1 00:00:04,690 --> 00:00:10,169 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church 2 00:00:10,169 --> 00:00:15,449 with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and 3 00:00:15,449 --> 00:00:22,989 faith. And today, I want to explore a longstanding political truth, and that is when government can 4 00:00:22,989 --> 00:00:30,910 no longer manage the law breaker, it will micromanage the law keeper. That is you and me. 5 00:00:30,910 --> 00:00:37,210 Have you noticed this phenomenon, dear listener? It is really apparent to all with eyes in their 6 00:00:37,210 --> 00:00:44,609 heads that federal, state, and local governments across America have abandoned their prime directive 7 00:00:44,609 --> 00:00:50,390 that is to maintain law and order. And this happens throughout history. That is when government 8 00:00:50,390 --> 00:00:57,649 no longer can manage the law breaker, it will micromanage the law keeper. It can't help itself. 9 00:00:57,649 --> 00:01:04,129 Oh, there is, for example, in America, we have evidence of this all around us, do we not? First 10 00:01:04,129 --> 00:01:11,549 of all, we understand that there's now no prosecution for theft. There's no prosecution for crime, whether 11 00:01:11,549 --> 00:01:18,849 it's egregious and major, or whether it's relatively incidental and minor, right? For example, we have 12 00:01:18,849 --> 00:01:26,849 Proposition 47 in California. It made theft of property valued under $950 a misdemeanor. 13 00:01:26,849 --> 00:01:34,950 Rather than a felony. And the predictable result is that most courts in California not only do not 14 00:01:34,950 --> 00:01:42,629 bring felony charges against someone who may shoplift goods or steal less than the stipulated amount, 15 00:01:42,769 --> 00:01:50,450 $950, but also they drop even the misdemeanor charges. In other words, thieves go off scot-free as 16 00:01:50,450 --> 00:01:59,349 long as it's under $950. And consequently, petty theft has exploded across the state. Oh, I'm shocked. 17 00:01:59,349 --> 00:02:09,030 How could that be? Large retailers like Safeway or Target or Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies, they have 18 00:02:09,030 --> 00:02:18,449 reported in that in 2016, at least, shoplifting increased from 15% to over 50% since voters approved 19 00:02:18,449 --> 00:02:26,710 Proposition 47. Organized retail theft is now flourishing, where gangs go in and steal items, 20 00:02:26,789 --> 00:02:32,370 which they've calculated beforehand, will amount to just less than $950. Funny how that works. 21 00:02:33,349 --> 00:02:39,849 Also then, we've seen that the illegal alien is the new untouchable. That's another factor in, 22 00:02:39,849 --> 00:02:47,650 indeed, crime exploding and government not being able to manage the lawbreaker because the illegal 23 00:02:47,650 --> 00:02:53,150 alien is the new untouchable. That is, our immigration policy has led to the illegal alien 24 00:02:53,150 --> 00:03:00,169 being untouchable by the criminal justice system. The Heritage Foundation reports the undeniable link 25 00:03:00,169 --> 00:03:08,150 between increasing illegal immigration and crime. Biden's policies have fostered crime ubiquitously. 26 00:03:08,150 --> 00:03:14,669 Mass parole for millions of aliens, for example. Two million aliens have been released into the 27 00:03:14,669 --> 00:03:20,830 nation's interior, many of whom have engaged in criminal activities. Thousands have prior 28 00:03:20,830 --> 00:03:26,289 criminal convictions, including assault, rape, and murder. In fact, the Department of Justice 29 00:03:26,289 --> 00:03:35,409 statistics reveal that 64% of federal arrests involve non-citizens, even though they comprise 30 00:03:35,409 --> 00:03:53,409 less than 7% of the total population. In fact, it is observed that immigrants are the most egregious 31 00:03:53,409 --> 00:04:01,370 of the victims of illegal immigration, for that matter. There's a 23% surge in deaths at the border 32 00:04:01,370 --> 00:04:08,409 since Biden took office, and a 58% surge since his former boss's administration, that is, the Obama 33 00:04:08,409 --> 00:04:15,430 presidency. Well, there is also the matter of unsolved crime, when government can no longer 34 00:04:15,430 --> 