:04:48
We both made the comment on the way home that we can't wait to get back to our kids. I may not get to meet Ashton James in the next life, but I know where he is. I know that he's safe, yes, and I look forward to seeing him in the next. This is a roundabout way of getting to the gratitude aspect of my email, but I'm grateful that tragedy and loss is not the end, but simply a different route through life. The end for me is known, Evan.

0:05:12
It's the path that will vary. How about that? So sorry you're going through that Brian. It's pretty amazing that you landed so quickly on that conclusion and there'll be more time of grief of course but that's you got to that point pretty quick. I mean he's for the kids so this is a great opportunity to show them how to grieve well, too. But you got to that working conclusion pretty quickly.

0:05:45
Maybe there's difference,

0:05:46
there's gotta be some difference, right,

0:05:47
between even a 20-week pregnancy loss to a 20-year-old loss. This is the strongest, back to my friends, it's the strongest family I know. Grieving is different for everyone.

0:06:05
I pray they can one day make it to something that looks like that from that email I got from Brian. But what do I know? I don't know what's right.

0:06:16
I don't know. I do know. It's one thing I do know.

0:06:19
I know that a moment like this, a tragedy like this, can either make someone run away from God or run to God. That I know. Second Chronicles 3.11. So the Lord brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

0:06:53
And in his distress Manasseh ran away from God, nope, sought the favor of the Lord his God and earnestly humbled himself before God, before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the Lord received his plea and heard his petition. Manasseh ran to God. And I pray that these friends of mine will run to God too. I think they will. I think they will. Two scriptures come to mind. Let me start with this one. Ecclesiastes 7.2 says,

0:07:20
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. That's something. I read a Spurgeon sermon about this, try to get a better understanding of this line. It's better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. No one would say that. That's why the Bible is so wonderful.

0:07:46
It's the opposite of what everyone would say. Everyone in the world would say, well, of course you're going to go to the house of feasting. You're going to go to the house of happiness, the house of joy. And the Bible says, no, no, no, better to go to the house of mourning. Why?

0:07:55
Well, if you go to the house of feasting, you'll never be alone. There's no question about that. But eventually you'll look around at the company. And the company's not good. Spurgeon says, I would rather go to the house of mourning with the children of God. I would rather be chained in a dungeon, wrist to wrist with a Christian, than I would live

0:08:16
forever with the wicked in the sunshine of happiness. The company I meet makes me suspect that it is true that the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting." And then he says, all right, well, let's head over to the house of mourning. Let's see what it's like over there. He says, there it is, a gloomy place, a steep rock covered with moss, and we must go there.

0:08:40
The great fisher, Destiny, stands there, and with hook in each man's flesh, he drags us on where he pleases. There's an iron chain that links us all together and binds us in the bonds of everlasting destiny. And go we must where the chain drags us. We cannot resist and we must go to the houses of mourning. Sorry, I'm thinking of my friends, happiest people I've ever met.

0:09:03
It's unbelievable. All the memories I've had, just happy, huge, huge, constant smile and laughing all the time, all the time. Joy and suffering. I'll share more another day when I know more. But just joy and suffering in their life.

0:09:23
That I've known. Nothing like this. Suffering. But...

0:09:29
Anyways, Spurgeon says,

0:09:31
I say that some of you may be suffering the loss of your friend. And you may be saying, no others have suffered as I have. Say not so. There have been others who have been quite as sorely bereaved as you have been. The path of sorrow has been well trodden. Princes have been there. Nobles have been there.

0:09:46
Earls and dukes have jostled in the crowd with the poor man who had nothing to lose but one child and his yet unburied wife." Spurgeon says, and Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, what Spurgeon says, that it is good for the soul to go to the house of mourning every single day, one place in particular, in the garden of Gethsemane, where the mighty Jesus, the Son of God, bent his knees in agony and wrestled with his Father. He said to his disciples, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death, and as sweat as it were

0:10:15
great drops of blood falling down to the ground. It is better to go to Gethsemane, the house of mourning, than any place of feasting in the world. We know that the Egyptians at every feast had a skeleton at the end of the table, and they were wise men if they thought rightly of it. It is great wisdom to make death our everyday companion.

0:10:33
Wow.

