On a Friday in November, some of our staff had the honor and opportunity to meet President Trump as he boarded Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House. The President expressed his great appreciation of our work at Concerned Women for America and took the time to pose for pictures. Thank you Mr. President.
See President Trump’s Video From our 40th Anniversary Gala
(Story Begins at 8 minute mark and runs to 13 minutes.)
CEO and President Penny Nance weighed in on The World and Everything in It radio this week on the subject of TV Ratings. The host commented: “Television content for kids has more and more profanity and violence in it and the T-V ratings stay the same. But that’s exactly the way Hollywood likes it.”
Hear the Entire Radio Show Here:
Right at the top of the list of President Donald J. Trump’s legacy is his amazing work on judicial nominations. In just under three years, the U.S. Senate has confirmed the most circuit court judges in a president’s first term since 1980. With several confirmations this week, one out of every four circuit court judges are now a Trump nominee.
The Senate has confirmed a total of 159 judges with more ready to be confirmed at any moment. Forty-five of those are circuit court judges, 112 to the district court, and, of course, two Supreme Court justices.
This week, the President took some time to celebrate the great work their team has been doing on this front. Concerned Women for America’s (CWA) Vice-President of Government Relations Doreen Denny was at the White House to mark the occasion.
CWA supporters have been crucial in the Trump Administration’s success through our support of the many judicial nominees. The two Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, were most prominent, of course.
Which brings us to the most important point about the Trump legacy. It is not about the numbers. It is not about being a Republican or a Democrat. The fact is CWA’s support and the President’s success is worth celebrating because of the type of judges the president has nominated. His commitment to nominating constitutionalists who refrain from interjecting personal policy preferences into the judicial decision has been unwavering. That is why his number will have such a great impact for all Americans, regardless of political persuasion.
When judges are committed to the text of the Constitution and the laws as written, everyone wins. Remember, the danger of the “living, breathing constitution” is not that the Constitution is amended (the Founders indeed provided a way for the Constitution to be amended, since they knew this must happen—that’s what the Bill of Rights is), it is how it is done. For unelected judges to simply amend the Constitution at their pleasure breaks the most fundamental tenets of our Republic. It is “we the people” who are the “supremes” under our Constitution, not unelected judges.
Therefore, with judges who abide by the text of the Constitution and the laws as written, everyone should feel empowered. They are free to persuade their fellow citizens of their preferred policy positions and work through the legislatures to see that those changes are made. To continue to allow judges to implement one side’s preferred policy changes by judicial fiat is to live under judicial tyranny.
President Trump noted this in his remarks this week saying,
“This system was designed to protect citizens against the unjust concentration of governmental power … [but] when judges assume the role of a legislature, the rights of all citizens are threatened. … When judges write policy instead of applying the law, they impose sweeping changes on millions of Americans without the benefit of legislative debate, public rulemaking, or the consent of the governed. As a result, these highly political rulings inflict painful damage on our security, society, and economy—imposing unworkable edicts on businesses, workers, families, and law enforcement.”
That’s music to my ears.
President Trump also noted that the average age of his circuit judges is less than 50 years old—10 years younger than the average age was for President Obama. This means that this legacy will have a lasting effect on the judiciary. We simply cannot overstate how important this is for the protection of our freedoms.
This success should also highlight for us how important the next election will be. Part of the reason for the president’s success was the rule change made by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who opened the door to get rid of the filibuster of judicial nominees. That reality will benefit whoever is in office. If someone committed to judicial activists is elected President, he too would be able to confirm judges at a faster pace, especially if the same party controls the Senate, as President Trump has enjoyed.
This issue must remain at the top of our minds as we consider our choices for the next election.
—
Mario Diaz, Esq. is CWA’s general counsel. Follow him on Twitter @mariodiazesq.
UPDATE:
President Trump just issued the new proposed rule that would reverse an Obama-era regulation that harmed faith-based adoption and foster care providers. This Obama “nondiscrimination” mandate, imposed just days before President Trump was inaugurated, jeopardized the status of faith-based adoption and foster care providers who work with adoptive and foster families who shared their beliefs. President Obama added categories to HHS nondiscrimination laws that require grant recipients to accept unorthodox, ideological views on gender and sexuality. The result has become government discrimination against faith-based providers used as a weapon for lawsuits and disqualifying them from serving families and children.
