75th Anniversary - Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941!

It was December 7, 1941 in a farm house in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. The radio was on in the evening with dial set to the scheduled program of Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy. His program always began with theme song, “Back in the Saddle Again.” After the song his latest western adventure began. The action began to unfold and then a few minutes along the program was interrupted with an announcement that the Japanese had initiated a sneak attack on military targets at Pearl Harbor!

I had just turned 8 years old the preceding August. We had moved a few months earlier in the year to a home owned by my dad’s first cousin, Ellis Harriger. They had worked out an arrangement for us to live there while Ellis and his wife moved to the home of his wife’s parents. It was a new world for us because we now had electricity which we did not have before. Ellis and wife, Dorothy, left their floor model radio with us. Up to that time we did not have one. And so we quickly assessed the programs available and one of my slots was on Sunday evening when I listened to Gene Autry. As mentioned, the program on December 7, 1941 was interrupted with news about the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. I was extremely mad because of the interruption and not the least bit interested as to what had happened at a far off place by the name of Pearl Harbor. I never did find out what happened to Gene Autry in his latest adventure in dealing with bad guys!

The war got underway and went on for some time until the Germans surrendered in spring of 1945 and the Japanese surrendered in August of 1945 after 2 atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Negasaki. By the way it was the last conflict in which the enemy had nothing to say as they met the terms of unconditional surrender. Starting with Korea it was an issue of “negotiating” with no-win situations taking place in the decades since! But a very significant event happened a few years after WW II. It did not make world headlines and media people did not provide intense coverage when it happened.

Mitsuo Fuchida was the Japanese pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor and who is the one reported to have shouted the war cry, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” He was very excited to be involved in this effort and rose in the ranks to become a very influential leader in later military operations. He provides graphic details of the attack from his point of view before moving along later in time to the moment a transforming miracle happened in his life's journey. In the spring of 1950 that miracle took place when he received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of his life and eventually became an evangelist! His personal testimony is given at From Pearl Harbor to Calvary Along the way he came into contact with Jake DeShazer who had been one of the Doolittle Raiders over Tokyo and had become a prisoner of the Japanese until the end of the war. DeShazer became a Christian and later a missionary to Japan. A photo of the two together is shown in the article detailing Fuchida’s conversion to Christianity.

I encourage you to read this testimony. It is a reminder that God works mighty miracles in the lives of human beings when at times we are prone to think there is no hope for persons such as Mitsuo Fuchida!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. [2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)]

Letter to the New Bishop of the W. PA Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

Monday, September 26, 2016

Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi
Western PA Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church

Dear Bishop Moore-Koikoi:

I am an ordained elder in the W. PA Annual Conference, having retired after 37 years’ service in ministry. Shortly after that I was contacted by a member of a small congregation of Gipsy Christian Church in Gipsy PA. I agreed to work with these folks on a part time basis and have been their pastor for nearly 17 years.

I am writing to ask two questions regarding two very critical issues as you assume leadership in the W. PA Annual Conference.

First, will you and the cabinet be issuing a statement regarding the illegal election of Karen Oliveto, a practicing lesbian, to the office of bishop by the Western Jurisdiction? Not only have the Scriptures been violated, but the UMC Book of Discipline has also been violated in at least 3 areas. God declares same-sex intimacy to be an abomination. The BOD states that no person who practices same-sex intimacy is to be ordained, nor are any same-sex unions (or “marriages”) to be performed by UM clergy, nor are any United Methodist Churches to be used in performance of same-sex unions!

Secondly, will you and the cabinet be issuing a statement regarding the greatest moral crisis our republic has ever experienced in its entire history? That crisis involves the intentional planned murders of unborn children by the thousands every week of the year! Since the infamous Supreme Court decision of 1973 there have been about 60 million unborn children who have been victims of conspiracy to commit murder as planned by females and persons wearing white coats with the initials “M.D.” mistakenly stitched over the chest pocket of those coats!

In this conference in years gone by there was a strong campaign to send netting to Africa to protect people from mosquitos which were carriers of malaria. Your predecessor was very aggressive in soliciting support for this effort and noted that huge numbers of persons, including children, were victims of malaria and we needed to do everything possible to prevent the spread of malaria, reducing the number of deaths. BUT he never said a word about the huge number of unborn children being victims of planned and intentional murder on a non-stop basis here in the United States!