0:10:34
The horses that they use in war are at first very much afraid of the smoke and the noise, but I'm told that they take those horses into the barracks yard first and fire into their faces with powder until they're so used to it that they will easily go into the battle. I said, well, how about that for an imagery? More like a scared, skittish horse, naturally. But then you get, you taste, you taste this pain

0:11:00
and you become stronger. That's that imagery, right? But check this back to Ecclesiastes. So again, Ecclesiastes 7-2, it's better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting.

0:11:11
For this is the end of all mankind, like everyone will die, and the living will lay it to heart. What does that mean? The living will lay it to heart. Meaning, even if you're alive and you go to the house of mourning, good things happen

0:11:22
there. Why? If you go to the house of feasting, there is nothing there to lay to heart. It's all froth. It's lighter than vanity. It's a bubble.

0:11:34
Touch it and it vanishes. But in the house of mourning, there is something solemn, which will bear to be touched and still endure. It's real. There's a place to put your heart. You can lay your heart out on something that is real and not something that is fake. Like in the house of feasting. I'll end with this. It is positively a good thing for us to be sad.

0:11:57
When the strings that bind heart to earth are cut. Oh, this is so good. When the strings that bind heart to earth are cut, then we can soar. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, think of the loss of the sun. That is a string that is binding your heart to the earth. When that string is cut, then we can soar.

0:12:18
We are chained to earth, but there is a water in these eyes, which, like aqua fortis, nitric acid, can eat away the iron and set us free. The heart is made better by sorrow, because it is made more free from earth. It is made better by sorrow again, because it becomes more sensitive, more impressed with the lessons of God's word.

0:12:48
We can shut our ears to the voice of God in mirth, happiness, but in the house of mourning we can hear every whisper. The noise of the song does drown the still small voice of God, but in the house of mourning you can hear every footfall, even the voice of time, the ticking of the clock, which says now, now, now.

0:13:11
Wow. You never know when. Do you have any other advice during grief? My email is slaterradio at gmail.com. What would your advice be to this family? Again, for now, without the details, I can just say it was an unjust loss. It was an unjust loss. What's your advice? SlaterRadio at gmail.com is my email. I can just say it was an unjust loss. It was an unjust loss. What's your advice? SlaterRadio at gmail.com is my email. MikeSlater.Locals.com is the website and the transcript is there and it's commercial free.

 

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Jason DeFord, aka Jelly Roll, won a few Grammys this weekend. And then he got in front of a group of pagans and talked about Jesus. Jason seems to be an example of the fruit of righteousness that Hebrews 12 writes about.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. I saw the Grammys. I didn't see the Grammys yesterday. I saw that the Grammys took place yesterday and that a one performer known as Jelly Roll won three Grammys, Best Country Duo, Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance, and Best Contemporary Country Album for Beautifully Broken. Here he is during his acceptance speech in front of a bunch of pagans. 

I know they're going to try to kick me off here, so just let me try to get this out. First of all, Jesus, I hear you, and I'm listening, Lord. I am listening, Lord. Second of all, I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would have never changed my life without you. I'd have ended up dead or in jail. 

I'd have killed myself if it wasn't for you and Jesus. I thank you for that. I thank you for my label, Broken Bow. Country radio, baby! What's up, dawg? Oh, Republic, John McNeely, we did it, baby. 

There was a time in my life, y 'all, that I was broken. That's why I wrote this album. I didn't think I had a chance, y 'all. There was days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio the same size and a six -by -eight -foot cell, and I believed that those two things could change my life. 

I believed that music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life. And I want to tell y 'all right now, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus, and anybody can have him. have a relationship with him. 

I love you, Lord. 

" Read Hebrews 12 this morning. For consider him, consider Jesus, who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. " You think you have it bad? Let me tell you the story of Jesus. The Bible says, you have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. Jelly Roll, Jason DeFord, this is his real name. 

I don't like calling people by their silly nicknames, but Jason was in prison from a very young age, 16. Jail for aggravated robbery, drug charges, in and out a couple of different times. We were just, maybe an episode or two ago, We talked about Proverbs 27 .6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. We just did an episode about Alex Preddy in Minnesota, how if he was arrested the first time he got involved in law enforcement, like he should have been, then it could have saved his life. It could have prevented him from being involved in with ICE either a second or a third time, which was the final time before he was killed. 

And we talked about how punishment is good. Discipline is good. And I just read this morning. Hebrews 12. First of all, every sermon I've ever heard about Hebrews 12, it's always on the first part about how Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. And that's a great part. 

But I've never heard a sermon go a little further down in the text. Hebrews 12 .5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loves. He chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. 

