Good morning, 

When false prophets call you a “troubler,” wear the title with joy!

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

All Saints Day
Friday, November 1, 2019
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• In the wake of a legislative session that provided little in the way of excitement for conservatives in specific or Texans in general, and an ethics scandal forcing out the disgraced Speaker of the Texas House Dennis Bonnen, Gov. Greg Abbott has the opportunity to reset the electoral conversation... but isn’t. It’s been over a month since grassroots leaders asked Abbott to call a special session for the Lone Star Agenda but he has so far refused to answer it, let alone act.
      
• Apparently Gov. Abbott is content with letting the results of a purple session and the Bonnen scandal be representative of the Republican Party going into 2020...
      
• After the Austin City Council refused to protect public safety amid a self-created homelessness problem, the state is now stepping in. Jacob Asmussen reports public notices went up across Austin this week, notifying residents that the Texas Department of Transportation will begin cleaning out homeless encampments underneath highways throughout the city.
     
• The story began in June when the Austin City Council made it legal for vagrants to camp, sit, and lie down in public spaces across the city (but notably not outside city hall). Almost immediately crime spiked in the areas most affected. The widely acknowledged public health and safety risks prompted more than 41,000 citizens to sign a petition calling for its reversal. Gov. Abbott joined the fray, promising state action if the city council refused to budge.
     
• “Gov. Abbott has been clear that unless the City of Austin demonstrated improvements to protect public health and safety, the state of Texas would step in to address this crisis.” – Abbott spokesman John Wittman
     
• Hammering the City of Austin is fine, but grassroots activists who don’t live in the Democrats’ Travis County bubble want real policy results for the rest of Texas.
       
• The list of GOP candidates vying for their party’s nomination in the 13th Congressional District keeps growing. Thomas Warren reports Amarillo City Councilwoman Elaine Hays has joined the field to replace the retiring Mac Thornberry. With Hays that brings the GOP race total to six, including Chris Ekstrom, Josh Winegarner, Kevin McInturff, Vance Snider, and Monique Worthy.
       
• Vendors who made more than $31 million from a North Texas school district’s 2014 bond have positioned themselves to cash in again this year on a new $315 million debt election by contributing heavily to a “vote yes” campaign. Robert Montoya has the details from Keller ISD.

Friday Reflection

False prophets tend to be popular; they tell us what we want to hear. Those who would expose false prophets will find themselves objects of derision, and as such they must have the faith to persevere through withering criticism.

We see it play out in the Old Testament Book of 1 Kings, where the people turned from God and began worshipping Baal. (This is the “god” to whom worshippers sacrificed their small children in a vain attempt to appease that which was not there.)

In the 18th chapter we find Elijah, the lone prophet of God at the time, derided as a “troubler” of Israel by the Baal worshippers. It was an apt title: the false prophets – the RINOs of the Old Testament – didn’t like the trouble he was making for them by preaching about the true God.

As an aside, those false prophets didn’t care about the people of Israel, they were serving themselves. By promoting the false teachings of Baal, they were promoting themselves.

So at Mount Carmel a deal was struck. On one side would be the 450 prophets of Baal, on the other was Elijah. Each would be calling on their respective god to light a fire. As one might imagine, the false prophets had no success, while the God of Elijah answered with a consuming blaze.

The false prophets were seized by a suddenly repentant people and slaughtered in the Kishon Valley. This fiery display of God’s power brought the people of Israel back to Him, at least for a while. 

And here’s the rub: false prophets only have sway with a people willing to be led astray. 

We must keep our eyes fixed on God, on what is true even if unpopular. When others fall under the self-induced spell of a false prophet, we must speak the truth loudly and boldly. Even if we must do so alone, we must be “troublers” for the unrighteousness.

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