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Finished Chapter 2. Read that context matters when reading the Bible. We must also remember that although the Bible was written FOR us, it was not written TO us. Applying verses like Jeremiah 29:11 to our lives seems good, but if something goes wrong, we blame God for breaking His promise. However, God never made that promise TO us, He made it to the Israelites in captivity in Babylon.

Finished Chapter 1. Mr. Juson writes that Christians should know WHY they believe and not just WHAT they believe. This makes the Christian more secure in their faith in their daily life when they actually need it. Good beliefs are good, but if they don't have a solid foundation, they'll fall apart.

Finished Chapter 2. Michael relates his story of near-death misses, his girlfriend being Saved, and his eventual salvation. He realized that those near misses were God keeping him alive to eventually be Saved. His girlfriend became Saved and talked to him about becoming Saved.

Finished Chapter 1. Mike lived his life in the fast lane. He didn't have any hope and was just skating through life. He was nearly killed in an accident but still didn't have much hope. That was until he got Saved and came to know God
Hope may not seem like much, but it can be the difference between succumbing to despair or fighting through it

Finished Chapter 12. Just because your family has voted for a particular political party for years does not mean you should vote for them. Political parties are not religious faiths. They do not deserve your blind allegiance. When political parties have blind allegiance, they no longer have to earn your vote. As Christians, we should have more discernment.

Finished Chapter 11. Studies over the past couple of decades prove what the Bible said millennia ago: that family stability is economic and morally beneficial. Single mothers (or fathers) try their best, but two-parent households are just better overall. Why getting help is ok, work is more sustainable and healthy.

Finished Chapter 10. A person's loyalty should not be towards a political party. A person should have their faith in God. Blind loyalty in a political party is wrong and idolatrous. You can choose to vote for a political party, but that shouldn't mean that you have to agree with 100% of the things they say or do.

Finished Chapter 9. Read that major American cities have been voting primarily Democrat for about 60 years. Yet, despite the promises the Democrats have made, no significant advancement has been made towards the Black community. However, the family structure, culture, economic, and educational systems have deteriorated.

Finished Chapter 8. The myth of the party switch. Through evolving policies, Democrats gained the Black vote, while Republicans took the disenfranchised southern Democrats. The Republicans and southern Democrats agreed on several policies like federalism and economic policy. What changed were incentives, alliances, and power calculations.

Finished Chapter 7. The destruction of "Black Wall Street" was damaging to the Black community on several fronts. It took a thriving, successful community away and left a gaping hole of depression in its wake. Democrats saw that a successful Black community was possible and made it its duty to keep the Black community pacified by giving them government handouts.

Finished Chapter 6. This chapter centers on the words of Harry Belafonte and how he felt about the political shift of the Black community. He voiced his concerns multiple times about how the community was trading political influence for symbolic inclusion. Harry quoted MLK as saying, “I fear I have integrated my people into a burning house.”

Finished Chapter 5. The Democrats focused on government assistance that disproportionately affected Black families. A downside to the assistance was that male figures in the home would negatively affect the approval rate, leading to single-family homes on government assistance. The Moynihan Report tried to warn of impeding harm to the Black nuclear family, but the warnings were ignored.

Finished Chapter 4. Democrats passed many Jim Crow laws over the years they dominated the South. However, Republicans were able to enact several civil-rights laws during the late-1950s and 1960s.
Martin Luther King Jr was arrested in Georgia and President Eisenhower and VP Nixon did not intervene, but Kennedy did. This act by Kennedy shifted Black emotion towards Democrats.

Finished Chapter 3. After the Civil War, Reconstruction began to rebuild the South and strengthen Black political power. Many former slaves now held political offices in local and federal levels. However, the election of 1876 messed up in such a way that Republicans and Democrats made a compromise: Republicans gain the Presidency, and federal troops abandon the South. This let Democrats take full control of the South

Finished Chapter 2. The South seceded, and protecting slavery was the reason why. The Union fought to preserve the country then turned to outright ending slavery once and for all. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to do just that. When the South surrendered, slaves everywhere in the US officially became free. Now the question was, what to do with the newly freed slaves?

