Saturday, July 19, 2025

The Last Thing Standing - Robert Schmidt vs. Adam Smith

 

Recently, the Pastor of Grace Church in Sun Valley (91352) went on to his reward and eternal #Freedom on July 14th.  "The Last Thing standing is going to be the Church" -- John MacArthur (@ 2:30 mark):

https://youtu.be/ez20oh_x3Vg

The docudrama "Essential Church" is a prime example of speaking #Truth to power.

 

Here is my initial reaction to The Last Kingdom Standing by Robert Schmidt:  

https://bit.ly/45bBvrp

 

The Last Kingdom Standing - Hope for a World in Crisis by Robert Schmidt (Wipf & Stock, 2024):

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Kingdom-Standing-World-Crisis/dp/B0DFY512BR

The following page references will be from this work.

 

I learned a new word from reading this book, "utopistics," that is, creative ways of imagining the future (p. 137).  According to much scifi, AI, Big Brother and the Robots take over.  Our future may be grim.  Of course, Jesus promised that the #Remnant will be preserved (Mt. 16:18).  Will AI take over next month?  Could Skynet rule our future?  You may want to investigate Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era by James Barrat (2015): 

https://www.amazon.com/Our-Final-Invention-Artificial-Intelligence/dp/1250058783


Schmidt seems to lean to the #Left in a # of ways.  I have been a Sojourners subscriber myself ages ago.  I have met actual Commies ... that is, individuals who the thought that Marx & Lenin, Engels, Castro and Che Guevara were right.  I love Cuban bread and music, but I say the Cuban Revolution was tragic (1956-1959).  Have the Hutterites found the #Road_to_Utopia ♫ ?  I agree with Brother Schmidt that we should help the poor and destitute (Mt 25:31-46).  I have been to the Philippines 7x and seen extreme poverty firsthand.  Earlier this year, I was a volunteer for World Vision @ a Toby Mac concert in Tampa.   

 

Dr. Schmidt is concerned about climate change (pp. 83,108,109,138).  The remedy for #Climate_Hysteria is Do Your Own Research #DYOR ... Several chapters in Sacred Cows in Science, edited by Norbert "Doc Gator" Smith (Ph.D. Zoology - Texas Tech), leads the Global Warming Movement to face the music ♫

https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Cows-Science-Objectivity-Allowed/dp/1456585169

 

My chapter in the same defends the historicity of Noah (and the real Global Catastrophe!), see this review:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3CX6P8VO718JJ/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1456585169

            

After the Global Flood, God promised Noah,

 

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease (Gen. 8:22).

 

This seems to run counter to the fanatical environmentalist doomsayers. The Ice Age, which occurred some years after the Flood, was a real example of Extreme Climate.  So we see that a key foundation for the Christian Worldview is the 7 C's of #History >>

          Creation-Curse-Catastrophe-Confusion-Christ-Cross-ComingAgain

Recall the trail of blood and destruction wrought by those leaders in the 20th Century who took Darwin as gospel.

 

From Lutheran authors, I would offer In the Beginning, God by Joel D. Heck:

https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-God-Creation-Gods-Perspective/dp/0758627386

... and In Search of the Genesis World by Erich A. Von Fange:

https://www.amazon.com/Search-Genesis-World-Debunking-Evolution/dp/0758611005

 

I had the privilege to spend some time with Walter Lang (d. 2004), Executive Director of the Bible-Science Association.  He graduated from Concordia Seminary (St. Louis) in 1937 and started a mission church among African-Americans in Houston in the 1940's.

https://adamslostdream.blogspot.com/2010/03/walter-lang-1913-2004-creationist.html


Former missionnaire Schmidt downgrades capitalism numerous times in his work (p. 140).  How can the poor improve their economics?  Adam Smith wrote the monumental Wealth of Nations:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300

 

No, I have not read the entire work, but I am familiar with much of the contents.  Milton Friedman (Nobel Prize Winner) references Adam Smith often in his stunning PBS series Free to Choose:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt27lKoC5LS4wbD28Jkv95UUm9H7wbVO4

