Category Archives: history

We Hold These Truths” Americans Have Wandered Out of History, Declaration Part II

Posted on March 15, 2009 by | 3 comments

By Rev. Nate Atwood

(Read part 1)

Last week, I posted the first part of a sermon by Rev. Atwood. He shared the importance of relearning our whole national history. Those aspects that modern education censors out. As he pointed out, scripture was an important part of the rise of political freedom, which resulted from the rule of law. That is God’s law applied through human law. The founding generation emphasized the great value of knowing facts of history because those facts taught them about the causes of oppression, corruption, and failure as well as the means to a good and prosperous society. Therefore, our ancestors created states and bound them together in federation based on their belief in God and on their knowledge of covenantal and world history. To forget what they and their ancestors learned and achieved the hard way will enable tyrants present and future to repeat the same evils that robbed people of God’s gift of life and liberty.

This second part of Rev. Atwood’s sermon focuses on the Declaration of Independence and the role Scripture had to play in its writing.

If we Americans have wandered out of history, let’s wander back into it.

Speaking as a Christian, a teacher of the Bible, and an American citizen, I’d like to make these basic observations with regard to the Declaration of Independence. This isn’t, first of all, a political document. First of all, and primarily, the Declaration of Independence is a religious document. Let me ask you this series of questions, . . . why did the signers of the Declaration think they could declare independence? Why did the signers of the Declaration think that it was morally permissible to rebel against England? Why did the signers
of the Declaration think they, as an upstart, rag-tag, largely impoverished group of people, could defeat the greatest military power on the face of the earth? After all, wasn’t their setting a bit like the Taliban thinking they could defeat the United States? What motivated these men? Even more to the point, . . . what was their authority for making these claims and choosing this course of action? Where did they think human rights came from? How did they understand the role of government in human affairs?

The answer, of course, is contained in the Declaration itself. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men. . . .” As you read the Declaration of Independence, it is very clear that the moral authority for the drive for independence was found in
God Himself. Even more to the point, this moral authority was found in the Bible itself.

John Adams, in a letter written late in his life to Thomas Jefferson, remarked that the Founding Fathers found their agreement in the “basic principles of Christianity.” This is a remarkable statement, and scrutiny of the Declaration itself suggests just this. Let’s take a moment and step inside the Declaration and “connect the dots” between the various phrases and thoughts found therein and the teaching of the Bible. In fact, let’s begin with the idea of “rights.”
Where did the concept of “rights” come from? Well, it is taught in the Bible. For example, Psalm 82:1–4 refers to the concept of “rights.”

God presides in the great assembly; He gives judgment among the “gods”: “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

What we must grasp is that the Founding Fathers lived in an era profoundly shaped by the Bible. As inheritors of the Reformation, they lived in a time when it was simply taken for granted that society was to be structured around the teaching of the Bible.

Additional thoughts and phrases in the Declaration of Independence are clearly Biblical. For example, there is a clear definition of the role of government contained in the Declaration. . . . “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men. . . .” Did you know that this is precisely what the Bible teaches as the role of government? Psalm 82 is written to an assembly of governmental leaders (these are the “gods” referred to in the psalm). Romans 13 similarly sees that the government’s use of force is based upon a commitment to protect the innocent. The Founding Fathers justified their rebellion against the British crown because it was a government that no longer upheld the rights of the citizens. Their logic was that the British were in rebellion against God by this failure, and thus were no longer a legitimate authority. Four times the Declaration of Independence directly refers to God. Each of these references is
completely consistent with what the Bible teaches to be true about God and is, in fact, the same language the Bible used to describe God. The first reference is to “Nature’s God.” The concept therein is that the idea of justice and law can clearly be deduced from the natural order created by God. This is precisely what the Bible teaches in Romans 1. The second reference is to God as “Creator.” The Bible teaches this in Genesis 1. (I realize it may seem obvious to us that God is Creator, but if you study world religions and philosophies you’ll learn that this is a distinctly Biblical thought. For example, Eastern religions and even Greek thought viewed the universe as eternally pre-existent—at least in the form of matter if not structure. The idea of a “Creator” is not so universally held as we might surmise.)

The last two references to God are found towards the end of the Declaration of Independence. He is referred to as “the Supreme Judge of the World.” Yes, again and again the Bible teaches us that God is our Judge (“There is One who seeks and judges,” John 8:50). The final reference to God is an appeal to “the protection of Divine Providence.” Here is a profoundly Biblical concept—the idea that God is active in the affairs of men, that God rules in those affairs, that God orders those affairs so as to ultimately protect His interests, and that in so doing He protects those who ally themselves with His causes. (“The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run unto it and are glad,” Proverbs 18:10, and Romans 8:28, “For we know that in all things God works for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purposes.”)