When you're going through tough times, here's the authors of Hebrew saying, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten? Don't forget that God is in control of everything. Proverbs 3 11 says, my son, do not despise the Lord your God. or be weary of his reproof for the Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights. Chastening from the Lord is love. 

Webster's dictionary, 1828. I looked at the word chastening because we don't use that in our normal language. Chastening means to correct by punishing, to inflict pain by stripes or in other manner for the purpose of punishing an offender and recalling him to his duty. to reduce to order or obedience, to restrain, to repress, to correct, to purify by expunging faults, as to chastise a poem. So I imagine you write a poem and then you chastise it by making it better, improving it, cutting out words, purifying it. But to people too, the Lord does that, God does that to us. 

Why? 

Because he loves us. Back to Hebrews 12 verse seven, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. " Let's jump to verse 11. Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 

Wow. Jelly Roll, I don't know his entire biography, but clearly he made, he grew up in a terrible home and made bad choices as a youngin, and he paid for it. He was punished properly. And I bet he would say, thank you, God, for the punishment. Thank you for sending me to prison. And Jesus turned his life around. 

We all will experience hard times. We will be punished. God is in control. and it's not pleasant in the moment, but it can yield the fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Spurgeon said, many believers are deeply grieved because they do not at once feel that they have been profited by their afflictions. Right? 

So we had something terrible happen. I've been, I've been chastened by the Lord. Great. Or I mean, terrible, but okay. I get it. Hebrews 12. 

Okay, great. Where's my fruit? I'm ready. Ready for the fruit. Ready for the, uh, where are the good times? Imagine if Jason DeFord was like, all right, God, I went to jail a couple of times, but now I'm out. 

Where's my Grammy? It's like, nah, it's not. And Spurgeon said, well, you do not expect to see apples or plums on a tree, which you have planted, but a weak, only little children put their seeds into the garden and then expect to see them grow into plants in an hour. But you must trust God that the fruit of righteousness will come. If, if you follow Jesus and have been trained by it, if you learn your lesson, and if you do that, everyone can experience the joy of redemption. Just as Jason DeFord said there, Jesus is for everyone. 

And you can experience that joy of redemption. Everyone can the same way that Jason DeFord not only feels it, but knows it. And is so grateful for it that he will go in front of a group of pagans and proclaim the name of Jesus. Mike Slater . locals . com.  Transcript and commercial free on the website. Mike Slater . locals .

 

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Don Lemon and the Brood of Vipers
Politics By Faith, January 30, 2026

Don Lemon, along with other rioters, was arrested yesterday. He'll play the victim card and tell you that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are under assault. Don't fall for the lies from vipers.

I can't tell the kids not to practice the piano. I can't all day to practice the piano, kids. And then all of a sudden, hey, can you not practice the piano? So he will have to serenade us as this episode goes on. Don Lemon was arrested among other rioters from attacking that church a couple of weeks ago in Minneapolis. You may remember just to jog your memory here. 

Here is one of the rioters who was arrested as well. He's standing right in front of the pastor. 

You get the idea. 

There's a couple dozen people in there. This is the second service of the day. They were just in there pretending to be like a brood of vipers. Pretending to be visitors. And then they all stood up at the same time and did this whole thing. So I don't exactly know what Don Lemon is charged with, but there was talk of charging with the FACE Act. 

And I think we've talked about this before, how just beautifully poetic this is, because the FACE Act passed in 1994 was used as a weapon by the Biden administration against pro -life Christians. And part of the FACE Act, I thought it was the entirety of the FACE Act, but only part. It prohibits the use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone obtaining or providing reproductive health services. So you can't get in the way of anyone getting an abortion. I thought that's what it was, but there's another part of the FACE Act. Also still same thing past 1984 that says this all the same stuff, but you can't prevent anyone from exercising their right to religious freedom at a place of worship. 

Bridges. what they did there. get it out of the public square, and you can just have it in your church. And enough Christians are like, I'm okay. Thanks for letting us have it in our church. They don't want it in your church either. 

This may be a good moment to play this video here. There's a little comedic relief as we continue on here. 

Yeah, Don Lemon knew better than to go to a black church. He would have never tried that. It would have been a totally different scenario that would have happened. Totally different outcome. Because we don't play about stuff like that. You're not going to come in and you think he would have got an interview? 

