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Post by Heritage Ministries on Jul 31, 2010 9:17:01 GMT -5
Foundational Ideas of America by: Don Pinson
Four generations of Americans have now been taught that this nation was birthed out of ideas from many different cultures: That America is the great ‘melting pot’ of ideas. While it is true America has descendants from many nations which make up her citizenry, the men who birthed this nation were very much alike in their basic view of life and the world. The effort to hide from us their beliefs is designed to destroy the very liberty we cherish.
In 1843, Emma Willard, educator and historian, identified both the characteristics of the young republic of the United States and the reason for its emerging greatness. Her words give us insight, which, if taught to our children, will protect God’s precious gifts to us of “life, liberty, and property”. She wrote:
“The government of the United States is acknowledged by the wise and good of other nations, to be the most free, impartial, and righteous government of the world; but all agree, that for such a government to be sustained for many years, the principles of truth and righteousness, taught in the Holy Scriptures, must be practiced. The rulers must govern in the fear of God, and the people obey the laws.”
Since Emma Willard lived in the very next generation after America was founded, this statement, made in 1843, gives us great insight into the way our Founders thought. She learned to think from teachers who were part of America’s Founding generation. Her statement, recorded in her History of the United States, reveals not only the success of the young American republic, it also identifies the Bible as the source of the ideas, which had brought about that success.
Indeed the truth of the “Holy Scriptures” is the only means of lasting success. Nearly four thousand years ago God had told Joshua, the leader of Israel, how to be successful. It’s recorded in the Bible:
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Josh. 1:8)
Only by knowing and obeying the teachings of the Bible will we walk in liberty as a nation. And likewise the teachings of the Bible must be given the right to be heard in our schools and public places. Chief Justice John Marshall, who served on our Supreme Court from 1801-1835, made this plain. Remember this is the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in our Founding Father generation: He said,
"The American population is entirely Christian, and with us Christianity and Religion are identified. It would be strange indeed, if…our institutions did not presuppose Christianity, and did not often refer to it, and exhibit relations with it."
Ladies and Gentlemen, Chief Justice Marshall has just said our institutions, like education and government, should often refer to Christian teachings and have good relations with the Christian religion. If these ideas made America the greatest nation in world history, why is it that so many government servants, especially in Washington, are ridiculing those ideas?
Any doubt as to what ideas birthed America -- and that those ideas are necessary to sustain it? Shouldn’t our schools be teaching what the Bible says about God and man? Shouldn’t our government servants live by the morality taught in the Bible? Shouldn’t they write, administrate, and judge law according to the teachings of the Bible?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Sept 6, 2010 10:49:26 GMT -5
Is Revival Beginning? by: Don Pinson
Last week, our son, Joel, and I had the opportunity of working behind the scenes in a new movie Kirk Cameron is filming about the Biblical roots of this nation. Dr. Paul Jehle, of Plymouth Rock Foundation, is portrayed as a friend who is introducing Kirk to the historical roots of America. Kirk asks him questions as they visit the different landmarks in Plymouth, Mass. where the Pilgrims landed and began this nation. It promises to be a very moving story of a successful man in America who is telling his children what ideas made possible his success. In his narrative to his children he will identify the Pilgrims’ Biblical thinking as the foundation on which all American success has been built. And while I don’t know the exact wording of the script, I expect it will reveal that the Biblical understanding the Pilgrims had of education, economy, and government is what grew America into the greatest nation in world history. The movie is already receiving national attention in that Kirk Cameron has been invited by Glenn Beck to speak to hundreds of Pastors in the massive Washington Rally and tell them about the movie, named Monumental.
While there in New England, we also met with a number of Pastors and intercessors in different settings. I was greatly blessed by the sincere praying they are doing; and the Lord is obviously moving. There is much more unity that just a few years ago, which is evidenced by churches coming together for “solemn assemblies” as well as other types of meetings. Not long ago a Conference led by Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin drew hundreds of young adults. One new worship group I met has written some very powerful songs concerning the state of our nation, calling us to repentance.