 

I have read the book Free to Choose:

https://www.amazon.com/Free-Choose-Statement-Milton-Friedman/dp/0156334607

 

Friedman reveals the Miracle of Pre-Communist Hong Kong here (@ 8:34 mark):

https://youtu.be/dngqR9gcDDw?list=PLt27lKoC5LS4wbD28Jkv95UUm9H7wbVO4

 

Before Red China took over there was great freedom and prosperity, "Along with free trade, limited government, low taxes, and sound money, the Hong Kong government has scrupulously kept out of private business and personal affairs. The playing field was level as the government gave no subsidies to particular firms, sectors, or individuals."

https://www.hoover.org/research/freedoms-fall-hong-kong

 

This is straight out of Adam Smith who said that the State should not favor the Manufacturers over the Farmers!  When you think of the Wealth of Nations you may recall the importance of the Division of Labor and Skilled Workers.  How can we stop the brain-drain from developing nations?  Let docs in Nigeria serve in their own country for a decade before they come to America.  Require that Maths Teachers in Manila push Calculus for 10 years prior to applying for U.S. citizenship.

 

Can the poor get out of the rut?  Steve Harvey used to sleep in his car!    

https://news.amomama.com/283362-steve-harvey-was-homeless-3-years-slept.html

 

Now, how do we define "poor" ... there is a "Poverty Line" on income level but that is an arbitrary dollar amount.  For 2009 to 2011, 31.6% of Americans fell below the poverty line for two months or more.  Yet only 3.5% were "poor" for the entire 3 year period.[1]

 

Often hindrances to Win-Win trade squash potential progress, "Across Sub-Saharan Africa, trade corridors meant to drive economic integration under the AfCFTA are being strangled - not by tariffs, but by a hidden web of checkpoints, bribes, and inefficient customs procedures."

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/confronting-menace-arbitrary-checkpoints-bribes-customs-evans-edebor-d84tf/

 

Schmidt recounts the Israelites' journey from the Exodus to the Wandering Years to the Conquest (pp. 13-17).  One would think that those who heard God's direct voice might be open to Utopia (Ex. 20:18-22).  The Seventy Elders "saw God" ... they knew for sure that YHWH was real (Ex. 24:9-11).  Thus, under the most ideal conditions the end result was a revolting development: "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit" (Judges 17:6).


God gave Israel definite borders (Ex. 23:31).  Globalism vs. Nationalism - which is your credo?

http://adamslostdream.blogspot.com/2018/02/is-nationalism-right-christian-view-of.html

 

I did not realize until years later that my History text from my Community College ("Oh-Trip-C") was full-on Communist!  Our whole education system has been undermined by Leftist subversion.  No wonder homeschooling and Classical Schools are so popular (Mort Adler Any1?).  I met James Lindsay, the Fake Research Punkster, and witnessed to him a couple years ago.  His book The Marxification of Education is a smash!  424 reviews can't be wrong:    

https://www.amazon.com/Marxification-Education-Freires-Critical-Marxism/dp/B0BP89FPY9

 

Professor Schmidt rightly admits that as Matthew 26:11 states, "The poor you will always have with you ..." (p. 53).  This implies that the Ultimate Utopia will not arrive until we see the New Heavens and the New Earth (Rev. 21:1-4).  Man is Totally Depraved (Eccl. 7:29, Ps. 143:2, Mk. 7:21-23) and this Planet will always see travail.  For as wii all know, Everybody Wants To Rule The World:  https://youtu.be/aGCdLKXNF3w


Is "Robert the Utopicist" dissing Creationism when he says, "Why is it that the number of confessing Christians is declining in the West and growing elsewhere?  Some put the blame on the Enlightenment and  a more scientific understanding of the universe" (p. 80).  I would recommend my Trilogy >>>

 

My book "Biological Essentialism" deals with the Genesis Kinds (Gen. 1:12):

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/biological-essentialism-jay-hall/1140135320

 

