With funny, warm & strongly pro-Israel speech, Trump wins over 4,000 Evangelical media leaders at NRB… Vows to throw Hamas sympathizers out of the US.

Donald Trump speaks at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

NASHVILLE — Facing bad weather as he flew to Nashville from Palm Beach, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump was at least an hour late for his keynote address Thursday night at the National Religious Broadcasters convention.

But when he and his large Secret Service detail finally arrived, Trump delivered.

It was not a fiery speech.

It was certainly not a MAGA rally.

Rather, Trump was warm and conversational with the 4,000 Christian media professionals who came to listen to him, as well the largest number of Israeli government officials, Israeli journalists and media influencers, and American Orthodox Jews to ever attend an NRB convention, according to a senior NRB executive who spoke to ALL ISRAEL NEWS.

TRUMP TOUTS POLICY TRIUMPHS — WARNS OF DISASTER ON US-MEXICAN BORDER

Speaking from a prepared text projected onto a Teleprompter — but often and happily going off script — the former president talked about the many and significant policy victories that he’d delivered for Evangelicals and Catholics during his four years in office.

Such victories, Trump said, included:

Putting three pro-life, Constitutional originalist, and highly qualified Justices on the Supreme Court.

Overturning the abominable 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand in all 50 states.

Building hundreds of miles of border wall and other measures that dramatically reduced the number of illegal aliens pouring into the U.S. via Mexico.

“We had the most secure border in U.S. history, and now we have the worst border in the history of the world,” Trump said.

“There has never been a border so bad as this or so dangerous,” he added.

“As soon as I take the oath of office I will terminate every open borders policy of the Biden administration and we will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.“

The crowd erupted with sustained applause and cheers.

Throughout the one hour and 14-minute speech, Trump was funny — and classically acerbic about his political enemies whom, he joked, indicted him every time he simply flew over a blue state.

TRUMP SPENT MORE TIME DISCUSSING ISRAEL THAN ANY OTHER TOPIC.

Time after time, Trump received standing ovations. Some of the strongest applause and cheers came when Trump spoke about all that he and his administration did to strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Indeed, it was a remarkably robust pro-Israel speech.

Trump’s discussion of his pro-Israel policies — including moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory, brokering the Abraham Accords between Israel and four Arab nations, and getting tough with the terrorist regime in Iran — amounted to the longest section of his address.

On no other topic did he spend more time than Israel.

As it happened, I was seated next to Anat Sultan-Dadon, Israel’s Consul General based in Atlanta.

She and her advisors were clapping and cheering with each and every mention of Trump’s pro-Israel positions.

But there was more.

FRIEDMAN PRAISES TRUMP AS MOST PRO-ISRAEL U.S. PRESIDENT IN HISTORY.

The former president then surprised everyone in the middle of his remarks by calling up to the stage his long-time friend and Orthodox Jewish lawyer, David Friedman, who served all four years as the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Trump gave Friedman several minutes to talk about the significance and impact of his administration’s policies in Israel and the broader Middle East.

“Mr. President, you were the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the Oval Office — by far,” Friedman began, going on to explain his reasons.

TRUMP: I WILL THROW HAMAS SUPPORTERS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY.

If that weren’t enough, Trump vowed to get tough on pro-Hamas forces inside the United States.

After he is re-elected president, he said, “We'll terminate the visas of all of Hamas sympathizers, and we'll get them off our college campuses, out of our cities, and get them the hell out of our country, if that's okay with you.”

The NRB audience roared with applause.

TRUMP: WE MUST STOP IRAN FROM GETTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Trump explained how important it was for him to rip up the so-called “Iran Nuclear Deal” that had been brokered in 2015 by Barack Obama and Joe Biden and impose his “maximum pressure” economic sanctions on Tehran.

Not only did his policies slow down Tehran’s bid to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons, Trump said, but they also cut off cash for Iran to give to its terrorist proxy forces.

“They had no money for Hamas,” Trump said because of the sanctions.

“They had no money for Hezbollah. They had no money for anything.”

“They [Iran’s leaders] were totally broke and we could have made any deal we wanted.”

Trump said he wanted to negotiate a much tougher and stricter and more advantageous agreement with the mullahs in Iran that would have protected both American and Israeli interests.

Joel Rosenberg chats with Ambassador Friedman in the lobby of the NRB convention.

But, he added, President Biden abandoned this approach and thus squandered all of the gains and leverage that could have put Iran right where we want them.

Few issues in 2024 are more important than the Iran nuclear and terror threat, Trump insisted.

“You cannot let them have a nuclear weapon.”

TRUMP: ABRAHAM ACCORDS - ‘ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS DONE FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST’

“We did the Abraham Accords,” Trump says. “It's one of the greatest things ever done for peace in the Middle East. But the Biden administration didn't take advantage of it, and they didn't take advantage of the weakness at that time of Iran.”

“So when I got out [of the White House], Iran went about selling oil at levels they've never hit before. China went back to buying. India went back to buying. France went. They all went back to buying. Everybody was buying.”

“And now Iran has $235 billion” in foreign currency reserves, Trump said.

“They made it over the last three years, $235 billion. Iran is a very rich country right now. And what a shame.”

“We could have negotiated any deal. We don't want to hurt anybody, but we just don't want him to have a nuclear weapon. Because when they have a nuclear weapon, very bad things are going to happen and they're very close to having that. Now, that would have been had the election not been rigged, we would have had a deal with Iran within one week after that election.”

“I kept my promise, recognized Israel's eternal capital,” Trump told the audience to strong applause. “That was a big thing.”

(By Joel C. Rosenberg | Published: February 24, 2024).

