https://www.breitbart.com/social-justice/2026/06/29/democrat-minneapolis-mayor-lifts-ban-gay-sex-bathhouses/

Blessed Is the Man Whose Strength Is in the Lord by Pastor Joseph Cortes Psalm 84:5 says, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.” The thought of the verse is that blessed is the man whose strength is in the Lord, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. That is where the blessing begins. It does not begin with a trouble-free life. It does not begin with easy circumstances. It does not begin with every question answered or every burden removed. It begins when a man or woman learns where true strength comes from. “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee.” Not in self. Not in personality. Not in willpower. Not in human wisdom. Not in a better plan. Not in trying to outthink the valley. The blessed man is the one whose strength is in God. That is not always easy to admit. We like to think we are strong. We like to think we can handle more than we really can. We like to believe we have a plan that will work better than God’s plan. But the Valley of Baca has a way of exposing us. The valley teaches us that our strength runs out. Our patience gets tested. Our emotions fluctuate. Our confidence shakes. Our endurance grows thin. But God never runs out of strength. The pilgrim who learns this is blessed, not because the valley disappears, but because he has discovered where his strength comes from while he is walking through it. This is why the promise of II Corinthians 12:9 becomes so precious. The Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” That is not religious poetry. That is survival truth for the pilgrim. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Not barely sufficient. Not occasionally sufficient. Not sufficient only when life is easy. His grace is sufficient in weakness, in pain, in confusion, in exhaustion, in tears, and in the long march through Baca. Then the Lord says, “for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” That means weakness is not the place where God abandons us. Weakness is the place where His strength is displayed. Weakness is where we stop pretending we are enough. Weakness is where self-dependence dies. Weakness is where the pilgrim learns to lean with all his weight upon the Lord.

A Five-Part Devotional on Love, Humility, and Warning People Before It Is Too Late by Pastor Joseph Cortes Jesus Defines Love In John 15, Jesus teaches His disciples and gives one of the clearest definitions of love in all of Scripture. He says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” People are always trying to define love. The secular world tries to define it. The Christian world tries to define it. Everybody has an opinion about what love is supposed to look like, sound like, and feel like. But Jesus does not leave love up to human imagination. He cuts straight through all the noise and says the greatest love is not about getting something from someone else. It is not about finding someone who fulfills your needs, satisfies your emotions, or completes your life. The greatest love is when a man lays down his life for his friends. Do not get offended when I say Jesus was a no-nonsense Savior. He got straight to the point. He was not trying to be super-spiritual just to impress people. He did not wrap truth in religious fluff. He spoke plainly because truth matters, eternity matters, and souls matter. That is how I have tried to operate this ministry. It may be rough around the edges at times, but I am not here to blow rainbows and sunshine into a world that is already burning. This calling is serious. The hour is serious. The time we are living in is serious. There is not much time left, and when Jesus defines love, we had better pay attention. Jesus makes it clear that His definition of love is different from the world’s definition. The world says love is about self. The world says love is about finding someone who will meet your needs, affirm your desires, and make you feel good about yourself. But the love Jesus describes is not selfish. It is not centered on self at all. It lays itself down for another. It gives. It sacrifices. It bleeds. It puts another person ahead of its own comfort. That is why the cross is the greatest display of love the world has ever seen. Jesus did not merely talk about love. He demonstrated it. He laid down His life.

James 1:2 (KJV) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; The fire-and-brimstone pastor often tries to use guilt to make people submit to God. Many Christians believe guilt is the way to drive out sin. But guilt does not produce revival. Guilt teaches people to hide. That is what Adam and Eve did after they sinned: “And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.” — Genesis 3:8 KJV We must never allow our sins, failures, weaknesses, or missed shots in life to cause us to run from God. We all miss the target. We all fail. We all fall short. Sometimes we aim at the right thing and still miss. Sometimes trials, suffering, pressure, and temptation surround us until we lose focus. But the answer is never to run from God. The modern idea that believers must keep confessing sins that Christ has already forgiven can become another tool of guilt. It can make people feel like forgiveness depends on their ability to keep remembering, naming, and re-confessing every failure. But Christ has already dealt with our sins at the cross. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” — Ephesians 1:7 KJV And Paul says: “Having forgiven you all trespasses;” — Colossians 2:13 KJV So when we miss, we do not hide. When we fail, we do not run away. When we sin, we do not pretend it did not happen. We come back to Christ because we are already forgiven. James tells us to count it all joy when we are surrounded by trials of many kinds, because those trials do not have the final word. Our failures do not have the final word. Our sins do not have the final word. Our weaknesses do not have the final word. Christ does. The enemy wants your failure to become your identity. He wants guilt to become a wall between you and Christ. But Scripture says: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” — Romans 8:1 KJV