Are you kidding me? He wouldn't have got past the aunties at the front. They would have shut that down. He's not even getting in through the front door. Yeah, we don't play the in the name of Jesus. He wouldn't have got in. 

We're talking about dudes reformed from the streets, given the testimony aunties never gave up on them. You're going to assert yourself into that situation, but I'll be I'm scared to have my phone on ring when I when I'm at church. This is a different it's a different atmosphere. You know, I don't even want to say what would have happened that day, but a lot of righteous indignation would have went down. We would have righteously indignated that whole situation, shut it all down. 

That is very funny. I want to talk on this episode today about Brood of Vipers. A lot of snake imagery in the Bible from the very beginning. One of my favorites is Acts 28, when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire. A viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. Didn't just give a quick little bite, but it stuck on his hand. 

He just shook it off. And the people said, oh, you must be a God. The snakes in the Bible, just like snakes in real life, hiding. John called the Pharisees a brood of vipers, John the Baptist, which is a very, a brood. A brood is just a group of people. just means family of but it sounds very evil doesn't a brood just have to say it like that you know no one's ever like oh there's a brood of chickens over there it's always a brood and our broods always vipers a brood of vipers jesus and john 844 said unbelieving jews belong to their father the devil let me read this here you brood of vipers how are you to escape being sentenced to hell that's what jesus said Here's an analysis. 

being consumed. Snakes fleeing the fire was a common sight, and Jesus's words to the Pharisees would likely have been called into mind. How could they think they would escape the fire of God's judgment by relying on their own works, which were not at all honest or good? John's and Jesus's calling them a brood of vipers was meant to make them aware of their own wickedness and to call them to repent. A viper in this context is someone who's hypocritical, self -righteous, unrepentant sin. This is Don Lemon doing an interview a couple days after he rioted in the church. 

And there's a certain degree of entitlement. 

I think people who are, you know, in religious groups like that, it's not the type of Christianity that I practice. Tell me more about the type of Christianity you practice, Don Lemon, you and your husband. But I think that they're entitled and that that entitlement comes from a supremacy, a white supremacy. And they think that this country was built for them, that it is a Christian country when actually we left England because we wanted religious freedom. It's religious freedom, but only if you're a Christian and only if you're a white male. Does anyone really think that the founding father, not the founding father, the founding grandfather, the pilgrims, does anyone think the pilgrims came to America so that one day Somalis could be free to worship Allah? 

Is that what this is? I got a book right here. I don't even know how this book got here. The kids must have put it on the desk. It's called The American Puritans. It's a great book. 

Highlights five different great of our founding grandfather. No more than that. Ten nine. William Bradford, John Winthrop, John Cotton, Thomas Hooker, Thomas Shepard and Bradstreet, John Elliott, Samuel Willard and Cotton Mather. These guys came over here so that one day people could be free to worship Allah. 

Not ridiculous. 

But that's where this whole freedom from religion. That's where it all that's what it turns into. It's freedom, freedom, separation of church and state, which is totally backwards. And then freedom of religion turns into freedom from religion turns into, I'm going to riot and say, of your church so you can't practice your religion, turns into our founding fathers were here because they wanted everyone to be Islam. 

Pretty much. And so, yeah, I absolutely 100%, but it's an intimidation tactic. And, you know, I said, I don't understand how I've become the face of it when I was a journalist. I do understand that I'm the biggest name there. And I'm also, as I was on with my producers this morning, you know, you and Kylie talk all the time. My producers were saying, I said, how did I become the face of this? 

And my producers said, Don, you're a gay black man in America. 

Oh, yeah. Always a victim. Always a victim. Here's a good example of it. This is Don Lemon in the middle of the riot inside the church. It's a riot. 

It can be a protest outside the church. The second you cross into the church with this intention, it becomes a riot. Here he is interviewing the pastor in the middle of the chaos. Keep in mind, just a couple of weeks before this happened, a couple of months, I believe it was, I think it was like July. There was a transgender murderer who killed two children and injured dozens more and traumatized hundreds more in a church in Minneapolis. Surely this was on their minds. 

So we have these rioters blocking the doors so parents couldn't get to their kids in the other part of the building, screaming in their faces, you're a Nazi, your pastor's a Nazi, screaming at the kids. So it's a satanic stuff. And here's Don Lemon interviewing the pastor. 

What do you think of this? 

I mean, this is unacceptable. 

It's shameful. It's shameful to, to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship. 