In the new rule, the Keep Kids First Rule, the Trump Administration has reversed this activist policy and clarified that discrimination laws enacted by Congress, not imposed by unelected bureaucrats, apply to adoption and foster care providers. The Administration’s effort to restore religious freedom and include all child welfare providers on the playing field is especially important as the need for loving families is on the rise.
The Trump Administration needs your help to make the Keep Kids First Rule a reality. Public comments supporting the rule are the key to guaranteeing the religious freedom of all providers and ending government discrimination against them. Your positive comment supporting the Keep Kids First rule must be submitted by December 19 at 11:59 p.m.
Last Friday the Trump Administration announced its intention to reverse Obama-era regulations that have sidelined faith-based adoption and foster care agencies. CWA has been working with Congress and the Administration on this change for nearly two years!
President Obama added categories to nondiscrimination laws that require grant recipients to accept ideological views on gender and sexuality. Such government discrimination has been weaponized against faith-based providers – several are facing lawsuits; others have discontinued operations. The Administration’s effort to restore religious freedom and enable all qualified child welfare providers to be eligible for placing children in loving homes is especially important as the need for loving families is on the rise.
As with other proposed rules that represent major changes, like the Protect Life rule and the Conscience Care Rule, supportive comments of the new rules will be crucial! The timeline to comment will only be 30 days. We will need your help to get the word out. We are awaiting publication in the Federal Register this week before we are able to submit comments, and we will alert you as soon as the comment period begins!
Vindicate us, O Lord—
Heavenly Father, come to our rescue.
When enemies assail us and keep us under threat,
We trust not in our own schemes, but in You.
They come at us with sword and spear, lies and smears,
But we shall not be moved.
Those who trust in the Lord endure
Through many trials and tribulations.
You renew the strength of those who wait for you;
We shall mount up with wings like eagles;
We will run and not be weary;
Walk and not faint.
In You we take refuge.
Pardon our sin and do not cast us away,
Like those who have no faith.
Send Your light and truth to our land.
Send us revival and hope for the afflicted.
Help us reject the things of this world,
Preferring to store up in heaven above,
That which is our treasure.
Teach us to value You, help us to see.
Give us wisdom beyond our deserve.
Let us witness the daily miracles of Your grace.
And help us share in love, Your love,
Amen!
—
Click here for more prayers from our For America Prayer Journal.
Young Women for America chapters across the country have had quite a week – let’s recap.
- YWA National Director, Kelsey Good, met with current YWA leaders at Liberty University and Clemson University, and with prospective YWA leaders at Virginia Tech and James Madison University.
- Several Pensacola Christian YWA leaders ran a half marathon together to benefit an anti-trafficking safe house. Afterward, they met and discussed the U.S. Constitution and the Founding Fathers.
- YWA at Liberty University discussed our new “The Truth about Socialism” lesson with Chick-Fil-A and sweet tea.
- Clemson University’s YWA chapter hosted a “Caffeinated Conversations” while Texas A&M’s chapter hosted a “Pumpkins and Politics” meeting!
- YWA at Sam Houston State had a promotional table at three events over the past week which ranged from selling cinnamon rolls and passing out YWA cards, to Nerf gun target practice.
- YWA at Louisiana State University chapter volunteered at a church’s shelter and made a meal for 50 people.
- Oh, and, YWA ladies voted! What a week.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2019
Contact: Toni DeLancey
Direct Line: (202) 266-4816 | Mobile: (202) 527-3434
STATEMENT by CWA CEO & President Penny Nance
Judicial Attack on Conscience Protections for Healthcare Professionals Must Be Appealed
Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), had this to say regarding U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Engelmayer’s decision to strike down a rule by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) protecting the right of conscience of healthcare professionals that object to participating in procedures like abortions.
“The mask comes off once again with this ruling. Not only is the left adamant about having the “choice” to end the life of the pre-born child, they also want government to force everyone to participate in it. They want to force healthcare professionals to participate in the procedure, and they want every American to support abortion through our tax dollars.
“It is simply outrageous for a judge to interject his personal preference as judicial findings, saying that a simple rule such as this one, giving medical professionals the right to simply say, “I do not want to participate in something that violates my conscience,” is a “solution in search of a problem.”
“The Trump Administration must appeal this misguided decision and continue to stand for the right of all Americans to act according to their conscience. As James Madison said, “Conscience is the most sacred of all property.” And we must continue to fight against the left’s continued push to infringe on this God-given right.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar earlier this month announced that the White House is revisiting and enhancing an Obama-era rule that, in an effort to protect consumers, would clamp down on flavored e-cigarettes and vaping devices readily available on the market.