00:04:25,050 manage the lawbreaker. And we see that transpiring with the vast amount of unsolved crime. Crime in 35 00:04:25,050 --> 00:04:30,009 America has gotten so out of control that there's little hope of getting justice. When you do become 36 00:04:30,009 --> 00:04:41,730 a victim yourself. FBI stats tell us that just 62% of murders and 33% of rapes are ever solved. The rest 37 00:04:41,730 --> 00:04:50,029 go unsolved and just vanish into the mist with the victims of those crimes suffering. Even these stats 38 00:04:50,029 --> 00:04:59,829 can't be trusted, actually, since the FBI no longer requires major cities to report crime stats. Oh, yes. Did you 39 00:04:59,829 --> 00:05:08,949 know this? Cities like New York and Los Angeles and Chicago no longer even submit their crime stats. And so 40 00:05:08,949 --> 00:05:18,790 these cities, which find themselves under a sea change of crime in their cities, aren't even bothering to 41 00:05:18,790 --> 00:05:26,949 submit their reports. It's gotten so bad that only 42% of people victimized by crime, even with the stats 42 00:05:26,949 --> 00:05:35,790 we have, only 42% of people victimized by crime even bother to report the incidents to the police. Brother, 43 00:05:35,990 --> 00:05:44,649 when it comes to crime in major US cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, you are on your own. But don't 44 00:05:44,649 --> 00:05:52,589 you dare arm yourself either as a citizen because when governments can no longer manage the crime 45 00:05:52,589 --> 00:06:03,310 perpetrators, right? They micromanage the law keepers. But don't you dare arm yourself or carry in any of 46 00:06:03,310 --> 00:06:11,529 those crime infested rat holes any arm or you will be prosecuted for protecting yourself. Yes, unsolved crime 47 00:06:11,529 --> 00:06:17,410 in America is just further evidence that when government can no longer manage the law breaker, 48 00:06:17,410 --> 00:06:24,649 it will micromanage the law keeper. We've also seen in this regard, that is, that government can no longer 49 00:06:24,649 --> 00:06:33,129 manage the law breaker. We've seen that manifest in the defunding of the police. Oh, the police have 50 00:06:33,129 --> 00:06:40,230 been defunded, dear listener. How self-righteous is the progressive who marches and opines to defund the 51 00:06:40,230 --> 00:06:46,529 police, right? Oh, the racial minority that's been victimized for generations by brutal white cops. 52 00:06:47,009 --> 00:06:51,990 Shrink the police department, punch holes in that thin blue line, replace them with community 53 00:06:51,990 --> 00:07:00,329 counselors, right? Well, we've had a while to let this policy take effect and the results are predictable 54 00:07:00,329 --> 00:07:08,389 to anyone with a modicum of common sense. Crime rates have surged since cities have slashed their 55 00:07:08,389 --> 00:07:15,569 police budgets. Just some random samples here. For example, Portland, a center of the defund the police 56 00:07:15,569 --> 00:07:25,350 movement. Portland has seen record shootings, over 1,200 this past year. New York is up 81% in terms of 57 00:07:25,350 --> 00:07:32,850 shootings within New York City. Oakland, California, another example. Carjackings are up 88%. We could go 58 00:07:32,850 --> 00:07:40,110 through so many of the crime stats. They've all mushroomed since the defund the police movement has taken 59 00:07:40,110 --> 00:07:47,889 hold. And of course, in an incident, just one example, in an incident that's rich in irony, the Minnesota 60 00:07:47,889 --> 00:07:57,930 Democratic Farmer Labor Party official, Shivanthi Sathanandan, was recently robbed and beaten as her car was hijacked 61 00:07:57,930 --> 00:08:03,449 with her in it. Oh, yes. And she says, I quote her, I have a broken leg, deep lacerations on my head, 62 00:08:03,709 --> 00:08:10,709 bruising, and cuts all over my body. And I have rage, she says, unquote, who said, Sathanandan said, 63 00:08:11,269 --> 00:08:16,389 the beating occurred also in front of her four-year-old daughter and her seven-year-old son. 64 00:08:16,470 --> 00:08:23,850 Well, that is tragic. I feel for her. But she's righteously indignant that the police were nowhere to 65 00:08:23,850 --> 00:08:29,290 be found. The police were late to the crime scene. The police have not been able to find her assailant. 