But the praying is the thing I was most impressed with. While most things in New England are very structured and limited to a certain time frame, some of the prayer meetings I attended were wonderfully free in their expression of praise and love to the Lord Jesus. They were really trying to listen to His voice as He led them out in what to pray about and how they should pray. This reality in prayer has always been the hallmark of revival and this is what causes me to be encouraged that the Lord may be beginning revival in this land. The Lord has made us the wonderful promise, “Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:3)[/b]
He’s not looking for eloquent or fancy prayers, but rather the genuinely humble heart. He says, “When you pray, do not use vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” (Matthew 6: 7)
The Lord is looking for honest, simple, sincere praying that is the expression of a genuine, humble heart. This is the pray He answers. We say we believe God answers prayer. We admire those who pray. We buy books and listen to teaching concerning prayer. But the real question is: Do I pray? Do I meet God alone daily? Do I rearrange my schedule so I can pray with others when they gather for a genuine prayer meeting: Not a meeting where we take prayer requests for 20 minutes and then pray for 2!
If God does send revival to this falling nation, how will you relate the story of it to your grandchildren? Will you tell them about the great meetings where people prayed and repented? Or will you tell them about the great meetings where we prayed and repented?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 7, 2010 7:15:31 GMT -5
Register to Vote - and Vote! by: Don Pinson
In 2008 Americans were told, “Vote for change!” And because conservatives were very discouraged with the Republican Party candidates, who didn’t seem much different from the liberal ones, many of them did not go to the polls - and did we ever get change! Mr. Obama and this current Congress have plunged us headlong into a Maxist government that will, in the next few years using the laws already passed, completely remove our liberty.
But it is what we chose. We chose because we didn’t choose.
You say, “Don, that sounds like double-talk.”
Well, let me explain. We chose not to go to the polls and vote, and therefore, we let others choose for us and our children what would happen in our future. While the number of Bible believing people who vote has increased some the last ten years, still at least half of us have not gone to the polls! The bottom line of all this: Many of those who say they believe the Bible are disobeying the Bible by not protecting their children’s liberty with their vote. The Bible says, “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free…” (Galatians 5:1)
This is a reference to the liberty in our spirit which Christ brings when we receive Him as our Savior and Master. But since civil liberty is the fruit of internal liberty, it is also a reference to God commanding us to protect our civil liberty so the truth can flow freely to the next generation.
What we’re really dealing with here is a satanic effort to discourage conservatives, and particularly Christian conservatives, from going to the polls and voting. And you can be sure there are many in government who have been deceived by him and do not want us to vote. But the Father of our original education system, Noah Webster, warned us what would happen if we didn’t vote, or if we voted for the wrong people. He taught,
“In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular [party] of the candidate - look to his character.... When a citizen gives his [vote] to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor, he betrays the interest of his country."
So what can we do to stem this floodtide of evil that is coming from Washington?
Number one, we can pray against it. But if you pray with a genuine heart, you’re going to find yourself being urged by God to go vote on Nov. 2nd. But remember: You can’t vote if you don’t register to vote. Many, many Bible believing people are not registered to vote. You must get to the clerk’s office and register to vote by Oct. 4th. Or even better, why not have a voter registration drive in your local church. This is completely legal so long as you don’t try to influence people toward one party or the other. Help get people who are Bible believing people registered by picking up for them some registration cards.
Liberals in both parties know that almost no one with their ideas can be elected if conservatives get to the polls and vote. So what is to be our response to all this? It is simple! Get registered to vote and then vote! And vote Biblical convictions! Vote for the person who stands nearest the Bible position on issues, regardless of party.
Charles Finney, the greatest revival preacher America ever saw, wisely told us: “God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics…”
Are you registered to vote? Do you vote? Do you vote for the candidate who stands nearest the Bible position on issues?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 13, 2010 19:46:27 GMT -5
Teach the Children Biblically by: Don Pinson
Not long ago I had a neat conversation with a friend of mine. He and his wife just started homeschooling their children and he had some questions, knowing that our family homeschooled for 13 years. It was wonderful to hear the excitement and the nervousness all rolled up into one ball of commitment to the future of their children. It took me back to the days when we first began our homeschool.
The fondest memories I have are those days when I began to teach our children all the academic subjects from the principles of the Bible. Oh yes, we had textbooks, which others who had worked in Christian education had put together. But we were very careful to select those texts which used the methodology of the Bible to teach the academic subjects. We didn’t use texts, which had been written by humanists; neither did we use texts which tried to, quote, “Christianize” humanistic methods by just adding Bible verses or Christian symbols to the text, but which left the method of teaching unchanged. We tried to rediscover and teach the method America’s Founders had used in teaching their children. We reasoned: After all, if their method produced the greatest nation in world history, why would we want to change it? We believed we should duplicate it---not change it! And we’re very pleased with the type of character and reasoning ability it produced in our children.