“The Trump administration is making it clear that we intend to clear the market of flavored e-cigarettes to reverse the deeply concerning epidemic of youth e-cigarette use that is impacting children, families, schools and communities,” said Azar. “We will not stand idly by as these products become an on-ramp to combustible cigarettes or nicotine addiction for a generation of youth.”
As a mother, I commend Secretary Azar and the Trump administration for hitting the “Pause” button on the proliferation of potentially harmful flavored e-cigarette and vaping-device products. It’s alarming to me the number of young men coming down with lung-related illnesses from recreational e-cigarette and vaping-device use.
I’ve been haunted for weeks by images of a young man on a ventilator suffering from a mysterious vaping-related injury and applaud the administration for giving medical professionals the time they need to figure out why these products are hurting our young people, as officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they’ve received more than 800 reports of e-cigarette- and vaping-related lung injuries and that authorities still haven’t pinpointed what’s causing the epidemic.
“The specific chemical exposure(s) causing lung injuries associated with e-cigarette use, or vaping, remains unknown at this time,” reads a CDC statement. “More information is needed to know whether one or more e-cigarette or vaping products, substances, or brand is responsible for the outbreak.”
What does this mean? Moms are seeing otherwise healthy teenagers and young-adult children suffering on ventilators because of e-cigarettes, Juul and other vaping-device brands. The CDC has recommended that, until a cause is found, people abstain from vaping. The FDA launched a criminal investigation into these businesses and the House held a hearing on Sept. 24 regarding this epidemic.
Thirty-seven people, meanwhile, have died as a result of e-cigarette- and vaping-related use. Those who’ve sustained e-cigarette- or vaping-related injuries are predominantly male and 79% are under 35 years of age. Forty percent are between 18 and 24 years old.
The federal minimum age required to even purchase e-cigarettes or vaping devices is 18 yet a whopping 16 percent of patients that have suffered e-cigarette and vaping-related illnesses are younger than 18 years old, according to the CDC. Clearly, the vaping epidemic is disproportionately affecting our young men and that needs to stop before more fall victim to these devices.
About 25 percent of states have taken the moral high ground and increased the minimum age at which someone can legally purchase tobacco and vaping-related devices to 21 years old. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in May introduced legislation proposing these same age increases apply nationwide. “Unfortunately, it’s reaching epidemic levels,” he told USA Today of the vaping-related horror stories he’s received from constituents.
His proposed legislation is a good start but, obviously, young men are still getting their hands on these harmful products. President Donald J. Trump and Secretary Azar are entirely justified in escalating this issue and choking access to these hazardous products by issuing newly enhanced recommendations for manufacturers.
After all, why give an at-risk demographic even easier access to the very products that could be killing them? This travesty is familiar. I was around in the ‘90s when tobacco giants testified before Congress that nicotine was not “addictive” when they knew the opposite. What are these companies and CEOs up to today? They’ve funneled into two addiction-for-profit industries: marijuana and vaping.
Altria, the parent company of Phillip Morris, invested $12.8 billion in Juul last December and invested $1.8 billion in the marijuana company Cronos Group. Phillip Morris International has created a “nonprofit,” the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, to promote the company’s e-cigarette products. Out of the tobacco industry, Altria contributed the most money to candidates and committees in the 2018 election cycle.
RJR Tobacco (Reynolds) produces the e-cigarette VUSE and has now been acquired by British American Tobacco (BAT) which produced its first electronic cigarette in 2013. The U.S. Tobacco Company is a subsidiary of Altria and is now known as the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company. In 2012, Lorillard Tobacco Company purchased “blu,” an e-cigarette brand and became the first tobacco company to invest in the e-cigarette market. It has since been acquired by Reynolds.
The bottom line is this: No one in the halls of government should be allowing easy access to the very chemical that could be injuring and killing our young men. Shame on any leader who caves to the demands of big business over the health and well-being of his or her constituents. Now it’s time to issue the guidance as soon as possible and give investigators and medical professionals the opportunity they need to discover what’s killing our young men
CEO and President Penny Young Nance wrote an opinion piece recently for Foxnews.com explaining how a new standard could have implications in protecting children on the Internet:
Google and Mozilla recently announced plans to begin testing a new standard that would encrypt the Domain Name System, often referred to as “the address book of the Internet.”
