Archives: Episodes

Many believe the Biden administration, happily and now an historical footnote, fostered an anti-Christian approach to politics, culture, and lifestyle generally. That was so even though Biden was a self-proclaiming Catholic Christian.
In the Biden administration, there really were none in high positions who were publicly confessing Christians. That of course, under the Trump administration, has significantly changed, and changed for the better. There are those in leadership in America now who come to their awesome responsibilities as public citizens and representatives of WE THE PEOPLE with a biblical influence in their lives, even an outright Christian testimony. What a blessing that is for America, for Christianity, and for:
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
for all Americans, the FIRST AMENDMENT really at work!
I do hope and pray that you know by heart, by memory, those First Amendment freedoms. They include and especially so:
THE FREEDOM OF RELIGION.
The freedom to practice any religion of choice. Or, none at all. Your call. But there can be no restriction on religious freedom and worship of any kind, so says the First Amendment. Let people believe and worship as they please. We The Christians, born again, evangelical, denominational, Roman Catholic, are free not only to worship as we please, but to believe as we please. Few countries in this modern age allow that, and so many nations abridge that freedom, attack it, attempt to control it, or even eliminate it. Not so with the Trump administration. Trump has pledged to reinvigorate the old Christian America, to respect Christianity and all its forms, and to make absolutely certain that there is no persecution, disrespect, or attempts to control this precious faith.
And the same for Jews. Antisemitism is on the rise, one of the most ugly things in the entire history of mankind and now even resurrected today. So many politicos, academics, and even many in business and higher up in corporations turn a blind eye or actually foster antisemitism. That will all end under the Trump administration. Amen to that.
And there is absolute freedom to worship for all other religions, including Islam, the Hindu religion, and any other legitimate religion. That is the American promise, the Constitutional guarantee, that sacred Frist Amendment freedom and it will be respected more than ever, more than under the administration of Obama or Biden, as the Constitution has always promised.
That beloved First Amendment also guarantees freedom of speech and press. More than ever, that will be reinvigorated and protected. Both such freedoms are absolutely essential with regard to the full and free practice of religion.
And the same for the other First Amendment freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, namely freedom of assembly and freedom of petition. Churches, gatherings, services, the congregations of people in worship can feel the old constitutional freedoms under the Trump administration more than ever. Amen to that. Make it happen President Donald J. Trump, MAKE IT HAPPEN!
DEFENSE. Our Department of Defense needs change, even radical change back. It has become woke, socialized, racially concerned, all to the detriment of its clear and primary priority and mission, namely, the development and growth of the greatest military, army, navy, and marines, and more, that the world has ever known. We need an aggressive, remade and revitalized Department of Defense and branches of the military. We have threats to our great country like never before, threats from China, especially China in this modern day and age, and our old nemesis Russia, and North Korea, a rising nuclear power, and of course Iran, which literally hates the Great Satan, the America we love. All four and more would love to see the end of America and given the right circumstances, whether all-out war, or terrorism, or limited combat, they are ready, hatred brimming, to destroy America or as much of it as they can.
Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, intends to change the department, bring in new leadership, develop meaningful financial budgets and the support of Congress and develop the weapons, offensive and defensive, which our country desperately needs, especially to keep pace with China. It seems inevitable that we will have warfare of some sort with China sometime in the future, perhaps the near future.
We, America, must be ready!
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. More than ever judges at any level of the federal judiciary and all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will play an important and primary role in the development of the philosophy, policies, and future of our country. There are many, very many, judgeships unfilled and can be filled by the appointments of the president of the United States. President Trump intends to do just that. He is well aware of the need to appoint judges and the right kind of judges, fair thinking judges who will make the right decisions for America. In the first Trump administration, 2017-2021, Trump nominated three Supreme Court justices, all were confirmed by the Senate, and all were fair minded or conservative leaning. They were the outstanding scholars including:
1.
Neil Gorsuch
2.
Anthony Kennedy
3.
Amy Coney Barrett
Much litigation will be decided by the Supreme Court, critical for America, and there will be many emergency hearings on the basis of critical and immediate need of our country, which will be decided upon by the Supreme Court in short order. Trump has issued dozens of Executive Orders, many are being challenged by liberals, radicals, and democrats, and the Supreme Court will be more active with emergency hearings perhaps than in any other administration. We can only hope for fair results, for the vast majority of those executive orders are exactly what America needs, they are legal, thorough, and they create the change-back which again, our country desperately needs. We were under Biden on a pathway to Socialism, even Marxism, and so many of these executive orders put a stop to so much of that. I say Amen to that, and I trust you do as well. What do you think of the first six weeks in office of Donald J. Trump?
Franklin Graham, the marvelous evangelical evangelist and pastor, son of perhaps the greatest evangelist ever in the history of America, Billy Graham, prays himself that President Trump will surround himself with men and women who will give him Godly counsel and advice, and urges us, we the Christian people of America, to do the very same. I do hope and pray that you will. President Trump will be challenged the world over, and especially by China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. But Trump is tough, no nonsense, determined, and not at all intimidated, and no nation or foreign leader will intimidate him no matter what they do. As world events unfold in the next four years, WE THE PEOPLE should both:
WATCH AND PRAY.
