The purpose of this project is not to gather ammunition against those we disagree with, but to help us realize this is not the America we grew up in, to drive us to war on our knees against unrighteousness and unseen enemies that blind people to godliness and unity in society, and to setting free the captives.
It is for understanding the need for becoming informed and involved in our democratic process, which is truly a gift from God that we must never take for granted.
It is for learning about and countering the mistakes of our ancestors, and how to share the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ with those who are bringing about their own destruction and the destruction of civility in our nation.
It is to help us understand who we are as a nation, to learn that sacrificing for the good of others and society is necessary and is what God has called us to.
It is to learn that God is our provider, and faithfully provided for our ancestors; it is to learn how to counter the materialism that is drawing the heart of our society away from God to the comfort of the gifts He gave us, which is called idolatry.
It is to learn what God expects of us, not to be afraid of it, to follow where He leads, and learn to love sacrifice as we see God transform lives through our surrender to His will
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Why does the Church need to be involved in the culture?
There is much confusion in the Church about whether we should be involved in the culture, after all, some argue that as the Bride of Christ, as Christians, we are citizens of another kingdom and one that is not of this world. But it is very clear in the New Testament as well as the Old Testament, that it is very much the duty of the Christian to uphold the righteousness of the culture and to do any less is to shirk one's duty to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
There is, of course, much in the OT concerning God's people in the culture and government; Joesph, Daniel, David, the kings of Israel and Judah; God has very often had His people in positions of authority. But some say, this was OT times but we are now citizens of a heavenly kingdom and our main objective is to preach the gospel. This is only partly true, Jesus Himself tells us how to minister to the people around us in the parable of the sheep and goats(MT 25:34-46), the sermon on the mount, paying taxes(Mt 22:15-21), give to Caesar what is Caesar's such as(but not limited to)taxes, and the Good Samaritan.
Then some say this is not government involvement. Romans has much to say about obeying and honoring the authority in power, Paul uses very strong words here about being subject to the authorities. Verse 7 of chapter 13 says to give what is due the government and certainly God was looking forward to today's form of government when Paul wrote this, for in Paul's day people had little or nothing to say about the way the authorities ran the government but God has given us a very unique and precious gift in our form of government which is "of the people, by the people, and for the people"; we are the government, the people own the government, we hold elections, not for kings, but for representatives who are to do our bidding in Washington. WE are the governing powers of our nation! This means to obey the governing authorities is to be informed and actively sure our representatives are representing us. I Peter 2, Titus 3, and I Timothy 2, also say to submit to the authorities; if we do not keep our government accountable then we are going against scripture. Romans 13:2 says this is rebelling against God!
It is very clear we have let our representatives do as they please, or else have so little involvement that those who care little or nothing for God have come to power in our government. Important issues have have been left to those who do as they please without regard for God or respect for life.
We have walked away from our responsibility to uphold righteousness in our nation and our culture. It is very sobering to consider that we have permitted abortion to continue forty years, God will not let this continue; forty years of listening to the cry of incredible pain, terror, and horror as each child is torn apart or burned alive in his mother's womb! Child porn in which a child is subjected to unimaginable humiliation, and sometimes death on film to satisfy some perverted lust. What incredible patience God has had with us as God waits for us to rescue His little ones! The Church, if She would rise up as one and demand this sin in America stop, it would happen! The Church has failed to follow the the traditions of our nation's founders to be the leaders of this great nation, a gift to the world, the holder and distributor of the gospel of Christ; the nation to show the world a Godly culture. But the Church has fallen in love with Her God-given comfort and forgotten Her responsibility.
Ancient Israel was the Apple of His Eye, yet when they sinned He let their enemies rule over them. It is happening again today. We have let a Holocaust happen in the secret place of the womb, I tremble at what we may experience in America if we continue to luxuriate in our comforts over the cries of the children!
May God have mercy, may God waken the Church from Her stupor!
Pray for our nation! Pray for the Church to waken and humble Herself before Her Creator and rescue the children!
There is, of course, much in the OT concerning God's people in the culture and government; Joesph, Daniel, David, the kings of Israel and Judah; God has very often had His people in positions of authority. But some say, this was OT times but we are now citizens of a heavenly kingdom and our main objective is to preach the gospel. This is only partly true, Jesus Himself tells us how to minister to the people around us in the parable of the sheep and goats(MT 25:34-46), the sermon on the mount, paying taxes(Mt 22:15-21), give to Caesar what is Caesar's such as(but not limited to)taxes, and the Good Samaritan.
