Paul Random

Texas Floods: ‘Help of the Helpless, O Abide with Me’

Mourners at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas gathered on Sunday to pray and grieve the deaths of the victims of last week’s horrific flooding in Texas’ Hill Country.

According to reports, the over 600 in attendance sang the 1820’s hymn, “Abide With Me,” a Victorian era classic written Henry Francis Lyte. The poignant piece pleads with the Lord to comfort the hurting and heartbroken.

On Monday, officials from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp, confirmed the deaths of at least 27 campers and counselors.  Ten other girls and a counselor are still unaccounted for.

“Our hearts ache with each news report coming from the Texas Hill Country. Friday’s devastating flash floods that have claimed upwards of 100 lives, including many children at summer camps, was every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Focus on the Family president, Jim Daly.

“Dozens of families are broken by the unfathomable grief, devastated to learn their children will not be coming home. Please join me in praying for these mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and loved ones whose hopes and dreams are shattered, who must now find a way forward without their precious and irreplaceable children and siblings by their side.”

Camp Mystic, located 85 miles northwest of San Antonio, dates to 1926. Started by E.J. “Doc” Stewart, the head football coach at the University of Texas, current leadership has stated the ministry had three main goals for its campers:

  1. “Be a better person for being at Mystic”
  2. “Let Mystic bring out the best in them”
  3. “Grow spiritually”

Last week’s flash flood on Independence Day turned that noble effort into a tragedy beyond comprehension. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes on Friday.

One of the counselors at Camp Mystic killed in the flood was Chloe Childress, a young woman slated to begin her freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin.

Co-president of her high school’s honor council and founder of a club that served senior citizens, Jonathan Eades, Chloe’s principal, remembered her as compassionate and selfless leader.

“Whether it was sharing her own challenges to ease someone’s burden or quietly cheering a teammate or classmate through a tough day, Chloe made space for others to feel safe, valued, and brave,” Eades wrote. “She understood what it meant to be part of a community, and more than that, she helped build one.”

In the coming days and weeks, dozens of stories and tributes will emerge regarding those lost and those spared.

Dick Eastland, who served as Camp Mystic’s director and who was among those killed in the flood, was lauded on Sunday for his caring and thoughtful approach to mentorship. Holly Lacour, now 30 years-old, was a former camper.

“He cared about every single girl like we were his daughters,” she said. “I spent more Father’s Days with him than with my own dad.”

Our friends at Convoy of Hope are assisting with recovery efforts and offering practical relief to meet the urgent needs facing evacuees and survivors. We thank God for them and invite you to prayerfully consider supporting their ministry.

“We know the Lord is close to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18),” added Jim Daly. “We pray those who are suffering will feel His presence and lean into His loving arms. We also give thanks for those spared and for the heroic first responders who are risking their lives in the service of others.”

Henry Francis Lyte based his hymn on the disciples’ plea to Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:29) to remain with them. Lyte’s poem concludes, “Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee; in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.”

We pray the same over the hurting families in Texas.

Nate Bergatze and Mike Goodwin: Brothers from Different Mothers

You can be funny without using profanity or being crude.

Just watch and listen to Nate Bargatze and Mike Goodwin.

Nate Bargatze has been known as “The Nicest Man in Stand-Up,” a designation that the deadpan comic seems to take in the same easygoing stride as his sellout success across the country.

Mike Goodwin calls himself “A southern gentleman with a curious mind, love for people, and heart for God.”

A South Carolina native and Army veteran, Goodwin is a comedian who was once a former director of college counseling, earned his college degree on the G.I. Bill, and went on to earn  a master’s degree in Education.

Goodwin credits the Army with preparing him for life.

“It’s easily one of the best decisions in my life, to have that experience,” he said. “The thing that is interesting for me was, after the Army, there was nothing left that I was really scared of. There really wasn’t anything I didn’t think I could do.”

Born Nathaniel Bargatze to Carole and Stephen Bargatze in Nashville in 1979, Nate is now a 46-year-old comic was brought up in a faith-filled home and shaped by teachers and fellow students at nearby Donelson Christian Academy.

Stephen, Nate’s father, was both a clown and magician, professions that required him to overcome speech problems caused by a bulldog attack that marred his face.

Nate decided to take a shot at improv comedy while working as a meter reader for the utilities company. He worked at a club for eight weeks, deciding it wasn’t a good fit for him. He then took a stand-up comedy class, found his rhythm and started the climb.

He has said his clean comedy has been motivated by his Christian faith and a desire to never say anything that will embarrass his parents.

Mike Goodwin has said he doesn’t want to be known as a Christian comedian, but a comedian who’s Christian. It’s been these Christian values, though, that have helped distinguish him from so many other comics.

“I always just wanted to be an excellent comedian … as a Christian,” he says. “For me, my faith is a big part of who I am. People ask about that a lot — isn’t it tough doing clean comedy? It continues to be a choice, but it’s really congruent with who I am. I was raised in the church.”