66 00:08:29,709 --> 00:08:37,230 Oh, I wonder why. The problem, of course, is that Sathanandan vowed to dismantle the Minneapolis 67 00:08:37,230 --> 00:08:44,070 Police Department in the wake of the George Floyd incident. Oh, she has been in the lead. She has been 68 00:08:44,070 --> 00:08:50,690 in the forefront. She has been stridently vocal in the defund the police movement. And she's been 69 00:08:50,690 --> 00:08:58,049 harshly condemnatory of police and their supposedly racial discrimination against minority communities. 70 00:08:58,750 --> 00:09:06,870 Oh, can't she see the irony? She got her wish. Budgets have been slashed in Minneapolis. The force 71 00:09:06,870 --> 00:09:14,450 has shrunk and cops in Minneapolis are overwhelmed. But of course, in classic narcissist fashion, 72 00:09:14,750 --> 00:09:19,970 when she is a victim of crime, where were the cops? Why wasn't I protected? 73 00:09:19,970 --> 00:09:26,570 Why don't I get justice? Oh, dear listener, when government cannot manage lawbreakers, 74 00:09:26,710 --> 00:09:34,990 they micromanage the law keepers. We also see as well that 9-1-1 is overwhelmed. Here's another 75 00:09:34,990 --> 00:09:43,370 index, if you will, of the fact that when government can no longer manage the law breaker, 76 00:09:43,370 --> 00:09:53,350 they micromanage the law keeper. We see from 9-1-1 calls that law enforcement, emergency responders are 77 00:09:53,350 --> 00:10:01,549 overwhelmed. 9-1-1 is overwhelmed. The 9-1-1 call system, of course, was originally created to receive 78 00:10:01,549 --> 00:10:09,009 emergency calls to which then police and EMT responders would be deployed. But as one might 79 00:10:09,009 --> 00:10:14,730 reason from the explosion of crime in American cities, well, there's been a corresponding 80 00:10:14,730 --> 00:10:22,649 explosion in 9-1-1 calls as well. Call centers are overwhelmed. And since COVID, in particular, 81 00:10:23,009 --> 00:10:29,370 since COVID and the extreme measures taken during COVID, it takes two to three minutes longer to even 82 00:10:29,370 --> 00:10:37,049 get through to have a call received. And the average is extending, too, with the increase in crime 83 00:10:37,049 --> 00:10:44,049 in American cities. The system is increasingly bogged down, too, by another phenomenon. Listen to 84 00:10:44,049 --> 00:10:51,610 this. 9-1-1 call takers have become, if you will, the emotional counselors and psychiatrists of record 85 00:10:51,610 --> 00:11:00,129 in our culture. Anyone with a complaint for existence, for example, have you heard the bit with the 86 00:11:00,129 --> 00:11:06,710 McDonald happy meals without fries that a woman called in, indignant, called 9-1-1 because her 87 00:11:06,710 --> 00:11:14,269 happy meal had no fries. Or other callers just having a stressful day. There's also a call with a woman 88 00:11:14,269 --> 00:11:22,370 whose cat died. This poor lady had her cat die and she called 9-1-1 for consolation. Oh, but they all 89 00:11:22,370 --> 00:11:29,450 feel free to call in and pour out their troubles to a first responder. That sounds so comforting, doesn't 90 00:11:29,450 --> 00:11:35,029 it? I'm going to call that first responder, not to a life and death circumstance, but rather to 91 00:11:35,029 --> 00:11:43,629 sympathetic response to a bad day. These are the things that are coming in at 9-1-1 calls. Created to 92 00:11:43,629 --> 00:11:51,450 be a fast response to emergencies, 9-1-1 has become bogged down by bureaucracy boondoggles and boobs. 