We should follow the advice of the Apostle Paul in I Timothy 2:1-3, where this God-sent apostle admonishes us as follows:
“THEREFORE, I EXHORT FIRST OF ALL THAT SUPPLICATIONS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSIONS, AND GIVING OF THANKS BE MADE FOR ALL MEN, FOR KINGS, AND ALL WHO ARE IN AUTHORITY, THAT WE MAY LEAD A QUIET AND PEACEABLE LIFE IN ALL GODLINESS AND REVERENCE FOR THIS IS GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD OUR SAVIOR.”
So, my fellow Christians, prayers. And intercessions. And giving of thanks. So that WE THE PEOPLE may lead a quiet and peaceable life, and be assured of the rights in the Constitution which are justly ours. Why? Because this is good, says Paul, and not only acceptable in the sight of God our savior, but what this God, our Lord Jesus Christ wants for us.
So, my fellow Americans, pray for President Trump, and all who advise him, all of our leaders, secretaries of various departments, our Congress, House, and Senate, our courts and our Supreme Court, pray for all of them. Pray for anyone who is in authority and who works for us. Pray that the wisdom of God Almighty will guide President Trump and all political others so that America can be great again. Pray that
the promises of Donald J. Trump will be fulfilled that indeed, the four years of the second Trump administration will:
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN (MAGA)!

In this episode of the Crawford Roundtable Podcast, the guys talk about DOGE and its polarizing and mixed reaction so far. Can DOGE momentum be sustained? Should taxpayers receive stimulus checks? Are Americans entertained or annoyed by Elon Musk's antics? They also discuss the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky-is he a dictator, responsible for the war with Russia? Should America let Europe deal with Ukraine? And what are the benefits and/or the drawbacks of the proposed $5-million Gold card?

Owe no man nothing, says the scripture.
The fact remains, however, that every single American is in debt, EVERY ONE OF US. Every day of every month, we owe someone something. That debt could be as normal as a phone bill, electric bill, cell phone or cable bill, or currently repayable credit card bills. But, we always owe something if we wish to live in any reasonable way in this world.
What that debt admonition means is that we ought not to owe anything which we cannot repay in the present in whole or in part. None of us could own a home unless we were able to borrow a mortgage for 10, 20 or 30 years, and make the monthly payments with interest thereon. If we can repay that 30-year debt on a monthly basis and timely so, that is a manageable obligation and not the kind of debt proscribed by scripture.
Debt, unpayable debt, and especially that debt which accumulates with interest, sometimes as much or almost so as the debt principle itself is crushing. It is always there, its presence a constant reminder that so much of the future has been mortgaged and that our present spending endangers and preempts our options for the future. Families are ruined by that kind of debt. So are marriages. Profligate businesses go bankrupt and governments, nations and states which over-borrow and accumulate crushing interest obligations sacrifice the future for the present. They kick the financial can down the road.
And that, my fellow Americans, is the pathway and the financial condition of our beloved America. Our once great country, operating on a current budget, the financial envy of the world, the dollar the hallmark of financial stability, is now the unbelievable debtor in the amount of:
$36 TRILLION DOLLARS.
$36 Trillion Dollars. As incredible, hard to believe, and frightening as that number is, the interest America pays on those $36 trillion dollars of debt is now at or about:
$1.3 TRILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY.
$1.3 Trillion dollars in interest alone!
That means, my fellow Americans, that every American household owes as much as $275,000 of that debt. Or that also means that every tax paying person in America, every citizen, owes the sum of approximately $110,000 to our creditors, foreigners and foreign nations, and American business entities and individuals. $275,000 PER HOUSEHOLD and $110,000 PER PERSON. That is the kind of debt with interest that scripture so aggressively warns against. But we do nothing, our leaders do nothing to stop the bleeding and solve the problem. The overwhelming debt problem. But some day, we will have no choice but to deal with this horrendous financial reckoning.
Economists now believe that the nation’s debt of at or about $36 Trillion Dollars is indeed an existential threat to our great country, and to us, we the people. The fact of the matter is that America does not owe this debt, we do. WE, THE PEOPLE, the citizens of this great country owe that $36 trillion dollars, with its unbelievable annual interest burdens. WE OWE THAT MONEY! And someday, we will have to pay it. What an unbelievable effect that will have on our lifestyles and our future. That existential threat threatens our very existence!
But our Federal Government continues in its profligate way. It spends, and it spends more. It never seems to care because it can postpone the debt, financing even more of its spending, and it always has what it thinks is the fail-safe remedy, and that is:
TAXATION.
More taxation, more taxes, for we the people to pay.
And more bad financial news. Economists estimate that by the year 2034, a decade from now, America will add $20 trillion dollars to its debt of $36 trillion dollars, which would put our country in debt by the staggering sum of $56 trillion dollars, $56 TRILLION DOLLARS! And some economists think those estimates are conservative, believing that the real debt will be as high as $60 trillion dollars or even more if spending continues as is. That would also mean that the annual interest alone on that staggering debt would be somewhere between $2 Trillion and $2.5 Trillion Dollars Annually, and possibly more. In the year 2034, our total debt will be approximately 120% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). And hear these words carefully:
NO NATION HAS EVER CARRIED THAT KIND OF GOVERNMENT-DRIVEN DEBT AND ESCAPED CALAMITY. NOT ONE GOVERNMENT IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MANKIND HAS EVER SPENT OR WILL SPEND WHAT WE AMERICANS ARE AND ESCAPED ABSOLUTE AND TOTAL DISASTER AND CALAMITY.
