Penna Dexter
“Some people are calling it a “Vibe Shift.”  Before anyone is sworn into office, we are seeing the fruits of the November election. There’s a new optimism as we reflect on the things that need change. There’s much to pray for, so let’s begin:
Heavenly Father, we’re grateful that voters rejected the gender ideology that allows, even encourages, the mutilation of bodies, especially the bodies of children. Bring us aid and wisdom to banish it from our government, our education system, our military and our national psyche. Help the confused to understand we humans are created, male and female in Your image.
If there’s a vibe shift, let us take advantage of it to get rid of the DEI mentality that rewards identity over real accomplishment. 
Lord, remove from government any tendency to force hardworking Americans to pay the rightful bills of favored interest groups. We ask You to help our leaders enact policies that will bring able-bodied men, who have become discouraged from working, back to productive lives. 
Lord, restore a culture of life and marriage and lawfulness.
Let’s allow Psalm 128 to guide us as we seek the Lord’s blessing in 2025.
Holy God, in the coming year, let us be a people who fear You as we increasingly understand your power and might.
May we walk in Your ways. 
Father, grant us the opportunity to eat the fruits of our labor.
May our society flourish as we delight in Your will and walk in Your ways.
May more of us marry and form godly families.
Let marriages prosper and be blessed with children who thrive under the loving care and discipline of their parents. 
In Your great wisdom, help us to discern good from evil and provide us with good things all the days of our lives.
Let us be godly influences in the lives of our children’s children.
And grant us Your peace. 
In Jesus Name, 
Amen

Kerby Anderson
Will the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) really be able to reduce the size and scope of government? There is good reason to be skeptical, since this isn’t the first-time involved citizens have tried to cut government programs.
There is a sizable segment of Americans (politicians, government employees) against cutting government. And there are others who believe we can successfully reform government. David Brooks, a conservative writing for the New York Times, argues we should “mend it and not end it.” Columnist Cal Thomas countered that past attempts to reform government from within have been tried and always failed.
But there is a third group who support cutting government but might be less excited when the government agency being cut is an agency they like. As one politically involved person told me, “Trump supporters will like the idea of cutting government until DOGE recommends it cut a government agency in their town.”
Cal Thomas remembers the outcry from members of Congress when the Base Realignment and Closure process closed many unneeded military bases. But I think its success decades ago provides a model we need to use again.
It was an idea Representative Dick Armey talked about on Point of View radio. A panel was appointed by the President and solicited testimony. The panel created a list of bases to be closed, then submitted them to Congress to approve or disapprove the whole list. When Congress failed to act, the commission’s recommendations became final.
Downsizing the government is in the interest of Americans even if one of those cuts may not be so popular for a small segment of the population. Make a list of cuts and get an up or down vote on the whole list together.