Finished Chapter 1. Read about the beginning of the US and how it was shaped by those with deep religious feelings. From the very beginning, slavery was a fact of life. Even some Black men owned Black slaves. However, not everyone was for it. The Founding Fathers were split on slavery, but it was not a major issue. When Lincoln was elected, the South felt it had lost all political influence and succeeded.

Finished Chapter 20. Billy and his family moved out the following Spring. The day they left, he went back up to the gravesite and received a shock: A Red Fern had grown in between the 2 graves. Billy yelled for his family to come see. After a while they left.
Billy never went back there, but hoped that one day he would. He knew the red fern was still there covering Dan and Ann.

Finished Chapter 19. Billy and his dogs kept hunting for 3 weeks. While hunting one night, the dogs treed a mountain lion. The fight was brutal and Billy did what he could. He hit the mountain lion in the back with his axe and killed it. Unfortunately, Dan received a deep cut that exposed his insides. Despite his parents help, Dan died. Ann grieved herself to death and died a couple of days later.

Finished Chapter 18. Morning came and Billy started to go look for his dogs when he heard a noise. It was some of the men from the camp looking for them. Some of the men came and helped grandpa out of the ravine and took him to the camp. The others helped Billy, his dad, and the judge to look for his dogs. They found them and got the coon. Billy won the championship and $300.

Finished Chapter 17. Billy, his dad, grandpa, and the judge were still hunting when a blizzard hit. They debated about heading back, but Billy convinced them to keep going. Eventually, they found Ann, and she led them to Dan. Grandpa hurt his foot. They camped out in a little ravine. Papa cut down the tree with the coon and three came out of it. One got away. The dogs then chased the 3rd one.

Finished the Epilogue. The author states that the goal of this book is to help Christians gain knowledge while remaining loving to their neighbor. The more we learn about God, the humbler we should become. We should realize that other people are just like us: broken and in need of redemption.

Finished Chapter 23. We read that Heaven is not some boring, static place, but an upgrade. It's a return to the way things should have been from the very beginning. Eschatology is the study of the end of this current world and the beginning of a much better and longer-lasting world.

Finished Chapter 22. We read that the end of this current world is coming to an end. Jesus is going to return one day. This is the Christian Hope. This hope is not uncertainty, it is expectancy. Our redemption has already been paid, and the Holy Spirit is the down payment.

Finished Chapter 21. We read that Church is a place for community with other Christians. It's not a place for people to view others as less than but for those who realize they are broken and need a Savior. If you try to worship Jesus by yourself, your faith will grow cold. We should go to church to have fellowship with other like-minded people and support each other.

Finished Chapter 20. We read that the Church is not a building, it's the people. When Jesus said He was going to build the Church, He was talking about gathering people to Him. Christians all over the world are linked together by Christ.

Finished Chapter 19. We read that the Bible contains many different genres. Each of these genres should be read differently than the others. Also, we must remember that while the texts can be read by us, they were not written to us. We must understand what they meant to those it was written. Context matters.

Finished Chapter 18. We read that the Bible is to Christians what the Constitution is to the United States. It is the final word on which we conduct ourselves. The Holy Spirit guided the writers to write the Bible. Today, we have over 5,800 manuscript copies that are about 98% identical. The 2% is due to typos, spelling differences, added or removed words, etc.

Read a parenthetical about the Apostle's Creed. It is a statement of faith that summarizes the works of each member of the Trinity. The Father planned the Creation story. The Son paid the sin debt. The Spirit applies the materials and is building the Church.

Finished Chapter 17. We read that the Spirit is actively working to build your new nature. It's a work in progress. The 3 Persons of the Trinity can be described with the Father as an architect, the Son as the financier, and the Spirit as the Builder. Another job of the Spirit is to guide us. He illuminates the way for us so that we can see more clearly. He also enhances our fruit and gifts.

Finished Chapter 16. We read that the Holy Spirit isn't just some abstract force that does stuff, He is a person, He is God. What He does is illuminate Jesus in a way that we focus on Him. The Spirit inhabits us and helps guide us on the path of Regeneration.