Not to worry, say the Democrats in charge and in power and seeking four more years of spending privileges, assuming the election of Harris-Walz. We will simply tax the rich more and more. Even if there is a sharp rise in the tax rates for the wealthy, that meager amount of additional income would never begin to seriously pay down the debt which our once fiscally responsible America now owes and will owe ten years from now.
But that day of reckoning will come when we the people will pay an unbelievable price for the profligate way our Federal Government spends our money and accumulates this strangling, bankrupting debt.
Regarding the so-called rich, the top 1% of Americans in terms of earnings reported 26.3% of the country’s adjusted gross income and paid accordingly:
Almost 46% of total income taxes!
All the rest of America’s taxpayers, 99% of them, paid the grand total of 54% of all taxes. But there is never any effort to tax more the 54% but only the so-called rich and wealthy 46%. That is fiscal policy which leads to absolute disaster!
Even more interesting, the top 10% of all earners in America provided 76% of the total revenue, tax revenue, and the other 90% of taxpayers provided 24% of tax revenue. If you were not one of the so-called wealthy, you have really gotten off cheap by taxing comparison.
Our great country, We The People, face the ever-present possibility of default in payments to our creditors, now $36 trillion dollars and in 10 years to be some $60 trillion dollars. That default of any serious kind would set off a major depression and fiscal revolution THE WORLD OVER. That economic crisis could well ruin the world.
There would also exist in America HYPERINFLATION. That is what occurred in Germany where the German Mark was absolutely worthless. If those tragic and calamitous conditions arise in America, our dollar will be just like that Mark and virtually worthless itself.
That debt-caused disaster will produce incredible internal instability, even revolution, and the very real potential of the destruction of law and order. It could also occasion the rise of dictatorship, as the very same fiscal problems in Germany gave rise to Adolf Hitler and it would undoubtedly be the end of our great democracy.
But, my fellow Americans, that debt and the problems it causes, are:
OUR FAULT.
Our responsibility. We the People allowed that debt to happen. We continue one election after another to elect a president, a senate, a house of representatives which do nothing, absolutely nothing about the problem, continue to spend, talk the talk but never walk the walk, and again do absolutely nothing about this incredible end-of-America problem, nothing but nothing. But the day of economic reckoning comes, and we will pay, WE WILL PAY! Or, our children and grandchildren will pay. The life and lifestyle which they hope for and work for will never materialize and the America we now know will never be the America they will ever know. What America once was fiscally and economically will be nothing more than an historical footnote.
Wake up, my fellow Americans, please wake up. You vote, you elect these politicians to represent you. You allow them to spend your money, to tax you, to do as they please with YOUR money but the one thing they never do is hold themselves accountable for the way they spend your money, the fiscal problems they are causing, and the insurmountable debt they are creating, which may very well never be repaid. That of course would be the end of the democratic America we now love and enjoy. But again, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We the People allow these reckless economically indifferent or ignorant politicians to do what they please, spend our money as we will, and we continue to do nothing:
NOTHING
about that spending or them. When this disaster, this calamity occurs, we will have no one to blame but:
OURSELVES – WE THE PEOPLE!

On this week's episode of the National Crawford Roundtable the guys talk about the recent spate of plane crashes, including the Delta flight that landed upside down. They'll also discuss the recent SNL50 show in which Tom Hanks portrays a racist MAGA voter. Is it right or fair of the Left to continue to portray MAGA followers in such a poor light? We'll also talk about the latest on DOGE. The guys also discuss Rick Warren's recent comments that Jesus would be "in the middle" politically, like between the thieves on the cross, "not on either side." Can Christians consider that an accurate statement? And what about the "HeGetsUs.com campaign--is it an accurate teaching of Christianity or is it misguided?

Donald J. Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States with both a campaign and a promise to the American people that he and his administration would bring:
CHANGE.
Fundamental and systemic change to the America WE THE PEOPLE love and live in. That massive, fundamental change he promised would occur under the plan to:
DISRUPT AND INNOVATE
a mammoth, behemoth of a federal government that had become massive and mediocre in so many ways.
This massive federal government had become addicted to the status quo, determined to protect and defend the government and its addiction to processes rather than results, and to champion the Democratic Party ideals of radicalism, woke, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and to the financial priorities of:
TAX AND SPEND.
That had produced an American mediocrity, a lack of innovation and idea flow, and the loss of respect for this once great country. Trump promised to change that, radically change it.
Our once great federal government with presidents like Reagan, Bush, had become incredibly expensive. Federal agencies and bureaucracies had become massive and had developed a culture of resistance so that in effect, those agencies and bureaucrats, the so called FOURTH ESTATE had produced a culture of resistance to both Congress, House, and Senate, and even the president himself. They often defied the Supreme Court of the United States and this massive bureaucracy which President Trump labeled:
THE SWAMP
was determined to derail Trump and his grand plan of disruption and innovation for America at any cost. But, President Trump understands that and it makes the Trump plan even more bold and aggressive in order to not only disrupt and change these agencies and bureaucrats, but wherever possible to:
ELIMINATE THEM.
