Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Chapter 7 The Black Regiment

Important points summarized, as follows: pages 189-215


“The seventh thing every Christian should know about the founding of America is that many of the clergy in the American colonies preached liberty. The pulpits of New England were especially important in helping to bring about independence. Long before the general population understood the threat to American liberty, some colonial ministers saw what was coming and boldly spoke out about it from the pulpits.”


The title black regiment needs explaining. It was the black color of the robes the ministers wore that gave rise to the term the Black Regiment. These colonialists, who were organized under the Black Regiment to protect their towns from the British at a moment’s notice,  were called Minutemen.


The Minutemen were usually laymen from a particular church, led by their minister or deacon. They conducted military drills after Sunday services. Rev. Jonas Clark, for example,  was in charge of the Minutemen in Lexington, Massachusetts, who were attacked in the first conflict of the Revolutionary War.


Many people today, especially those on the left, don’t realize that the many of the first settlers of New England were devout Christians. They also downplay the pivotal role that the Great Awakening had in preparing the Colonialists for Independence.


Although there were many in the Black Regiment from other colonies and regions, it was the New England pulpit.. to which this honorary designation was given…. John Adams observed, ‘The Philadelphia ministers ‘thunder and lighten every Sunday against George III’s despotism.’


More important than the freedom of religion is the freedom to change one’s religion. England wanted to do impose their will on the colonies. The British Parliament intended to impose upon all the American colonies membership in the Episcopal (or Anglican) Church. All the hardships the Pilgrims, Puritans, Quakers, Presbyterians, and Huguenots had endured to escape religious persecution would have been all for nought had England imposed such a requirement on America.


Although the Minutemen were poorly equipped volunteers, they used a unique and effective form of warfare for their day. Wars in the late 1700’s were customarily fought by lining up armies in columns in the open field and shooting at one another until one army retreated. During the Revolutionary War, the British army would line itself up, but the Minutemen, instead… chose to hide behind trees or hills and fight from there.


The danger today to our freedoms is as important today as it was when we broke away from England. The pulpits of America need to preach on returning our country to the Biblical values we were based on so real freedom can continue.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

The word Abortion is a Euphemism

I attend a weekly Bible Study group called Torah Club. The Jewish world goes through the Torah (5 books of Moses) and related readings from the Prophets and Writings in one year. Torah Club does the same thing, but it is directed and augmented by the fulfillment of those same scriptures in the person of Yeshua the Messiah and the writings of the New Covenant. Each weekly Torah Reading has a name. This week’s Torah reading is called Toldot, taken from Genesis 23:1-25:18. In addition to the reading, there is a commentary. I’d like to share some of those comments because they are greatly needed by the world. 


In this week’s portion, Rebekah delivers twins: Jacob and Esau. These two were struggling with each other in the womb up until their birth as Jacob grasps the heel of Isaac who is born first! Their struggle continues when their very different personalities clash with each other, culminating when Esau despises his birthright and Jacob barters it away from him. In addition to this illustration of babies in the womb having a sense of what is going on, the commentary also mentions this interesting thought:


“From the moment of conception, the souls that come to inhabit human bodies are already people. The personalities are already there… They are individuals in possession of their unique souls - transcendent and heavenly beings - each one on his or her mission and path in life.”


The word “abortion” is a euphemism, in that it hides what is really happening. The truth is that when a pregnancy is ended barbarically, or otherwise, the beating heart of a human being, who has a different DNA than its mother, is stopped; it kills not only the human body, but separates the heavenly spirit from the body. I can say without a doubt, that this crime saddens and angers the Biblical God who breathed life into the child. There is absolutely no excuse for this travesty. This reminded me of the debate between Dixon and Whitmer in Michigan’s recent Governor election. I think the subject of “abortion” was handled far too gingerly. I might suggest questioning Whitmer as follows: “Governor, how do you determine what is morally right or wrong? Governor, we constantly hear of a woman’s right to choose, but no mention is made of what is happening to the baby! Perhaps, Governor, you could relate to us what the baby is going through when the surgeon’s blade cuts through the baby’s arm as it is sucking its thumb? When you stop the baby’s heart, you are stopping its soul from living out its purpose. Only God knows what that person could have become. It is not a good idea for a person, a state, or a nation to anger the Biblical God this way. It’s like spitting into the wind.


