THINK ABOUT IT « Reply #70 on Sept 16, 2009, 9:41pm »
Why Work In Government Now? by: Don Pinson
I sometimes have the question asked to me: “If these are the last days and Jesus iscoming soon, why should we be involved in government? If things are just going to get worse and worse, why try to fight it?” I sense the sincerity of people when they ask this. It does seem logical that, if indeed Jesus is about to come, we should spend these last moments of our time on earth just working to get people saved and ready for heaven. I can relate to their thinking very well. I used to think just like that. But let’s look closely at the foundation of these ideas.
It assumes we know the time of Jesus’ return; and yet the Bible says that only the Father knows for certain when that time is. Even Jesus Himself does not know when He will return. The Bible says,
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels … in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father [only].” (Mark 13:32)
So we can’t be absolutely certain this is the day when Jesus will return. While He will certainly return to this earth in a visible, bodily form, He warned us not to major on trying to figure out the exact time of that return. Likewise, for Christians to stay out of government implies that government is only a necessary evil and not part of God’s plan. This is a great deception. God says in Romans 13: 1,
“There is no [government] power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God…”
God established government before he established the church and told it to preach the Gospel. Any idea that government is not important enough to have some of our time and attention is simply not a Biblical idea!
What then about the idea that we just can’t fight the growing evil because it is prophesied in Scripture to happen in the last days; and the Bible does teach that men will
“[grow] worse and worse.” (2 Timothy 3:13)
The problem with this idea is again, that it’s based on the assumption that we’re certain these are the last days, and we just can’t be absolutely certain of that. But it also has another false idea to it. It assumes that evil overcomes righteousness, and nowhere does the Bible teach this. It teaches just the opposite:
That “we are more than conquerors” (Romans 8: 37).
Genesis 1:26 teaches that we’re the ones who are to rule in this earth. When we lay down and let evil roll over us and our children through bad government, we are acting out of the height of selfishness. We’re saying that we’re gonna sit by and let government servants make slaves of our children while we just dump the whole mess into the lap of the next generation. We’re surrendering without even a fight for the precious liberty of our children. Are we so self-centered that we don’t care what kind of suffering we bring on our children so long as we don’t have to be inconvenienced? Think about it!
And besides, the greatest reason to work to make government righteous is because it’s the right thing to do! God gave us government to protect the right to get the truth to the next generation. To not vote and work to influence government with righteousness is to count liberty as a worthless thing---when Jesus died to bring us into liberty! So we’re to work in government, even if we lost every battle until Jesus does come back. We’re to fight for righteousness in government because God ordained government to be righteous: That’s reason enough!
Thomas Jefferson said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
Are you fighting in government to make it protect your right to get the truth to your children?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
THINK ABOUT IT « Reply #71 on Sept 17, 2009, 10:49pm »
Why Socialism Doesn’t Work by: Don Pinson
Mr. Obama is being accused of moving America into full-blown socialism. Are people right in accusing him of this? If he is moving us into socialism, is this a good thing?
One of the things I often observe when some issue is being debated, is that we talk about words or subjects we haven’t even defined. Yet, Jesus changed the course of world history because He carefully explained his ideas---if the person He was talking to had the willingness to be taught.
So what is socialism anyway? I think the best description I’ve ever heard of socialism is that; it’s an economic system where “everybody owns everbody’s everything.” Let me say that again: it’s an economic system where “everybody owns everbody’s everything.”
However, it doesn’t work out to be as great as it sounds. It sounds nice to the poorer person that he could drive his neighbor’s new car instead of that beat up “clunker” he has. It sounds nice that you would own his stuff without having to work to earn it. But it doesn’t work out in practice the way it sounds in the news.
In a socialistic state, since “everybody owns everybody’s everything,” and since both you and your neighbor have a selfish nature down in your soul, the two of you might disagree as to who can use that car on a given day. And since your selfishness and his selfishness could easily conflict, neither of you gets to make that call. So who does make the decision as to who will drive the car on that day? The friends of socialism say it must be someone in government who determines that. In socialized “healthcare” (or better said, medical care), it means you don’t get to choose, along with your doctor’s advice, what treatment you will have, or what you’ll pay for it, or where it will be performed. A government employee will decide all that. And the foundation for all socialism is the elitist idea that a few people in government know better than you how you should live.
So is it right for me to own my neighbor’s property without my earning it? The Bible makes that plain in the Ten Commandments. The last one says, “Thou shalt not covet.” (In other words desire what belongs to someone else.)