Trump and his chosen people realize that the slogan coined under the Ronald Reagan first administration:
PEOPLE ARE POLICY
was so very true. Trump realized that bureaucrats and members of Congress are slave to process, and status quo preservation and not RESULTS. They care little for the American people but only the philosophy and policies which advance bureaucracy and protect the bureaucratic status quo. As such, these bureaucrats have been primary drivers in increasing the cost of government to almost 8 trillion dollars annually. 8 TRILLION DOLLARS! And, my fellow Americans, our national debt, which WE THE PEOPLE owe because of their spending, is the staggering sum of:
SOME 37 TRILLION DOLLARS.
37 TRILLION DOLLARS! There is simply no way a debt like that could ever be repaid unless there were radical, fundamental changes to America, democracy, and freedom, and the end of the lifestyle we all now so readily assume and thoroughly enjoy.
Enter Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, now running for governor of Ohio, called upon by President Trump to reimagine this federal government. Trump has asked Musk to bring a sense of entrepreneurship, appreciation for results, and to examine all expenditures by the federal government to determine the:
COST – BENEFIT
of every governmental expenditure and the results or the lack thereof which those expenditures-investments produce. Musk will head the so-called DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. Government will become more efficient, financially structured and results will triumph over process and so much of American bureaucracy will be eliminated, reduced, or otherwise radically changed. What a blessing that will be for WE THE PEOPLE! Of the now approaching 8 trillion dollars of an American annual budget, Musk and Trump believe they can reduce that budget by as much as 2 trillion dollars or at or even more than 25% of the existing federal budget. If so, that would be absolutely unbelievable, and the financial muscle of America could be restored in this great country and worldwide in four or less years of the Trump administration.
President Trump is determined to make that happen. Many of his appointments, nominations, and people with whom he will work are businesspeople, CEOs, bold entrepreneurs who are determined to make things happen, to produce results, and to do away with process and mediocrity. Such a one is Linda McMahon, who built one of the largest entertainment enterprises in the entire world. She will run the Department of Education. That department needs to be downsized and the authority it now has given back to the individual states.
Then there is Doug Burgum, who will run the Department of the Interior, a man with a strong business mentality. And then there is Chris Wright at the Department of Energy, and Scott Bessent at the Department of the Treasury, and Howard Lutnick at the Department of Commerce. Those four men create a fearsome foursome whose entrepreneurial skills have created billions of dollars in wealth in private business and they will now create trillions in economic growth and government savings inside the Trump cabinet. How great that will be for our beloved America.
Under the Obama and Biden administrations, huge numbers of government officials were addicted to working from home and some have even abandoned the cities they were assigned to for early retirement homes elsewhere. Trump intends to target those do-nothings for a massive cost-cutting departure. Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, will bring a new mindset, priorities, and way of thinking and evaluation to that critical department, critical for the defense of America, which has now become woke, liberal and radical, and far more concerned with social matters rather than those of military and defense.
Then there is the border problem. Our country is plagued with perhaps as many as 11 million illegal immigrants who have entered our country unlawfully. Trump intends to close the border and not only that but deport many of those illegal immigrants and he has pledged to deport any and every such individual with any kind of criminal record in the millions. He has appointed one Tom Homan, a no-nonsense business person, who will aggressively carry out such a plan. Homan intends to eliminate, even crush sanctuary cities and states like New Jersey, and Homan has promised the prosecution of recalcitrant officials, those who violate American law with impunity and he has threatened cities and states with the complete loss of federal funds if they resist. May it be so. It is time to use the full force of the law to punish state and city officials who violate those laws with impunity.
Americans know that the Biden inflation continues. Prices are at an all-time high. So many American families are struggling financially. Trump, Musk, and so many others in his cabinet are determined to attack and eliminate inflation wherever possible. The Trump administration intends to unleash America’s vast energy resources and to turn the regulatory and permitting processes positive, encouraging the resumption of oil and gas leases, and creating investment certainty for the energy industry which has been radically suppressed by Biden and company for the last four years. The resumed mining and drilling will unleash a new era of energy dominance that will lessen the impact of China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. Trump will also encourage the innovative development of CLEAN NUCLEAR ENERGY.
Trump has also pledged to do away with CRT (Critical Race Theory), DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), ESG (Environment Social Governance), and Transgenderism. May it be so. Women will not have to worry about men using female bathrooms. Women in sports will not have to compete against men who claim to be women. In fact, all vestiges of extreme liberalism and socialism will be done away with, eliminated from American culture as much as possible. Core liberties, values, and traditional American culture will once again reign supreme.
As a loyal American citizen, I am more than delighted with these promises and I just hope and pray that Trump follows through and this radical change back, this determination to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN (MAGA) does in fact occur.
Trump knows that he has four years and no more to accomplish these goals. He also knows that the first 100 days of a presidency is the most important and he intends to get as much done through executive orders on the one hand and through working with the Republican controlled House and Senate to pass the legislation needed to accomplish these goals as well. There are Republicans who are skeptical and who may resist the Trump agenda in some cases. But achieving these fantastic goals can be accomplished and much of the Trump agenda will become reality and law and America will begin the CHANGE BACK even this very year 2025.
Many believe that Donald Trump, within an inch of being assassinated, was divinely spared to provide for America one last chance to be the beacon on a hill, the true land of freedom, the land of the constitution and the rule of law, and the nation where, as from the beginning, freedom rings. WE THE PEOPLE SHOULD DO EVERYTHING TO SUPPORT DONALD TRUMP AND MAKE THIS GRAND PLAN TO CHANGE AMERICA HAPPEN! Make America great again, my fellow Americans:
MAGA – MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

"LOVE IS THE GREATEST."