So I ask you again – will you and the cabinet speak to this moral crisis? And will the W. PA Annual Conference make a clear and concise statement that to continue to “shed innocent blood” (God’s term as used in the holy Scriptures) is to invite the wrath of God in judgment upon us? It is possible that we as a nation have already crossed over the line of no return!

I have what is known as a bean-counter on areas of my web site. This program calculates the number of unborn children who have been murdered from certain dates. I have an area that lists the bishops of the UMC and how many unborn children have been killed since taking office. Your number right now is 94,440!

Still contending at www.crrange.com, blogging at http://cdharriger.blogspot.com and warning at www.crrange.com/USACoffin.html

Clayton D. Harriger, Elder in full connection, W. PA Annual Conference

The Strain at a Gnat and Swallow a Camel Disease Has Struck!

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. [Words of Jesus in Matthew 23:23-24 (KJV)]

Most are aware that there were shootings involving police officers during the week of July 3, 2016 and as the week was drawing to a close, an individual shot and killed 5 police officers and wounded a number of others in Dallas TX. Eventually the killer was taken out by a robot which exploded and ended the attack. In a sense, that should have ended it with the killer permanently put out of commission.

But then the media began to report that questions were being raised about the use of the robot to kill the cop-killer! One comment suggested this was similar to a drone killing a citizen on U.S. soil! This thing began to mushroom and spread over social media with even pastors of at least one mainline denomination getting involved and intensely addressing the issue of using robots such as took place in Dallas.

Yes, the words of Jesus have solid application here – it is clear that there is a straining at a gnat and a swallowing of a camel taking place!

“How so?” one may ask. Very simple, really – you see, on the very day the carnage took place and the robot deployed to take out the killer, there were hundreds of unborn children who were victims of planned intentional homicide throughout the United States – the very same day!

Now how much attention did the diligent mainstream media give to this slaughter of the innocents? How much attention did the presidential candidates give to these mass murders? Did high profile celebrities point out that while it was a tragedy that 5 police officers were shot and killed, the greater tragedy was the intentional murders of hundreds of unborn children which actually takes place every week day in our republic? And did the president and members of his administration decry the mass murders of the innocents? Did members of the U.S. Supreme Court voice concern about this? How many members of the U.S. Congress spoke about our ongoing holocaust? Correction on last few questions – the president and members of his administration, most members of the Supreme Court, and a large number of members of the Congress vigorously support the daily homicides of hundreds of unborn children. They consider it a good thing!

And among clergy entering into discussion on the ethical use of a robot to take down a cop-killer, these are not known for being vocal on the daily murdering of large numbers of unborn children. Worse yet, church leaders choose to be very silent in voicing objections to our unique national version of holocaust!

Now do you see how they, in true hypocritical fashion, are demonstrating what Jesus spoke about when He accused leadership in His day of straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel? Lots of talk about whether it is ok to use a robot to take out a cop-killer who is in the very act of killing police officers but not one word that on the same day hundreds of unborn children were intentionally murdered as a result of a conspiracy between pregnant females and killers all dressed up nicely in white coats with their names stitched over the left pocket and the initials M.D. placed behind the names!

We are a nation of fools of the first magnitude if we really believe that Almighty God will allow this to go on endlessly and that He has given His full approval to this abomination!

Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. [2 Kings 21:16 (KJV)].

When They Say "Full Inclusion" Do They Really Mean Full Inclusion?

Dear North Texas Annual Conference:

The following clergy of the North Texas Annual Conference support the decision of the 2016 General Conference to empower the Council of Bishops in leading the United Methodist Church beyond the current tensions rooted in our disagreements over human sexuality. We are grateful for the acknowledgment that “our Discipline contains language that is contradictory, unnecessarily hurtful, and inadequate for the variety of local, regional, and global contexts.”

As the Council of Bishops explores “options to help the church live in grace with one another—including ways to avoid further complaints, trials and harm while we uphold the Discipline,” we pray that members of our Annual Conference will demonstrate a spirit of unity and diversity even when we are not of one mind. We know that brothers and sisters in the covenant of ministry will face difficult choices in the coming months and years. As they do, we desire to prayerfully and actively work toward full inclusion in our annual conference.

We hope you will stand with us in claiming the power of religion over the form of religion. “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?” ---- text of a letter signed by a large number of clergy of the North Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and dated June 1, 2016

On June 1st a letter was sent to the North Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. It was signed by a large number of clergy who serve within that conference. As you can see from the text, the clergy are urging support of actions taken by the recent General Conference meeting held in Portland OR.