The eighth one says, “Thou shall not steal.”
Nowhere in the Bible is the teaching that you and I have a right to our neighbor’s property without our earning it by paying for it.
And socialism simply does not work. The fall of it in Russia after 75 years of effort by the Russian government gives us a glaring modern day example that it just doesn’t work. China, about twenty years ago, under the same type system, was barely managing to feed her people. That was when they began to put a lot more “free enterprise” into their economic system, which, while the Chinese government would never admit it, is the Biblical way of doing business. Their economy is now booming!
Early in America’s history, the Pilgrims tried socialism. They knew it wasn’t the Biblical way to earn a living, but the businessmen who financed their trip insisted they do it. For over two years they worked a socialistic system. And they nearly starved to death! Out of necessity, in 1623, they switched to a Biblical “free enterprise” system; and they were never hungry again! That system grew into the greatest economic system the world has ever seen.
Wouldn’t it be better to do business God’s way, instead of socialism?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
THINK ABOUT IT « Reply #72 on Sept 24, 2009, 10:33pm »
Right Statement - Wrong Time by: Don Pinson
Recently, an evidence of the frustration millions of Americans are feeling with the current quick ride into socialism was heard from a South Carolina Representative as Mr. Obama was making a speech to a joint session of the Congress. As Mr. Obama was making his case for his government takeover of medicine, Representative Joe Wilson from South Carolina erupted with, “You lie!” While voices from the floor of Congress during a speech from the podium is not too unusual, the bold accusation that “You lie” is unusual. I’m not sure this has ever happened before. Generally, there’s enough respect for the office of President to keep this from happening: Not so now.
Was Representative Wilson right? While the news media and the two political parties kicked the statement around from their usual “What do I think, what do you think” philosophy, they could draw no definitive right or wrong from it. This is what happens when one leaves off principled thinking. Let’s look at this from a different perspective. The Bible says plainly,
“Thou shalt not bear false witness.” (Exodus 20:16).
That Mr. Obama is trying to hide the coverage of illegal aliens, in his so-called “health care” program, is obvious from the fuzzy language in the 1000-page proposed law. This is what prompted Rep. Wilson’s outburst. When language of a law is not definite, you can make it say anything you want when it’s later being applied. Thomas Jefferson warned us about this when he said, “Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding, and should therefore be [written] by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in…subtleties which make anything mean everything---or nothing at [one’s] pleasure.”
When our Founders created our Republic, they created the greatest government in the history of the world; and they did so by writing a law the average person can read in an hour--- our U.S. Constitution. Think about that! Why would we ever write a law that has so many words it takes a thousand pages to contain them? What is being hidden in that smokescreen of wordiness? (!) It simply is a symptom of our national government being out of control! Thus, no honest-hearted person can say that Rep. Wilson’s statement is not the truth. He simply said what many have thought, but perhaps didn’t have the courage to say. On the other hand, the Bible also says,
“Speak the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15)
This means both our reason and our timing for saying something must be right. We cannot judge Rep. Wilson’s deepest reasons for his statement, for only God knows his heart. However, we can judge the timing of a statement on the floor of our Congress. There are rules of debate that necessitate one speaker waiting for another to finish before questioning the first speaker’s position. Otherwise debate would turn into a shouting match, where absolutely nothing is accomplished (note many current TV discussions!). Thus, the Representatives’ timing of his remarks was wrong; and he should admit to the House of Representatives that the timing of his statement was wrong.
In this critical hour when our liberty is being given away at “breakneck” speed, shouldn’t we determine in our hearts to be courageous in speaking the truth? But also, that we submit to God in ‘why and when’ to speak that truth?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
THINK ABOUT IT « Reply #73 on Oct 4, 2009, 12:25am »
The Wrong Kind of Change by: Don Pinson
Washington has been rocked the last few weeks with the ACORN scandal. Here we have a tax supported social agency telling a supposed ‘pimp’ and ‘prostitute’ how to break the law and, at the same time, get a government loan with which to buy the house out of which they can operate. By the way, ACORN stands for the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now.
The ‘pimp’ and ‘prostitute’ actually turn out to be James O'Keefe, 25, and Hannah Giles, 20. This pair of young adults are really private citizens who were suspicious of ACORN’s activity, and set out to find what kind of activity this social agency, trying to reshape communities, was really doing. Their work reveals that ACORN’s “change” agents obviously have no respect for God’s moral law, or human beings. This is the kind of “change” we get when we don’t use Biblical discernment to see through what politicians are saying when they use the word “change.”