Depending on how DNS encryption is implemented, it could have serious implications for the protection of children.
While encryption in the name of additional security is a laudable goal, it needs to be done in a way that does not have the unintended consequence of impeding law enforcement and efforts to filter inappropriate and, in the case of child pornography, illegal content.
As a leading organization dedicated to protecting children and ending sexual exploitation, Concerned Women for America is deeply concerned about any potential changes to the functioning of the Internet that could inadvertently open the floodgates of harmful content and hurt efforts to identify and stop sex trafficking and child pornography.
On Halloween, the House of Representatives voted largely along party lines on a resolution that presumably would unmask the secrecy of the ongoing behind-closed-doors investigation of President Trump. Two Democrats, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-New Jersey) and Rep. Colin Peterson (D-Minnesota), joined with the entire Republican caucus to vote against the resolution.
The House resolution was described as “formalizing” the process – one that has yet to be officially started, even though it has consumed much of the business of the House for weeks out of public view. The resolution itself acknowledges this as it directs six committees “to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry.” [emphasis added]
Never in the history of the United States has the impeachment of a President been formalized after it was underway. The usual process begins with a vote on a resolution to start the inquiry, part of which includes the rules and parameters for the inquiry itself. This means there were no rules set until the House was in the middle of issuing subpoenas and demanding hours of testimony from everyone but the alleged whistleblower. Speaker Pelosi unilaterally declared an impeachment inquiry without a vote even before receiving the transcript of the President’s call with Ukrainian President Zelensky.
Voters do not like how this is being handled. A recent poll shows, roughly half of voters disapprove of how Democrats have conducted this investigation.
Apart from the procedural issues at hand, there is the matter of what the Constitution dictates as the threshold for impeachment. Article II, Section 4 reads, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The Constitution sets a high bar for impeachment. The answer must be more than something people dislike or disapprove of; it must meet the threshold of a high crime and misdemeanor.
Every American has the right to due process, including the President of the United States. That’s our Fifth Amendment right. The impeachment process should be based on facts, and those at the center of the process should retain their right to due process. It is profoundly damaging to ignore the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and sacred tenets of American jurisprudence including the burden of proof being on the accuser rather than the accused and innocent until proven guilty.
Starting with a legitimate vote to begin an inquiry enables the President to engage in the process and have the ability to defend himself. It also gives all members of the House access to review the evidence and form their own conclusions. For the first time, this has not happened.
In Federalist 65, Alexander Hamilton details the impeachment process and the rationale behind it. Writing as Publius, Hamilton interrupts his impassioned defense of the Constitution to issue a warning:
In many cases [impeachment] will connect itself with pre-existing factions, and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence, and interest on one side or on the other; and in such cases there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. [emphasis added]
In a time of heightened passions, tensions, and polarization, it is our duty to steward the laws and institutions that protect our liberties. While not perfect, our constitutional order is the most effective system we have to preserve our freedom in a fallen world.
Party before country destroys both country and party. In a world of 30-second talking points and 140-character verdicts, let us take the time to thoughtfully examine issues as informed citizens. Only then may we continue to keep our Republic.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov.1, 2019
Contact: Toni DeLancey
Direct Line: (202) 266-4816 | Mobile: (202) 527-3434
STATEMENT by CWA CEO & President Penny Nance
“The only thing bipartisan about yesterday’s impeachment vote was the opposition. The radical left’s capricious effort to remove a duly elected president is not only bad for Washington, it is bad for America.
“This was simply the latest effort in a long line of attempts to erase the results of the 2016 election. The impeachment hopes were articulated within hours of the election with one Washington Post headline reading, “The campaign to impeach President Trump has begun.”
“Since then, they have tried on multiple occasions, leading to this dubious attempt. But the process has been tainted from the beginning. This vote is the fruit of a poisonous tree, and the American people have no confidence in it.
“The hundreds of thousands of women of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) call on Congress to stop the travesty and put an end to the political partisanship that is driving this impeachment charade and hurting our nation.
“What the country desperately needs is a completely transparent process, not a convenient set of rules to allow the president’s strongest critics to continue their relentlessly biased effort to remove him at any cost.
“As polls suggest, the American people are starting to see through the malicious political rancor that is currently driving these efforts, and they will rise up to reject it.”