Then some say this is not government involvement. Romans has much to say about obeying and honoring the authority in power, Paul uses very strong words here about being subject to the authorities. Verse 7 of chapter 13 says to give what is due the government and certainly God was looking forward to today's form of government when Paul wrote this, for in Paul's day people had little or nothing to say about the way the authorities ran the government but God has given us a very unique and precious gift in our form of government which is "of the people, by the people, and for the people"; we are the government, the people own the government, we hold elections, not for kings, but for representatives who are to do our bidding in Washington. WE are the governing powers of our nation! This means to obey the governing authorities is to be informed and actively sure our representatives are representing us. I Peter 2, Titus 3, and I Timothy 2, also say to submit to the authorities; if we do not keep our government accountable then we are going against scripture. Romans 13:2 says this is rebelling against God!
It is very clear we have let our representatives do as they please, or else have so little involvement that those who care little or nothing for God have come to power in our government. Important issues have have been left to those who do as they please without regard for God or respect for life.
We have walked away from our responsibility to uphold righteousness in our nation and our culture. It is very sobering to consider that we have permitted abortion to continue forty years, God will not let this continue; forty years of listening to the cry of incredible pain, terror, and horror as each child is torn apart or burned alive in his mother's womb! Child porn in which a child is subjected to unimaginable humiliation, and sometimes death on film to satisfy some perverted lust. What incredible patience God has had with us as God waits for us to rescue His little ones! The Church, if She would rise up as one and demand this sin in America stop, it would happen! The Church has failed to follow the the traditions of our nation's founders to be the leaders of this great nation, a gift to the world, the holder and distributor of the gospel of Christ; the nation to show the world a Godly culture. But the Church has fallen in love with Her God-given comfort and forgotten Her responsibility.
Ancient Israel was the Apple of His Eye, yet when they sinned He let their enemies rule over them. It is happening again today. We have let a Holocaust happen in the secret place of the womb, I tremble at what we may experience in America if we continue to luxuriate in our comforts over the cries of the children!
May God have mercy, may God waken the Church from Her stupor!
Pray for our nation! Pray for the Church to waken and humble Herself before Her Creator and rescue the children!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Implosion of the Church
A reading of the total of scripture would reveal a drawing of ourselves toward a relationship with God as more intimate than that of simply a servant. Jesus refered to the disciples as friends, God calls the Church His Bride, King David's relationship with his God was closer than that of those who merely saw God as the Law-giver. The law would indicate that David should have died because of his adultery, murder, and cover-up; and Joseph was called a righteous man for not exposing Mary to public shame and probable death when it appeared she had committed fornication; but each of these men were so close to God that they saw the deeper law of mercy in God's heart, and this before Jesus came; this is partly why John 15:5 is so dear to my heart. The other reason this verse is so precious is that I am not content with a distant relationship with God, I hunger for something closer to Him, to know Him so that I can talk to Him and hear Him answer in my heart, to sense His presence and follow His leading regardless of where He leads. This is why I can be relatively content with my life not being my own in my present circumstance. I see so many things I could have done with my life, but know this is where God put me and it is the best place for me.
God calls us to step outside of our own desires and do the best for those around us, natural human nature desires and demands self-fulfillment, but God requires us to deny that selfishness and demonstrate love as He did, and the definition of love as shown by Jesus is to do the best for another regardless of the personal cost!! Talk about high standards! That is how our ancestors lived, if they lived well!! The Buttolph's and those they closely associated with gave their all for family and community, they wore themselves out for the good of others! Reading Laura Ingalls Wilder(a very close contempory of Emma Buttolph) gives a good view of what it took to build a community from scratch, from nothing but their hands and what little material they could find, and how hard they worked for each other and others!
Our society, the media, lulls us into a stuper of self-consuming selfishness and it is really hard to shake off, and I guess this brings us right back to the Church and the desperate need to pray for Her before She dies of implosion!! Self-gratification results in implosion and explosion to others!
