A happy and celebratory Friday it is, for “60 Years: A Legacy of LIFE” is underway!

Congratulations, James and Betty Robison for 60 Years of Love and Service

James and Betty Robison have done so much for the Church, for the Kingdom, for the hurting, for average folks who cross their path, for those of us at The Stream personally … it’s taking three days just to say thank you. “60 Years: A Legacy of LIFE” is underway, commemorating and celebrating not only James and Betty’s 60 years in public ministry, but 60 years of marriage.

Last night’s keynote speaker was former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is a perfect example of James and Betty’s legacy. He was a dirt poor kid just 20 years old when Rev. Robison gave him his first professional job. In fact, James bought Huckabee his first three suits. “Why would he invest in me?,” Huckabee recalled wondering. “I was a nobody.”

How much of a blessing has Huckabee been, first to Arkansas and now the nation?

Such stories are endless. Pastor and The Blessed Life host Robert Morris braved speaking, despite a recent back surgery, to share tales — going back to when he was eight years old and told James, “When I grow up I want to be a preacher like you.” To which the towering 6’3″ evangelist looked down and said simply, “I believe that, son,” and asked if he could pray for the boy.

It’s a telling tale.

For all his gifts as a preacher … and good luck finding anyone in the past 60 years who was better … perhaps James’ greatest gift is that of an encourager. Championing those he thinks can enrich the Kingdom. Challenging those he feels led to encourage and instruct. (Hello, Mr. Trump.) Bucking up those who stumble. Fighting to bring together people who otherwise would have nothing to do with each other. (Think of Trump’s White House Faith Council.) Don’t want to mention any names, but if you had said some of those folks from vastly different rooms of the house of God would not only work closely together but become close friends, they would have put you in a straight jacket. That’s James. “No,” I can hear him correct me. “That’s God working through me.”

For that matter, look at The Stream. How does a Charismatic former comedy writer end up working so closely with a mad genius Catholic scholar, a deep-thinking, level-headed Protestant apologist, a non-denominational mother with a heart for the inspirational, and so forth? “The Body of Christ needs to act as a family,” James stresses almost every time he opens his mouth. Even yesterday, he preached on God’s dream and Jesus’ call for “supernatural unity in the Body.”

Watch a week of James and Betty’s TV show LIFE Today, and you’ll see what I mean. Yes, a main goal of the program is to support our assorted missions: Rescue LIFE, Water for LIFE, Christmas Shoes and Mission Feeding. But on another level, it’s about James and Betty saying, “Hey, Church. Here’s someone you should know — someone who has something to offer.”

And perhaps this is the most beautiful thing. James and Betty know … I mean REALLY know … that EVERYONE has something to offer. EVERYONE is precious.

I’ve seen James weep when discussing the preciousness of each of God’s children. I mean, while at lunch. What’s more, I’ve seen it in action. I’ve seen and heard him have conversations with presidents and waitresses, famous church leaders and hustling staffers, college kids after a long hard day and strangers seated at the next table, titans of industry … and troublesome writers. Always the same. I promise, if he’s on the horn with you he’s going to sound the same as when he’s on the horn with President Trump.

Huckabee, who travelled far and wide with James, said the exact same thing. (So similar that he might think I was plagiarizing.)

There’s going to be a lot of talk over these three days about the millions of souls saved through his evangelism, the millions of lives saved through their missions, and about their efforts to save and restore freedom. But this morning, let’s pause and thank James and Betty for the small moments of encouragement and love shown to all they meet.

They are precious.

Donald Trump Arraigned on J6 Related Charges

Well, that’s not something you see every day. It’s only just starting to seem that way. Donald Trump was arraigned Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C., on four charges connected to his insistence that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump pleaded not guilty on all counts. Afterwards, he spoke to reporters.

“This is a very sad day for America,” he said. “When you look at what’s happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in America. This is the persecution of the person that’s leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot. So, if you can’t beat them, you persecute them or you prosecute them. We can’t let this happen in America.”

Said Trump attorney Alina Habba, “This is election interference at its finest, against the leading candidate right now for president.” On Tuesday, another Trump attorney, John Lauro, told Fox News the case now gives Trump the chance to present in court his arguments why he believes the election was compromised.

“We now have the ability in this case to issue our own subpoenas, and we will re-litigate every single issue in the 2020 election in the context of this litigation,” Lauro said. “It gives President Trump an opportunity that he has never had before, which is to have subpoena power since January 6 in a way that can be exercised in federal court.”

Where this gets interesting is Trump really doesn’t have all that much to prove. The indictment speaks of “outcome-determinative fraud.” In other words, Special Counsel Jack Smith concedes the possibility of fraud but insists Trump is lying about there being sufficient fraud, irregularities, and the rest to overturn the election. However, the election was decided by 40,000 votes across three dubious swing states: Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia. Trump’s being dragged to federal court over 40,000 votes?

Proving to an honest (!)  jury that he has good reason to believe he actually won those states, given the bar in each state is so low, shouldn’t be that difficult.

But that’s for another day. We must close with a moment of levity, to take this chance to appreciate the ability of the media to self-own, to see the effects of TDS on otherwise clever minds. Take this yesterday from MSNBC’s Al Sharpton. (Yeah, he added “to stay in power,” but given that Trump isn’t charged with anything even closely resembling overthrowing the government, there’s no reason to quibble when we can just enjoy a giggle.)

https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1687208312218210306?s=20

Have a great weekend!

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.