###
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is the legislation and advocacy arm of Concerned Women for America. Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization with a rich 40-year history of helping our members across the country bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy.
Last week Concerned Women for America was on Capitol Hill advocating for the proper role of foreign policy in protecting human rights. The CWA and Heritage Foundation cosponsored panel was featured by Faith and Law and titled “Divisible, Not Incompatible: Strengthening Human Rights by Preventing Their Politicization”. CWA’s Vice President of International Affairs Dr. Shea Garrison spoke about U.S. leadership in international human rights advocacy along with Emilie Kao from Heritage Foundation, Benjamin Bull Esq. of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and Dr. Aaron Rhodes, President of the Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe.
The hour-long panel explained to Hill staff members how in international human rights advocacy, God-given, natural, or unalienable rights (like religious freedom, freedom of speech and conscience) are increasingly being conflated with manufactured “rights” that are in actuality only the social and economic goals of particular interest groups.
Today so many organizations advocate in the name of “human rights” that economic and social goals are often confused with fundamental or unalienable rights. This is a problem leading to less individual freedom, not more. Dr. Aaron Rhodes’ book, The Debasement of Human Rights: How Politics Sabotage the Ideal of Freedom, identifies and explains this dangerous trend in the international human rights movement.
Examples of advocacy for social or economic goals in the name of “human rights” include: the right to a clean environment, the right to a free university education, the right to free internet access, the right of a biological male to compete on women’s sports teams, the right to legalized abortion, and even the right not to be offended. As individuals, we all have different opinions about whether these goals are desirable or even valuable. Panel members pointed out that by primarily protecting our “natural” human rights, we also protect the freedom to pursue our different political goals and ideological preferences.
Panel members also explained that confusion about fundamental rights can be dangerous, as it offers cover to authoritarian and totalitarian governments who provide economic and social benefits to citizens as a demonstration of their support for “human rights.” But these governments, like China and Venezuela, at the same time continue to oppress fundamental unalienable rights like religious liberty, freedom of the press, or free speech. As the Declaration of Independence states, the purpose of government is to secure unalienable rights and any government that does not is illegitimate.
To help clarify the difference between God-given natural rights and economic and social goals, Secretary Pompeo recently announced the U.S. Commission on Unalienable Rights to ground U.S. foreign policy on human rights in America’s founding principles. The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, as well as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) are guides for the commission.
The panel ended with suggestions as to how the U.S. can best shape human rights policy and strategy and how natural rights are best protected when they are protected for all, not for members of particular identity groups. In addition, Dr. Garrison discussed how robust protection of natural rights, such as religious freedom, can ultimately lead to economic and social prosperity.
Read Dr. Shea Garrison’s Washington Times Article “How China is home to the worst human rights crises of our time’: It’s why the U.S. Commission on Unalienable rights is so necessary.”
Count me among the millions of Americans who have had Kanye West’s new album “Jesus is King” on replay ever since it came out on October 25. I want to take you on a listening journey to explain why. For those who are just looking for the bottom line, I would say this: this album is appropriately titled. In it, “Jesus is King.” Every second I spend listening to it, my mind is focused on the Holy One. I see Jesus glorified throughout every track, and this is the purpose of my life, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Therefore, I loved it.
Which is the other point. Kanye’s new music is enjoyable. It is interesting. It is good. No mindless repetition. It is straight and to the point.
The point being Jesus is king!
Even if you don’t like the genre, I’d like to share with you some of the highlights in the message he is spreading to all who listen. If you love Jesus, I guarantee you’ll smile.
Let’s push play.
Track 1, “Every Hour” right away stops me on my tracks. I want to praise. I want to join in this gospel choir. “Sing ’til the power of the Lord comes down … We need you … Every hour, every minute, every second…” Yes. The voices are perfect, and the syncopation between the different parts and the piano leaves me mesmerized. I’m already in praise mode.
All of a sudden everything drops out. A lone organ comes in. Enter “Selah,” track 2. The first line? “God is King, we the soldiers.” The music style fits that line, too. It’s hard-hitting. This is an anthem for battle.
Before the flood, people judge
They did the same thing to Noah
Everybody wanted Yandhi
Then Jesus Christ did the laundry
They say the week start on Monday
But the strong start on Sunday
Boom. You are clearly on one side of the battle line. I find myself among God’s army, and I feel at home. I look around and see Kanye has changed sides. He now stands beside me, and I want to praise God again for His goodness and mercy. I remember from where He saved me too as the hard-hitting lyrics continue to flow.
