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 Who Will Win?
“. . . a lot is at stake . . .”
======================================
 Why Should I Vote?

I n its most simplistic terms, voting is really a ‘relationship’.

If you’re like 67 percent of the populace, you are dissatisfied, discouraged, disgruntled
and even disappointed with our political system.
The reality is no system is perfect.
All systems [relationships] break down with time, but those that endure contain three key
elements:

—Communication
—Compromise
—Commitment

Communication: If you’re disappointed with the political process, did you know there are
ways to voice your disagreements?
Don’t assume that no one listens.
As air is essential to our life, votes are the ‘life blood’ of elected officials.
Compromise: Every issue has two sides, yours and theirs.
If you are only willing to see your side, that is selfish.
There are more than 300 million people in the US.
What’s best for you is not necessarily best for your city, state or the nation.
Take the time to read and research the issues on the state and federal ballots.
Voice your concerns to your local leaders: write your senator or congressman and get
involved.
Commitment: Relationships do not flourish by luck or chance.
People make a conscious decision that they will see this through.
If it’s broke, they will fix it.
It they can’t fix it then they will work to change it.
It may take some time, but eventually the kinks and bugs will be worked out.
Nobody can force a citizen to vote.
 Foreword

I s this a right vs. left wing issue or a democratic vs. republican issue?
Who's to blame for the divisiveness in America, liberals or conservatists?
The answers may surprise you, but you deserve to know the truth.
2020 has proven to be an exceptional year, and I expect no less in the next 20 days as parties
and candidates jockey for position.
Am I the only one struggling to wrap my head around the events of the past 10 months?
Not only the virus, but the relationships and friendships that are forever broken.
The outright hatred.
The riots.
The lies told.
The deception.
The dirty politicians and governmental leaders.
However, this is not the first time that this has occurred in our nation.
Augusta Phillips Johnson cited the same in his book, “A Century of Wayne County,
Kentucky”.
It seems two brothers, Anthony and William McBeath fought on opposite sides of the Civil
War, Anthony for the Confederate Army, and William for the Union Army.
Was this a simple matter of a difference of opinion?
I think not.
History bears out that it boiled down to plain old stupidity; stupidity that had gone to far.
Thank God that a man by the name of Abraham Lincoln had enough sense and courage to
change our course of history.
However, 618,222 American lives were needlessly lost.
And now history is repeating itself.
God help us!
We are Americans; I thought we were better than this!
 Acknowledgements

I learned the value of hard work at a very young age.

From the time that I was 7 or 8, I was working in the corn fields, bean fields, cotton
fields, hay fields, rice fields and watermelon and cantaloupe fields for eight or more hours a day.
Though the work was hard, I learned three important lessons:

—Don’t take people for granted

—Hard work does pay off
—Give respect to all people regardless of their color or ethnicity

In the 50s and 60s, families watched out for one another.
They helped each other.
They disciplined each other.
They worked together, suffered together and even celebrated together.
As far back as I can remember, Church was an integral part of our family.
We left early for Sunday school with my grandmother, and did not return home until late that
night.
I did not always like this routine, but it did lay a solid ethical, moral and spiritual foundation
in my life.
The Bible says we are to, “Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek
God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents],
Even when he is old he will not depart from it” [Proverbs 22:6/Amplified Bible].
So to my elders, kinfolks, classmates, shipmates, mothers and grandmothers, dads, aunts,
uncles, pastors, deacons in the church, teachers, principals, siblings and cousins, thank you for
being there.
Whether it was a listening ear, a kind word, a stern correction or even a well placed belt or
paddle, each of you left an indelible mark on my life.
The interest you took in me has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.
Someone once said that it was the prayers of these folks that made the difference.
 Introduction

P olitics is not a game for the faint of heart.

The betrayals, lies, deceit, the not knowing who your friends are and the ‘selling
your soul’ mentality to get ahead goes against everything that I value in this life.
Thank God that is not my world or my way of life.
In February of 2020, I asked the Lord these questions:

—Will this country recover from the virus?

—Why has hatred and unrest increased in the world?
—Who will be the next President?
—What would You have me do or say?

I received answers to the first two questions around April or May of that year. However, it
was not until August or September that I received answers to the last two questions.
And yes, I believe I know which candidate is the Lords’ choice for President of our nation.
I will elaborate more on this in Chapter 7.
I do however add that the Lords’ Will is not always done.
In 2nd Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 it reads, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,
as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance”.
Though the call goes forth to repent, it still remains the responsibility of the ‘hearer’ to accept
or reject this calling.
Over the years, America has become a mouthpiece for propaganda that is terrifying and
unsettling, ‘political correctness’.
I believe this is an existential threat not just to the United States, but to every man, woman,
boy and girl on this planet.
I realize the choice to do and say what is right and not what the majority wants is particularly
tough. But it is the right thing to do.
 Guest Forum