Now let’s return to my earlier premise that the Declaration of Independence is first of all a religious document and only secondarily a political document. Do you now see why I hold this position? My point is that we must look deeper than the course of action our Founding Fathers took. We must examine the reasons for that course of action, and those reasons were clearly religious. Their appeal was simply to God as their moral authority and their protection. Their actions were political, but their motivations were religious.

In other words, before America was conceived in liberty, America was conceived in God. Now isn’t it true that a law of nature is this: “He who conceives is the father”? You might call the Declaration of Independence our national birth certificate. Every year we remind ourselves that this is the day our nation was born. And—if we have a shred of common sense—we honor our founding fathers. But according to this—our Birth Certificate—we were conceived in God and His Truths.

In other words, the real Founding Father is the Lord of Hosts. And so on the 4th of July, our national birthday, we should honor our ultimate Founding Father … our Father in heaven.

(Read part 1)

Reverend Nate Atwood has been in the ministry for sixteen years as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. He has been Senior Pastor at Kempsville Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, since Palm Sunday, 1999.

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Dayton Tea Party April 15

Posted on March 11, 2009 by | Leave a comment

The Dayton Tea Party is part of a national movement to affect economic change at the local, state, and national levels.

The Tea Party protests began in early 2009 when Rick Santelli, the On Air Editor for CNBC, set out on a rant to expose the bankrupt liberal agenda of the White House Administration and Congress. Specifically, the flawed “Stimulus Bill” and pork filled budget.

During Rick’s rant, he called for a “Chicago tea Party” where advocates of the free-market system could join in a protest against out of control government spending.

A few days later, grassroots activists and average Joe Americans began organizing what would soon become the Nationwide Chicago Tea Party effort. About 30,000 Americans took to the streets in over 40 cities during the first nationwide “Tea Party” protest. That was on 27 February.

Since then, organizations like TCOT, SGP, DontGo Movement as well as Dana Loesch and Michelle Malkin have come together to sponsor a second round of “Tea Party” protests. This one is scheduled to coincide with the tax deadline, April 15.

I asked Juliana Johnson of Urquhart Media (also a sponsor) what they intended the “Tea Party” to accomplish. She said, “By having these events we want to show President Obama and the Democrats that it is NOT okay for them to take away our free-market.”

In other words, government take-over of major financial corporations, which effectively creates a socialist regime, is not acceptable. It hasn’t worked in China or Russia; why would it work in America?

As Johnson has repeated many times, “If they won’t listen to us then we’ll throw a damn tea party and if they still won’t listen to us then we will throw another damn tea party.”

A Dayton Tea Party is already scheduled for April 15. The location has yet to be determined.

The national Tea Party website is www.taxdayteaparty.com.

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“We Hold These Truths” – Americans Have Wandered Out of History, Part I

Posted on March 8, 2009 by | 3 comments
“My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. You [leaders] have rejected knowledge. You have forgotten the law of your God…. Yet, let no one find fault, and let none offer reproof.” (Hos. 4:6, 4)
 

by Rev. Nate Atwood

Americans have wandered out of history . . . . We are overwhelmed by the instant moment headlined in this morning’s newspaper and flashed on this hour’s telecast. As a result, we can’t see the whole real world around us. We don’t see the actual conditions of our long-lived body national. . . . In a word, we have lost our sense of history. In our schools the story of our nation has been replaced by “social studies”—which is the story of what ails us. Neither our classroom lessons nor our sermons nor our books are any longer strong ties to our past.”

This is a penetrating observation made by the respected historian Dr. Daniel Boorstein in a 1970 Newsweek article. And if it was true in 1970, then how much more is it true today? After all, Dr. Boorstein made his comments before we had cable TV and the Internet.

History is important. In fact, the study of history is not only important, it is a deeply Biblical value. Dr. Charles Wolfe, a Christian historian and man who worked closely with Dr. D. James Kennedy, commented that the Bible was simply a nation recording her own history and God’s work in that history. Each succeeding generation was taught the story of Israel and what God did to birth and preserve their nation. In other words, the Bible sanctions the study of history in the
deepest possible terms.