93 00:11:52,110 --> 00:11:58,730 In a pinch, you might as well make a call to Batman for a quick response than 9-1-1. And then, of course, 94 00:11:58,730 --> 00:12:07,330 another index, if you will, of why and how when government can no longer manage the lawbreakers, 95 00:12:07,330 --> 00:12:15,629 they micromanage the lawkeepers. Another index of that inability to manage lawbreakers are theft 96 00:12:15,629 --> 00:12:23,309 gangs. Theft gangs. Retail stores are reporting that shoplifting and outright theft is mushrooming 97 00:12:23,309 --> 00:12:29,889 their losses and costs as well for things like added security. Well, what that means is that the 98 00:12:29,889 --> 00:12:35,590 stores really don't take the loss. They don't, but they rather increase their prices to you and to me 99 00:12:35,590 --> 00:12:42,629 to make up for it. That's what happens. We end up paying more for increased crime. Individual thieves 100 00:12:42,629 --> 00:12:48,169 are becoming more violent and aggressive too, and they are frequent in their predations. But retail 101 00:12:48,169 --> 00:12:55,409 organizations also report that organized gangs are sweeping through their outlets in lightning raids, 102 00:12:55,809 --> 00:13:03,169 systematically looting stores of their most valuable items. One example, Target saw a 120% 103 00:13:03,169 --> 00:13:10,870 increase in theft involving violence or threats of violence in the first half of 2023, for which we have 104 00:13:10,870 --> 00:13:18,129 most recent stats. It's even reported that theft gangs from Chile, for example, will fly in 105 00:13:18,129 --> 00:13:27,289 hit predetermined high-end retail outlets like jewelry or fashion boutiques, and then they will fly out the 106 00:13:27,289 --> 00:13:35,610 same day on private jets, all to the confusion and consternation of law enforcement. When government 107 00:13:35,610 --> 00:13:42,610 can no longer manage the lawbreaker, they will micromanage the lawkeeper. I have only sampled, 108 00:13:42,769 --> 00:13:48,110 dear listener, the breakdown of government's ability to protect you. And we must also understand that 109 00:13:48,110 --> 00:13:56,250 God hates, as well as chaos and crime, predations, the victimization of the poor and the outcast, 110 00:13:56,330 --> 00:14:04,129 the widow and the orphan, as the Bible calls them. Ecclesiastes 8, 11 says, because the sentence 111 00:14:04,129 --> 00:14:10,450 against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set 112 00:14:10,450 --> 00:14:17,889 to do evil. That's a wise insight by Solomon. Ah, because the sentence against an evil deed is not 113 00:14:17,889 --> 00:14:24,590 executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Increasingly, because 114 00:14:24,590 --> 00:14:31,610 government cannot execute its most basic function, justice. Of David, Samuel says, in governing Israel, 115 00:14:31,669 --> 00:14:38,429 he says, David administered justice and equity to all the people. The Bible says of Solomon, too. God says of 116 00:14:38,429 --> 00:14:44,090 Solomon, he says, God has made you king over Israel, that you may execute justice and righteousness. 117 00:14:44,789 --> 00:14:50,730 But because justice is delayed, or it's not meted out at all, as the Bible says, the heart of man is 118 00:14:50,730 --> 00:14:56,929 fully set to do evil. And this includes those who rule over us. When government can no longer manage 119 00:14:56,929 --> 00:15:03,110 the lawbreaker, it will micromanage the lawkeeper. And we see this all around us as well. At the same time 120 00:15:03,110 --> 00:15:08,610 your government cannot manage the lawbreaker, it still has the primal instinct to control and force, 121 00:15:08,730 --> 00:15:15,549 doesn't it? George Washington says, government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is force. And 122 00:15:15,549 --> 00:15:23,029 force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Unquote, George Washington. This primal 123 00:15:23,029 --> 00:15:30,610 instinct, this inherent desire, is the core of all human governance. A particular government may convince 124 00:15:30,610 --> 00:15:35,269 itself that it has the best interest of the people at heart, that they want to do the best by the 125 00:15:35,269 --> 00:15:40,389 people over whom they rule. But no matter the protestations to the contrary, this is not their 126 00:15:40,389 --> 00:15:47,370 goal. It is not their goal in the end. As Voltaire puts it, he says, so long as the people do not care 127 00:15:47,370 --> 00:15:55,029 to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so. Tyrants are active and ardent and will 128 00:15:55,029 --> 00:16:01,450 devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon 129 00:16:01,450 --> 00:16:09,929 sleeping men. Unquote. Yes, putting shackles on sleeping men. This is the bent of tyranny. Tyrants 130 00:16:09,929 --> 00:16:17,350 