God calls us to step outside of our own desires and do the best for those around us, natural human nature desires and demands self-fulfillment, but God requires us to deny that selfishness and demonstrate love as He did, and the definition of love as shown by Jesus is to do the best for another regardless of the personal cost!! Talk about high standards! That is how our ancestors lived, if they lived well!! The Buttolph's and those they closely associated with gave their all for family and community, they wore themselves out for the good of others! Reading Laura Ingalls Wilder(a very close contempory of Emma Buttolph) gives a good view of what it took to build a community from scratch, from nothing but their hands and what little material they could find, and how hard they worked for each other and others!
Our society, the media, lulls us into a stuper of self-consuming selfishness and it is really hard to shake off, and I guess this brings us right back to the Church and the desperate need to pray for Her before She dies of implosion!! Self-gratification results in implosion and explosion to others!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
"Today makes and sets the stage for tomorrow" ! Thank you, David!
"today makes and sets the stage for tomorrow"...a really good thing to remember, not only with stuff, but relationships.
AND history...give this a thought...our ancestors left off telling their history so that today our nation is going in so many different directions of confusion we hardly know what side is up, except for what we want at the moment. I'm not talking so much about people who have grown up with a solid set of values but those who didn't grow up knowing there is a pre-set system of right and wrong, bad-better-best way of living. Our nation is very much a needy mission field!
Today makes and sets the stage for tomorrow---every time an unchurched immigrant was left to live life as best he could without the church embracing him, he began a community at odds with the church and began a downward spiral. Whenever a son or daughter left home without a strong connection to the church, the same resulted.
Because the Judeo-Christian life is the only basis of civilization, to begin a community without the church is to set the stage for disaster in the future. We have been slowly steeped in the ideas of our society that we are numb to the horrors right around us and need to purposefully and aggresively focus on God alone for our own personal value system of thought. Today sets the stage for tomorrow---the stage was set for the aborting of 40,000,000 human beings to be killed in their mother's wombs. The stage was set for children to be subject to unimagineable horrors in child porn, too often being murdered on film for some kind of sick pleasure.
What are we going to set up for the next play in our own personal life?
AND history...give this a thought...our ancestors left off telling their history so that today our nation is going in so many different directions of confusion we hardly know what side is up, except for what we want at the moment. I'm not talking so much about people who have grown up with a solid set of values but those who didn't grow up knowing there is a pre-set system of right and wrong, bad-better-best way of living. Our nation is very much a needy mission field!
Today makes and sets the stage for tomorrow---every time an unchurched immigrant was left to live life as best he could without the church embracing him, he began a community at odds with the church and began a downward spiral. Whenever a son or daughter left home without a strong connection to the church, the same resulted.
Because the Judeo-Christian life is the only basis of civilization, to begin a community without the church is to set the stage for disaster in the future. We have been slowly steeped in the ideas of our society that we are numb to the horrors right around us and need to purposefully and aggresively focus on God alone for our own personal value system of thought. Today sets the stage for tomorrow---the stage was set for the aborting of 40,000,000 human beings to be killed in their mother's wombs. The stage was set for children to be subject to unimagineable horrors in child porn, too often being murdered on film for some kind of sick pleasure.
What are we going to set up for the next play in our own personal life?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
"Children, quiet down, your grandfather is sleeping!"
"Papa, Hanzie says Grandfather grew up in the desert, how could he do that, it's too hot?"
" Ah, I think it is time to tell you a great story, one you must never forget, my little Nemmie, I will tell you after we have eaten Mama's delicious lamb stew."
"Come children, sit by me. Shh, very quietly, sit. Close your eyes; in your mind see the desert, it's so hot in the day, and so cold at night! Would you like to be there? No, no, I think not! Now, hear a wolf calling to his friend in the night, see the eagle looking for dinner in the fresh morning light, now it is quiet, still, becoming so hot! Now look and see hundreds of people, many in their tents in the heat of the day, children, like you, are playing near the tents, one of those children is named Enos, your grandfather."
"But Papa, Grandfather is old, he can't be a boy!"
"Oh, but he was a child long before he was a grandfather! Do you remember the stories of how God did great miracles in Egypt and set our people free from slavery?"
"Yes Papa. But what is slavery?
"Slavery is telling one man that he must work for another man for nothing and never go away"
"Is it hard work?"
"Yes Nemmie, it is very hard work, so hard that many people become very sick and die!"