It is reported that Adolph Hitler once said that he who controls the writing of a nation’s history controls the nation. Thus, Hitler revised German history and deliberately changed the original principles of Germany to a set of principles that permitted him to embark on a course of world domination. Controlling German education for roughly ten years, he raised a new generation of “Hitler Youth” who were propagandized by Hitler’s historical revisionism. It wasn’t Lutheran
Germany that practiced genocide and pursued satanic policies. It was a new Germany built on Hitler’s historical revisionism and theology of the Third Reich. Lenin and Stalin did the same for Russia.

Most adults are like me. We’re bad history students. We really don’t know the story of America and today’s students don’t know it either. Their greatest weakness is in their knowledge of the periods that may be most important, the Colonial and Federal periods, when the nation first achieved its unique identity.

Americans have wandered out of history. We know far more about the Washington Red-skins than we do General Washington; we know more about Elizabeth Smart than we do John and Abigail Adams. We live in the present and oftentimes we live in the trivial.

Let’s do something Biblical. Let’s remember our history. And let’s remember the part God had to play in it. As the Jews were careful to tell the story of their nation and God’s acts in that story, let’s not only tell the children the story of the Bible, let’s tell our children the story of America. And let’s do it not for selfish purposes of American pride or because we want to protect our standard of living. Let’s do it because we love truth. Let’s do it because the original vision of America was to build a country on the enduring values of Scripture so that she would be a testimony to the world that Scripture works. Let’s do it because there is a profound connection between human freedom and human dignity—both of which matter to God. Let’s do it to preserve this nation for our children and grandchildren. And let’s do it because a free nation provides the best environment in which to spread our faith in Christ both among our fellow citizens and throughout the world.

Let’s talk about the Declaration of Independence and the role Scripture had to play in its writing. Indeed, if we Americans have wandered out of history, let’s wander back into it.

(Part II, on the scriptural basis of the Declaration next week)

Reverend Nate Atwood has been in the ministry for sixteen years as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. He has been Senior Pastor at Kempsville Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, since Palm Sunday, 1999.

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Bipartisan Banking Deregulation Produced Current Economic Crisis

Posted on February 27, 2009 by | 1 comment

Pres. Obama and other politicians blame our current economic crisis on Congressional deregulation of the banking system. A 2008 article published in OpenSecrets.org explains what they mean, why Capitol Hill politicians did it, and who benefited.

The last time Congress seriously debated how to regulate the financial industry, the result was legislation that allowed the nation’s largest banks to get even larger and take risks that had been prohibited since the Great Depression. A look back at that debate, which was over the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act, reveals that campaign contributions may have influenced the votes of politicians who, a decade later, are now grappling with the implosion of the giant banks they helped to foster.

Looking back at the vote on the 1999 act, and the campaign contributions that led up to it, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found that those members of Congress who supported lifting Depression-era restrictions on commercial banks, investment banks and insurance companies received more than twice as much money from those interests than did those lawmakers who opposed the measure.

In 2008, until the U.S. government threw a taxpayer-funded lifeline this month to Wall Street banks drowning in a sea of bad debt, the potential for these financial giants to go under had been dismissed. The banks were “too big too fail.” It was the 1999 legislation, commonly referred to as Gramm-Leach-Bliley (for its sponsors’ names), that cleared the way for these companies to grow so large.

For decades before, the financial industry had been segregated by government regulations dating to 1933, when Congress passed, and President Franklin Roosevelt signed, legislation known as the Glass-Steagall Act. Sponsored by a former Treasury Secretary known as the “father of the Federal Reserve,” Virginia Democrat Carter Glass, and Alabama Democrat Henry Steagall, the law responded to concerns that over-speculation by banks during the 1920s contributed to the stock market crash of 1929 and, in turn, the Great Depression. Commercial banks were taking too many risks with their depositors’ money. Glass-Steagall set up a regulatory wall between investment banking and commercial banking, prohibiting commercial banks from underwriting insurance or securities.

Sixty-six years later, in 1999, the financial services industry succeeded in essentially shattering Glass-Steagall, after putting a number of cracks in the law over the intervening years.

The congressional vote on Gramm-Leach-Bliley in November 1999 was not close. The bill passed handily with bipartisan support in both the House of Representatives and Senate, 450-64 between the two chambers. President Bill Clinton supported the legislation and readily signed it. There were some strong arguments for the bill, chiefly that American banks were too constrained to compete with German and Japanese banks. There was also criticism that the legislation was pushed through too quickly and that it didn’t modernize the marketplace’s regulatory system. Pressing most aggressively for Gramm-Leach-Bliley was Citigroup, which had merged its bank with Travelers insurance company, and needed a change in federal law to keep the giant corporation together.