The main focus is about including a group that falls into a category known as LGBTQ – a group that has been at the heart of much controversy in recent decades. The initials stand for: lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and Q, a letter more recently added, represents queer or questioning. It has been said by a representative of a human rights organization that either use of the Q is acceptable.

This group of North Texas conference clergy emphasizes that they “desire to prayerfully and actively work toward full inclusion in our annual conference.” But do they really mean full inclusion, or is it limited to those identifying within the LGBTQ groupings?

Surely you are aware that there are persons who are sexually oriented differently than those already mentioned and identified.

For instance there are persons who are sexually oriented to have sexual escapades with very young children. That is their big enjoyment when it comes to sexual activity and the “icing on the cake” in these activities is to video tape the proceedings for even later enjoyment!

There are those whose orientation involves sexual activity with animals. Look at John Doe with his Holstein heifer and notice that John not only enjoys sexual relations with his heifer, but is hoping for the day when our culture will take the next giant step and a Supreme Court ruling will declare that it is now “legal” for men and women to marry their pets with which they are sexually involved!

But hold on – growing in popularity is the practice of “swinging” – mainly married couples get together and exchange partners for sexual enjoyment. Some will even go so far as to say that their marriage was falling apart and they were on the way to divorce court when they got an invite to a swinging party! And that is what saved the marriage with the couple saying their marriage is now stronger than ever!

How about the guy who is oriented to raping young women – that is his specialty! He confesses that there is no greater enjoyment than to force a young woman to have sexual relations when she doesn’t want to!

So when you say you want “full inclusion” within the United Methodist Church, are you willing to include persons such as those just listed above in addition to the LGBTQ crowd?

Their reasoning is the same in that they also claim they were “born that way” and their orientation is as legitimate as those making similar claims within the LGBTQ group.

What’s this? You object on moral grounds to those previously described? How can you? What is your source of moral authority for taking that position? You can’t appeal to the Bible because the same Bible that you claim condemns some of those sexual activities mentioned above also condemns same-sex intimacy, referring to that activity as an "abomination!"

You object by claiming that God does not accept such things as sex with small children, or with animals, or multiple partners which violates the covenant of marriage, or forcible rape. Well, if He accepts and gives approval to same-sex intimacy, why would He not give His stamp of approval on these others? After all, variety is the spice of life, is it not? Don’t forget we are “born that way” aren’t we?

So will “full inclusion” be really that or are we going to still marginalize some when it comes to their sexual orientation and just include some others? Will you shut the door in John’s face when he comes to worship with the “love of his life,” his heifer, Penelope, which he hopes one day to marry?

Do not use the term, “full inclusion,” if you do not really mean it!

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. [Luke 17:26-30 (KJV)].

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. [Isaiah 58:1 (KJV)].

Letter to Editor: Things Will Get Much Worse No Matter Who Becomes President!

The below printed letter has been sent to a number of newspapers; in the area where we presently live, home town area in Clarion PA, and areas where I have served as a pastor in years gone by such as the Franklin/Oil City PA area.

Saturday April 2, 2016

Editor:

Each person seeking the office of president tries to convince us that he or she will transform our republic into a paradise or at least bring us to the very threshold of such.

There are solid reasons why it will never happen and the U.S. Supreme Court is a major contributor of such reasons.

First, the Court handed down a decision in 1963 in which the Lord’s Prayer and readings from the Bible were no longer permitted in public schools. Even students whose families did not attend church were exposed to portions of God’s Word and became aware of something called prayer and communication with our Creator.

Second, the Court handed down a decision in 1973 which declared that a female has a constitutional right to have her unborn child’s life ended by an intentional act of homicide! Tens of millions of unborn children have been victims in what could be termed the United States’ version of Holocaust!

Third, the Court handed down a decision in 2015 which declared that it is now legal everywhere for sodomites to marry each other and for lesbians to marry each other. This is in total defiance of God’s clear revelation as to what marriage is about, namely, a sacred covenant between one man and one woman.

But in addition to the Supreme Court decisions we have monumental problems with our massive idolatry and our pandemic sexual immorality. Billy Graham said it well years ago in these words: “If God allows the United States to get away with what it is doing, then He will have to issue an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah!”

When Almighty God makes His response to these abominations, none of us will want to be here!