I have also written 2 books defending the "young earth" view from History & Science:

https://www.amazon.com/Young-Earth-Possible-Science-Youthful/dp/1088860788/

https://www.amazon.com/YES-WorldView-Fallacies-Darwinism-2014-11-14/dp/B01K3RF10I


Last Kingdom Standing warns us of Repressive Government and Authoritarian Regimes (p. 101).  Can you say #Corona_Crisis ? ... Way back in 2014, Reason took up the question "Should Vaccines Be Mandatory?" According to Surgeon Jeffrey A. Singer, "Any mass immunization program that uses compulsion rather than persuasion will, on balance, do more harm to the well being of a free people than any good it was intended to convey."[2]  Furthermore, Sandy Reider, who has a Primary Care Practice in VT, points out,  

 

Current immunization policy relies on the oft-repeated assertion that vaccines are safe and effective. Yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Medicine, and even the American Academy of Pediatrics have acknowledged that serious reactions, including seizures, progressive encephalopathy, and death, can and do occur. The federal vaccine injury court, which was established at the same time that vaccine manufacturers were exempted from liability, has to date paid $2.6 billion dollars in compensation for vaccine injuries. And there is ample reason to believe that the incidence of vaccine injury is strongly underreported.[3] 

 

If you want to help the poor, teach them a trade: plumbing, painting, electrical, HVAC, welding, mechanic, pipefitting, septic, water etc.  IT, networking, programming and Web Design may be swell options as well.  Mike Rowe's (Dirty Jobs) wisdom is spot on: "I get hundreds of letters a week from parents whose beautifully educated snowflakes are back home, sleeping on their sofa, but completely unqualified for any of the work that's available."[4]  Recall what Adam Smith said about Skilled Labor.


I was elated to see that Pastor Schmidt referenced D. James Kennedy, who left for Glory in 2007 (p. 131).  Many of the Christian Worldview priorities that Schmidt focuses on relate to the varied writings of Dr. Kennedy (from Better World Books):   

https://www.betterworldbooks.com/author/d-james-kennedy/6877269

 

Coral Ridge Ministries is continuing to make an impact on the World:

https://crm.tv/about/

 

There are many positive things that can be said about the House Church Movement (pp. 124,125).  Just go read 1 Cor. 14:26.

 

Schmidt's take on democracy:

 

Today, at a critical juncture in world history, people around the world are debating the merits of democracy versus authoritarian government. ... The conflict between democracy and authoritarian rule was also demonstrated in the assault on the US capital by people seeking to overthrow the election of the US president (p. 19).

 

Is America a seedbed for Democracy or a Representative Republic?

https://thisvsthat.io/democracy-vs-representative-republic


I would urge my Utopian brother to do some more homework on the Stop the Steal Rally.[5]  I would have gone to DC to join the Stop the Steal Rally in early 2021.  I was on the email list and received regular updates for the event.  If a large bus to DC were leaving from Dallas I would have joined them - I had the time off from work.  I was providentially spared (Is. 46:10, Eph. 1:11, Rom. 8:28).  Big Brother may have given me a seventeen year prison sentence!

Notes:

1) "Obama: Wrong About Income Inequality" by Ronald Bailey, Reason, April 2014, p. 16.

2) "Should Vaccines Be Mandatory?" by Bailey, Singer & Reider, Reason, April 2014, p. 24.

3) Ibid., p. 25.

4) "Diplomas vs. Dirty Jobs" - interview with Mike Rowe by Nick Gillespie, Reason, April 2014, p. 42.

5) The Gospel According to Alex Jones by Jay Hall & Jeff Sinclair (True Truth Productions, OKC, OK, 2023), pp. 20-22.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gospel-according-to-alex-jones-jay-hall/1144649066

 

my site: https://totalyouth.us

 

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith:

https://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html

 

** kudos - graphic sources:

https://chatgpt.com/c/687af503-66e8-8005-aca9-77abea8e55fd

https://cdn.britannica.com/13/60213-050-13F3DBA4/Adam-Smith-paste-medallion-James-Tassie-Scottish-1787.jpg

 

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