Mike didn’t transition from reading meters but instead from academia. He was funny, but stand-up didn’t come easy to him.

“I was the funniest comedian in the car on the way to events,” he recalled, continuing:

I would be killing it in the car. Then we’d get to a show, and I wasn’t a fraction of that guy. The car was very comfortable. On stage with a microphone and looking out at people was not comfortable. I didn’t know how long it would take, but I knew I could be better than I was. With comedy you will know immediately if you are going to continue to do it. I had a great experience the first time out, but after that, I bombed. I just wasn’t a good performer.

Mike is happily married to Rozalynn and they’re raising two teenagers.

Nate is happily married to Laura and they have one girl.

If you’re looking for clean, family-friendly comedy, you’ll enjoy Nate Bargatze and Mike Goodwin.

Well done, Mike and Nate, keep it going, and thanks for the laughs!

Religious Liberty Commission Launches, Aims to Root Out Anti-Christian Bias

President Donald Trump made good on his campaign promise to prioritize religious freedom in his second term by officially launching the Religious Liberty Commission. 

On Monday, the group held its first meeting at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

The panel includes familiar and trustworthy names – Reverend Franklin Graham, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Dr. Ben Carson, New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bishop Robert Barron, Kristen Waggoner, Kelly Shackelford, Ryan Anderson, Prestonwood Baptist Church pastor Jack Graham, and pro-life stalwart Alveda King.

Timothy Goeglein, Focus on the Family’s vice president of external affairs, attended the morning gathering.

“We at Focus on the Family were so honored to be part of this first presidential hearing on religious liberty, and the matrix of scholars, attorneys, public officials, and first amendment experts was a powerful testament to the foundational importance of the right of conscience in the 21st century American public square,” reflected Goeglein.

According to the White House, the commission will “safeguard and promote America’s founding principle of religious freedom.”

The newly formed entity comes in the wake of a litany of anti-Christian actions punishing a broad spectrum of believers over the course of the last four years.

Attorney General Pam Bondi joined the meeting and spoke on “the importance of faith to American success.”

Paulette Harlow, age 75, was sentenced to 24 months in jail for participating in a pro-life blockade at an abortion clinic. Paulette’s 74-year-old sister, and others, were also sent to jail.

Shortly after getting into office, President Trump pardoned both Paulette and Heather, along with other pro-lifers.

Meanwhile, at the same time these pro-lifers were being arrested and locked up, countless attacks on pregnancy health clinics around the country were being ignored or swept away.

Predictably, critics of any public expression of faith are decrying the establishment of the commission. In a press release lambasting the group’s first meeting, Americans United for Separation of Church State pulled out the tired and baseless bogeyman accusation that the group is comprised of so-called Christian Nationalists.”

Radicals reflexively suggest that any socially conservative Christians involved in politics today are “Christian Nationalists,” i.e. those whose faith in God is fused with love of country in idolatrous fashion. In reality, Christians should be actively involved in the political arena – and do so in ways that honor God and His Word, and love (not destroy) our fellow man.

In 2023, socially conservative Catholics were specifically targeted by the FBI and deemed to be a terrorist threat.

According to this fabricated and fictional lament, the commission exists to “advance the myth that the United States was founded for white Christians and that our laws and policies must continue to favor their beliefs.”

If such a fantastical charge were true, one would wonder why Dr. Ben Carson and Alveda King would devote their time and energy, as well as their reputation to such a mission.

Speaking earlier this year in announcing the commission, President Trump suggested true happiness wasn’t possible without faith. “Let’s bring God back into our lives,” he said.

Solidifying the constitutional right to religious liberty is a good place to start.

Reflected Tim Goeglein, “James Madison, the primary author of our Constitution, said ‘Conscience is the most sacred of all property.’ Sacred indeed.”

Image from Getty.

Don’t Forget American Flag was Designed by a Christian

The annual commemoration of Flag Day (June 14) will be marked by the usual flying of the colors, punctuated by a highly anticipated military parade in Washington, D.C., to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the United States Army.

Although the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution on June 14, 1777, declaring the flag to be 13 alternating red and white stripes along with a constellation of white stars in a blue field, it wasn’t until 1916 that June 14 was officially established as Flag Day.

An editorial in The New York Times on that first Flag Day stated: “With united hearts; so, no matter what temporary bitterness and forces of division may have crept in here and there, Americans stand and will stand.”

Sound familiar? The more times change, the more they remain the same.

It’s common knowledge that the American flag’s 13 stripes represent the original colonies and 50 stars for each state of the Union – but why the red, white, and blue?

To answer that question, it might be helpful to know something about the individual responsible for designing the flag itself.