We have all heard of all the senseless killings and attacks in the news. I suggest that our culture's obsession with killing babies has lead to a general cheapening of life. When children see that adults kill babies with little regard to the baby's life, topped off by no regard for what the Biblical God thinks of such things, then I believe that results in an increase in crime. Proverbs 14:34 says: "Righteousness exalts a nation,

But sin is a reproach to any people." Wisdom, according to the Bible, begins with the fear of the LORD. To fear the LORD is to have knowledge and understanding that the Biblical God punishes evil and rewards right living. Our country needs to do everything it can to promote the respect for life by promoting righteousness.

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening, which occurred in the American colonies before the Revolutionary War, is desperately needed today! It would be wonderful if history could repeat itself and turn our fractured, sinful country around, before it’s too late. Here are a few quotes from chapter 6: 

“The Great Awakening was a spiritual movement, not a political one, but it had political consequences as communications were established between the various colonies up and down the eastern seaboard. British historian Paul Johnson says it was the ‘original dynamic of the continental movement for independence.’ The sixth thing every Christian should know about the founding of America is that the Great Awakening, a religious revival, was a key factor in uniting the separate pre-Revolutionary War colonies and in increasing communication among them.”

“As we have seen, America had been founded primarily for religious purposes… The Americans were overwhelmingly church-going, much more so than the English, whose rule they rejected.”

The Great Awakening had its early roots among German immigrants who were most thankful for this “promised land” and for their delivery from poverty in Germany. In 1719, the German pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church, Theodore Felinghuysen, led a series of revival meetings in the Rarity Valley in New Jersey.  Another early preacher was a Scottish-Irish Presbyterian named William Tennent in Pennsylvania. He established what would become known as Princeton university. He and his son Gilbert were fiery preachers who practiced… emotional hymn singing along with their sermons. They emphasized Godly living and the need for personal Bible study. This made reading, and therefore, education, a must. This linkage caused the literacy rate to climb to nearly 100% in the late 1700’s. Jonathan Edwards, a prominent preacher during the Great Awakening, would one day become president of Princeton.


Jonathan Edwards’ influence reached far beyond this time. Not only were thousands converted through his sermons, but even the unconverted benefited from the social and political consequences of his preaching. He and his wife Sara had eleven children, who were all raised to be Godly people.


Their success as parents was revealed in a study done in 1990, showing that their descendants included 13 college presidents, 65 professors, 30 judges, 100 lawyers, a dean of a law school, 80 public office holders, nearly 100 missionaries, 3 mayors, 3 governors, 3 United States senators, 1 comptroller of the US Treasury, and 1 vice president of the United States. 


However, the last person mentioned, had a different story. Vice President Aaron Burr lived in rebellion to the Christianity of his childhood. Aaron Burr was a man of low character who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Later Burr would be accused of treason.


The Great Awakening had thousands of amazing testimonies where the spirit of the Biblical God moved through entire families, towns, and regions. Edwards wrote about this in his book, A Faithful Narrative on the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton. 


At the height of The Great Awakening, the New England churches grew daily. Robert Flood reports that between 1740 and 1742, out of a total population of 300,000 in New England, 25,000 to 50,000 people joined the churches. The movement changed the entire moral tone of New England for the better and justly earned the name of the Great Awakening.


The other famous preacher of the Great Awakening was George Whitefield. Whitefield came from Old England, where he had attended Oxford University with John and Charles Wesley, brothers who were also great evangelists and hymn-writers who would later impact the east coast of America.


George Whitefield preached from New England to Georgia, uniting all the colonies spiritually before American independence was even a dream. At the same time, Whitefield had a concern not only for the spiritual health, but also for the physical health of the colonies. He founded an orphanage for the children who were unprovided for.  He preached over and over again about the need for being born again. His wife said, ‘It is wonderful to see what a spell he casts over an audience by proclaiming the simplest truths of the Bible. Our mechanics shut up their shops, and the day laborers throw down their tools to go and hear him preach, and few return unaffected.”