Still contending at Circuit Rider's Range, blogging at Musings of a Maverick! and warning at Driving the Final Nails!

Clayton D. Harriger, Pastor
Gipsy Christian Church
Gipsy PA

Who Will Be the New Supreme Court Justice?

NOTE: Some time after news reports indicated the nomination of Rashad Hussain to the Supreme Court, it was then later reported that the POTUS had nominated Merrick Garland who is chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. He was born in Chicago (does that sound familiar?) and did his undergraduate work at Harvard as well as obtaining his law degree there. Again, it matters not whom the POTUS appoints -- the individual will share his deadly views in regard to the practice of homicides of hundreds of unborn children each week, the violation of God's standard regarding marriage, a soft approach to Islam, etc.

Original post starts here: President Barack Hussein Obama has nominated Rashad Hussain to be the next Supreme Court justice, filling the vacancy created as a result of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia recently. Rashad Hussain is an attorney of Muslim heritage and was appointed by President Obama on February 13, 2010 to serve as U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the second largest intergovernmental body (with 57 member states) after the UN. In January 2009, Hussain was named deputy associate counsel to President Barack Obama. --- Misc. news sources

Tongues now wagging at full throttle since the announcement has been made that the POTUS has named Rashad Hussain to be the next Supreme Court justice. Republicans are pretty much on record as opposing this nomination and will likely attempt to block it. So a battle is shaping up and we can be assured that the mainstream media will be giving major attention to all the drama that this will involve!

But does it really matter who occupies that vacant seat in years to come? Yes, there will be the cries made that we need a “conservative” as set by the example of Justice Scalia. Others who have written him off as possibly one of the worst justices ever to serve with labels such as “racist,” “bigot,” a denier of “human rights” and “gay rights” applied to him insist we need a “progressive” added to the court!

There are 3 solid reasons why it really no longer matters who the next Supreme Court justice will be. They are based on past SCOTUS decisions.

Reason #1: The Supreme Court in 1963 handed down a decision that literally kicked God out of all public school systems throughout the entire United States. No more prayer and no more Bible reading will be permitted. Obviously the justices did not consult God as to whether this was acceptable with Him! A few of us are convinced that this has helped to pave the way to a future disaster which is of the first magnitude in scope and inconceivable to the human mind! There is a refusal to face honestly the fact that conditions in our public schools are much, much different than they were at the time of the 1963 decision – and not for the better either!

Reason #2: Just a short ten years later the Supreme Court handed down a decision that declared a female has a “constitutional right” to have her unborn child murdered, if she so chooses! This has been about the most dividing issue ever to take place within our republic. And obviously we can no longer point the finger at Nazi Germany and accuse them of being savages by the intentional murders of at least 15 million people in death camps, with this including 6 million Jews! Our version of “holocaust” far exceeds that number – our total number of unborn children intentionally murdered is moving toward 60 million since January 1973 when some justices said it is ok to dismember and murder unborn children – the U.S. Constitution gives its approval!

Reason #3: In 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision regarding marriage. As a nation for a long time since our beginnings back in the latter part of the 1700’s marriage was based on clear Biblical revelation that marriage was a covenant entered into by one man and one woman. That revelation started at the beginning of the human race as God revealed that a man would leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two would become one flesh. (Early chapters in book of Genesis). This was further confirmed by Jesus in the New Testament as He made reference to the Genesis statement. Now some individuals holding the title of “justice” on the U.S. Supreme Court have nullified God’s design for marriage and say that sodomites can marry each other and lesbians can marry each other in the United States! God’s position on human sexuality and the boundaries He has drawn for sexual expression and experience are crystal clear with nothing left to the imagination – it is one man and one woman within the covenant of marriage! Anything outside of that is regarded as sinful immorality and condemned by the Creator! In fact, same sex intimacy is not merely regarded as sinful – it is labeled to be an abomination in God’s sight!

These 3 decisions have brought us to the threshold of experiencing the pouring out of God’s undiluted wrath in judgment! God has been speaking in various ways – issuing the call to repent and turn back to Him, but is anybody really listening? That means among other things that those decisions have to be reversed, but reality tells us that it likely will never happen! And whoever is appointed to the Supreme Court will make no difference in the ungodly and very deadly decisions made over the last half century!

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God………..The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. [Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 12 (KJV)].

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me………..[Deuteronomy 28:15-20 (KJV)].