Won’t be in bondage to any man
John 8:33
We the descendants of Abraham
Ye should be made free
John 8:36
To whom the Son set free is free indeed
He saved a wretch like me
The only response to this is worship. And Kanye seems to understand this. Right in the middle of this battle anthem comes the, “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah … Hallelujah, He is wonderful.”
Next comes “Follow God” (track 3). “Father, I stretch, stretch my hands to You,” it starts with an old style that immediately breaks into hip hop. It deals with trying to live the Christian life. Every Christian will identify. Every new believer struggles to live according to a new way. The longer you have lived in the world the harder it is. This track reflects that, “I’m just tryna find, l’ve been lookin’ for a new way. I’m just really tryin’ not to really do the fool way.” It’s a short song that ends with a scream of frustration when hearing the words, “That ain’t Christ-like.” The answer to this struggle is still Jesus. We take on His righteousness by the Spirit.
A smooth classical guitar greets you in track 4, “Closed on Sunday.” Undoubtedly one of the most memorable tracks in the album. Soon a rhythmic alarm-like sound will accentuate the urgency of this message. WARNING:
Hold the selfies, put the ’Gram away
Get your family, y’all hold hands and pray
When you got daughters, always keep ’em safe
Watch out for vipers, don’t let them indoctrinate
This is when I realized I was listening to one of the most important cultural messages we need at this moment in American history. Kanye’s counter-cultural voice is desperately needed. Perhaps he can sound the alarm for a youth that stands before great danger. They are entering the war zone unequipped.
Raise our sons, train them in the faith
Through temptations, make sure they’re wide awake
Follow Jesus, listen and obey
No more livin’ for the culture, we nobody’s slave
Friends pray for Kanye. This is pure truth. He will face the full onslaught of the culture’s attack, no doubt. Listen to this declaration:
Stand up for my home
Even if I take this walk alone
I bow down to the King upon the throne
My life is His, I’m no longer my own
This is my anthem. This is every Christian’s anthem. Or it should be.
Track 5, “On God,” gives us a bit of Kanye’s testimony. The Gospel opens it: “’How you get so much favor on your side?’ ‘Accept Him as your Lord and Savior,’ I replied.” But this confession is what gripped me: “The devil had my soul, I can’t lie.” This recognition, for any man, is crucial for a life of repentance. The enemy is real. There is no neutral ground. God is the only one who can save us from the slavery of sin.
An a cappella chorus greets you in track 6, “Everything We Need.” In a culture that screams that you need something else—the latest iPhone, a degree, more “likes”, a following, etc. – this chorus breaks the cycle of endless self-seeking. “We have everything we need,” repeats time and again.
What if Eve made apple juice?
You gon’ do what Adam do?
Or say, “Baby, let’s put this back on the tree” ’cause
We have everything we need
This is truth for both the artist with much material wealth, as much as it is for the humble person with much of nothing, if they both “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful,” (Hebrews 10:23). Jesus is all we need.
Track 7, “Water,” feels like a deeply personal prayer. The highlight of this song, again, puts the focus on Jesus.
Jesus, flow through us
Jesus, heal the bruises
Jesus, clean the music
Jesus, please use us
Jesus, please help
Jesus, please heal
Jesus, please forgive
Jesus, please reveal
Jesus, give us strength
Jesus, make us well
Jesus, help us live
Jesus, give us wealth
Jesus is our safe
Jesus is our rock
Jesus, give us grace
Jesus, keep us safe
The listener is then taken to a beautiful hymn, “God is” (track 8). Here we get to hear Kanye’s singing talent in a beautiful declaration of worship to God alone.
Everything that I felt, praise the Lord
Worship Christ with the best of your portions
I know I won’t forget all He’s done
He’s the strength in this race that I run…
This song is full of beautiful devotion to who God is:
King of Kings, Lord of Lords, all the things He has in store
From the rich to the poor, all are welcome through the door
You won’t ever be the same when you call on Jesus’ name
Listen to the words I’m sayin’, Jesus saved me, now I’m sane
And I know, I know God is the force that picked me up
I know Christ is the fountain that filled my cup
I know God is alive, yeah
It is the perfect setup to track 9, “Hands On.” This is a hope-filled encouragement to persevere in the faith. It is raw in that it recognizes who was accomplishing things when we walked in the old self: “Told the devil that I’m going on a strike. Told the devil when I see him, on sight. I’ve been working for you my whole life.” A Christ-like rebuke of our pharisaical attitudes feels also appropriate here:
Told people God was my mission
What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?