And so, Amosi tells his little one the story of how his grandfather grew up in the desert and when he was a man, entered the Promised Land. Amosi went on to tell Nemmie of the wonderful land God had given them and God had said to never forget the wonders God had done and that Nemmie must tell his children the great wonders God did, not only in Egypt and the desert but in his own life.
Most important, God said to never forget Him when they prospered, but they did; and as every prosperous nation down through the centuries, so have we. This very day the banks of America are hoarding the $700,000,000,000 they were given to jump start a sagging economy, this incredible corporate greed that has been destroying the economy of the United States and the world has come about because men have forgotten God, and the Church has sat ho-humming in their pews all these years, neglecting their responsibility to call society to accountability. John Winthrop saw this need, but those after him lost this vision of the root depravity of man and listened to the those who said man is basically good at heart. The Church, too, has followed this lead.
This is why history is so vital.
Democracy requires the "honor system" of Christianity in order to survive. It also has checks and balances to protect it against the men who would rule over them for their own gain.
"Papa, Hanzie says Grandfather grew up in the desert, how could he do that, it's too hot?"
" Ah, I think it is time to tell you a great story, one you must never forget, my little Nemmie, I will tell you after we have eaten Mama's delicious lamb stew."
"Come children, sit by me. Shh, very quietly, sit. Close your eyes; in your mind see the desert, it's so hot in the day, and so cold at night! Would you like to be there? No, no, I think not! Now, hear a wolf calling to his friend in the night, see the eagle looking for dinner in the fresh morning light, now it is quiet, still, becoming so hot! Now look and see hundreds of people, many in their tents in the heat of the day, children, like you, are playing near the tents, one of those children is named Enos, your grandfather."
"But Papa, Grandfather is old, he can't be a boy!"
"Oh, but he was a child long before he was a grandfather! Do you remember the stories of how God did great miracles in Egypt and set our people free from slavery?"
"Yes Papa. But what is slavery?
"Slavery is telling one man that he must work for another man for nothing and never go away"
"Is it hard work?"
"Yes Nemmie, it is very hard work, so hard that many people become very sick and die!"
And so, Amosi tells his little one the story of how his grandfather grew up in the desert and when he was a man, entered the Promised Land. Amosi went on to tell Nemmie of the wonderful land God had given them and God had said to never forget the wonders God had done and that Nemmie must tell his children the great wonders God did, not only in Egypt and the desert but in his own life.
Most important, God said to never forget Him when they prospered, but they did; and as every prosperous nation down through the centuries, so have we. This very day the banks of America are hoarding the $700,000,000,000 they were given to jump start a sagging economy, this incredible corporate greed that has been destroying the economy of the United States and the world has come about because men have forgotten God, and the Church has sat ho-humming in their pews all these years, neglecting their responsibility to call society to accountability. John Winthrop saw this need, but those after him lost this vision of the root depravity of man and listened to the those who said man is basically good at heart. The Church, too, has followed this lead.
This is why history is so vital.
Democracy requires the "honor system" of Christianity in order to survive. It also has checks and balances to protect it against the men who would rule over them for their own gain.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Reliable Research Material
Past centuries of everyday life have created thousands of legends and stories that have quickened the imagination, wondering what is true and what is only the fantasy of wandering thoughts. How is it possible to even begin to know what really happened centuries ago?? Well, in many instances it is much more possible than we could have believed! There are several particularly important things to know when doing ancient research.
First, in the 17th-18th centuries several self-proclaimed atheists and agnostics declared many, many documents and historians to be invalid, seeming to think those in the distant past were less intelligent than themselves and merely made up stories. These men had no authority to declare history false, and even less to publish their thoughts which persist even to our own school textbook. These men also had little to work with compared to today and the many sciences we now have used to explore the past; we have computers to analyze the findings of etymologists, those who study the evolution of languages; archeaologists have uncovered a tremendous amount of ancient information and much that has surprised and delighted us; geologists have also learned a great deal about the areas in which people worked and lived; the list goes on to several more and different sciences the 17th-18th century scholars had no access with which to prove their ideas. It is highly unfortunate that the ideas these men put forth are stiil great affecting our culture and world view.
Why? So why did these self-proclaimed atheists persist with these thoughts? Because(gasp!)the stories and ancient genealogies pointed directly back to Noah! Proving Noah was a real living,breathing human being and not a mere fable. And so proving the Bible true!
