The Titanic was the largest ship to enter into service at the time of its voyage. People were housed according to class and fare ranging from third to first class. The first-class section of the ship was modeled after the Ritz Carlton, complete with a grand staircase and fine restaurants. It was a magnificent vessel, and everyone was excited to travel.

       The craft was well built and in complete adherence with all safety regulations and guidelines; therefore, no one was prepared for the tragedy that awaited them. In fact, after the accident was 

investigated, the ship builders were not held liable for negligence; the disaster was determined to be an “act of God”. Even so, Lloyds of London Insurance honored their contracts and paid out millions of dollars for losses and damages.

       Many lives were lost in this terrible event when near midnight on April 14th, the Titanic hit an 

iceberg. Although it had been spotted prior to the collision, it was too late to reverse the engines. In less than three hours, the boat completely sank and less than one third of the passengers and crew survived as they clung to their lives in the lifeboats that were launched. Others drowned quickly in the frigid 28-degree waters. One of those passengers was Preacher John Harper. His powerful story has been told and retold many times over the years.

                                                                         AVAILABLE AT AMAZON

       “ . . . Four years after the tragedy at a Titanic survivor’s meeting in Ontario, Canada, one survivor 

recounted his interaction with Harper in the middle of the icy waters of the Atlantic. He testified he was clinging to ship debris when Harper swam up to him, twice challenging him with a biblical invitation to ‘believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ He rejected the offer once. Yet given the second chance and with miles of water beneath his feet, the man gave his life to Christ. Then as Harper succumbed to his watery grave, this new believer was rescued by a returning lifeboat. As he concluded his remarks at the Ontario meeting of survivors he simply stated, “I am the last convert of John Harper.”

Previous Blog...                   GOD BLESS THE USA                   6/30/2024
                                                                         Lee Greenwood

      Legendary Lee Greenwood has been in the media a lot these days. His phenomenal career was recently celebrated in May of this year when he was invited to perform a concert where he was honored. But Greenwood did not make his presentation all about himself. He used the event as a springboard to honor veterans. The concert DVD that was produced is being sold for $25 with the proceeds going to the “Helping a Hero” foundation that provides adapted homes for disabled vets.

       Born in 1942, Lee was raised by his grandparents, grew up on a farm in California, and started singing in church at the age of seven. He formed his first band when he was 20 and went on to carve out the most amazing career, becoming well known as an American country music singer-songwriter, 

releasing more than 20 major-label albums since 1962, and charting more than 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts.

       In an interview by Ramsey Campbell in 1993, Greenwood said he wrote God Bless the USA in 

response to his feelings about the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007. "I wanted to write it my whole life. When I got to that point, we were doing 300 days a year on the road, and we were on our fourth or fifth album on MCA. I called my producer, and I said I have a need to do this. I've
always wanted to write a song about America, and I said we just need to be more united." He also said the song wrote itself and that the lyrics flowed naturally from the music as a reflection of his pride to be American.

 

God Bless the USA
If tomorrow all the things were gone, I'd worked for all my life
And I had to start again, with just my children and my wife
I'd thank my lucky stars, to be living here today
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away

And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me
And I gladly stand up next to you, and defend her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land, God Bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee
Across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea
From Detroit down to Houston, and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart, and it's time we stand and say

That I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me
And I gladly stand up next to you, and defend her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land, God Bless the U.S.A.

       If ever we needed to make this song our prayer, it is now. Yes, Lord. 

Please forgive our sins and heal our land. God bless the USA.

      There’s been a lot of “buzz” lately about an independent film, 

released July 4th of this year called Sound of Freedom. It is based on a true story and was created and produced to expose the evils of sex-trafficking, going on in this country and around the world
  The film depicts the incredible true story of former federal government agent, Tim Ballard, turned vigilante who quits his job and 

embarks on a dangerous mission to rescue hundreds of children from sex traffickers.
       In a CBN interview, Tim Ballard explains, “Nobody was talking about human-trafficking and I was telling people these stories of things I was coming across and no one believed me. And it was like, ‘These are real kids.’
       “And really it was my wife on this . . . she grabbed me by the 

collar and said, ‘I will not let you jeopardize my salvation.’ [the 

actress during this scene said, ‘You quit your job and you go and rescue those kids.’] . . . I really put it into perspective: why are we here on this earth?
       “And then we jumped in and the operation--as the movie depicts--was extremely successful . . . it was actually bigger than Sound of Freedom was able to show.
       The star, Jim Caviezel, (the actor who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ), explains, “It is the fastest growing international crime network that the world has ever seen. It has already passed the 

illegal arms trade and soon it’s going to pass the drug trade.”
       The horrors of what is happening to these children and adults alike can hardly be grasped. The website, Human Trafficking Research states that individuals are exploited “. . . through threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, and/or deception . . . and include the practices of forced labor, debt bondage, domestic servitude, forced marriage, sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers . . .”
       There are also reports about people being used for organ harvesting, adrenochrome collection through torturous fear tactics, and medical experimentation. But of course there is push back among the elites who say such ideas are no ore than conspiracy theories. Even so, many are talking about these issues and more of these operations are coming to light each day in spite of the “woke”.
       And just to show how “woke” our society has become, Wikipedia reports that, “Sound of Freedom was completed in 2018 and a distribution deal was made with 20th Century Fox. However, that studio was purchased by the Walt Disney Company, which shelved the film. The filmmakers reportedly spent years trying to get the distribution rights back from Disney and take it to theaters.
       “[Producer] Verástegui approached Angel Studios with the release rights. Angel presented the film to an online group of 100,000 investors in its past projects called the Angel Guild, which gave it a "yes" vote within days. On March 30, 2023, Variety reported that Angel Studios had acquired the worldwide distribution rights . . . On May 12, it received a release date of July 4, 2023.”