O’Keefe and Giles posed as a ‘pimp’ and ‘prostitute’ and went to ask for a loan from ACORN, which has received multiplied millions in the recent stimulus package; however, they got much more information that just how to secure their loan. In several different ACORN offices around the country they were repeatedly told how to avoid paying taxes on their ‘income.’ They were also told how to operate an unlawful prostitution ring using under-aged girls who were illegal immigrants. (Isn’t it interesting what our tax dollars support?) The most amazing thing to me in all this is that they were able to get these interviews with ACORN workers on film! They’ve been gradually releasing these films to the public via a website:
biggovernment.com
and more recently, on Fox News. It’s become so blatantly obvious to the public that there is gross misuse of government power in ACORN, that even the liberals in Congress joined with a majority of others in voting to stop ACORN’s funding. But looking deeper, what does this show us about ourselves? It reveals to us the glaring truth that a majority of us in this nation do not understand what is necessary to preserve our God-given liberties. Let me explain.
Liberty is based on Biblical morality. Without the discipline, which only the indwelling Christ can produce, we will not live a life of obedience to moral principle. Without moral principle, a republic will turn to a democracy; then shortly to anarchy, where “every man does what’s right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) The resulting selfishness creates chaos, and then violence so great that nothing can function; not family life, not education, not business, not government. This is how nations die.
George Washington taught us in his Farewell Address, which students used to have to memorize parts of, these words about the relationship of a Republic and morality: “Of all the habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
Likewise, Sam Adams, the Father of the American Revolution, warned us: "A general [dissolving] of principles...will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of a common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when they lose their virtue they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader...”
Shouldn’t we be seeking God’s morality by reading the Bible and asking Him to help us live as He created us to live? Shouldn’t we expect this same morality of our government servants?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
THINK ABOUT IT « Reply #74 on Oct 10, 2009, 9:38am »
The Growing Threat of Islam by: Don Pinson
This past week, thousands of Muslims gathered on the “mall” in front of the U.S. Capitol to pray to allah. There was much talk of peace surrounding this gathering, but on their official website there was the theme stated constantly, “Our time has come.” The leader of the gathering said that the idea was inspired by Mr. Obama’s inauguration speech; then greatly encouraged by his speeches in Egypt in June. Is this evidence of a peaceful religious gathering which wishes well for people of all faiths? Or is it the beginning of an organized presence to stamp out all other religions? How do Moslems think?
Though Islamic leaders talk peace (and some probably mean it), the reality is that their sourcebook for truth, the Koran, teaches the destruction of the peoples of other religions. It says, in Sura 9:29, “Fight those who do not believe in Allah…until they are in a state of subjection.” The ultimate goal of Islam is the subjection of all people to their god, allah; either by that peoples’ choice or by military force! There is no such thing as peace for Christians, or other faiths, in a Muslim society. Go anywhere where civil law is based on the Koran and you will see the oppression of any idea that disagrees with that book. There is no religious liberty there.
The move toward Islam has found a great ally in Barak Obama. Though he has, himself, refused to participate in the National Day of Prayer to God through Jesus Christ, he has welcomed Muslim celebrations of prayer at the White House and now, on the Capitol Building lawn. A New York Times reporter tells of his interview with Obama in which Obama stated that the Muslim call to prayer at the end of the day was “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset." Times reporter, Nicholas Kristof said that Obama then began to recite it with a “first class” Arabic accent, declaring:
“Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme…! I witness that there is no god but Allah I witness that there is no god but Allah!”
You see why the Muslims were chanting in Washington, “Our time has come?”
Likewise they believe they can take over America in the next one or two generations. And they have good grounds for believing this. Their families produce 3-4 times as many children as American families of European descent. Do the numbers. It won’t take many years before Muslims voting at the poles will outnumber all others.