Next time we will explore the historians and documents, and after that, stories more thrilling than fiction and setting the heart beating to want to know more!
First, in the 17th-18th centuries several self-proclaimed atheists and agnostics declared many, many documents and historians to be invalid, seeming to think those in the distant past were less intelligent than themselves and merely made up stories. These men had no authority to declare history false, and even less to publish their thoughts which persist even to our own school textbook. These men also had little to work with compared to today and the many sciences we now have used to explore the past; we have computers to analyze the findings of etymologists, those who study the evolution of languages; archeaologists have uncovered a tremendous amount of ancient information and much that has surprised and delighted us; geologists have also learned a great deal about the areas in which people worked and lived; the list goes on to several more and different sciences the 17th-18th century scholars had no access with which to prove their ideas. It is highly unfortunate that the ideas these men put forth are stiil great affecting our culture and world view.
Why? So why did these self-proclaimed atheists persist with these thoughts? Because(gasp!)the stories and ancient genealogies pointed directly back to Noah! Proving Noah was a real living,breathing human being and not a mere fable. And so proving the Bible true!
Next time we will explore the historians and documents, and after that, stories more thrilling than fiction and setting the heart beating to want to know more!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Welcome!
This is a beautiful fall crisp day, here for us to enjoy as we please.
Can you imagine 3 months ago a family boarded a ship in a harbor in England, in the spring of 1635, and have not stepped foot on solid ground until the fall of that year, perhaps on a day such as this? As they sailed, the little ship never stopped it's movement, children cried in the hold of the ship as the stench of sickness and animals overwhelmed the little ones, there was no place to go for a private moment of solitude, half way across the endless ocean the food is stale and sparse, the fresh water is no longer clean and is rationed. Clothing is never removed, washing up is nearly impossible as fresh water is jealously kept for drinking, sickness spreads quickly in the close quarters as most of the voyage requires most passengers to remain inside the hold.
Now imagine land and stepping out into the fresh, crisp air of freedom...and nothing else! Nothing! Nothing but wilderness, until shelters are made sleeping quarters are still aboard ship. But there is freedom from fear of arrest or death because choices were made counter to that of the King! Imagine, fearing for your life because you have decided a certain way of worship is honoring to God and you are sure that choice is worth the sacrifice! Imagine family members were killed for these choices, so dear to your heart you risked your own life, and those of your family!
We have grown up on history being little more than disconnected names, dates, and places that have little meaning for us, other than knowing enough to pass the test and then it is mostly forgotten. Perhaps this is partly why we have lost our history, it seems so distant and totally irrelevant to our everyday lives. But not so! And here we begin an adventure with a depth of meaning for us today we could not have imagined!
Please journey with us as we find, to our astonishment, the everyday decisions made hundreds, even thousands of years ago, have tremendous impact on us this very day!
Can you imagine 3 months ago a family boarded a ship in a harbor in England, in the spring of 1635, and have not stepped foot on solid ground until the fall of that year, perhaps on a day such as this? As they sailed, the little ship never stopped it's movement, children cried in the hold of the ship as the stench of sickness and animals overwhelmed the little ones, there was no place to go for a private moment of solitude, half way across the endless ocean the food is stale and sparse, the fresh water is no longer clean and is rationed. Clothing is never removed, washing up is nearly impossible as fresh water is jealously kept for drinking, sickness spreads quickly in the close quarters as most of the voyage requires most passengers to remain inside the hold.
Now imagine land and stepping out into the fresh, crisp air of freedom...and nothing else! Nothing! Nothing but wilderness, until shelters are made sleeping quarters are still aboard ship. But there is freedom from fear of arrest or death because choices were made counter to that of the King! Imagine, fearing for your life because you have decided a certain way of worship is honoring to God and you are sure that choice is worth the sacrifice! Imagine family members were killed for these choices, so dear to your heart you risked your own life, and those of your family!
We have grown up on history being little more than disconnected names, dates, and places that have little meaning for us, other than knowing enough to pass the test and then it is mostly forgotten. Perhaps this is partly why we have lost our history, it seems so distant and totally irrelevant to our everyday lives. But not so! And here we begin an adventure with a depth of meaning for us today we could not have imagined!
Please journey with us as we find, to our astonishment, the everyday decisions made hundreds, even thousands of years ago, have tremendous impact on us this very day!
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