The Bible teaches both the reason for education and the method with which to educate. It says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
If we will teach children; then correct them to their face with the standard the Bible sets for that subject; then show them how to do it right and walk them through doing it right; and though out all this process insist that they live according the righteous standard which the Bible teaches, you will furnish a child with all he needs to be a success in life.
America’s Founders believed in this kind of education. Sam Adams, the Father of the American Revolution once wrote: “Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity and universal philanthropy, and, in subordination to these great principles, the love of their country; of instructing them in the art of self-government without which they never can act a wise part in the government of societies, great or small; in short, of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.”
Shouldn’t you be leading your children “in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system?” Shouldn’t this be the aim of all our educational institutions, private or public? After all, isn’t self-discipline the real aim of education?
Nothing works without it!
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 15, 2010 15:59:01 GMT -5
Do Gospel and Government Mix? by: Don Pinson
Recently a young friend of mine sent me an article he was disturbed about. A man who, no doubt, is a sincere believer, was saying Christians should not be involved in government because, as he said, “God’s kingdom isn’t here on earth”. He went on to put forth the idea that our work as Christians is to share the Gospel with the lost, not to lobby in government.
This is a common mistake I hear believers make. They divide life into the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘secular’ parts. In their thinking, neither is suppose to affect the other.
Is God’s kingdom only in heaven? If that were true, why did God say in Genesis 1:26 that the reason He made us was so we would be “in His image, after His likeness, and have dominion over…all the earth”? If we were made to look like God, live like God, and rule like God, as this verse teaches, who’s kingdom did He desire to be on this earth?
Perhaps you’re thinking, but that was before man sinned in the Garden. Is it still the will of God for us to rule with His authority in this present world? Then also answer this: Why did Jesus teach us to pray, after the fall of man into sin, “Father…Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth as it’s being done in heaven”? (Matt. 6:10) Did Jesus not say, “The kingdom of God is within you?” (Lk. 17:21)
It has always been the will of God to live inside believers and rule through them in this world. He desires first to rule through us over our own fleshly desires. This is internal self-government. It is achieved as we submit to His indwelling Holy Spirit and believe that Christ took to the Cross all that was against His will. Others see the ‘dominion of the King of heaven’ in us as we live this way. Literally, it is “Christ in us, the hope of glory,” ruling us internally and living His life through us in this present world. Christ’s kingdom is shown through us now, on this earth!
If Christ can live through an individual and rule that individuals’ life, why could He not live through two individual’s, a husband and a wife, and rule a family’s life. If He could live through one family’s life, why couldn’t He live through a group of families? Thus, the kingdom of God would be coming on this earth through those families. We’re not saying those individuals in those families would be perfect; but we are saying the general course of their lives would show the indwelling rule of Christ.
If Christ could live through a group of families, wouldn’t that be a community allowing Christ to express His life through them? What kind of education, economic, and governmental systems would that community have? Wouldn’t the kingdom of God be being expressed through those institutions of their culture? Would their education system teach the Gospel and it principles in all subjects of their schools? Wouldn’t that civil government protect that kind of education system?
Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s exactly what our Pilgrim forefathers did when they came to this country in 1620. Later, our Founding Fathers codified into law a national government which would protect that vision by civil law. That’s what makes this nation unique among all the nations of the world!
Samuel Adams, the Father of the American Revolution, stood up after the Declaration of Independence had just been signed and declared, “This day we have restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. And from the rising to the setting sun: “May His kingdom come!”
Don’t be deceived into leaving God’s kingdom in heaven! Americans never thought that way until the 1920’s when liberalism began to steal from us the belief that God is Sovereign in this present world.
Don’t leave God in heaven! You’ll only miss out! He’ll show up in somebody else’s life and change this world! He is Lord of All!
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you: And you won’t like what that brings to you.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 19, 2010 8:38:05 GMT -5
True Prayer Is Our Hope for America by: Don Pinson
It had been extremely hot and dry. There had hardly been any rain for 12 weeks. The corn and other crops had wilted and looked to be beyond reviving. This would mean starvation come winter. There was no hope in their own ability to fix this situation. But this group had learned to trust God, their Creator, as God, their Sustainer. Thus, they called for a day of fasting and prayer to seek God’s face as to why He had withheld the rain. After genuine repentance and worship that day in 1623, the rain began to fall that very night and to their astonishment, their corn revived and produced wonderfully that summer. The Pilgrims proved, once again, that prayer to God Almighty, the Father of Jesus Christ, is the way to move things in this world!