Whitefield returned to America for seven continental tours over thirty years. 


Even Benjamin Franklin, who was definitely not a man of faith, recognized the beneficial  social effects of these revivals and of Whitefield’s preaching:

“It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk through town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.”


Paul Johnson points out that this Great Awakening sounded the death-knell of British Colonialism. The Great Awakening helped to forge the sections of the country together. The chapter goes into considerable detail on the interaction of the British and the Colonialists, but for my purposes, I’ll close with this:


The unified response of the colonies confirms what Paul Johnson has pointed out - that the message of the Great Awakening, which created new men and women in Christ in all thirteen colonies, had undoubted political overtones. Johnson concludes: “The Great Awakening was thus the proto-revolutionary event, the formative movement in American history, preceding the political drive for independence, and making it possible.”


The key text for the Great Awakening was Revelation 21:5: “Behold, I make all things new.”


Founder John Adams, who later served as America’s second president said, “The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations.


Paul Johnson wrote: 

“The Revolution could not have taken place without this religious background. The essential difference between the American Revolution and the French Revolution is that the American Revolution, in its origins, was a religious event, whereas the French Revolution was an anti-religious event. That fact was to shape the American Revolution from start to finish and determine the nature of the independent state it brought into being.”

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Cutting the Cord and SkyWatchTV

 I recently cut the cable cord and found something far better. I kept the Xfinity internet and added three things instead: 1) Discovery +, primarily so I could get Magnolia Network and the History Channel (though History channel no longer shows new episodes on Discovery plus), 2) Disney +, though its recent announcements that Disney has gone woke has me almost ready to cut that cord too, and 3) FOXNATION. I discovered that ROKU itself has some cool options. For example, Real America’s Voice is a very good conservative news station, and NewsMax is good too. I’ve also enjoyed an interesting show called the Shape of Pasta on Roku. But the best thing I added to Roku is SkywatchTV. It is a free Christian program with some very cool shows that are way more interesting and cutting edge than your “typical” Christian network. Some of its personalities, who are very prolific authors, are Thomas Horn, Josh Peck, and Derek and Sharon Gilbert. Their weekly show is hosted by Joe Horn (I think he’s the son of Thomas Horn). They have a publishing business called Defender Press with some amazing titles. I just finished reading The Messenger by Thomas Horn, The Lost Prophesies of Qumran by Josh Peck, and the Ancient Mysteries of the Essenes by Ken Johnson. These are really good.


If you are into streaming, then I highly recommend these alternatives to cable.

Monday, May 30, 2022

One Nation Under God, Chapter 5

 A recent article in FOXNEWS stated that a survey of Harvard University graduates found that only 6.4% have a conservative leaning after attending the elite Ivy League institution.


That’s a good segue into chapter 5 of One Nation Under God, which states The education of the settlers and founders of America was uniquely Christian and Bible-based. It mentions that the early colonial education used the Bible as their chief textbook. The education for the primary grades was based on the New England Primer which taught the ABC’s using wisdom from the Bible. Later, the first United States Congress meeting under the new Constitution in 1789 passed a law directing that each additional state and territory to be added to the new nation should be committed to promoting religion, morality, and knowledge by building schools.


America’s first colleges, such as Princeton, Yale, and Harvard were all Christian in their beginnings. For example, here is a quote written in stone in a Harvard building:


After God had carried us safe to New England, and we had built our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship, and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity: dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.”


Another school, William and Mary in Virginia had these three goals (summarized): 

  1. Youth of Virginia should be well educated to learning and good morals
  2. Churches of America, and especially Virginia, should be supplied with good ministers…
  3. The Indians of America should be instructed in the Christian religion…


Yale had this to say:

“Where there is no religion, there is no morality… With the loss of religion… the ultimate foundation of confidence is blown up; and the security of life, liberty, and property are buried in ruins. (Timothy Dwight, President of Yale, 1798)


Columbia University

“Without religion, I believe that learning does real mischief to the morals of mankind. (Benjamin Rush, Signer of Declaration of Independence)


Quote from President of Columbia College at one of its graduation ceremonies:

“Remember, too, that you are redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price of the precious blood of the Son of God. Adore Jehovah, therefore, as your God and your Judge. Love, fear, and serve Him as your Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Acquaint yourselves with Him in His word and holy ordinances.”