There was little difference in the money collected by Republicans who supported the bill and those who opposed it; the 255 GOP supporters collected an average of $179,175, while the opponents in their ranks-and there were only five of them-collected $171,890. On the Democratic side, however, there was a wide gulf, as the graph indicates. The 195 Democrats who supported the Financial Services Modernization Act had received an average of $179,920 in the two years and 10 months leading up to its passage, while the 59 Democrats who opposed it received just $83,475.

Many of the Democrats who voted for Gramm-Leach-Bliley are still in Congress, as are many of the Republicans.

The new law paved the way for financial institutions, which were already large, to get even larger, and it put businesses that the nation’s financial regulators had intentionally segregated under the same umbrella once again. Critics of Gramm-Leach-Bliley predicted that if these mega-banks were to ever fail, the impact on the U.S. and global economy would be so great that the public treasury — i.e. taxpayers — would have to rescue them.

Nine years later, Congress is debating a proposal from the Treasury Secretary to assume the bad investments that are weighing down the nation’s financial institutions, at taxpayer expense. And lobbyists representing the financial services industry are trying to once again shape fast-moving legislation to their clients’ benefit.

I wonder how much money Congressional politicians have or will receive for bailing out their profitable benefactors.

Source: OpenSecrets.org, Sept. 23, 2008.

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Sabbath Discussions : On the most outrageous statement in Revelation (the book)

Posted on January 18, 2009 by | Leave a comment

One of the most outrageous statements penned by the writer of Revelation is this:

Jesus Christ … the ruler of the kings of the earth. (Rev. 1:5)

How could John claim that Jesus was the ruler over the vicious Christian murdering Roman king Domitian? Show me any other king in the world who came to the aid of persecuted Christians before Emperor Constantine. I don’t know of any king today who appears to be ruled by Jesus either. Surely, the collective Emperor called the U.S. Congress does not follow the rule of Jesus Christ.

Do you doubt that Congress is king of a kingdom? Several years ago when new Congress was being sworn into office I caught the last part of the speech and prayer of the high ranking military chaplain, a black general, who was officiating over the ceremony. He instructed Congress to rule the kingdom they were inheriting well. There also seems to be a consensus among political analysts, economists, historians, theologians, journalists, and other scholars that America has achieved the status ruler over a global empire, and most regard it as an economic one. Some historians have shown how similar our federal government is to the Roman Empire at its terrible apex. Satan gave Jesus the tempting opportunity to rule over both the Roman Empire and all other earthly kingdoms as well. (Mt. 4 and Lk. 4)

Back to my question–how then could John make such an outrageous statement? Unless he saw Christians reigning with Jesus after the yet to occur resurrection, he could not be referring to Christ’s faithful followers. The world experienced what Christian rule was like. In the end, the Church ruling empire was not very Christ-like, just ask Martin Luther, John Calvin, or any of the dearly beheaded.

John may have meant that when Jesus returns he will reign over the kings of the earth. This would conform to the Hebrew prophets, the gospels, epistles, and Revelation 11:15-19.

However, I believe John is making a literal declaration not merely a prophetic one, which is supported by the gospels and epistles as well.

For Jesus to rule of the kings of the earth, Satan would have to loose his right and authority to do so. Jesus never disputed Satan’s right or authority to give him authority over all the kingdoms of the earth. (Mt. 4; Lk. 4) In fact, Jesus acknowledges the rule of Satan over the world. (Jo. 14:30; 12:31) The apostle Paul also acknowledged this rule. (Eph. 2:1-2) The thing to notice is this: Satan’s rule over the earth was from heaven, but he was thrown out of heaven to the earth. (Rev. 12:7-11; Jo. 12:31) The mission of Jesus was not just to restore willing humans the benevolent rule and kingdom of God. His mission also was to destroy Satan’s works and end his right to rule over repentant humanity. (1 Jo. 3:8; Heb. 2:14) Jesus accomplished the first by dying to satisfy justice fully for our moral crimes against God’s law. Having paid that price, he accomplished the second when God raised from the dead and gave him all of the authority both in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18). Paul describes this best in his letter to the Colossians:

For [God] rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins…. When [Jesus] had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through [God]. (Col. 1:13; 2:15)

Everyone throughout the Roman Empire would have understood Paul’s meaning. It was common practice by the Roman generals to parade before all leaders and citizens of Rome the kings and leaders of conquered peoples and nations. All who read or heard Paul’s words understood that Jesus not only defeated his enemies but that he and heaven celebrated Satan’s and his followers humiliating defeat.