In the midst of our current crisis, we must remember that it is not up to us, but the Lord Himself, to change our hearts and forms of government. While our part is to work with Him in what He’s doing, our praying will be what ultimately wins this battle. God stirs us to prayer, reminding us, “…you have not because you ask not; you ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it on your own lusts.” (James 4:2-3)
Others, beside the Pilgrims, have proven this throughout history.
George Washington prayed earnestly at Valley Forge. He prayed for help in training his army which was made up of volunteers who were not soldiers. That winter of 1778 God answered his prayer and gave him a volunteer from Prussia, Baron Von Steuben, an officer from the Prussian army who had a passion for drill. By the time spring came the Americans had become an army who could move as a unit, and fire crisp volleys every 15 seconds. Our enemies would be amazed at the change in our army.
Washington also prayed for food for his army. And though Congress had no means to provide it, God did; for we were fighting to preserve the liberty to take His Gospel to the next generation. Wealthy businessmen, like Robert Morris and Thomas Nelson, would time and again send huge sums of money to aid Washington in his fight for liberty. And God did an even greater miracle by sending fish up the river in Valley Forge two months ahead of their normal migration time (which was April). The soldiers harvested those fish with pitchforks that cold February day and were literally saved from starvation! God moved again in answer to the humble prayers of Washington and others.
Prayer is our foundational hope to return us to our roots. The Lord will answer the prayers of His people concerning matters in this earth! God says in Jeremiah 33:3
“Call unto me, and I will answer thee; and show thee great and mighty things which you know not.”
At another critical time in our nation’s history we were urged to pray. When our Constitution was being written it looked, at one point, as if the whole Convention might break up and a United States never be born. At precisely this moment an 81 year-old man, Ben Franklin, stood to his feet and reminded the delegates of their meetings in this very room 20 years before. He stated,
“In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection. – Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending Providence in our favor. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend?”
Fellow Americans, “Let us not forget “this powerful friend?”
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 21, 2010 8:25:31 GMT -5
Can Someone Else Fix Us? by: Don Pinson
The nation was no longer doing well. The economy was down. The citizens had lost their vision, their reason for being a nation; consequently, they were using their time to gain money for pleasure. Sensuality was becoming more and more what was seen in dress and events of their nation. A neighboring nation was casting longing eyes toward the rich land to the north and east. And though, briefly, when there had been a serious threat to their national security, they had returned to the God of their fathers, now they had slipped back into their old ways. But this time, instead of admitting their sin, and returning to the truth of the way God had taught them to live, they began to look for a man to solve their present national crisis. Though the spokesman of God warned them this move would bring them into deep slavery, they kept persisting in wanting an individual to fix their mess, rather than them taking responsibility for it and changing the way they personally lived. They were looking for an external solution instead of an internal one. They cried out,
“… now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (1 Samuel 8: 4)
And though Samuel, the prophet of God, warned them with strong words what results when a people give up their liberty for a dictator’s promises of security, they refused to listen. He raised his voice and declared:
“And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20That we also may be like all the [other] nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8: 18-20)
Security always has its appeal to humans because of the deep insecurity we have as a result of leaving the God who is our Provider and Protector. It sounds good when someone promises us they will provide us medical care by a national health plan, but the truth is it will force us to use the doctors they pick for us. Is that security? Do you want some surgeon opening up your child when that man doesn’t value life the way you do?
It sounds good when someone promises to take care of you in old age with Social Security and Medicaid, but what’s going to happen when the people who administer that program don’t value life the way you do? And they say, “Well, you’re no longer productive in society, so we’ll just relieve you of your suffering.” Which is just another way of saying we’ll kill you so we don’t have to pay you any more retirement benefits.
It sounds good when someone says; we’re going to provide education for every child through tax dollars. But what happens if those government workers who distribute those education dollars don’t have your values about life? What if they desire to get control of the way your children think so they can control them---and you? What if they want to teach them there is no God; that Jesus Christ was a liar; that we’re just animals who ought to gratify whatever desire we have? What if they want to teach your children that a few who are “super intelligent” should rule the rest of us, without us having any say about the laws?