Obviously, today’s “progressive” movement is not leading us forward, but is one of entropy where mankind is reverting backward to a time that our founders feared might happen. Look at today’s headlines to see that where there is no life-changing, Bible-based “religion”, our security of life, liberty, and property are buried in ruins,” as Timothy Dwight said.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

One Nation Under God - Chapter 4

 One Nation Under God

A Haven for Religious Dissidents. Direct quotes are enclosed in quotes:


“The fourth thing every Christian should know about the founding of America is that this nation was in large measure founded as a sanctuary for religious dissidents.” 


“In addition to the Pilgrims and Puritans, this chapter examines the beliefs and accomplishments of people such as Roger Williams who established Rhode Island. Roger was a strong Christian who did not agree with some of the harsher rules of the Puritans. A quote from the chapter is “God [does not need] the help of a material sword of steel to assist the sword of the spirit in the affairs of men.” “Rhode Island was a sanctuary for religious dissidents. Roger Williams called his new settlement Providence to honor God for miraculously sparing his life during his winter flight to the colony and also to honor God’s sovereignty over the affairs of man.”


“Among the religious refugees who came to these shores in the 17th century were followers of George Fox, better known as the Quakers. The most important Quaker in America was William Penn…The state generally associated with him - Pennsylvania, meaning Penn’s woods. William Penn, born in London in 1644, was the son of a British Naval officer (Sir William Penn). At the age of eleven, the young William had a conversion experience that would affect the rest of his life. It led directly to his strong conviction that every person has the God-given right to determine how he will worship and with whom he would fellowship.”


“Penn received an excellent education at Christ Church in Oxford, but he was expelled because of his dissenting views. These views were not in conformance with those of the Church of England. His father sent him to France to study…. But Penn studied among the Huguenots… Penn went to Ireland to manage lands and people owned by his father. Later, he learned about Roger Williams in Rhode Island and the mistreatment of of Quakers in Massachusetts. 


He later wrote a document called the Concessions for a new settlement called New Jersey in the colonies. By 1680, the Concessions had 150 signers; it was unique in that it promoted the power of the people to elect a governor who would oversee the conformance to the principles in the Concessions. “No man was to be arrested, condemned, imprisoned, or molested in his estate or liberty… no man has the authority to rule over men’s consciences in religious matters. The Quakers also encouraged local Indians to bring their problems to the commissioners and to have a fair trial before a court of six Indians and six settlers.”


Penn finally went to America in 1682, after deciding the situation for Quakers in England was intolerable. He founded a new colony called Pennsylvania. The land was given to him by England. Nearly 100 Quakers sailed with him to America. Penn wrote the Frame of Government with twenty articles; the first ten concerned the land; the next five dealt with just treatment of the Indians, and the last five were concerned with the laws. Penn oversaw the planning for the city that would be called Philadelphia. It became the cultural capital of America. In the Frame fo Government, religion and government are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate them.


The chapter goes on to reference other groups, such as Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, Huguenots, Anabaptists, and Catholics. These settled in other colonies, such as Maryland


John Calvin greatly influenced the founding of America. While he never lived there, his documents provided the framework for many of the covenants, compacts, and constitutions which ended up in the United States Constitution. John Calvin emphasized the belief that Jesus should not just be Lord over a Christian’s life, but should be Lord over every sphere of life - including politics and government.


Later, as 1776 approached, the King of England would later say, “I fix all the blame for these extraordinary proceedings upon the Presbyterians (who were Calvinists).”


Dr. John Eidsmoe, a Christian historian, wrote, “The Presbyterians, with their Calvinist view of limited government and the duty to resist tyranny, were among the nation’s strongest supporters of independence.”


Our second president John Adams was convinced that the strong influence of Christianity had shaped American republicanism. See the book for his quote.

