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'Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe Defends a Good Work Ethic with His S.W.E.A.T. Pledge
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Tuesday, April 10, 2018
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Lindsay Elizabeth (Apr 10, 2018)
Check out the 12-point pledge applicants are required to sign to apply for a scholarship and see if you agree with them.
 (San Francisco, CA)—[Faithwire.com] Mike Rowe is a TV host, writer, narrator, producer, actor, and spokesman, but is best known for his TV show, "Dirty Jobs." He has starred in numerous commercials and works with a variety of brands. He currently runs a Facebook WATCH series called, "Returning the Favor," where he interviews people across the country who are giving back to their communities. (Photo: Mike Rowe holding the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge/MikeRowe.com)
Aside from traveling the country to promote the good that others are doing, Rowe is extremely active within his community. He runs a scholarship program called "the Work Ethic Scholarship Program."
 The work ethic scholarship program is for those that want to get into the field of trades. The description states, "calling all plumbers, carpenters, electricians, welders, auto-technicians, and anyone getting trained for skilled jobs that are in demand!" The scholarship covers the cost of a selected applicants training. The catch? Applicants must sign the S. W. E. A. T. Pledge, which stands for "Skill & Work Ethic Aren't Taboo." (Image: Mike Rowe's S.W.E.A.T. Pledge/ MikeRowe.com)
Recently, Rowe posted a note he received from a woman whose son wanted to apply to his scholarship program who was appalled at the requirements.
The note read:
"Mr. Rowe—I heard about your 'work ethic scholarship program,' and suggested my son apply. He wants to be a welder! I was appalled though, when he showed me your 'sweat pledge,' and told me that signing it was required of all applicants!! Where did you come up with this nonsense? There are so many things wrong with this document I don't even know where to begin!! Suffice it to say, we will not be applying!!! -Karyn Segal"
In case you're wondering, what is a "S. W. E. A. T. Pledge?" Click here to read it.
Rowe wrote back to Karyn to explain that she was not the first parent to object to the pledge...
Click here to continue reading.
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Mark Martin (Apr 10, 2018)
A group also wants the Navy to remove a placard which reads, "The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded one nation under God."
 (Japan)—[CBN News] A POW/MIA "Missing Man" table display at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan included a Bible prompting the Navy to investigate, according to Stars and Stripes. (Image: Courtesy U.S. Navy/via Stripes.com)
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation and 26 families on Okinawa filed a complaint Thursday. They are demanding the Bible be removed right away from the display, along with written materials that explain why the Bible is there, the news outlet reported.
Todd Starnes, the host of the radio program, Fox News & Commentary, writes in The Patriot Post that in addition to the Bible, MRFF wants the Navy to remove a placard which reads, "The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded one nation under God."
In the formal complaint, MRFF's attorney Donald Rehkopf Jr. wrote, "The statement on the exhibit's placard is nothing more than an illegal, unconstitutional proselytization from an extremist, fundamentalist Christian sect. It ignores all followers of other religions and totally ignores all those who subscribe to no religion—all in blatant violation of Department of Defense and Department of the Navy regulations."
Navy Live, the official blog of the U.S. Navy, explains the reason for the Bible: "The Bible represents faith in a higher power and the pledge to our country, founded as one nation under God."
"Why is that Bible there?" asked MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein, according to Stars and Stripes. "Can you imagine if somebody put a Quran there, or the book of satan, or the Book of Mormon? It violates the (First Amendment's establishment clause) as well as DoD and Navy regulations."
The complaint also demands an independent investigation into who set up the "Missing Man" table and "appropriate disciplinary measures", Stars and Stripes reported.
If the situation is not resolved to their liking, MRFF lawyers say they will file a third-party inspector general complaint and possibly a federal lawsuit, according to the news outlet.
"Not all POWs are Christian," Weinstein said in the Stars and Stripes report. "This is America. We are a representative, secular democracy ... the Constitution is worth standing up for."
According to its website, MRFF "is dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom to which they and all Americans are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment."
However, Starnes disagrees. He calls MRFF "a radical group that has a history of targeting public displays of Christianity."
The general counsel for First Liberty Institute, Hiram Sasser, wants the Navy to not give in to MRFF.
"The Bible is on the table because it is part of the tradition that predates our current demands for political correctness," he told the Todd Starnes Radio Show. "When we telegraph to our global military competitors that the mere presence of a Bible mentally destroys some of us, we are doomed."
CBN News reached out to the hospital for comment on the investigation and is waiting to hear back.
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Calvin Freiburger (Apr 10, 2018)
"...there are many other components of being a man or a woman. And so, if you take a male and you suppress their testosterone and give them estrogen, they really, from a biological standpoint ... are still ... feminized males rather than true females." -Dr. Paul Hru, Washington University School of Medicine
 (Boston, MA)—[LifeSiteNews.com] The annual Boston Marathon begins on Monday, April 16, but this year the event comes with a dose of transgender politics. (Photo: Boston Marathon-2010/credit: Kinchan1/Flickr)
At least five men who openly identify as women are slated to compete next week, and will be recognized under their "gender identity" rather than their biological sex, the Associated Press reports.
"We take people at their word. We register people as they specify themselves to be," Boston Athletic Association head Tom Grilk said. "Members of the LGBT community have had a lot to deal with over the years, and we'd rather not add to that burden." He added that there was little debate over the decision within the organization.
The Boston Athletic Association clarified to NPR that while this is how the marathon will operate in practice, it has no written policy that specifically addresses transgendered runners.
"We don't require that runners outline their gender identity history with us, so we can't say for certain how many trans runners are in our race," it said in a statement. "We do know that we have had several transgender runners in the past."