Remember, “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)
Robert Winthrop, Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1854, warned us, “Men…must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a power [outside] them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man…”
Which would you rather be controlled by?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 23, 2010 8:30:55 GMT -5
Christian Attitude Toward Moslems by: Don Pinson
On June 6th this year, 5-10,000 people gathered at “ground zero,” the site of the collapsed twin towers of the World Trade Center, to protest the proposed building of a Moslem mosque. To this multi-racial and ethnic group, the building of a Moslem mosque on the site where over 3000 Americans were killed by men who got their ideas from that religion, would be a slap in the face of the families who lost loved ones on that tragic day. To them it would be like if, in 1950, the Japanese had wanted to erect a statue in Pearl Harbor to their Emperor who sanctioned the attack there in December of 1941. Mr. Obama has added much fuel to this fire by pretending to be, first on the side of the Moslems, then on the side of the families of the victims. It is interesting that not one major news network sent film crews to this very public event. It seems obvious there’s a huge plan to turn us to globalism and remove our national sovereignty.
So what is to be Christians’ attitude toward Moslems? What does the Bible have to say about this issue? Jesus said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor… Love your enemies, do good to them that despitefully use you and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father in heaven: For He makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good…” (Matthew 5:43-45)
Our only response to Muslims, as well as all others, is to love them and with acts of kindness, which open the door to a verbal witness, tell them of the Christ, Jesus; Who made them, loves them, and died and rose again for them so they can become all that He created them to be.
However, just because God commands us to love them, that does not mean we are to compromise with their religious philosophy. Muslims are deceived people. And because they are deceived people, we cannot let their philosophy into our education, economic, or governmental systems. Remember, all law is just the codification of some religious belief. There are no exceptions to that truth. Muslim philosophy is built on the idea of “top-down” rule. Their philosophy will destroy every vestige of liberty! We are not to elect them to government, or let them teach their philosophy in our schools!
Because the issue here is: What religion will be the basis of our law? And remember: All law is just the codification of some religious belief. Law is always based in somebody’s religion. There is no such thing as “secular law.” And remember the words attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation, will be the philosophy of government in the next.”
So while we love Moslems and people of all other religions, we must adamantly refuse their ideas any right to infiltrate our educational and political systems. This is not an option if we are to stay free in America. So separating in our minds the difference in loving people and refusing their ideas in our institutions, is an absolute must if we want to avoid living in a dictatorship.
So where does this leave us today? We must restore Biblical understanding to our children if liberty is to be preserved, while at the same time, loving all who are around us.
But we can’t love if we don’t have Christ flowing through us. Neither can we discern law unless we have Christ flowing through us. We can’t live real life in this world, or the next, if we don’t know Christ as our Master and our Deliverer. Have you changed your mind about who really owns that life that has your name attached to it? Have you bowed your knee to Jesus Christ as your Lord?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 26, 2010 20:38:42 GMT -5
The Book Speaks With Finality by: Don Pinson
If you watch TV talk shows (which I hope you do very little of!), you hear man’s opinions batted back and forth in an endless stream of words that is monotonous. It reveals the basis of all world-thought. It is simply: “What do I say - What do you say?”
There is no higher standard than our own opinion. What tragedy this sets us up for. With man’s selfish nature we received in the Garden of Eden for our rebellion against God, the ultimate manifestation of expressing our own opinions with no outside standard is always strife between individuals, families, and nations. With our drift away from Biblical standards, is it any wonder there is such an increase in assault and murder crimes---and in war itself? John Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence, identified the fruit of man’s opinions in government when he stated, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There has never yet been a democracy which didn't commit suicide."
Yet, there is a much better way! Jesus, in praying to His Father the night before He was crucified, said these words: “Thy Word is truth.” (John 17:17)
What a simple, yet profound statement! The Bible, Jesus said, was absolute truth! Here is hope for the settlement of differences between individuals. Here is something outside ourselves which can say to disagreeing parties which one is right---or if both are wrong. Here is a rock-solid point of reference, such as a lighthouse is for a storm-battered ship.
What hope this Word presents!
It is only a negative for those who want to continue to rule their own life instead of submitting their will to the will of their Creator, through receiving His Son, Jesus Christ, as their Master; the One Who can deliver them from their selfishness and replace it with His love for both God and man.