But there were folks who will say, I have to take care of my flock. 

Listen, we live in a, there's a constitution in the first amendment to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest. 

We're here to worship. 

Obviously not inside of a church, the church in the middle of the service, Don. 

We're here to worship Jesus because that's the hope of these cities. That's the hope of the world is Jesus Christ. 

I want to be very respectful, but please don't push me though. 

We're here to worship Jesus. That's why we're here. That's why we're here. That's what we're about. Don't you think Jesus would be understanding and love these folks? We're about spreading the love of Jesus. 

But did you try to talk to them as a Christian? 

No one is willing to talk. 

Okay. 

I have to take care of my church and my family, so I ask that you actually would also leave this building. 

You don't want us to chronicle whatever? 

Unless you're here to worship. 

Unless you're here to worship. 

I'm always worship. 

I'm a Christian. 

Well, we're here to worship. 

We're here to worship. 

Okay. 

Thank you very much. So in the interview, Don Lemon's leaning into this guy and the pastor here, I can't even express it, lightly places his fingertips on Don Lemon's arm. 

And that's when Don Lemon says, don't touch me. Because that's the hope of these cities. 

That's the hope of the world is Jesus Christ. 

I want to be very respectful. 

Please don't push me though. 

Don't push me. The pastor's leaning backwards because Don Lemon's in his face. So Don Lemon's in his face, the pastor's leaning backwards, he puts his hand ever so lightly, it's fingertips. Don't push me, always a victim. Breaks into his church, false pretenses, gets in his face while there's danger, it's a very dangerous situation. Don't touch me, don't push me, don't push me. 

The woman who organized this all, the Black Lives Matter rioter, she was arrested too and she was handcuffed and she later said she felt like a slave, always a victim. And this is the problem with this too. This is part of their, I'm not touching. I'm not touching. Every little kid does this to their brother or sister, right? I'm not touching. 

I'm not touching to get a rise out of you. This is part of their trick. They want you to react and then they're instantly the victim. Don Lemon, when he gets out of prison or whatever, he's going to come out and just talk about what a victim he is. Oh, it's so terrible. So they got you coming and going. 

It's part of the trick. So you're just supposed to do the right thing. The solution for you if you're in this position is just to do the right thing. Don't worry about what they want you to do or don't want you to do, or you're trying to think, no, just do the right thing. All right, back to the Bible. He said, therefore, to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, John the Baptist, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come, bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. 

For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now, the axe is laid to the roots, to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Brood of vipers, son of the devil, John says, wrath is on the way. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. 

You cannot escape the wrath unless you repent. That's it. It's the only way to escape. God will forgive your sins and remove his wrath. The Bible says there's no more condemnation for those who repent and receive forgiveness. Being a Brutiviper in the Brutivipers, son of the devil, your father is the devil, Jesus and John the Baptist all saying the same thing here. 

You must repent. 

You must make Jesus Lord of your life. We'll end with that pastor in a more calm setting, claiming the only solution to all the problems in the world. Yeah, you know, my message for Don Lemon, my message for the agitators is that one thing I think that we have in common with at least some of the people who came into our building is that we're heartbroken over what's happening in our cities right now. There's a lot of pain in our cities, and we need healing. We're asking for God to send healing. and we believe that healing comes ultimately in Jesus Christ. 

And so what I preach, what we preach, is that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. And so my message to those agitators, my message to the governor of our state, to the state attorney general, my message to both mayors of our cities is to turn from your sin, Trust in Jesus Christ and be safe. 

He is our only hope. MikeSlater . Locals . com. Transcripts commercial free on the website MikeSlater .

 

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Punishment Saves Lives
Politics By Faith, January 29, 2026

We now have video of another attack on law enforcement from Alex Pretti. His death could have been avoided if he had been arrested the first time. We've been told punishment is bad. Yet the Bible says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend."

Welcome to Politics by Faith, thanks for being here. What a week it's been in Minnesota. Been thinking a lot about the lies that people believed in Minnesota this last week. And we've been told four stories in just the last two weeks. You had Rene Good, the elderly man let outside without a shirt on, the five -year -old who was arrested, and then this pretty guy who was just a guy getting donuts. None of it, none of those four stories turned out to be what we were first told. 

And so many people fell for it all right from the beginning. So many people led by emotion and not the truth, not facts, not having any discernment. Gullible Christians. We recorded the TV show episode yesterday, and we had a wonderful guest on who wrote a piece recently about the gullible Christian. And he went into beautiful detail. I'll save that for when we release that here on the podcast, probably tomorrow. 