I t breaks my heart that the people we are supposed to identify with are destroying our
country.
But, I truly understand that we are not to identify with a certain race or color.
We are to identify with the people who truly love Jesus.
We are a black couple, age 73.
We are very much opposed to what is going on today with regard to rioting, looting and
destroying property, including public property.
We are opposed to destroying police departments, and villainizing the Nation’s entire police
institution.
We are opposed to removing any part of our Nation’s history, including the names of products
that have been around for more than a hundred years.
My husband and I both grew up in the south, different states, and attended segregated schools
and were subjected to Jim Crow.
But we are not offended by our history because it is just that, history.
If it were our present, then that would be unacceptable to us,
but we have never been slaves nor do we know anyone in this Country who has owned a slave.
We are appalled that cities and companies are caving in to foolishness, like the Seattle fiasco
and the County in Oregon that requires everyone to wear a mask in public, EXCEPT people of
color.
The people who are offended by products like Aunt Jemima have been using them for
decades, and their parents before them. Nobody cared, and nobody cares now.
It isn’t about products or names or images or statues. It isn’t about anything that will add
value to our lives, only destroy them.
We can’t change history, nor should we try. We can change our practices if they cause harm,
but our history is our history.
If we continue to tear things down because they are offensive to some, then where will we
stop? What will be left?
 Chapter 1
Is this America?

Q: What changed America?

A: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” [Proverbs 14:34]

A couple of days ago, I drove to Walmart to pick up a few things.

I had made this trip countless times, so other than the thoughts of ‘get in, get what
you need and get out’, I had nothing else on my mind.
All that changed the moment I began my trek across the Walmart parking lot.
At first I thought it was my imagination, but as shopper after shopper (all were white) either
steered away from me or in some cases turned and went a different direction, I knew something
was off; I just wasn’t sure what it was.
Then it hit me, “What if this was their way of responding to the protests [riots] and racial
unrest in our nation”?
I shuddered at the thought, but that was the only sane thing that put this craziness in
perspective.
Please, do not allow their actions to get under your skin. We all have been guilty of
fearing what we do not understand.
I grew up in the South, in the late 50s, 60s and early 70s.
I experienced racial prejudice and school riots firsthand, so I am a little bit more familiar with
these type of behaviors than most of the under fifty crowd.
Yet, I was amazed that once again I was the recipient of this type of prejudice.
Sadly, even after almost 6,000 years, the heart of man has not changed but only escalated in
its perversions and evil ways.
America, shame on you!
After all that we have endured as a nation, we should be better than this.
We were once a nation filled with people of integrity.
In many small towns, people slept with their bedroom windows up and their car doors unlocked.
 Chapter 3
A Dangerous Lie!

Q: Who is lying?
A: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” [Proverbs 18:21]

A lmost like clockwork, every four years we hear the same old rhetoric, “I promise to do
better than the guy before me … yada … yada … yada.
I promise to protect you, your family and your way of life … yada … yada … yada.
I will be your friend, your adviser and the guy who makes things better … yada … yada …
yada.
I will cut your taxes, give you better pay, free education, forgiveness of student loans and free
healthcare … yada … yada … yada.
A vote for me is the right thing to do—I promise”.
But in reality, how many promises are kept?
Of the 282 pre-election promises Donald Trump made in 2016, 65 have not been started,
112 are in progress, 50 are complete and 55 were abandoned.
Not started (e.g.):
—Raise the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour, as $7.25 is too low and the minimum
wage has to go up.
—Allow states to set their own minimum wage.

Abandoned (e.g.):

—Lower the corporate tax rate to 15 percent and get rid of most corporate tax loopholes or
incentives. Allow corporations a one-time window to transfer money being held overseas,
charging a much-reduced 10 percent tax.
—Cut the budget by 20 percent by simply negotiating better prices or renegotiating existing deals.

This equates to roughly 57 percent of his campaign promises kept over 43 months.
 Chapter 5
Who Do We Trust?

Q: Who can we trust?

A: “Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed” [Isaiah 2:22]

I n the hands of the wrong person, a lie is a weapon as powerful as the bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Former President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation
away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.
It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will
spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the
United States where men were free”.
2020 has been a very long year.
While COVID-19 continues to top news stories, stories of treachery, lies, deception, death and
mayhem are still filling our history books.
You won’t hear about them unless they ‘fit’ that hour’s narrative, but they are no less real.
These are news stories that the media chose to ignore or drop from their trackers:

—What did Hunter and Joe Biden actually do in Ukraine?

—Did Robert Mueller, former Special Counsel for the US Department of Justice lie in his
report?
—Was there ever a whistleblower in President Trump’s impeachment trial?
—Where is the ‘over-whelming’ evidence?
—Where are the 27 violations [claims] against President Trump lauded by democratic leaders?
—Did Jeffrey Epstein kill himself?
—Did George Soros fund terrorist organizations in the US?
—Is Socialism, Communism and Marxism the future way of life in the US?
—Is Capitalism dead?
 Chapter 7
Who Will Win?

Q: Who will be our next President?

A: “It is He who changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the
wise, And [greater] knowledge to those who have understanding!” [Daniel 2:21]

——Breaking News 2 Oct: President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump test positive for COVID-19——

T here is nothing I love as much as a good fight [scrap, throw down, brawl etc.].

September 29.
Like 73 million other Americans, I tuned in to the presidential debates on

As I was on my treadmill, I listened to most of the debate through my headphones.