"Even greater than faith, or hope, or any other thing.
We celebrate the love of Valentine’s Day and appropriately so. That loving celebration is fun, romantic, even emotional. It is a day set aside once to live love and to express our love to all, but especially so to someone special.
Love is a word difficult of definition. In fact, it has many component parts. Love is complex, defining itself, manifesting itself in so many different ways. But love is a force without which we can not live, or live right. It is the stuff of life, and without it, life is mere existence, sterile and harsh. Love is the force, the resource of God, an energy which produces the highest and best relationships with OTHERS, and, as we love ourselves, allows us to live life at its highest levels.
TO LOVE AND TO BE LOVED IS THE GREATEST HAPPINESS OF EXISTENCE. So
said Sydnie Smith.
Love out and in is a daily process which produces the greatest happiness. It does indeed. Nothing feels better than to give love, share love, and experience love.
NOTHING."
"If you had no one to love, you would never be hurt. But, you would never grow. You would never venture outside your own self-centered needs and perceptions. Your heart would never be cracked open so that God could enter it. To love and love unconditionally is to take risks, and especially the risk of rejection. But nothing energizes and cleanses like love.
Profound words about love by a poet unknown. To love another, large or small, is the only real way that one can grow as a human being. The risk of loving produces the risk of hurt but even hurt toughens and matures love. The risk of loving another allows one to VENTURE OUTSIDE and to experience. Doing that allows your very own heart to be CRACKED OPEN so that love in its purest sense could enter, that is God Himself. Loving is always risky, and especially the risk of rejection. Rejection hurts but it is part of the loving process. The risk of love is worth it because nothing
energizes like love, and nothing cleanses like love, NOTHING."
"Charles Dickens said that a loving heart is the truest wisdom. Knowing life at its best, the most real and the truest wisdom can only be produced by a loving heart, a heart cracked open and wanting more love."
"Robert Schuller said that in the presence of love, miracles happen. Love itself is a miracle and the loving miracle produces other miracles. Miracles can and should happen more often and they can and will happen when:
LOVE IS AT WORK
True love allows us insight, real insight into the character and persona of another:
“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, I CATCH GLIMPSES OF THE YOU GOD CREATED, THE TRUE YOU. I SEE YOUR IMPERFECTIONS AND FAILURES, BUT I CHOOSE TO SEE PAST THEM TO THE REAL YOU. LOVE CREATES A PLACE WHERE YOU ARE FREE
TO BECOME YOUR COMPLETE SELF.”"
"What a marvelous statement. Perhaps we can only really know another not completely but only with glimpses and those glimpses made possible only because of love.
We are all riddled with imperfections and failures, are we not? We can see past things in our desire to find the real person, the real you. Love breaks down those barriers and produces eyes that truly see.
Benjamin Disraeli the great English Prime Minister said that:
“WE ARE ALL BORN TO LOVE. IT IS THE PRINCIPLE OF ITS EXISTENCE AND ITS ONLY END.”"
"Born to love, genetic, all that we really are, the very highest principle itself of existence. And, its only end, like the highest and greatest spiritual commandment that we should love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. In fact, we are known as Christians, followers of the Christ:
IF YOU HAVE LOVE ONE FOR ANOTHER
Love said another is tough, practical, and active. Love is washing the kitchen floor over and over again. Love is scrubbing the toilet and doing the laundry. Love is taking out the garbage and cleaning the refrigerator. Love is smiling when you are tired, finding reasons to laugh even when you are angry, volunteering for a dirty job, working hard, and making the world a better place.
Powerful and profound. Indeed, love is practical. Love is very much in the scrubbing of the toilet. Love is there from the one who takes out the garbage. Love indeed delights in the dirty jobs for when you do for the least of these, you do it unto HIM."
"And yet more insight into the God of all love:
GOD SAYS TO US, IN LOVE, I HOLD YOU IN MY MIND. I REMEMBER YOU. I HOLD ALL OF THE PIECES OF YOU. THE PAST WOUNDS AND THE PRESENT. AND IN
LOVE, I KNIT THEM TOGETHER INTO THE PERSON I LOVE, THE PERSON I CREATED TO GIVE ME JOY:"
"YOU."
"Held are we in the mind of God, remembering us even as we remember Him, all of our various pieces, wounds, wrongs, and problems no matter. God knits them together and all become the mosaic, the person God loves, the individual and special you.
Love frees us of the weight and pain of life! True love always lightens life’s heaviest
burdens. True love is a force far more powerful than the weapons of any enemy.
Life is a flower of which love is the honey, so said Victor Hugo. Love is knit into the very cells of our bodies. It is written into our DNA. It is encoded in the chemicals that make plants green. It is that which makes the sky blue, the substance of the song of the birds in summer, the whisper of the wind in the trees, the silence of the snow as it falls. Love is the voice of God calling to us endlessly and passionately through all HIS marvelous creation.
There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear. The more one loves, the less there is of which to be afraid. Love secures and drives our insecurity. Love at work is the most powerful force and energy of all.
Take away love, said Robert Browning, and our earth is a tomb. Without love, life is like dead, lifeless, even meaningless. And, if you wish to be loved, LOVE. Any time that is not spent on love is time wasted.