According to Peter, Jesus could not ascend to the throne of God until after angels, authorities, and powers had been subjected to him. (1 Pe. 3:22)

This may explain why Jesus appeared off- and-on to the disciples for forty days before his ascension. (Ac. 1:3, 9-11)

Paul further explains that after his resurrection, Jesus, the firstborn of all creation, created anew all spiritual and physical positions of authority and their powers. (Col. 1:16) This means no matter how many may rebel against the order and authority of Jesus’ rule the world will in the end bow to his world order. (Php. 2:9-11)

Though Jesus has authority over all powers as well as over all flesh (Jo. 17:2), but not all spirits or humans intend to submit to the kingly rule of Jesus Christ. The republican form of constitutional democracy may very well have reflected the rule of Lord Jesus. It certainly was shaped and informed by biblical principles. The noble idea of a nation that shines the biblical based light of law and freedom may have inspired many peoples; but,today, national and global trends indicate a determination not toward a messianic world but rather toward the kind worthy of judgment as previewed in Revelation.

The new types of ruler and kings of the earth cannot win by opposing the biblical reign of God’s risen Messiah. They certainly will never create a world of peace, justice, and prosperity for all by following the model of Rome or Satan. As any ruler worthy of the title, Jesus will have the last word concerning all of their schemes and plans.

Jesus died so that all of us could have an abundant life in good standing with the Supreme Judge of the world. Therefore, he is adamantly opposed to the abundance of choices for death, immorality, and injustice–social, economic, or any other kind. The wisest choice would be for a culture oriented to life, which is by definition messianic, and Jesus–a Jew–still agrees even after 2,000 years.

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Christmas Yesterday, Today and Forever

Posted on December 25, 2008 by | Leave a comment

The last post was about a soldier and missionary of Jesus Christ. John Birch’s life exemplified the reason Christ was born.

In a recent Human Events article, Newt Gingrich shares why Americans have great cause to celebrate the freedom that the babe in the manger grew up to achieve for us all. On Christmas Eve 1776, General George Washington, a devout follower of Jesus, stayed on mission to win a battle that led to our independence.

On Christmas Day, 1776, nearly all thought the Revolution was lost, except for a valiant few who still believed in “The Cause.” We owe our liberty today to those valiant few.

Led by George Washington, most of his army, dressed in rags and barefoot, faced a winter gale of rain, sleet, ice and snow. This band of patriots braved a midnight river crossing and a nine mile march over frozen roads to win a spectacular victory at Trenton, New Jersey, the following morning. Those were indeed times, as Thomas Paine would write, that “try men’s souls.”

In a season that has become too commercialized and — worse yet — had much of its religious meaning driven from the public square, Washington’s Christmas crossing is a story that should be remembered and celebrated, this Christmas and every Christmas.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ, to be with family and friends, and, I would add, to give thanks to God for those who endured so much on that Christmas night, 232 years ago.

While wise men still seek and venerate Jesus, God’s Son, the likes of Herod still attempt to eradicate any and every hindrance to their agendas including mass infanticide like abortion as well as rob the public of their liberties and prosperity to build empires enshrining their corrupt but magnificent egos.

Christmas is forever the victory of God and man over the darkness of injustice and death. It is the perpetual celebration of the Creator of life and humanity. Christmas is heaven’s song celebrating both God’s reality and His good will toward all mankind. It is the hope of nature–redemption and renewal. Christmas is a feast of light when old souls begin to consume a new born hope of eternal life. It is the star from East shining even as far as the West that promises a King actually capable of saving us all from every form of death concocted by modern elites global secularism. Christmas is the birth of majestic tradition of Western culture, art and music. Just image Christmas without Francis of Assi’s living crèche of the virgin born Jesus lying in a manger or of George Frideric Handel’s awesome oratorio Messiah. It is what Satan and secularists hate the most—the birth of the beauty of the fullness of pure life and holiness that is only accomplish by the masterful work of God and His Messiah, Jesus.

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Captain John Birch: Wise as a Serpent, Harmless as a Dove

Posted on December 24, 2008 by | Leave a comment

By Reverend Steven L. Craft

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10: 16)

The words of Jesus Christ to his disciples were an exhortation to be prepared to face persecution and death in carrying out their mission to evangelize the nations. This charge exemplified the life and death of Captain John Morrison Birch, an ambassador of Christ to the Chinese people.