This Book speaks to us with finality about everything that is important to us. It speaks with certainty about Creation and why we are alive; about our sin against God in Eden and the forgiveness and restoration He’s provided through Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension. Of the books of all the great religions in the world, the Bible stands alone in speaking the truth about the purpose and structure of family; and parents’ responsibility to get the truth to their children. Only the Bible reveals the purpose of the church and how it should be structured. Only the Bible reveals the standard for morality in both men and nations.
When Abe Lincoln received a copy of it from some grateful black folks, he stated, “…This great book…is the best gift God has given to man...But for it, we could not know right from wrong…”
And most importantly for us, it is the only guidebook on how to spend eternity with God instead of being in an endless hell of fire. The Bible says: “But as many as received Him, to them gave he the right to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His Name.” (John 1:12) And then, “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life. He that believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.” (John 3:36)
It was 1829, John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was facing eternity. Shortly before his death, he was asked by someone at his bedside if he had any words for his children. He responded simply: “They have the Book.”
Are you trusting your own thoughts? Or are you trusting the Book, the Bible?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 28, 2010 17:19:56 GMT -5
Voting-An Act of Obedience to God by: Don Pinson
With the false slant the secular media gives its reporting, and the support of universities in propagating that viewpoint, some people wonder if there is any purpose in fighting this war for the preservation of liberty. Through their rhetoric, these ‘change agents’ of our culture try to discourage us from going to the polls to vote. Is there any good reason for those who try to live by the Bible to vote?
Yes! Absolutely yes! Let us not forget that first and foremost of all, our vote is not about its effect. Our vote is not primarily about whom we elect. It is most importantly an act of obedience to the God who created us. In America’s first dictionary, written when we weren’t ashamed to name the Name of Jesus Christ in public places, Noah Webster defined the word vote as coming from a root word meaning, “Our solemn vow to God”!
Our vote is an act of agreement with God in His work of protecting the right of the next generation to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and thus, to have the opportunity to become all He created them to become. Our vote is our sacred opportunity to preserve liberty for our children!
The Bible teaches that electing our rulers is a privilege given by God. He told the Jews in Moses’ day, “Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers…” (Ex. 18:21)
We find from Deuteronomy 1:13 that these men were elected by the people. It says there, “Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them [rulers] over you.”
If you’ve received Jesus Christ as your Master, He lives inside you. When you vote, under His direction, you are allowing Him to rule through your vote. This is what makes your vote so sacred. It is your “solemn vow to God” that you want Him to rule the state and nation of which you’re part. You’re returning to Him the gift of ‘self-government’ He’s entrusted to you.
He blessed us with this liberty for the purpose of protecting the next generation’s right to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and by receiving Him as Lord, begin to become all God created them to become. Voting for candidates who stand for God’s moral principles in the Bible is a must if our children are to remain free. Those who believe in abortion, gambling, and homosexuality, do not believe what God teaches in the Bible about morality; and thus, will make government a tool of satan to destroy the liberty of our children. We simply must vote against such candidates. Their opposition may not be all we’d like, but we must stand with those who stand nearest to the Biblical position on moral issues.
Charles Finney, the attorney who became the greatest evangelist of the first half of the 19th century, summed it up for us; he stated:
"The church must take right ground in regards to politics...
The time has come for Christians to vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse them..."
"...politics are a part of religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to their country as a part of their duty to God..."
"God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics."
Are you taking “right ground in regards to politics…?” When you vote, are you thinking about your children, or yourself?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Nov 1, 2010 15:42:19 GMT -5
Go Vote! by: Don Pinson
With the election only a few days away, the candidates are fervently pushing their agendas, trying to convince us we should trust them with the future of our children. That is what’s at stake, you know. They promise us ‘all will be well’ if we give them our vote.
But you may be thinking, “With all the lies politicians have told us through the years, why should we even bother to vote?” Well, in the last two generations, many have decided not to. We now think we’ve had a good voter turnout if 45% of those registered to vote get to the polls. Not to mention the huge numbers who haven’t cared enough to even register. How sad!
Why has this happened? Since the 1920’s most of our universities have been teaching that there is no God, and that life is all about us, and our pleasure. Without knowing that the God of the Bible created us in an instant of time, we have no association with Him, which means we have no reason for self worth, or for committing our lives to worthwhile tasks. We simply “live for the weekend” as many put it.