True love is a durable fire in the mind ever-burning, never sick, never old, never dead, from itself never turning, so said Sir Walter Raleigh. The durable fire of love burns unquenchable, always alive, always energizing.
The great artist Vincent Van Gogh said:
“THE HEART THAT LOVES IS ALWAYS YOUNG. LOVE IS A MARVELOUS BEAUTIFIER. LOVE IS ART AT WORK. I ALWAYS THINK THAT THE BEST WAY TO KNOW GOD IS TO LOVE MANY THINGS.”"

"Indeed, all of art is love at work and there really can be no great art without love. It beautifies and brings out the best in everything.
Here, the words of Thomas Merton:
“THE BEGINNING OF LOVE IS TO LET THOSE WHO LOVE BE PERFECTLY
THEMSELVES, AND NOT TO TWIST THEM TO FIT OUR OWN IMAGE. OTHERWISE,
WE LOVE ONLY THE REFLECTION OF OURSELVES WE FIND IN THEM.”"
"The more we are perfectly ourselves, living to our highest and best, the more and better of us there is.
Love cures people, the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. Love conquers all things, so said the ancient poet, Virgil."
"Love allows us to believe so fully and firmly in God even when He is silent!
The great thinker-theologian Soren Kierkegaard profoundly stated that when one has once fully entered the realm of love, the world, no matter how imperfect becomes rich and beautiful. It consists solely of opportunities for love.
It is love, said Thomas Mann, not reason that is stronger than death. And that love, stronger than and which conquers death is the love of the Christ on the cross and the resurrection which followed.
To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others, said Francois Mauriac. Life is replete with invisible miracles which can only be revealed by love at work.
If you love somebody, tell them, so said Rod McKuen. The telling unleashes the energy and the power of love.
The heart has its reasons which reason alone can not understand, so said the thinker Blaise Pascal. Love is a dimension in life different from and beyond reason itself. The more the mind the less the heart and consequently the less love. Reason no matter how wise can never understand love.
The great theologian Paul Tillich said that the first beauty of love is to listen. One who loves wants to listen more than talk, listen to every word, every expression of thought and emotion which comes from the one loved. Listening, really listening in a caring way, may very well be the highest attribute of true love.
For those who love, time is eternity. Love is God’s finger on man’s shoulder. Love is like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and to give thanks for another day of loving. Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.
Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson said:
“TIS BETTER TO HAVE LOVED AND LOST THAN NEVER TO HAVE LOVED AT ALL.”"

"Love indeed is risky, the risk of rejection but a life lived without true love is a life never really lived at all.
I love you, says Anna Corbin, as you are, not as you wish to be. I love you for the real person you are, not the imaginary perhaps I fantasize you could be. I love the real,
amazing, utterly unique YOU."
"Love in the ultimate, unconditional, love so REAL.
If you love until it hurts, really hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love said the wonderfully loving Mother Teresa. True love at work drives away the hurt."
"Looking back, said one, I have this to regret. That too often when I loved, I did not say so. Love uncommunicated is love aborted. It is there but never shared. More time is spent judging people which leaves less time to love them.
Zelda Fitzgerald said that nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much love the heart can hold. There is no limit to love, none whatsoever. Love is there, always and love takes up when knowledge leaves off. In fact, love is the supreme knowledge, superior to all else.
Love’s greatest gift is its ability to make everything it touches sacred. Love at work produces the holiest of the holies. The great English statesman William E. Gladstone said the following:
“WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE TIME WHEN THE POWER OF LOVE WILL REPLACE THE LOVE OF POWER. THEN WILL OUR WORLD KNOW THE BLESSINGS OF PEACE. POWER KILLS LOVE AND WITHOUT LOVE, THERE IS NO PEACE. THERE IS
NOTHING MORE POWERFUL BEFORE AND EVER AGAIN THAN LOVE.”"
"The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said the following:
“WE ARE SAVED BY THE FINAL FORM OF LOVE, WHICH IS FORGIVENESS. FORGIVING AND FORGETTING ARE THE HIGHEST ACTS OF LOVE RESULTING IN OUR SALVATION. THERE WAS ONE, YEARS AGO, DRIVEN TO THE CROSS BY THE LOVE OF MANKIND PROVIDING IN HIS DEATH THE LIFE AND THE LOVE WE LEAD.
THE CROSS WAS THE FINAL AND FORGIVING FORM OF LOVE.”"
"The crucifixion of the Christ on the cross was indeed the ultimate act of love. The great writer C.S. Lewis said the following:
“TO LOVE AT ALL IS TO BE VULNERABLE. LOVE ANYTHING AND YOUR HEART WILL CERTAINLY BE WRUNG AND POSSIBLY BROKEN. LOVE BREAKS DOWN ALL BARRIERS, OPENS WIDE THE HEART, EXPOSES TRUE INNOCENCE AND RISKS THE WRINGING AND THE BREAKING OF THIS MORE PRIZED POSSESSION. REAL LOVE DEMANDS THIS, CONSTANTLY.”
Sir Arthur Pinero said that “those who love deeply never grow old. They may die of old age, but they die young at heart.”
That deep love here and now is but a prelude to the perfect love there. In fact, they are one love contiguous and continuous. Love is both earthly and eternal. Love never dies. For there is only one real happiness in life and that is to love and to be loved.