But he spoke beautifully about how the Bible doesn't say anything about avoiding what's uncomfortable. Church discipline is uncomfortable. But of course you need to do it. Proverbs 21 15 justice is a joy to the righteous, but terror to evil doers means evil doers won't like it. It's a terror to them. So what are we just supposed to not have justice? 

And you may. So, so if you're the evil doer, you don't like the justice because that means you're going to go to jail. And we have more and more of a society that doesn't like giving justice. I mean, like, oh, I feel bad for that person. Let's not convict them. Let's let them out for the millionth time. 

Let's give them another chance. after he's already been arrested a hundred times. 

What is this? 

This is not how this is supposed to go. I thought of the scripture, Proverbs 27, 6, faithful are the wounds of a friend. I thought of this when I saw the video that was just released of Pretty, it's the guy who was killed by ICE or federal agents this last Saturday. And a new video came out of him 11 days prior and another altercation with law enforcement. He was getting in their face, screaming at them, just rage saying, assault me, assault me. 

Swear words spit in their direction. And as one of the ICE vehicles was driving away, he kicked it multiple times. And one of the kicks knocked the taillight out, which is a pretty good kick. And then the agents got out and they knocked him over and then they let him go. And as he was getting up, you could see the gun in his back pocket. We also found out a couple of days ago that he had another engagement with law enforcement where he broke a rib. 

I don't think this was that same engagement. So maybe it was, but so that means there could be three different engagements that this guy had with law enforcement, at least two of them with a gun. I don't think this is this, but there's a certain point where suicide by cop is on the table. I don't think that's what was going on here, but we're getting very close to that. And you're very far away from innocent guy leaving a donut shop who just got caught up in it. But that's what we're talking about. 

Renee Good. She was just dropped her kid off at school and she was just driving home and she made a wrong turn and got caught in traffic. No, no, no. But I thought if this was the first time that this guy was involved in law enforcement, if he was arrested that time, His life could have been saved, as is often the case. I saw an article in the Telegraph in England. The headline was, Freed Prisoners Commit Record Number of Violent Crimes. 

The Chief Inspector of Probation ordered his arrest. inspection as broken penal system fails to rehabilitate inmates. Somewhere along the line, we got this progressive idea that the only purpose of the penal system is to rehabilitate, and we just keep trying it. Like, well, he doesn't seem rehabilitated, but I don't know, let's just let him out anyway, see what happens. That's not the point of the penal system. The word penal is Latin, it means pain. 

means pain and punishment. So like the headline really should say the pain and punishment system is failing to rehabilitate. Well, yeah, that's not the point of it. It's the pain and punishment system. Back to the telegraph. Almost 900 serious crimes have been recorded in the last year as being committed by offenders under supervision of probation after being released from jail. 

Are you kidding me? It is the highest number since records began. Accounts for at least one murder and two rapes every week of the year. Every week, someone is murdered and two people are raped from a violent criminal who was released and on probation. And the article talks about this chief probation person who says, oh, we're just missing the warning signs. The warning sign was the first crime. 

One person, Jordan McSweeney, killed a 35 year old law graduate after being released from prison. This guy's had 28 previous convictions, 69 different offenses, and he was recorded as a medium risk. If that's a medium risk, What does it take to be a high risk? 28 convictions and you're a medium risk? Try to remember these numbers. This is in America. 

This is based off the state prison system in 2014. It's worse now, I'm sure. But in 2014, 75 % of people in state prison had five or more arrests. Five or more? How do you get to five? What is five strikes your out? 

What is that? 

5 % of people had 31 or more arrests. 

Come on. 

How do you get arrested 31 times? How can we allow someone to be arrested 31 times or more? New York times said that in 2022, a third of all the shoplifting arrests in New York city came from just 327 people. That 0 .004 % of the population was a third of all the shoplifting arrests. And these people have been arrested over 6 ,000 times. In Oakland, 400 people committed half of the city's homicides. 

That's 0 .1 % of the city, half of the homicides. Now, check out this fact. This is the most important point of all. They did a study of juveniles. They found that for every one police contact, and that doesn't even necessarily mean an arrest, for every one police contact, there were 25 crimes that that person committed, which never caught. Some juveniles had as many as 300 crimes for every police contact. 

