Be Saved! by jerome Stewart

There are many Scriptures within the word of God able to help us better understand the weaknesses of mankind and how to overcome them. The words of Jeremiah a prophet of God still hold true today. Jeremiah chapter 10 vs. 23 he says; “O LORD I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct His own steps.” 

The beauty of God’s word is in knowing He took care of the penalty for the sinner. He sent us Jesus! For anyone involved in ministry, the focal point of the mission should always be of the utmost importance. Because at the end of the day, its’ about saving souls. Everything else is secondary. That is the essence of evangelism. 

As related to the Great Commission, Jesus made it crystal clear to His apostles as to what they were to do. Matthew 28 vss. 18 thru 20 Jesus says; “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

In Acts chapter 2 vs. 40 the apostle Peter said to the multitude; “Be saved from this perverse generation.” If the apostle Peter was here today would his words be any different? If Jesus was here as God in the flesh today, would His words be any different? Look at the world today. Mankind has always faced obstacles when it comes to doing the right things in life. We should be ever thankful to God for sending His only begotten Son into the world, to be the sacrificial Lamb for the sins of all mankind. 

However; a thankless people will not take advantage of the greatest gift given to mankind by God. As the gospel was being spread the apostles were not always well received, because the message of repentance requires there to be a change in one’s behavior. In the Greek it is referred to as metanoia which means “a change of heart.”  

The apostle Paul and Silas who was with him were incarcerated for spreading the gospel. In Acts chapter 16 a most important question was asked by the Philippian jailer, related to being saved. The response given by Paul had an impact on the jailer as well as the rest of his household. Vs. 31 Paul says; “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”  It did not end there! 

Vss. 32 and 33 says; “Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in the house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.” As a result, they became recipients of the salvation of Jesus Christ! 

Vanderburgh County Marriage Licenses Issued

GAVEL GAMUT

By Jim Redwine

www.jamesmredwine.com

(Week of 05 January 2026)

HIGHLY RESOLVED

Abraham Lincoln published one of our nation’s solemn resolutions in his address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863. The over three thousand dead Union soldiers were the particular men Lincoln referenced that day. However, since President Lincoln’s main focus of the Civil War was to hold our country together, most likely he had in mind all the dead and wounded on both sides when he said:

“…[W[e here highly resolve that these dead

shall not have died in vain…”

That resolution was not made for a New Year, but it was a noble hope for our country’s future. From 1863 until 1914 this goal was fractured by almost continuous death and destruction, such as the Indian removals, the Spanish American War and then “The War to End all wars”, World War I. After that final war, America fought WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, The Gulf War, Afghanistan, The Iraq War and so many conflicts most Americans cannot recount whom we have fought and are still fighting nor why. We are currently aiding and abetting and directly involved in Palestine and Ukraine along with Venezuela and bellicose behavior bordering on armed conflicts with so many countries and groups even the cable news cannot keep up with them.

President Lincoln’s resolution for our country has gone the way my 2025 New Year’s Resolutions have. I dug through my devout promises to myself last year and find I do not need to address any new 2026 resolutions as, just like our government, the resolutions from 1863 until January 2026 will suffice. 

Therefore, I resolve to give up on exercising more, saving more, losing more weight, being nicer, helping out around JPeg Osage Ranch more and restraining my penchant to gossip about politics. After all, not one of my 2025 ideas that I have offered to our leaders has even been acknowledged, much less implemented.

I, therefore, resolve my 2025 resolutions shall “perish from the earth” should anyone be interested.

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AUTHOR MICHAEL NORDINE

One of the greatest gifts America ever received was originally envisioned for another nation. Before creating “Liberty Enlightening the World,” as the Statue of Liberty is officially known, French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi set to work on “Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia,” which was meant to be placed at the entryway of the Suez Canal in Port Said, Egypt. It would have looked fairly similar to Lady Liberty, with an “Upper Egyptian” (Saeid Misr) wearing a robe and holding a torch. Bartholdi was inspired by a trip to Abu Simbel, the site of two iconic temples devoted to Ramesses II, and planned the sculpture to stand 86 feet high on a 48-foot pedestal. 

However, the statue was deemed too costly to produce, and the Port Said Lighthouse was erected instead. Bartholdi then repurposed his design after turning his attention to America due to a proposal by Édouard de Laboulaye, a French historian and abolitionist who wanted to honor the century-old alliance between the U.S. and France, as well as America’s successful effort to abolish slavery. The monument, renamed the Statue of Liberty, was constructed in France and presented to Levi Morton, then the U.S. ambassador to France and later vice president under Benjamin Harrison, in a ceremony in Paris on July 4, 1884. Following its completion the next year, it was disassembled and shipped to New York City, where it still stands today.