are active and ardent indeed. And they will find something or someone to control or manage or tyrannize 131 00:16:17,350 --> 00:16:23,649 over if it can't be the lawbreaker. They will then turn to the lawkeeper, who they will proceed to 132 00:16:23,649 --> 00:16:30,389 micromanage. And it's because it's in their DNA. It's been true throughout history and it still 133 00:16:30,389 --> 00:16:36,850 stands today. Look about you in America. For example, dear listener, consider the COVID control 134 00:16:36,850 --> 00:16:42,970 measures, right? The COVID control measures infamously. What we witnessed in response to 135 00:16:42,970 --> 00:16:51,029 the plague hysteria was a tyrant's wet dream. Shut down, fax up, and stay in. Remember? I remember 136 00:16:51,029 --> 00:16:57,309 very vividly the fistfights in Walmart over not wearing a mask, right? I remember the Harbor Police 137 00:16:57,309 --> 00:17:04,309 in California chasing a lone surfer out on the water for not staying indoors. I remember fraudulent 138 00:17:04,309 --> 00:17:10,809 Fauci with dire warnings if we didn't wear masks. Oh, speaking of frauds, how about Joe Biden lecturing 139 00:17:10,809 --> 00:17:17,990 us that this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated? Oh, and there were governors wagging their fingers at us, 140 00:17:17,990 --> 00:17:24,369 telling us to mask up, vax up, and shut up if we disagreed with them. While, of course, they cruised in 141 00:17:24,369 --> 00:17:30,569 their private yachts like the governor, Whitmer, in Michigan. Or they dined in exclusive restaurants 142 00:17:30,569 --> 00:17:37,049 while Weber shut down, like Newsom in California. Or they feted their friends in crowded mansions 143 00:17:37,049 --> 00:17:43,829 as Governor Cuomo did in New York. And it's all a matter of rules for thee, but not for me, right? 144 00:17:43,829 --> 00:17:51,690 So spectacularly successful was the system in micromanaging us that the United Nations is 145 00:17:51,690 --> 00:17:57,609 fashioning an entire pandemic treaty, which is before the respective signatories even now, 146 00:17:57,930 --> 00:18:04,670 including the United States of America. If this treaty passes, it will make temporary COVID rules 147 00:18:04,670 --> 00:18:11,410 into permanent law, dear listener. Oh, and then, of course, there are the Byzantine tax laws. This is 148 00:18:11,410 --> 00:18:17,930 another way in which we are micromanaged. Indeed, if government cannot manage the lawbreakers, they will 149 00:18:17,930 --> 00:18:25,910 micromanage the lawkeepers. And part of the way they do this is through Byzantine tax laws. The tax code 150 00:18:25,910 --> 00:18:32,230 in America is a wonder to behold, isn't it? The official IRS tax code, which you can download, 151 00:18:32,230 --> 00:18:44,329 is 6,000, excuse me, 6,550 pages long. And that excludes appendices and case law, too. Just try and decode 152 00:18:44,329 --> 00:18:50,730 the language and the rules to follow. The entire thing is, as Churchill puts it, a riddle wrapped in 153 00:18:50,730 --> 00:18:58,890 a mystery inside an enigma, the United States tax code. And, of course, this is intentional. It is 154 00:18:58,890 --> 00:19:05,329 deliberately complex so that the average taxpayer cannot do his taxes himself. He needs a professional 155 00:19:05,329 --> 00:19:11,589 accountant. And you're not going to see this segment of the culture be in favor of reform either, ever. 156 00:19:12,430 --> 00:19:18,490 Why get rid of a career, right? And further, the code is filled with so much special language 157 00:19:18,490 --> 00:19:24,029 and ambiguities that its interpretation can be managed to the advantage of the government, 158 00:19:24,029 --> 00:19:30,250 almost at will. This has been proven over and over again, such that one complex return may be 159 00:19:30,250 --> 00:19:37,750 submitted to 10 IRS accountants and come back with 10 different results. Oh, as George Bernard Shaw 160 00:19:37,750 --> 00:19:43,990 puts it, he says, all professions are conspiracies against the laity. That's a good cynical insight. 