This spills over into the governmental realm. People who live for pleasure are sent to the halls of government. They, in turn, make laws to protect their pleasure. Note the push for abortion and homosexuality. Those movements are the fruit of this thinking. This, in turn, produces disillusionment in the voters, most of whom are against these things. As a result voters say, “What’s the use in voting?”
Without being connected to our Creator, we have no reason to live for anyone else but ourselves. We think less and less about our children and grandchildren. Therefore we drop out of the institutions of the culture, including government. We don’t vote because we don’t know why our vote is important.
We’re greatly deceived! Living for one’s own desires creates the lie in our thinking that responsibility is to be avoided instead of welcomed.
In reality the very reason we should welcome responsibility, including voting, is because we are made in the image of God with the capacity to let Him indwell us and think through our thought processes. If we bow our will to Jesus Christ and admit that this life is His, not ours, and then receive Him as both Savior and Lord, He will step inside us and begin to live His life through us. Then the Bible describes our life as “not I, but Christ.” (Galatians 2:20)
His indwelling life begins to think and feel through us. The more we read the Bible and submit to its instruction, the more Christ releases His life through us. That type of citizen is the one best equipped to decide who will be a good government servant. Since Jesus is described in Isaiah as carrying the “government on His shoulders,” those He indwells should be the best at choosing their leaders in government.
Indeed, America’s first dictionary actually links voting to one’s relationship with God.
Noah Webster defined the word vote as our, “Solemn vow to God!”
Voting is a transaction between the citizen and God; and as such, we will stand before Him and give an account as to if we voted and, how we voted!
The Bible says, “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free" (Galatians 5:1)
Voting is a simple process, which allows you to protect the liberty of your children. Go do it! Remember, it’s their future that’s at stake! Go Vote!
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Nov 4, 2010 11:13:24 GMT -5
Will Revival Come?”
by: Don Pinson
Billions of dollars went out last year in a so-called “stimulus package.” The economy continues to falter, though Washington would tell us things are better: But - over 500,000 people gathered in Washington, in August, to pray and call America back to the Biblical thinking of our Founding Fathers.
Mr. Obama refused White House participation in the National Day of Prayer, though he’s honored every kind of Muslim intrusion into our nation: But - near 400 students meet every morning at Harlan County High School to - pray and study the Scripture.
Nancy Pelosi and Mr. Obama ramroded a so called “health-care plan” through the Congress, which has all the elements necessary to completely destroy our liberty in America: But - more than 2000 people met in Plymouth, Massachusetts in September to spend an entire afternoon just worshipping and repenting for the sins of the nation.
This Washington administration continues to leave our borders wide open to every kind of person who wants to sneak into this country, and bring with them their heathen philosophy in an effort to melt us into a worldwide government that will destroy our sovereignty and suppress true Christianity: But - early morning prayer meetings for revival are being held all over our region.
The Bible says, “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 will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
The greatest revival preacher in American history, Charles Finney, knew better how to recognize revival - when it was needed, and when it was about to come - than perhaps anyone who’s ever lived in this nation. Should his analysis of the nearness of revival encourage us right now?
He states: “When the wickedness of the wicked grieves and humbles… Christians… [and]drives Christians to prayer, and breaks them down…so that they can weep day and night, and… they pray earnestly for [the wicked]. Then you may expect a revival. Indeed this is a revival begun already. Sometimes the wicked will get up an opposition to [Christianity]. And when this drives Christians to their knees in prayer to God, with strong crying and tears, you may be certain there is going to be a revival.
The prevalence of wickedness is no evidence…that there is not going to be a revival. That is often God's time to work. “When the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him.” Often the first indication of a revival, is the devil's getting up something new in opposition…
Frequently the most outrageous wickedness of the ungodly is followed by a revival. If Christians are made to feel that they have no hope but in God, and if they have sufficient feeling left to care for the honor of God and the salvation of the souls of the impenitent, there will certainly be a revival. Let hell boil over if it will, and spew out as many devils as there are stones in the pavements, if it only drives Christians to God in prayer - they cannot hinder a revival. Let Satan… sound his horn as loud as he pleases; if Christians will only be humbled and pray, they shall soon see God's naked arm in a revival of [Christianity].”