So what is to be our attitude, as Christians, toward all this? Number one, we must see Muslims as the deceived people that they are---and love them by the power of Christ! allah is not God, he is a demon. His aim is to “kill, steal, and destroy” those he enslaves. We must view them as deceived. As such, our call from God is to treat them as we would any other lost person; with kindness and pray for God to grant them the grace to repent and believe in Jesus. However, that in no way means we are to sit idly by and let them put their ideas into our schools, economy, and government. We must steadfastly refuse their beliefs any opportunity to be forced on our children or our institutions. And the best way we can do this is to read the Bible through, over and over, so our mind is shaped to think with God. Then we’ll know lies when we see them. We’ll know Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life! (John 14:6)
The only safeguard of your children’s liberty is for you and me to know God well through Jesus Christ; and to think Biblically about every issue of our day. Do you read the Bible consistently? Do you obey it?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children!
Think About It..... « Reply #75 on Oct 23, 2009, 10:00am »
God’s People Are the Key by: Don Pinson
Because the great disorder of the national government threatens to destroy our liberty and reduce us to slavery, many of God’s people are in despair. They carry a great burden of concern for their children as to what kind of America they may have to live in. They fear the liberty their parents and grandparents fought and died for is now lost.
While these concerns are all valid in the light of our national government moving into more and more socialism, despair is not the proper response. When we give into despair it means we’re not viewing all this from God’s perspective. He is not shaken by some politician’s latest move. It didn’t take Him by surprise. He’s not wringing His hands on the throne, saying, “Look what they just did, what are we going to do?” No friend, the Bible tells us what He’s doing. He is actually laughing at those who are trying to throw off the yoke of His law. Listen to what He says in Psalms 2:
“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves… against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” (Ps. 2: 1-6)
Barak Obama, or some other world leader, is not in control in this earth. The Bible tells us that, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein.” (Psalms 24:1) God Almighty, the father of Jesus Christ, is in control. He is the owner of all on this earth, including you and me. You may wonder, “If that’s true, why is He allowing all this threat to our liberty?” I’m glad you asked that!
God allows us the fruit of our own thinking. He lets our own deceptions correct us. It’s a part of the “sowing and reaping” principle of which the Bible has so much to say. If we allow our thoughts to be shaped by some professor just because he has a degree after his name, or some movie star or rock star just because they’re on stage, or some news commentator just because lots of people listen to him, then we deserve what we’re getting. We are not reasoning (which Webster indicated means to think with God) through what’s being said; we are just regurgitating it. We must learn to think with God again. His Word has the answers we need. It actually teaches God has put into the hands of His people the key that determines the direction of a nation. That’s right! If you personally know Jesus Christ, you are the key! God promises us,
“If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”(2 Chronicles 7:14)
If you’re hoping God will do something to fix this mess, I tell you, He’s waiting for us to do something. He’s waiting for us, who are Christians, to acknowledge that we’ve been wrong; that our idea of what it meant to be a Christian has been bad wrong. He’s waiting for us to admit that He has the right to rule all of these lives, which we thought were our own. He’s waiting for us to stop thinking with the world and think with Him; thus returning to His order: To do as Abraham Lincoln called the nation to do in 1863:
“…to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for… forgiveness.”
Will you? Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
THINK ABOUT IT « Reply #76 on Nov 14, 2009, 1:47pm »
The Beginning of the End for Religious Liberty by: Don Pinson
October 28, 2009 may be the saddest day in American history. It was on this day that Mr. Obama signed the “hate-crimes” bill. It is now accepted as law. It basically states that any violence done to an individual because of his sexual preference, is now a federal crime. In other countries, “hate-crimes” laws have been used to try to stop the teaching of the Bible about homosexuality and other sexual perversions. In effect, this could signal the end of religious liberty and eventually force Bible believing people to speak only what is “politically correct.” If we refuse, we could be fined or jailed. Thus, the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech that has been guaranteed by our national Constitution for 220 years, may soon be gone: And without religious liberty, all other liberties are quickly lost.
We are in a war for the truth in this land. This is not a new war. It’s been raging ever since Lucifer rebelled against God and God cast him out of heaven. Since Jesus, after His resurrection, told his followers to, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,” (Mark 16:15) there has been this battle between the forces of God and the forces of satan over whether the Gospel of Christ will be taught to the next generation!
However, because America was formed for the purpose of getting the Gospel to the next generation; and because our education, economic, and governmental systems had been operated for 300 years for the purpose of getting the Gospel to the next generation, the forces of evil had been kept at bay in this land until the early 1900’s. Even after that, the fruit of our Biblical roots had brought us great blessing for many years. But in the 1960’s it began to be obvious to the honest heart that we were in trouble, and that trouble has only increased since.