Despite what you might have been taught in grade school, the evidence suggests it wasn’t Betsy Ross, though she did sew the flag. Instead, credit goes to Francis Hopkinson, a founding father, and a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams referred to Hopkinson as a “curious little gentleman” who he described as “ingenious.”

“His head is not bigger than a large apple,” wrote Adams. “I have not seen anything yet in natural history more amusing and more entertaining than his usual appearance; yet he is genteel and well-bred, and is very social.”

Like many of those men who helped found America, Hopkinson was a strong Christian whose faith shaped and defined him. He was an Anglican who served as a vestryman and warden for various churches.

In addition to his service as a judge, he also wrote stories, poems, and satire, and even composed Christian music. In writing satire, he used the pen name, “Peter Grievous.”

But Francis Hopkinson’s faith undoubtedly influenced his design of the American flag, including his choice of its colors.

It’s long been understood that red on the flag was to reflect valor, courage and the blood shed by the many patriots willing to die for the cause. The blue represented justice, vigilance, and perseverance. White reflected the purity and idealism behind the effort to forge an independent nation.

All of those characteristics – valor, courage, sacrifice, vigilance, perseverance, and purity – enjoy parallel importance in the Christian life. Wrote John Adams to Thomas Jefferson:

The general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their address, or by me in my answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty.

Now I will avow, that I then believe, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System.

On the eve of Flag Day 2025, the world, too, seems upside down these days, but despite the metaphorical “bombs bursting in air” throughout culture, at first light of morning, our great flag is “still there.”

Come controversy or come calm, the American flag flies high. Long may it wave.

Image from Shutterstock.

Presidents as Fathers: Which Was the Best?

What kind of father do presidents of the United States make?

On the eve of Father’s Day weekend, consider some of the advice occupants of the Oval Office have offered their children.

Donald Trump, who holds the distinction of being the 45th and 47th president, has long touted the simple and straightforward counsel he’s given all four of his children.

“I always said the same thing,” President Trump told the New York Post. “I said: no drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes. I also would say don’t get tattoos, but I don’t say it too strongly, because a lot of people have gotten tattoos, and that’s what they choose to do.”

Trump’s brother Fred was an alcoholic who tragically died of the disease. As a teetotaler, the president offers toasts at special dinners with glasses of Diet Coke.

Back in 2004, Trump, who was married twice prior to First Lady Melania Trump, did an interview with New York Magazine where he bluntly said, “I’m a really good father, but not a really good husband. You’ve probably figured out my children really like me — love me — a lot.”

What about previous presidents?

President Joe Biden has reportedly urged his children to focus on the personal concerns and interests of others.

“The most successful and happiest people I’ve known understand that a good life at its core is about being personal,” the former president stated.

“It’s about being engaged. It’s about being there for a friend or a colleague when they’re injured or in an accident, remembering the birthdays, congratulating them on their marriage, celebrating the birth of their child. It’s about being available to them when they’re going through personal loss. It’s about loving someone more than yourself.”

Former president Barack Obama urged his two daughters, “Don’t let your hunger for success keep you from enjoying life.”

“What we try to encourage is the sense that it’s not somebody else’s job, it’s your job,” Obama reflected. “That’s an ethic that they’ve embraced. You have to be persistent.”

President George W. Bush, who was famously influenced by his own father, the 41st president, credits his decision to give up drinking alcohol with enabling him to be an engaged and loving dad.

As president, Bush regularly urged his daughters to live “normal” lives. “Your mother and I are living our lives,” he told them. “And that’s what we raised you to do: live yours.”

When Michael Reagan was about to get married, President Reagan wrote him the following letter:

You’ve heard all the jokes that have been rousted around by all the ‘unhappy marrieds’ and cynics. Now, in case no one has suggested it, there is another viewpoint. You have entered into the most meaningful relationship there is in all human life. It can be whatever you decide to make it.

… Sure, there will be moments when you will see someone or think back to an earlier time and you will be challenged to see if you can still make the grade, but let me tell you how really great is the challenge of proving your masculinity and charm with one woman for the rest of your life. Any man can find a twerp here and there who will go along with cheating, and it doesn’t take all that much manhood.

It does take quite a man to remain attractive and to be loved by a woman who has heard him snore, seen him unshaven, tended him while he was sick and washed his dirty underwear. Do that and keep her still feeling a warm glow and you will know some very beautiful music.

…There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps.”

Other notable and involved Oval Office dads have included Teddy Roosevelt, John Adams (whose son grew up to also be president), John F. Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush.

Of course, the very best fatherly advice comes not from presidents but from the Bible. Scripture urges fathers to train their children in His ways (Proverbs 22:6), discipline accordingly (Proverbs 3:11-12) and yet be mindful to not exasperate boys and girls as they raise them “in the instruction and discipline of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

Which president has been the best father? It’s an impossible question to answer, but you can be sure each one, whether they demonstrate it well or not, has loved his child or children just as much as you love yours.

Image from Getty.