The great writer Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
“NEVER SELF-POSSESSED OR PRUDENT, LOVE IS ALL ABANDONMENT.”"
"True love is pure risk, always. Love at work risks hurt to the self and rejection by another. But the risk at work is what makes the word of love so special."
"Vulnerability, openness, risk but so great reward.
Hear then the marvelous words of the great poet William Wordsworth:
“A PERSON CAN BE SO CHANGED BY LOVE AS TO BE UNRECOGNIZABLE AS THE SAME PERSON. LOVE TRANSFORMS, REGENERATES. LOVE PRODUCES CHANGE, EVERYWHERE AND IN EVERYONE. LOVE BETTERS WHAT IS BEST!”"
"The great philosopher Plato said that love is the best friend of human kind, the helper and the healer of all ills that stand in the way of human happiness. In fact, love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries and without them, humanity can not survive. And for some real definition of the word love, hear the words of Saint Augustine:
“WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE? WHY, IT HAS HANDS TO HELP OTHERS. IT HAS FEET TO HASTEN TO THE POOR AND NEEDY. IT HAS EYES TO SEE MISERY AND WANT. IT HAS EARS TO HEAR THE SIGHS AND SORROWS OF HUMANKIND. THAT
IS WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE!”"
"Amen and amen. Hands and feet at work, eyes and ears to see and hear human need. Love at work is what love really is.
Love comes supreme and most innocently from a child. A child’s love is pure, uncomplicated, unconditional, fully trusting. Such innocence opens deep the world of feeling and emotion and it is a return to that childlike love and that ability to love which alone can make complete the adult version of that child. May we all be wise enough to return to the innocent love of a little child.
And so my friends, my fellow Americans, we the Crawford Broadcasting Company wish you all of the love possible on Valentine’s Day and during Valentine’s week. May love in all its forms permeate your life and may you know the supreme love of the One who laid down His life for you. Live love every day and know the real and true meaning of life.
And finally, the profound words of poet Emily Dickenson:
“IF I CAN STOP ONE HEART FROM BREAKING
I SHALL NOT LIVE IN VAIN
IF I CAN EASE ONE LIFE THE ACHING OR COOL ONE PAIN
OR HELP ONE FAINTING ROBIN IN TO HIS NEST AGAIN
I SHALL NOT LIVE IN VAIN!”"
"Love is the greatest!"

In this episode of the National Crawford Roundtable we look at Government spending--it is wasteful, particularly from FEMA? We also discuss the new Faith Office, headed by Paula White-Cain. Was she a good choice to lead this department? And what about the change on Google Maps which now shows the Gulf of America, formerly the Gulf of Mexico? Will others follow Google's lead?

In this episode of the National Crawford Roundtable podcast the guys review President Trump's second week in office. Is Trump's plans for Gaza feasible? What is the impact of the tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China? Will RFK and Tulsi Gabbard get confirmed? What about closing down USAID and dismantling the Department of Education? And is Trump surrounding himself with Billionaires "good optics?"

The greatest of all things is LOVE.
The greatest, says the Apostle Paul, agreed upon by the world’s greatest thinkers, artists and poets is:
LOVE
Love is best.
The Bible book 1 Corinthians 13 is Paul’s finest expression of love by far. Read and read again those marvelous apostolic definitions of love. One of the meanings of this powerful force is spiritual devotion, a reasoning, intentional spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God’s love for and in us. To really know what love is, says Paul, can only occur as a result of a meaningful (loving) relationship with God Almighty. The longer, the deeper the relationship, the more the meaning of love becomes clear.
Love is good. In fact, good is defined by love. For no mere mortal can do good without love. One may intend to live right, perhaps following the Ten Commandments and other great moral precepts. But mere intention, the act of the will is not enough for it lacks the energy, the conviction, the power of LOVE.
There really is no definition of love, no simple one. Words like affection, attachment, emotion, even ultimate feelings are inadequate. So, Paul says let’s begin by defining love as PATIENT. Love is longsuffering because love is eternal. We live in a world fundamentally impatient, Type A, a world of pressure and intensity. Life as it is in the 20th Century and the people who live that life cause us to be impatient, frustrated, even angry. But if one loves and lives by the power of love, one says Paul is PATIENT. That is, no matter the circumstances, one is patient because patience is inherent, a spiritual genetic component of one who loves.
Love is kind, says the open-hearted Apostle Paul. Love is gentle, easy. It avoids meaningless confrontation and struggle. Love thinks on those things which are good in gentle ways, avoids strife and is slow to anger. Our world is hard, feisty and confrontational, so often without love. But love at work is the antidote to harsh things in life. That easy love soothes. It strokes. It forces its way into the heart and opens it. Love replaces the harsh with hugs. It cares about others first and about the things of God even more. There is no gentle or kind without love.

Love, God’s love in us, does not insist on its own rights or its own way. Love is not self-seeking. The natural man without love is selfish, self-centered, and egotistical. A loving person is giving, open, and caring. These standards are extremely high, and virtually impossible for any human being to accomplish without, says Paul, the love of God.
Love even allows us not to take account of the wrongs or evil done to us by others. Love allows us to forgive and forget. Love allows us to love an enemy rather than to seek vengeance. Love allows us to move past righting wrongs. We can lovingly forgive even as a loving God forgave us.