161 00:19:44,130 --> 00:19:50,150 But true, all professions are conspiracies against the laity. And, of course, the nomenclatures of 162 00:19:50,150 --> 00:19:55,549 professions, like the language of the IRS, the nomenclatures of professions are the charms and 163 00:19:55,549 --> 00:20:01,349 spells that they use to hypnotize us. This all works to the advantage of the federal government. 164 00:20:01,589 --> 00:20:08,089 And it's a prime means by which they manage the law keeper, micromanage the law keeper. When 165 00:20:08,089 --> 00:20:13,869 government cannot manage the law breaker, they will micromanage the law keeper. And then, of course, 166 00:20:13,869 --> 00:20:20,869 there are privacy invasions. This is egregious. Privacy invasions. Your Fourth Amendment, which used 167 00:20:20,869 --> 00:20:27,869 to mean that you were, as the amendment says, secure in your persons, houses, papers, and effects. That is 168 00:20:27,869 --> 00:20:35,549 your right to privacy. Well, that Fourth Amendment is now a quaint relic of the past, fit for nostalgic 169 00:20:35,549 --> 00:20:42,089 reminiscence, maybe, and whose entire constitution, for that matter, can be put in a glass case in the 170 00:20:42,089 --> 00:20:49,029 museum. And, of course, artificial intelligence and the eagerness by tyrants to use it to the full 171 00:20:49,029 --> 00:20:57,269 has made the Fourth Amendment obsolete. The alphabet agencies, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, they all brag 172 00:20:57,269 --> 00:21:03,470 about their access to every computer in America with every word spoken into your telephone and every 173 00:21:03,470 --> 00:21:11,170 keystroke on your device recorded and stored for future reference, if necessary. Cameras see you, 174 00:21:11,170 --> 00:21:17,450 microphones hear you, thermometers register you, sensors can sense the surface of your skin, and 175 00:21:17,450 --> 00:21:23,069 algorithms predict your future actions with such accuracy that you will soon be arrested or called 176 00:21:23,069 --> 00:21:29,730 in for questioning based upon your profile. That profile assembled from a panopticon portrait of 177 00:21:29,730 --> 00:21:35,049 yourself. Never mind that you've done nothing wrong. Oh, the system will find something at some time, 178 00:21:35,190 --> 00:21:40,289 whenever they want you. As the head of Stalin's secret police, Beria, quipped to him, he said, 179 00:21:40,289 --> 00:21:45,650 give me the man and I'll give you the crime. Oh, when government can no longer manage the law 180 00:21:45,650 --> 00:21:51,990 breaker, dear listener, it will micromanage the law keeper. When government can no longer manage 181 00:21:51,990 --> 00:21:57,970 the law breaker, it will micromanage the law keeper. Oh, and then, of course, there are Second Amendment 182 00:21:57,970 --> 00:22:04,109 violations. Of course, the encroachment of tyrants on our Second Amendment are legend by now. We know most 183 00:22:04,109 --> 00:22:09,369 of them, don't we? And if that goes away, so will all the rest of our liberties and they'll be gone 184 00:22:09,369 --> 00:22:14,529 for good. What is of immediate concern to me is what has come to be known as red flag laws. 185 00:22:14,990 --> 00:22:20,849 These are ordinances that allow police to confiscate a gun owner's firearms without due process, 186 00:22:21,029 --> 00:22:29,269 based upon a suspicion or a complaint, perhaps from a third party, a complaint or fear from a spouse or 187 00:22:29,269 --> 00:22:35,210 a neighbor or local official or just someone angry with you could result in your firearms being 188 00:22:35,210 --> 00:22:42,230 preemptively seized without a warrant. Yes, Gary Willis of Fernandale, Maryland, for example, 189 00:22:42,430 --> 00:22:48,470 found this out, but he found it out fatally. Somewhat officials are not releasing the identity 190 00:22:48,470 --> 00:22:55,289 of the caller. Well, somebody called in Mr. Willis as a potential danger and the police went to his 191 00:22:55,289 --> 00:23:00,490 home under the red flag ordinance, went to his home to seize his firearms. And when he resisted, 192 00:23:00,490 --> 00:23:05,829 they shot him. Oh, dear listener, we will see more of these kinds of incidences in the future 193 00:23:05,829 --> 00:23:11,890 as government continues to micromanage the law keeper. When government cannot manage the law 194 00:23:11,890 --> 00:23:17,670 breaker, it will micromanage the law keeper. Oh, how many laws do you need? We've just gone 195 00:23:17,670 --> 00:23:22,450 through a few of these. How many laws do you need to micromanage the law keeper, dear listener? 