Birch was a Baptist missionary and U.S. military intelligence officer who was murdered by the Chinese Communists in August, 1945. He was born in India and grew up in Macon, Georgia. As the flames of World War II were bursting fourth in both Europe and the Far East, he went to China and served as a Christian Missionary, preaching in territories occupied by enemy Japanese forces. In April 1942, he helped rescue American pilots in the bombing raid led by Major Jimmy Doolittle. He was commissioned and served as an intelligence analyst for the Office of Strategic Services. Promoted to Captain, he was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1944 and worked in China spreading the Gospel. After the war ended and while he was on an official mission, he was taken prisoner by Chinese Communists on August 25, 1945 and brutally executed.

At the young age of seven, John Birch experienced the call of God to the mission field. Upon learning of the suffering inflicted upon missionaries in China, he sensed God’s Spirit beckoning him to go there. His pastor warned him of the danger involved, but John replied: “I know the enemy is communism, but the Lord Jesus Christ has called me. My life is in His hands, and I am not turning back.”

Birch’s missionary ministry in China commenced in 1940 during the perilous time of war with the Japanese military. After Pearl Harbor, he dyed his hair black, wore Chinese clothing and learned the language. He truly became “one” with the people in order that he might win them to Christ. The fact that John Birch was a member of the Army and also a missionary added to his prestige and gave him great favor and influence among the Chinese people.

When the story of John Birch’s death as a martyr was uncovered by Robert Welch, he noted in his biography entitled The Life of John Birch: “If we can discover spiritual values and principles in the life of John Birch and recharge from the spark of his courage, while learning essential truths about the viciousness of our enemy, then his death was not in vain.”

He set an example for us today to follow Christ fully, even unto death. He expressed it this way in a letter to his sister: “Often, I feel that the barren years I spent were my God-given apprenticeship. A message of freedom is being formed within me, that will one day burn its way out and across man-made barriers, and into the very souls of men. I believe God is preparing me to withstand privation, pain, isolation, fatigue, and physical danger. To what end? That I might learn to trust Him fully in life and in death.”

God is faithful to keep His promises. John Birch went to China to preach the Gospel of Grace to the Chinese people. He was a true ambassador for Christ and gave his life as a martyr to serve God and the Chinese people. He was truly “wise as a serpent in respect to his military career, yet harmless as a dove in his calling as a missionary.

Christ declared: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” (John 12: 24).

John Birch was that “grain of wheat” that fell to the ground and died, but in so doing, he inspired our founder Robert Welch, who started in 1958 the John Birch Society which to this very day has produced the greatest fighters for liberty, justice, and freedom in America!

Therefore, patriots, let us stand strong in the fight against tyranny, slavery, racism, and hatred and the false allegations heaped upon our great John Birch Society, knowing that our hero gave not only his life but his sacrificial death in the fight against communism in America and around the world.

_______________

Reverend Steven L. Craft holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is a Doctoral candidate at Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is the founder of Christian Citizenship Ministries, Inc. and is a motivational and inspirational speaker and author. He is co-author of the book Virtue and Vice: A Fascinating Journey Into Spiritual Transformation. He speaks on issues involving faith and culture, alcohol and drug prevention, crime, youth development and morality.

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The Naught and Nice List of Christmas Retailers

Posted on December 17, 2008 by | Leave a comment

American Family Association conducted research into retailers who take a politically correct (secular) approach to Christmas and those who acknowledge Christmas—well, as Christmas—and not as a mere holiday.

Naughty retailers located in the Xenia include CVS Pharmacy, Kroger, Radio Shack, and Super Value. Regionally, those naughty corporate retailers who would sterilize Christ from the Christmas holiday include Barnes & Nobles, Costco, The Gap, Old Navy, Office Depot, Olive Garden, and Staples.

Local retailers on the good or nice list include Big Lots, Family Dollar, Dollar General, Kmart, Lowe’s, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Wal-mart. I noticed Fulmers is another retailer officially for Christmas. Other regional retailers who are for Christmas include Bass Pro Shops, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk, Best Buy, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Menard’s, Petsmart, Sears, Super D Drugs Store, and Target.

If you know of other naughty or nice retailers, send me an email.