Love rejoices when right and truth prevail. Real love is straight, a kind of tough love structured by what is right and true. Love deals with problems in the present, and deals with them straightforwardly as truth would have it. Love can discipline and correct in truth without hurting. True love never compromises. How wonderful and joyful it is to lovingly live in truth at all times. For to know the truth of love is to be set free and allows us to live a life rejoicing and praising.
Love protects and defends. It guards the hearts and minds of the young. It trains up children in the way in which they should go. It shows them the way of the Lord, the path of righteousness. Love protects and defends home and family. Love guards against false prophets and the lie. Love tolerates no evil, only the good.
Love is loyal, says Paul. Love is trustworthy and trusting. Love makes character predictable, reliable, steady, and dependable. Love produces bonds unbroken, full trust unto death.
Real love, says Paul, always hopes for the best, especially the best in others. No matter the evil or inconsistencies in others, or the uncertainties in life, hope for the good is always love’s objective. Love, real love is contagious. In the presence of love, real love, others participate and share and begin to feel that real love themselves. Love at work creates the belief that all things will work together for good for those who love each other, and especially those who love God. That, says Paul, is an absolute truth for:
LOVE NEVER FAILS
It endures now and for all eternity. It overcomes the greatest evils in this world which combined, can never destroy love.
But the Apostle Paul in his great treatise 1 Corinthians 13 also tells us what love is NOT.
Paul tells us that love is not talk no matter how eloquent. Words are not love and may even have difficulty communicating or defining love. No matter how eloquent the tongue, even the language of angels, words are like sounding brass and tinkling symbols, hollow and meaningless. Even, says Paul, if words are those of the angels themselves, they are worthless without love.

And Paul says that even the gift of prophecy, knowing the future, discerning the divine will and purpose without love means nothing. Even moving mountains with all power and energy means nothing without love.
One can not even give to the poor without love. One can not even be willing to die, offer a body to be burned, or lay down a life for another without love, for all such acts no matter how charitable are meaningless without love.
Love is not envious. Love is not jealous of others, what they are or what they have. Love desires the best for everyone. Love rejoices when the best things happen to other people. Love never craves or lusts. It is content no matter the circumstances.
Love is not controlling, says Paul. It lets go. It never holds on. Love never demands and always reasons with an open heart. Love is never possessive. Love is always ready to share, give and understand.
And love never boasts or brags. Love is not proud or puffed up. Love has no ego. Love cares little for power, fame or possessions. Love is in the doing for by their loving fruits we shall know them. Love wishes to be known and loved by God and not man. Love reminds that it is not about me but about HIM.
Love does not behave unseemly. Love allows one to live modestly, humbly and joyfully. Love builds and sustains character. Love has its own rules and standards, instinctive even genetic, which controls and directs behavior instinctively. By their fruits, by their actions, it is easy to know one who loves.
Love is not easily angered says Paul. Not that one never gets angry, but that anger is slow to wrath. No tempers, no rages. Life can not be lived on the defense. Love calls for rational and reasonable responses and reactions, for a fiery tongue does nothing but damage. When one is possessed, and consumed by love, that loving person can not be easily provoked. Anger, even righteous anger does very little good.
Perhaps so very importantly Paul reminds us that love does not keep any record of wrongs. We, the humans, have such long memories when things go wrong, when we are wronged. We may in some sense forgive, but it is so very difficult to forget. But love, says Paul, keeps no record of these wrongs, love has no balance sheet, no list of spiritual assets and liabilities. Love is owed nothing for all it gives, even for major acts of forgiveness. It requires no payback or retribution for any harm done, no matter the wrong. Love truly forgets and presses on for only the good things in life. Love holds no grudges, none whatsoever. There is no get-even, no aggression, nothing defensive about real love at work. Real love allows anyone to love an enemy, the worst of them no matter the wrongs, so says Paul. Love allows us to do good to those who persecute us, defame us, slander and abuse us. That is real love. Easy it is to throw up one's hands and say impossible, all of it just plain impossible. And perhaps all such things are impossible at the human level only, that is without the love of God at work in any life. We are told that God is love and the more of the love of God in our lives and hearts, the more we can live by love and in love. We now see imperfectly, we now understand love imperfectly, as Paul says, but we will know when we see the source of all love FACE TO FACE. Then we shall know that perfect love which passes all understanding. To stand in the HOLY PRESENCE, the source of all love is to know completely. Love is a process as is learning to love, here and now. But love will be fully completed in the dawn of that eternal day.
And finally, Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13 that there are three great things, the very best of all things in this life, namely:
FAITH
HOPE
LOVE
No matter how important faith is, and it surely is, that is the conviction and belief with respect to man’s relationship to God and divine things, love is greater. And no matter how strong the force of hope, the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation, as important as that is, love is greater.
The greatest of all things is LOVE, that is, true affection for God and man, affection growing out of God’s love for and in us.
The greatest of all things is love because LOVE NEVER FAILS!

In this episode of the National Roundtable podcast the guys review President Donald Trump's first week in office: arrests and deportations of illegal alien criminals, building the border wall, ending DEI in military and government, securing $1 trillion in private investments for the U.S. They also discuss whether ending Birthright Citizenship is Unconstitutional, and they debate Bitcoin/Crypto and whether it is wrong for Christians.