With funny, warm & strongly pro-Israel speech, Trump wins over 4,000 Evangelical media leaders at NRB | All Israel News

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT — “YOU SHALL NOT MAKE UNTO YOU ANY GRAVEN IMAGE…”

The ancient nations, cut off from the real God, almost invariably worshipped idols. The masses needed gods near at hand—and this meant those that could be seen. So, in part because of the environment in which they lived, before God could instruct Israel how to properly worship Him, He first had to show them how not to worship Him.

Exodus 20:4-6 records the SECOND COMMANDMENT. Here is God’s explicit directive: “YOU SHALL NOT MAKE UNTO YOU ANY GRAVEN IMAGE, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.”

This commandment is a very broad, sweeping, explicit prohibition intended to cover every form of false worship involving every other kind of supposed “god,” and representation of such, that human beings with creative human reasoning could devise. Like any parent whose children chose to come home to a different house and to different parents after school, the Parent who made all human beings—His children—would certainly be jealous if they went off after idols and false gods.

God specifically defined the forbidden ways that were used to worship idols. He realized human nature’s tendency to justify loopholes around His instructions.

The First Commandment forbids having other gods before the true God. The Second Commandment forbids using an image to represent the true God, or any false god. This commandment deals specifically with using physical images for worship or as representations of anything related to worship. This does not condemn the existence of statues or pictures in general—only their use for worship. Therefore, using any statue or picture to represent God is expressly forbidden. Man is to worship, bow down to and serve the Creator God. God does not allow man to transfer this same honor to an image representing Him. He strongly warned Israel of this danger.

Notice God’s specific instructions to Moses: “You shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall you make unto you gods of gold” (Ex. 20:23). These were God’s first words to Moses after giving him the Ten Commandments!

Again, notice verses 5-6: “…for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” If people persist in idol worship, God will not only punish them, but also their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. No other commandment gives such detailed implications.

Plainly God hates idolatry—and directly equates it with hating Him!

However, Almighty God promises to bless those who love and obey Him! Individuals who choose to obey God will not be punished for their parents’ disobedience.

Continue reading here: https://go.rcg.org/42tFgpn 

Remembering the great Woody Strode.

“If you're a nice guy, you can walk into a room anywhere in the world.”

Born Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode, “Woody” Strode was the son of a Creek/Blackfoot/African American father and a Cherokee mother, Strode attended UCLA where he more than excelled at baseball, track and field, and football. He even played alongside Jackie Robinson!

During his time at UCLA, Strode’s athletic physique was so striking, a nude portrait of him was featured in Hubert Stowitts’s acclaimed exhibition shown at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Sadly, the exhibit was almost immediately shut down. Adolf Hitler didn’t like how Black and Jewish athletes were being seen in such a powerful light. Imagine that.

The actor quit sports to enlist in the United States Army Air Corps and spent the war working on bombers in Guam and fighting alongside his fellow soldiers.

In 1941, Strode married an actual princess. Princess Luukialuana Kalaeloa (who became Luana Strode), a direct relative of Liliuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii. That same year he made his film debut in Henry Hathaway’s “Sundown” playing a tribal policeman, but would go on to play professional football, being one of the first Black men to be allowed to play the spor lt professionally. Strode played for the LA Rams from 1946 to 1948, retiring in 1949 to focus on acting.

Strode was known for film roles that blasted the stereotypes of the times. He is best remembered for his powerful (and Golden Globe nominated) role in Stanley Kubrick’s “Spartacus” (1960) as the Ethiopian gladiator Draba.

During his career, Strode worked with such legendary directors as Cecil B. Demille (“The Ten Commandments”), Lewis Milestone (“Pork Chop Hill”), Stanley Kubrick (“Spartacus”), Sergio Leone (“Once Upon A Time in the West”), and John Ford (“Sergeant Rutledge”, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, “Two Rode Together”, and “7 Women”).

“Sergeant Rutledge” was Strode’s favorite of his films and he always spoke well of his time with John Ford. The actor felt that film did its best to show black soldiers in a positive light and said his performance should “stand the test of time regarding black men on film screens.”

One of his best films was Richard Brooks’ 1967 Western, “The Professionals”. Strode is one of four men who are hired to “rescue” a woman from a bandit. The actor didn’t have much dialogue but he was a strong presence and stood tall amongst acting giants Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, and Jack Palance.

The actor knew how to use his physicality to bring forth a character and could do so much with his great face.

Strode’s most under-seen role is also one one of his finest. In Valerio Zurlini’s 1968 “Black Jesus”, the actor plays a Congan leader who is arrested and tortured and becomes a martyr for his people. It’s a powerful performance that should’ve led to deeper roles for this fine actor.

Strode also found fame and respect in the Italian filmmaking scene of the late 60s and early 70s, starring in Spaghetti Westerns and “Poliziotteschis”. Some of his best in those genres are “Boot Hill” (1969), The “Unholy Four” (1970), “The Italian Connection” (1972), and “Keoma” (1976).

The actor also did solid work in television with appearances on the Western series “The Quest” and “How the West Was Won” as well as guest spots on “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”, “Fantasy Island”, and of all things, “The Dukes of Hazard”.

Strode’s “late in life” roles were smaller, but he was in some good films including Francis Coppola’s 1984 “The Cotton Club”, Paul Bartel’s 1985 “Lust in the Dust”, Mario Van Peebles’ 1993 “Posse”, and his final screen appearance in Sam Raimi’s “The Quick and the Dead” in 1995.

In 1994, Woody Strode died at 80, leaving behind a legacy of breaking racial barriers in school, sports, war, and Hollywood.

The actor was a powerful presence on screen and, although he was never a household name, Woody Strode was a big star among those who knew him personally and professionally… (By Anthony Francis).