So what can we do now? Is there any hope? Yes, there’s always hope in Christ; and there are things we can do. We can make certain that we don’t stop teaching the Bible---all of it; including the parts about homosexuality. Let’s make up our minds now: If we have to die because we speak the truth, we are willing. That settled, we can do other things. With that unsettled, we will be paralyzed by fear and do nothing----just like most Christians in Germany did---which allowed Hitler to take over as dictator.
We can continue to teach the truth, and pray to God that if He allows us to be arrested for it, our court case could be used to overturn this anti-Biblical, unconstitutional law. If the courts didn’t rule against it, we would be suffering no more than other followers of Jesus have done through the years. Jesus said, “For whoever shall save his life shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel’s, the same shall save it.” (Luke 9:24)
Then, next year, we can go vote out of office this anti-God group (Democrats and Republicans!) of Congressmen in Washington, and insist that the new bunch completely overturn with new laws everything this liberal Congress has done for the last year!
Perhaps you’re thinking, “That would take a lot of time, effort, and money.” You’re right! Thomas Jefferson said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
God says, “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.” (Galatians 5:1)
What means the most to you: Your children’s liberty to hear the truth, or your comfort and pleasure? Depending on how you answer that, just might identify why we’re in this mess.
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
THINK ABOUT IT « Reply #77 on Nov 20, 2009, 7:27pm »
The Government of the Pilgrims by: Don Pinson
It was November 11, 1620. After 66 days at sea, with over half that time in violent storms, they were more than ready to get off the ship. The Mayflower had just dropped anchor inside Cape Cod Bay. They had been blown off course by the storm, and deposited here, much farther north than they had intended. But they came to believe that the storm was the Lord’s way to get them to settle in this place.
These Pilgrims, as they called themselves, had come to America to have the freedom to teach their children the Bible; and to them that meant much more than teaching them how to be born again. It included teaching to their children reading, writing, and all the other academic subjects. Their Pastor, John Robinson, had taught them how to establish from the Bible the institutions of education, government, and economy. These Pilgrims were Christians who believed the Bible was true and that its teachings could be lived out in this present world. Thus, they were intent on creating a community which agreed that their children would be taught the Bible, and all the academic subjects from the principles of the Bible; and that agreed on establishing a Biblical economy to fund that teaching; as well as a Biblical government to protect that education system and that economic system so they could accomplish the Pilgrim vision.
And now that they were settling outside the territory of England, there would be no government authority by which to control any person who might do evil against that vision. So they knew they would have to establish their own government. Thus it was that, as eager as they were to get off the ship, they took time that first night to write a document that would unite them in a Biblical government. All the men signed that document which bound them all under the same governmental system. This simple document, written by common men, would come to be called The Mayflower Compact. It read as follows:
“In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten …having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these present solemnly & mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of the ends aforesaid… to enact, constitute, and frame such just & equal laws… as shall be thought most [necessary] for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
“In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11 of November… [The Year of our Lord] 1620.”
This simple document would govern them for years to come. They had established a Biblical Republic, not a democracy. It worked well because these Pilgrims were self-governed by the power of Christ’s Spirit Who indwelt them; and the community they established would grow into the greatest nation in world history.
The record speaks for itself. Shouldn’t we return to Biblical government like they established? The Bible says, “The entrance of [God’s] words brings light.” (Psalms 119:130)
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
Think About It..... « Reply #78 on Nov 26, 2009, 9:39am »
The School of the Pilgrims by: Don Pinson
The group had made great sacrifices to be able to teach their children the truth of why God made them, and of His plan for them. First, they had sold their farms in England - that had been in their families for generations - in order to be able to move to Holland, where they hoped to have the liberty to teach their children God’s truth. And while there was liberty to do it, there wasn’t the means to do it.
The parents in this group (known later as the Pilgrims) were shut out by the Dutch economy to the point there wasn’t enough money to allow them to teach their children. So many hours were spent just scraping out a living that there was no time left to educate their families.
So then, they made the second sacrifice: They got on a boat, the Mayflower, and crossed the Atlantic to come to America in order to be in a place where they could have the means and the liberty to teach their children God’s truth; and be able to teach all the academic subjects from the principles of God’s truth revealed in the Bible. The Pilgrims were taught well the truth recorded in the Bible which states,
“as a man thinks, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7)
They knew that whatever they allowed to go into their child’s mind was going to determine the direction of that child in life. They likewise knew that, without a Biblical education in history, government, and logic, their children would not know how to defend this new civil liberty they had established. Thus, they implemented Biblical methods of education, and developed textbooks that agreed with those Biblical methods.