They’ll be the first one to judge me
Make it feel like nobody loves me
His humble conclusion also strikes a refreshing note. He asks that we pray for him.
Yes, I understand your reluctancy, yeah
But I have a request, you see
Don’t throw me up, lay your hands on me
Please, pray for me
Hold myself on death
Hold it down, all fallen down
Somebody pray for me
He’s got my prayers.
“Use this Gospel,” track 10, feels like the beginning of a great commission to share what God has done. This is the passion of every Christian.
Use this gospel for protection
It’s a hard road to Heaven
We call on Your blessings
In the Father, we put our faith
King of the kingdom
Our demons are tremblin’
Holy angels defendin’
In the Father, we put our faith
This message can bring freedom to many. “From the concrete grew a rose,” one rapped line is heard. Isn’t that a beautiful picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? He can do the impossible. When we die, we live.
Finally, the whole experience is capped with an anthem declaring “Jesus is Lord” (track 11). Fitting.
Every knee shall bow
Every tongue confess
Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord
Every knee shall bow
Every tongue confess
Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord
He is. May His name be praised now and forevermore.
—
Mario Diaz, Esq. is CWA’s general counsel. Follow him on Twitter @mariodiazesq.
CWA’s CEO and President Penny Nance weighs in on Representative Katie Hill’s resignation in an interview with Susan Crabtree of Real Clear Politics.
“Katie Hill, part of the ambitious group of women who helped hand Democrats the House majority last year, was expected to break a lot of boundaries when she came to Washington — though new House ethics rules passed to curb #MeToo complaints weren’t among them.
At 32, Hill is young, attractive and one of the first openly bisexual members of Congress. She was a rising star whose quick flameout has both parties on edge once again over #MeToo allegations and inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace and whether Washington’s reckoning, in contrast to that of Hollywood and Manhattan, still has a long way to go.
Revelations over the last week established that Hill had engaged in two sexual relationships with staffers, violating new House rules passed at the height of #MeToo furor.”
Read the Entire Article Here and See Penny Nance’s Comments:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2019
Contact: Toni DeLancey
Direct Line: (202) 266-4816 | Mobile: (202) 527-3434
STATEMENT by CWA CEO & President Penny Nance
“The blatant partisan impeachment effort underway in the U.S. House of Representatives is not happening in a vacuum. It is not an organic response to impartial concerns for the country. It appears to be the latest, politically-motivated effort in an unending list of attempts to delegitimize a duly-elected president and to erase the results of the 2016 election. Impeachment hopes were articulated within hours of the election and multiple attempts have followed, leading to this dubious attempt today.
“Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) applauds Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) for introducing S. Res. 378, urging the House of Representatives to vote to open a formal impeachment inquiry, providing the president with the fundamental due process protections afforded by the Constitution.
“It is that type of transparent process, consistent with long-standing tradition and precedent, that the country desperately needs at such a crucial time in our history when division and political pettiness seem to rule the day in the nation’s capital.
“CWALAC calls on all members of Congress to move beyond radical political partisanship and act in the country’s best interest. Sen. Graham’s resolution is a crucial first step towards that goal.”
CWA’s CEO and President, Penny Nance appeared on Allie Beth Stuckey’s Relatable Podcast for a discussion about what’s happening in the Supreme Court that matters to women, Christians, and defenders of religious liberty.
Click on the red/white Arrow above to watch the Podcast.
Hillary Clinton’s claim that presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is “the favorite of the Russians” in the Democratic primary and her implication that Gabbard is “a Russian asset” show that the former Democratic presidential nominee’s talk of sisterhood and solidarity with other women is hogwash.
This should be an enlightening moment for all American women – Democrats, Republicans and independents.
We have seen it before. Republican women like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, presidential primary candidates Carly Fiorina and Rep. Michele Bachmann, and Trump White House officials Sarah Sanders and Kellyanne Conway have been targeted by other women for shocking attacks.
CWA’s Vice President of International Affairs, Dr. Shea Garrison, appeared on One America News to discuss her recent opinion piece about first daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her qualifications to lead women’s empowerment around the world.
Read Dr. Shea Garrison’s Opinion Piece Here in National Review.