You can also show your support of the good guys both by shopping at their stores and by sending them a note of good Christmas cheer. You can also express your sentiments concerning those naughty anti-Christmas retailers by not shopping at their stores and by communicating your thought to them. To do so, go to http://www.afa.net/christmaslist.asp and follow the links.

After all, Christmas has a long history in the United States and around the world. Christmas is a special time of joyful giving and receiving. Yes, God so loved the world that He gave us the babe in the manger. Jesus Christ has not only benefited the world but He (the law-fulfilling gospel covenant) is also at the heart of all originally principles of our freedom. Why let those who hate God and morality rob us of the beautiful historical heritage? Why allow those same people and those businesses supporting them rob us of the source of our liberty and rights?

Concerning an atheistic yultide holiday, I say, “Bah! Humbug.” This is the season for a Merry Christmas!

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Posted in business, Christmas, Greene County, history, news, politics, retail, Xenia

Stop the Ohio Legislators Con Con Call!

Posted on December 9, 2008 by | Leave a comment

On December 3rd, the Ohio House of Representatives introduced HJR 8, a resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention, provided for by Article V of the U.S. Constitution. This is one of only two legal methods for amending the Supreme Law of the Land. This nation is only a few states away from having application of the requisite 34 states needed to convene a Constitutional Convention.

If a Constitutional Convention is called, our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights would be up for grabs and open to any and all changes.

It is clear that this con-con call is being quickly pushed through the lame-duck legislature before most Ohio citizens learn about it. The legislation was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and they are voting this Wednesday to determine whether to send it to the house for a full vote — only a week after its introduction!

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED ASAP!

1. Get educated on the facts of a Constitutional Convention by watching Beware Article V (4 parts) which was created by state legislators to educate other legislators. Stay updated and join the discussion at The Ohio Freedom Alliance Forum.

2. Contact the Legislature. Send an email to your Rep as well as all of the members of the Judiciary Committee all at once using the Ohio Freedom Alliance SLAM tool. Or telephone your Representative and 11 Committee Members.

3. Join us at the Committee Meeting on Wednesday morning at 9:30am at the statehouse in Columbus to give testimony or just to show your support for the legislations withdraw. A large attendance will bring this issue into the spotlight and prevent a hasty, uninformed vote. Details here.

SUMMARY OF THE DANGER: A Constitutional Convention has no limitations!

Once Congress calls for a Constitutional Convention Article V grants that assembled convention the exclusive power to propose amendments regardless of the original reason for its call. By its very definition a Constitutional Convention is a sovereign body and therefore cannot be limited.

Recall that the first Constitutional Convention was held simply for the purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation under Article XIII, which indicated that the consent of all State legislatures is required for amendment. Instead, delegates – having met in total secrecy for several months – emerged with a new fundamental government design, which stipulated that only nine of the thirteen states would have to ratify for the new government to go into effect.

Everything in the current Constitution could be tossed, and replaced with whatever the delegates decide. A new convention could even decide not to bother having the states ratify what it produces. A constitutional convention has no limitations. With today’s hostile and divided political climate, can we trust that our God-given rights would be secure?

For questions, please contact
Teri M. Owens
libertyinlaw@gmail.com
740-816-0933

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Thanksgiving : Past, Present, and Future

Posted on November 25, 2008 by | 1 comment

By Daniel Downs

America was founded upon the thanksgiving of our British ancestors, the Pilgrims. As part of a joint-stock adventure and a gospel mission, they set out to establish the first colony in Virginia. Although they missed their original destination by a few miles, they were thankful for surviving the perils they had endured during the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. They landed on the eastern seacoast just in time for winter. As they explored the coastal desert for a suitable place for shelter, they looked heavenward with thankful hearts for food. About a dozen of the Pilgrims followed a small group of evasive Indians to a deserted camp where they found corn and fish stored underground. This food held them over for the winter. When spring arrived, almost half of the original 100 had died of disease that had spread throughout the region decimating many Indian villages too. That meant that 50 survived both the ravaging disease as well as the harsh cold winter storms. They were thankful for this too. As the sun was warming up the spring air, their hope was thawing too because several friendly Indians arrived willing to help. Yes, they were thankful for those special brave men who were to teach them how to thrive in what seemed a barren dessert land in peace with the native tribes.

The following is a relative brief account penned by William Bradford, who was to become the governor of growing Plymouth Plantation state.