196 00:23:22,450 --> 00:23:31,029 And the answer comes back, never enough. Never enough. For example, just some other more, perhaps 197 00:23:31,029 --> 00:23:38,210 more humorous examples of micromanaging the law keeper. Did you know that it is illegal to collect 198 00:23:38,210 --> 00:23:44,150 rainwater in Colorado? Oh, did you know that skateboarding without a license is prohibited in 199 00:23:44,150 --> 00:23:51,710 Florida? Did you know that chickens are not permitted to cross the road in Georgia? Oh, I couldn't believe 200 00:23:51,710 --> 00:23:56,630 this one. Why did the chicken cross the road? Well, I guess we'll never know because it's a moot point 201 00:23:56,630 --> 00:24:03,130 because crossing the road for chickens is against the law. Did you know that it is illegal to catch a 202 00:24:03,130 --> 00:24:09,089 fish with your bare hands in Kansas? Did you know that it is prohibited to harass Bigfoot in Washington 203 00:24:09,089 --> 00:24:15,289 State? Oh, did you know that in Mississippi, anyone disturbing a church service is subject to 204 00:24:15,289 --> 00:24:21,089 citizen's arrest? I think I like that one as a pastor. I kind of like that one. Maybe we should get that 205 00:24:21,089 --> 00:24:27,410 in Idaho. Anyone disturbing a church service is subject to citizen's arrest. Oh, and did you know that in 206 00:24:27,410 --> 00:24:34,450 Maine, Christmas decorations are not to be up past January 14th? Oh, they'll bust you for it, dear 207 00:24:34,450 --> 00:24:40,829 listener. All of these would be funny, would they not, if it were not so serious? When government cannot 208 00:24:40,829 --> 00:24:48,690 manage the law breaker, it will micromanage the law keeper. Behold the situation which obtains in the 209 00:24:48,690 --> 00:24:55,150 United States of America even now. And, dear listener, if we don't really step up and do 210 00:24:55,150 --> 00:25:00,410 something about this, I think we're going to find ourselves in even deeper hot water than we are 211 00:25:00,410 --> 00:25:09,210 already in. After all, the Bible does exhort us then to do justice and justice alone in a land to 212 00:25:09,210 --> 00:25:16,170 which the Lord your God has been calling you and sending you. Ah, so long as people do not care 213 00:25:16,170 --> 00:25:22,529 then to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize them will do so, as Voltaire says. 214 00:25:22,950 --> 00:25:28,170 Tyrants are active and ardent, and they will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, 215 00:25:28,529 --> 00:25:34,150 religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men. Yes, we need to wake up, 216 00:25:34,490 --> 00:25:41,829 citizen, wake up from our slumber, and do as the Bible tells us, even as David administered 217 00:25:41,829 --> 00:25:47,109 justice and equity to all his people. So, our government must do the same. And just as Solomon 218 00:25:47,109 --> 00:25:53,490 exhorted, or just as God exhorted Solomon, God has made you king over Israel that you may execute 219 00:25:53,490 --> 00:25:59,630 justice and righteousness. This is what we need to return to biblically in our own land, so that, 220 00:26:00,109 --> 00:26:07,130 indeed, because government cannot execute its most basic function, justice, we find that when 221 00:26:07,130 --> 00:26:12,869 government can no longer manage the law breaker, it will micromanage the law keeper. Let us throw 222 00:26:12,869 --> 00:26:18,990 off the shackles of micromanagement in our own lives, dear listener, and return to justice and 223 00:26:18,990 --> 00:26:24,730 righteousness. This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. New 224 00:26:24,730 --> 00:26:31,450 Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and 225 00:26:31,450 --> 00:26:38,549 Boulevard. Come and join us for worship, and also give us a call. Give me some feedback, or if you 226 00:26:38,549 --> 00:26:49,630 have any more questions, you can call us at area code 208-523-0196. That's 208-523-0196.