The marathon will require registrants to provide a government-issued ID, which it compares to their "qualification-associated gender description," but suggested that they will err on the side of deferring to transgender runners in case of potential conflicts. "Should such a situation arise, we would make every effort to address it in a manner intended to be fair to all concerned, with a strong emphasis on inclusion," the BAA said.
The issue came to the fore after a March 30 article in Canadian Running magazine sparked debate by highlighting Amelia Gapin, Grace Fisher, and Stevie Romer, three men identifying as women who qualified to compete in this year's event.
Gapin, who has undergone sex-reassignment surgery, says that taking testosterone blockers during "her" transition had a negative impact on her speed for which she had to compensate through years of training, undermining the argument that trans "women" have an unfair advantage over biological women. Dr. Alex Keuroghlian of the pro-LGBT Fenway Institute calls the argument that there's any "physiologic advantage to being assigned male at birth" a "myth."
However, Washington University School of Medicine endocrinologist Dr. Paul Hruz told Fox News' Laura Ingraham in August that hormones were just one of several biological factors that do influence athletic differences between the sexes...
Continue reading here.
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Kelsey Straeter (Apr 10, 2018)
Luke told IJ Lift that the experience was unexplainable. It left him in "complete shock" after he went through an excruciating year that left him feeling death was his only way out. Instead, God showed him that He was the way out.
 [Faithit.com] As a junior in high school, Luke Keller was ready to end his life. (Photo: Luke Keller gives God glory/Facebook/via Faithit.com)
The teen suffered from depression, suicidal thoughts and separation-anxiety disorder. To top it off, his dad left him when he was only 10, his grandmother just died of cancer and his grandfather was sent to prison.
With the whirlwind of negative circumstances and wavering mental health, Luke was at a breaking point.
He can pinpoint the exact day when the thoughts of suicide became so real that he was finally ready to kill himself. He just couldn't take it anymore.
Luke just got back from school and took a look at the chores list his mom left him. To clear his mind, he went out to cut the grass in hopes that the hum of the mower would calm his thoughts.
...But it didn't have the effect that he had hoped.
With the urge to commit suicide still flooding his mind, Luke decided to finally reach out to somebody he'd never talked to before: God.
He said, "God if You are real, if You are what people say you are, then tell me something because today I'm going to end my life. I need You now if you're real."
As Luke continued to make his way through his chores list, he heard God say, "I want you to follow Me." Taken aback by a voice he'd never heard before, Luke asked God to repeat himself if that was really Him. Again, the voice confirmed, "I want you to follow Me."
It was clear as day. And Luke dropped to his knees and wept at the realization that the Maker of the universe cared enough to answer his broken plea.
Luke told IJ Lift that the experience was unexplainable. It left him in "complete shock" after he went through an excruciating year that left him feeling death was his only way out. Instead, God showed him that He was the way out.
Suddenly, his thoughts of suicide, anxiety and depression were all gone. It's like he was a new person. He didn't recognize himself ... and it was beautiful.
The only words that Luke could find were, "Thank You. Thank You."
He repeated those words incessantly, as they were the only ones that his tongue could formulate.
Ever since that moment, Luke decided he wanted to show God gratitude in everything he did—including the football field.
So after every touchdown his senior year, Luke would bend a knee in the end zone and point his finger toward the sky to give God credit for his accomplishment.
But not everyone approved of his touchdown routine. As his team headed into round 2 of the play-offs, Luke was told by the refs that if he did it again, he would be taken out of the game.
"I was completely devastated," said Luke. "What I play for is to glorify God. I decided I was just going to do it and if I got thrown out, then I got thrown out. I wouldn't even be here right now if it wasn't for God saving me."
But to encourage him at half-time, his sister slipped him a note that simply read: "Be patient and let God work."
So that's what he did.
 When Luke scored the next touchdown, he didn't point his finger up at God, but to his amazement, he turned around to see the 7,000 people in the stands doing the gesture for him. (Photo: Crowd pointing to God/Luke Keller-Facebook/ via Faithit.com)
Luke said, "I felt like God said, 'Listen, Luke, I told you satan would come at you and I would separate it.'"
And his story still wasn't over. Because of his amazing play, Luke was recruited to play for Morehead State University in Kentucky.
At the beginning of his sophomore season, he suffered a severe ankle injury that required surgery. But the doctor who operated on him accidentally performed surgery on both of his ankles. Luke later broke his wrist, which required another surgery, and he ended up contracting MRSA from an infection related to the procedure.
Doctors told him he would probably never get to wear his uniform again.
Then six weeks later, the doctor called with news that floored him:
"He said, 'Hey, are you sitting down?' I'm thinking oh no, what else is going to come up," Luke says. "He said, 'I just wanted to tell you that God has blessed you. Your blood work is perfect. It's completely back to normal.'"
Luke couldn't believe his ears.
On October 10, 2015, Luke suited up for his team, and as he made his way onto the field, he was taken back to that day he was mowing the lawn. His God showed up today, the same way He did then.
Amidst it all, Luke Keller has reached one final conclusion according to the Portsmouth Daily Times:
"I know God is real. It's the same feeling I had when I got saved while I was mowing my grass. It's the same feeling I had when the crowd showed their support that night and gave credit to God. It's the same feeling I had when I stepped back onto the field against Butler."
What he was looking for in suicide he actually found in His Savior—the way out of the pain and into peace.
The same God who spoke to him then is still looking out for him now. And He cares about the little things—about the gesture he wasn't allowed to make without being penalized, the broken ankle and the infection that could cost him his sports career. It may just be another old football game, but Luke knew God cared about how big it was to him.
So He let him play—and Luke played his heart out that night, once again for the One who made it all possible.
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Steve Shultz
Managing Editor
Aimee Herd
Editor
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