About the 16th of March (1620) “a certain Indian came boldly amongst them, and spoke to them in broken English, which could well under- stand, but marveled at it. He became profitable to them in acquainting them many things concerning the state of the country….” He knew about the English other parts of the country as well as about many of the Indian tribes. His name was Samaset; he told them also of another Indian whose name was Squanto, a native of this place, who had been in England & could speak better English than himself.” After a period of entertaining and exchanging gifts with the Indians, Squanto and the local Indian chief Massasoyt came and made a peace treaty between his tribal people and the Pilgrims, which last 24 years.

“Squanto continued with them, and was their interpreter, and was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectations. He directed them how to [plant] their corn, where to take fish, and to procure other commodities, and was also their pilot to bring them to unknown places for their profit, and never left them until he died.”

During that spring, they began to plant their corn, in which service Squanto greatly helped them, showing them both how to plant it and how to preserve and prepare it. Also he told them that except they got fish and placed it underground, it would come to nothing. He showed many other things that helped them to thrive in the new land.

Yes, the Pilgrims were thankful for the continued providence and blessing of God who “was with them in all their ways,” and who blessed “their outgoings and incomings, for which let his holy name have the praise for ever, to all posteritie.”

Who is their posterity? All Americans should regard themselves as posterity of the Pilgrims for several reasons:

(1) The Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact is the first of many similar civil compacts that culminated in our very similar national compact called the Declaration of Independence and the ensuing laws defined as Constitutions. If you read both the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration simultaneously, you will see the apparent pattern of similarities. (To see the full text of the Mayflower Compact, click here.)

(2) Because our national heritage goes back to the founding of Plymouth and Jamestown, we can count ourselves the spiritual, political, and legal posterity of the Plymouth Pilgrims. This heritage resembles the formation of the ancient nation of Israel. Exodus was more than liberation from slavery; it was the beginning of democracy. Israel became a nation through a political covenant by the unanimous consent of the people. As all legitimate covenants, the consensual agreement was between the people and God. So it was with the Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact, which was the same type of two-part compact that was later to establish and define American as nation. Both the Mayflower Compact and Declaration incorporated a covenant with God and a social contract between themselves. This is what the Second Continental Congress created in 1776.

The representative federalism of our republican Constitution makes the original goals and rights reality. Our national compact of Declaration and Constitution is an inheritance of all American citizens that requires faithful adherence to this rule of law. Consequently, the same type of covenant and social contract that began with the Pilgrims was incorporated in our national compact that benefits and obligated all past, present, and future citizens.

The progressive socialists/secularists may hate this fact, but it is the legal basis of our national independence and constitution law.

Today, we Americans have much to be thankful for. If we have a place to live with heat in the winter and cooling in the summer, we have more than our Pilgrim ancestors as well as many peoples around the world. If we have sanitized water and good food, we have more than our Pilgrim ancestors and millions of people in many countries. If we have seasonal clothing, we have more than both our Pilgrim ancestors and a great many people across the globe. If we have access to good education and adequate health care, we have much more than both our Pilgrim ancestors and thousands of people both in America and in many other nations. Many of America’s poor enjoy many luxuries and technological innovations that few people in the world enjoy. If we actually enjoy those God-given rights enumerated in the both Declaration and secured through Constitutional law, we Americans still enjoy what multiple millions still do not enjoy.

Yet, these God-given blessings and benefits of prosperity are now in jeopardy of being lost. What we Americans take for granted are threatened by the misguided efforts to prop up unsustainable economic growth based on ever-increasing debt. If trends analysts are correct, the future of those blessings may come to a terrible end. More importantly, the covenantal foundation of our freedom and prosperity has been cast aside for an anti-religious and amoral agenda of those who care more about their global profits and power than the common good of all their people.

In a nation that seems to worship many gods including self, profit, hedonistic pleasures, entertainment, and their own accomplishments, the Pilgrims and members of the Second Continental Congress I think would appreciate Psalms 138, which states:

I will give you [God] thanks with all of my heart; I will sing praises to you before the gods.
 
I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your lovingkindness and your truth; for you have magnified your word according to your name.
 
On the day I called, you answered me; you made me bold with strength in my soul.
 
All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord, when they have heard the words of your mouth.
 
And they will sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. (vv. 1-5)
 

I see that Psalm as a prophetic song that speaks of America’s future as well as of the entire world. Let’s hope we may sing it too without any perils predicted by both trends analysts and our nation’s founders. Now is the time to thank God as did the Pilgrims, the Puritans, and most members of the Second Continental Congress for all of our material, political, and spiritual blessings while hope and thanksgiving buys America more time.

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