Thursday, January 6, 2022

The Third Thing Every Christian Should Know About the Founding of America

One Nation Under GOD

Ten Things Every Christian Should Know About the Founding of America

By Dr. David C. Gibbs, President of Christian Law Association

And Jerry Newcombe


Before moving onto the third thing… I need to acknowledge a few points. While many of America’s early Pioneers were thoroughly Christian, subsequent immigration and generational changes affected the populace over time - and not to our country’s benefit. In addition to that, there has long been a sinister influence that has fashioned many of the details of our country. I’m speaking about freemasonry. As Tom Horn writes about in his many books, most recently Zeitgeist 2025 (the countdown to the Secret Destiny of America), the imprint that freemasonry has had on our seal, our money, and the public buildings - including their layout in Washington D.C. is profound. Here is a brief quote from Tom Horn’s book:


“It is important to note that besides Benjamin Franklin, as many as forty-four of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence were also Freemasons. Numerous US presidents were part of the Craft as well, including Washington, Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, A. Johnson, Garfield, McKinley, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Harding, F. Roosevelt, Truman, L. B. Johnson, and Ford, not to mention additional elites in the Order such as Paul Revere, Edmund Burke, John Hancock, and many more.

[Washington D.C.’s] layout intentionally incorporated the esoteric belief system of Freemasonry, especially as it involved astrologically aligning the capital with the constellation Virgo (Isis). In 1793, when George Washington sanctioned the laying of the capitol building’s cornerstone, he did so wearing a Masonic apron emblazoned with the brotherhood’s symbols.” 


While all of this behind-the-scenes maneuvering affected many of the higher level people and institutions in Washington, the average person in the 1700-1900 period was still being taught morals based on the Bible:


Here is a quote from THE-BIBLE-USE-IN-AMERICAN-SCHOOLS-1700-1900.pdf


"In early American church schools, private schools, and public schools, the Bible was used as a textbook as well as a devotional guide. The 17th century founders of American society discerned in Scripture the patterns by which God directed the whole of human destiny. Hence, the methods and aims of education were finally to be governed by the biblical revelation, and in the most fundamental way God was the one true teacher. This view of education was particularly evident among the Puritans who settled New England in the decades following 1630. Barr says the Bible was a powerful force in education in the 17th and 18th centuries and gradually declined in the 19th and 20th centuries. “Opening exercises began with the Lord's Prayer, Bible readings, and roll call. Even by the mid-20th century, Pennsylvania public elementary and secondary schools began with the Lord’s prayer, Bible reading, roll call, and the pledge of allegiance to the flag.


Further, the focus of learning changed during the 1900s, scholars say, to accommodate a world that was becoming more specialized, more scientific. The Bible generally took on a more perfunctory role in the schools -- providing passages for opening ceremonies, a backdrop for religious holidays. During this time, what Lundy calls “biblical illiteracy'' in the culture also crept into the schools. “Neutrality in religion” became the accepted mode in the classroom."


So, is the United States a Christian country? Jonathan Cahn is famous for establishing that our country is a modern day version of pre-captivity Israel. What happened to them is happening to us now. His books Paradigm and Harbinger II are especially applicable. We, like Israel, are a country that knew the Biblical God and were blessed as a result. But over time, we, like they, departed from the LORD and went our own way. For Israel, it led to invasion and military defeat; for us - who knows? Our extremely weak and incompetent administration, the threats from Russia and China, the brain washing of our schools and universities, plus the ever mutating Covid virus all point to the prophesied involvement with the Global swamp. That’s where the 2025 comes from in Horn’s Zeitgeist book. Is that our intersection with destiny? I hope not.


Back to the book:


"Conclusion:


Without a doubt, the Puritans helped to shape the future course of the American nation. It was both their theological and political practices, as well as their written agreements for self-government based on the Bible, that have had the greatest impact on America. The third thing every Christian should know about the founding of America is that the Puritan practice of church covenants gave rise to the concept of political covenants, compacts, and written constitutions. Ultimately, these documents did much to inspire the United States Constitution, which survives to this day."