The following day when I watched the video clips, little in it surprised me.
If I first listen to a program, be it a debate or other, I find that I do not have to ‘wade’ through
all the theatrics of a live video feed.
My mind then is less distracted by how a person said what they said and I can focus more on
what was said.
What was my take on the debate? I will preface my response with this: I respect the office of
the president—as every American should.
Other than what I’ve read or heard, I have no personal knowledge of President Trump or any
of the forty-four leaders before him.
Though I have not always agreed with the choices made by those in this office, my
disagreements were directed toward the decisions and not the person.
I can’t say the same for the moderator, Chris Wallace or the democratic challenger, Joe Biden.
I know politics plays a significant role in how they cage their responses, but there was a
noticeable lack of respect for the office of the President.

President Trump: “He [Hunter Biden] got $3.5 million from Moscow. Why did he deserve
$3.5 million from Moscow”?
 Chapter 9
Our Nation is in Trouble

Q: What can one person do?

A: “One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who is fighting for you, just as He
[a]promised you” [Joshua 23:10/Amplified Bible]

‘T he squeaky wheel gets the grease’ is an American proverb or metaphor that conveys
to the listener that the most noticeable (or loudest) problems or voices are the ones
most likely to get attention.
Conversely, a silent hub may be overlooked and neglected.
This past Wednesday night, October 7, I and 57.9 million other Americans sat down to watch
the Vice Presidential debate.
Within minutes, it became painfully apparent that Kamala Harris was either unprepared or
poorly educated in the art of a face-off with Vice President (VP) Mike Pence.
One watcher summed it up this way, ‘He ate her lunch’.
I sat dumbfounded.
She, I thought could be the next vice president of the United States.
What a scary reality this would be.
At times Senator Harris was totally lost; at other times she floundered around like a ‘fish’ out
of water.
I couldn’t help but smile and then shake my head each time she tried to ‘street’ bully VP
Pence whenever he ‘zinged’ her with a truth arrow.
I guess this was her way of covering up her dumbness.

Breonna Taylor
VP Pence: Senator Harris, you did nothing on criminal justice reform in California. You didn’t
lift a finger to pass the first step back on Capitol Hill. I mean, the reality is your record speaks for
itself.
Harris: I will not be lectured by the Vice President on our record of what we have done in
 Postscript
A Divided House Cannot Stand

L ord knows our country is more divided on political, moral, economical and spiritual
issues than at any other time in our history.
When there is major division in any body, such as in a kingdom where leaders form opposing
sides of significant strength and influence, that kingdom will be destroyed from the inside.
The infection, which threatens to destroy our relationship with God comes from our own
flesh.
The Pharisees saw Jesus heal a demon-possessed man and declared, “It is only by Beelzebub,
the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons” [Matthew 12:24].
The familiar quote “a house divided cannot stand” is taken from Christ’s response to the
Pharisees’ heresy.
The popular saying indicates that division within any organization, family, or religious group,
etc. will hurt or divide that group, yet we need context for the true and full meaning to hit home.
Jesus was saying so much more.
There are three accounts in the Gospels in which Jesus states that a kingdom divided against
itself is laid waste or a house divided cannot stand (Luke 11:17; Mark 3:25; Matthew 12:25).
All three instances of this statement are spoken in response to the Pharisees’ accusation that
Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan—a blasphemy that Jesus said would not be
forgiven them.
Jesus’ argument to the Pharisees was logical: a kingdom that is at cross-purposes with itself
will fall.
Any household riven by infighting will tear itself apart.
Jesus was obviously casting demons out of people.
If Jesus was in league with Satan, or if Satan was somehow working through Jesus, it is
unlikely that exorcisms would be a priority, because why would Satan cast himself out?
Satan has more practical wisdom than to allow his demonic underlings to group themselves
into warring factions.
 J ames Langston is a retired naval officer.

career in 2003.
He faithfully served his country for 27 years before writing the final chapter of his

James is founder and senior pastor of the Pilgrim Outreach Ministries.

He is ordained and licensed through World Evangelism Fellowship of Baton Rouge,
Louisiana as a minister of the gospel.
A native Texan, James was born and raised in America’s 33rd state for the first 17 years of his
life.
James Langston graduated from El Campo high school, El Campo, Texas in 1976.
He is founder of the ministries popular social media sites on Twitter, @joybells49 and
Facebook, pastorjameslangston@facebook.com.
James is a author, husband, father, grandfather, avid jogger, bowling enthusiast, a web
developer, a communications officer (public relations specialist), a playwright, and a SyFy writer.
His works broadly address and define narratives of our human experiences across multiple
disciplines.
As a playwright, James has captured the attention of a host of executive producers including
Sony, Pixar, Discovery Channel, Lifetime TV, A&E, SyFy, Velocity and UKTV.
You can preview his books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu Enterprises and NOOK in
several formats including paperback, hardcover and Kindle e-Book.
You are invited to visit the ministries online bookstore at,
www.thewilltosucceed.homestead.com.
James and his wife Cecilia have been married for more than 43 years.
They have six children and fifteen grandchildren.