One such textbook was The New England Primer. This was an amazing little book that taught thousands of children how to read and think. It’s Biblical approach to reading fixed in the minds of children God’s purpose for them. For example, they taught the letter A by showing how it was used in the Bible; it read: “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.” The letter C was taught by using it in the sentence: “Christ crucified, for sinners died.” The letter R was used in the rhyme, “Young, pious Ruth, left all for Truth.” Beside these statements were pictures which illustrated the experience being used to teach the letter.
On over in the The New England Primer were questions that children learned to answer by memorizing the written answers given, thus fixing Biblical truths in their mind. For example the first question asked was:
“What has God done for you?”
The answer the children then gave was:
“God has made me, He keeps me, and He can save me”.
Later in the Primer, the concept of covenant was taught, since it is the most basic concept that must be understood to maintain relationships, both to God and man. This concept would be the basis of church membership, marriage, and of civil government. The question was asked to the children:
“What does the Lord bind His people to in His covenant?”
The children were then to answer:
“To give up themselves and their [children] first to the Lord, then to the elders and [brothers] of the church…”
Then the question was asked:
“How do they give up themselves and their children to the Lord?”
The children would then answer:
“By receiving through faith the Lord and His covenant to themselves, and to their [children], and accordingly walking themselves and training up their children in the ways of the covenant.”
Does this reveal how far we’ve slid from America’s original education system?
What would this region be like if our schools taught this way to our children?
Perhaps you should start one that does!
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
It wasn’t working. The spring of 1623 saw the Pilgrims into their third year in America. But there was a serious problem. They were hungry: And because of it they had no energy with which to plow their fields and plant their crops. They knew winter would come again and with it death by starvation if they didn’t go to the fields. Yet many of them just seemed unable to get themselves moving.
Recognizing the seriousness of their situation, their Governor, William Bradford, called for a meeting of the leaders of the colony. They didn’t have to discuss their problem very long until they pinpointed what was wrong. It was the socialistic economy they were trying to labor under. They had long known this. The businessmen who had financed their trip had insisted they live by a common storehouse. In other words, they were to put all their produce into one storehouse, no matter which family had raised that produce. Then, they were to take out as little as they could get by with for their own needs, and send the rest of it back to England to their financiers as payment for their debt. The Pilgrims knew this would not work, but the businessmen insisted this is how they must do it. The Pilgrims knew the Scripture taught that, “If any would not work, neither should he eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10) And they knew that even Christian people, like themselves, had to know they could “reap what they sowed,” if they were to produce well. However, they felt they had no choice. They had to pay for their voyage, and they certainly did not have that kind of money themselves. Thus, they submitted to an anti-Biblical economic system.
They had tried diligently to make it work for 2 1/2 years. But an economic system outside the order of God revealed in the Bible, simply was not going to work well. They knew they had to change this. The leaders agreed that each family should have their own private property; that they should stake a plot of land and be able to keep most everything they raised on that spot for their own families. However, they did owe a debt to the businessmen in England who had paid for their trip. So they agreed to take 20% of the crops of each family as a means of paying their debt. The tax would cease once the debt was paid. It worked wonderfully! Governor Bradford would report,
“It made all hands industrious…” (Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford)
They were soon collecting more from the 20% than they had before when the government was keeping most all of the produce. The Biblical principle that a man should be able to do with his own what he chose (Matthew 20:15), was proving to be true. Families worked harder and produced more when they could keep the proceeds from their labor.
Our national government should take a lesson. Government ownership of business, including the medical insurance industry through a so-called “health care system,” is a recipe for disaster! The Pilgrims already tried socialism in this land and it didn’t work. Let’s not buy this lie again!
The Pilgrims were never hungry again after instituting a Biblical Free Enterprise system. The greatest economic engine in world history grew out of that simple change to private ownership that took place in the spring of 1623. It made the American economy the most prosperous in all of history.
Why would we want to change back to a poverty economy? Do we want to give a dead economy to our children?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you.
![[Search This Thread]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/search2.gif)
![[Send Topic To Friend]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/sendtopic.gif)
![[Print]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/print.gif)
Author
![[avatar]](http://101hb.tripod.com/b/claylive/advatar/don.JPG)
![[homepage]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/www_sm.gif)
Logged![[image]](http://101hb.tripod.com/c/h.JPG)