Arresting criminals saves other victims, of course, and that's all you need. That's the only justification you need. And it can save the life of the person being arrested. Now, if it doesn't, that's fine. At least we kept them away from other people so they can't cause harm to them. They can't make their lives worse. 

But if it prevents this person from hurting themselves or putting themselves in further bad situations, puts their life perhaps on a redeemable track, then that's great. We don't need them to be out. You don't need to release them. If Alex Pretty was arrested the first time, probably wouldn't have been there the third time. He'd still be alive today. If someone talked to him, if someone told him the truth, faithful are the wounds of a friend. 

The true mark of a friend is that they will tell you the truth, even if it hurts. And the state can do that as well with punishment. Like, oh, you're not allowed to do that. You have to go to jail. That's the truth. And it can save their life. 

I've talked to people on the radio who were addicted and they got clean in jail. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. The kisses of an enemy are deceitful. The enemy tells you what you want to hear, even if they're lies. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. I read a great article, a sermon from Charles Spurgeon on this. 

Excuse my long quotation. Once I start with Spurgeon, where do you stop? He said, ah, brethren, when we were groaning under the chastening hand of Jesus, we thought him cruel. Do we think so ill of him now? So Jesus chastening you, he's rebuking you. It's cruel. 

Why are you being so cruel, Jesus? Oh, but do you think ill of him now? We conceived that he was wroth with us, means angry, and would be implacable, unable to be placated, unable to be not angry. How have our surmises proved to be utterly unfounded? The abundant benefit which we now reap from the deep plowing of our heart is enough of itself to reconcile us to the severity of the process. Precious is that wine which is pressed in the wine vat of conviction. 

Pure is that wine. gold which is dug from the mines of repentance. And bright are the pearls which are found in the caverns of deep distress. We might never have known such deep humility if He had not humbled us. We had never been so separated from fleshly trusting had He, not by His rod, revealed the corruption and disease of our heart. So great had we never been so separated from fleshly trusting. 

We find within us a strong and deep -seated attachment to the world and its sinful pleasures. Our heart is still prone to wander and our affections yet cleave to things below. Can we wonder then that it required a sharp knife to sever us at first from our lusts, which were then as dear to us as the members of our body? We loved these lusts. So foul the disease could only be healed by frequent drafts of bitter medicine. Let us detest the sin which rendered such rough dealing necessary. 

But let us adore the Savior who spared not the child for his crying. So great. So we wanted the sin. Jesus caught us away from it and we cried to keep it. It was like a part of our body. We loved it so much. 

We wanted to keep the sin and we kept crying like a baby who wants a toy. But Jesus did not stop doing what was good because he knew it was good. We didn't. Not at the time. Now we do. Hebrews 12, 6. 

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. Discipline, chastisement. Good. Good things. Hard things, but good things. And I'll end here with Spurgeon. 

We talked about how, you know, we don't like to be bothered with things. If someone came into your house and said, were sleeping at night and someone came into your house and shook you awake in the middle of the night, you'd be mad at them. But Spurgeon says, will the man who is asleep in a burning house murmur, complain at his deliverer for shaking him too roughly in his bed? Hey man, come on. Why are you bothering me? 

Uh, your house is on fire. 

Okay. 

Thank you very much. Would the traveler tottering on the brink of a precipice upbraid the friend who has startled him from his dream? and saved him from destruction. Would not the harshest words and the roughest usage be acknowledged most heartily as blows of love and warnings of affliction? Best of all, when we view these matters in the light of eternity, how little are these slight and momentary afflictions compared with the doom escaped or the bliss afterwards attained? Thank you to the hand that rescued us. 

Long afflicted, undismayed, in pleasure. Path secure, I strayed, and this false confidence that I'm living and everything's fine. I'm undismayed in my pleasure. Thou madest me feel thy chastening rod, and straight I turned unto my God. What thought has pierced my fainting heart? I blessed the hand that caused the smart. 

It taught my tears a while to flow, but saved me from eternal woe. Oh, hadst thou left me unchastised, thy precepts I had stifled. Thank you for correction, God. And we, led by sentimentality, led by emotions in the real world, shouldn't be thinking that punishment is bad. Punishment can be good. Punishment can save lives. 

Punishment can save souls. 

Faithful are the wounds of a friend. 

MikeSlater . Locals . 

com. Transcript, commercial free. 

On the website, MikeSlater .

 

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