Wickedness in America is driving God’s people to our knees. Is revival about to occur?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Nov 13, 2010 8:48:57 GMT -5
This Is Not the Time to Celebrate! by: Don Pinson
As the returns came in from this election just past, many were exuberant with the changes being made. Many Conservatives rejoiced at the ousting of many Liberals who had been in office. With conservatives taking over the U.S. House of Representatives many declared a new day was dawning. And the uprising among voters declaring their dissatisfaction with Obama’s and Pelosi’s move toward socialism and communism was, indeed, a heartening thing to see. However, I remember similar celebrations in 1980 when Ronald Reagan was first elected. I recall how Christians celebrated that there was finally someone in the White House who was pro-life, pro-family, and pro-American! I also remember the same type of celebration which took place in 1994 when the Republicans took control of Congress after Bill Clinton’s shocking moves toward a national health care plan, and his acceptance of the homosexual agenda, not to mention his promotion of abortion. But we had some hard lessons to learn.
We learned through the Reagan years that for all the good a President could do, this mess we were in couldn’t be fixed by one man. After his election the church, which had temporarily risen up to elect him, went back to “governmental sleep,” assuming we could now go back to our church socials and occasional evangelistic fervor because we had a President who was going to fix things. That “sleep” would cause us to be so drowsy that in 1992 we couldn’t even figure out what kind of man Bill Clinton was, and the Christian vote elected him to the Presidency.
After a two year shock (which was only a hint of the shock we would get with Obama’s first two years!) - after a two year shock, we reacted and believed the Republicans when they wanted to make a Contract with America, promising to fix the mess we were in. Many bought in to it and elected the first Republican Congress since 1952. Christians greatly celebrated that now our troubles were over; and promptly went back to sleep again---our personal thinking unchanged. After 12 years when the Republicans didn’t act that much different from the Democrats, we elected a Democrat Congress and two years ago, a Democrat moved into the White House. He promised change: And did we get change!
Now we’ve again sent more conservatives to government offices. This time the message has been: No more Republican or Democrat machine; we want true Conservatives. Will these fix the mess America’s in? NO! Because America’s downfall has not been the result of her elected leaders; they’ve only been the fruit of her problem.
Our problem has been that most of us don’t think Biblically about life in this world. Our elected government servants are always only the fruit of our thinking. For all the good this new Congress may do, they won’t fix America’s mess. Our change must be internal. We must learn to, once again, think Biblically about all of life; including education, economy, and government. We must return to the conviction that, “The ways of the Lord are right…” (Psalms 33:4)
It is as Robert Winthrop, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, declared in 1849, "Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet.”
So, should we be celebrating our political victory - or repenting for our ignorance and disobedience to God’s Word?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Nov 16, 2010 18:24:11 GMT -5
The Pilgrims: "Who Were They?” (Part 1) by: Don Pinson
November is the month of the Thanksgiving Day holiday in America. But why do we have Thanksgiving? We know the Pilgrims held the first Thanksgiving Day in 1621, which was the first harvest time they had here. They wanted to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His protection and provision in this new world they had entered. They indeed, wanted it to be a new world! They came here to start a new culture based on the Word of God; and that's exactly what they did!
One of the greatest descriptions of the Pilgrims I've ever read was written by Billy Graham in the November, 2002 issue of Decision magazine. I want to quote him at length: Dr. Graham begins:
"Emerson once said that 'all history resolves itself...into the biography of a few stout and earnest persons.' It is appropriate at this season that we honor "a few stout and earnest" Englishmen---the Pilgrims---who left their native land in search of freedom to worship God."
"This is a day of cynicism, yet no amount of cynicism or ridicule can take away what the Pilgrims did more than 380 years ago."
"The Mayflower's voyage to the new world was a "survival test" on a huge scale. The passengers had sold their possessions and had to work for years to pay for their passage. The ship had no heat or plumbing. Storms raged, and a main beam cracked in mid-ocean."
“But after more than two months on the Atlantic Ocean, this band of 102 people arrived before Christmas, 1620. William Bradford, their governor, wrote in his journal, “Being thus arrived at a good harbor, and brought safely to land, they fell on their knees and blessed the God of heaven Who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof."
What a celebration that must have been!
"But just after Christmas a serious sickness broke out, and in the next three months nearly half the Pilgrims died. Hunger and illness stalked them, but they never wavered in their purpose."
"Today if these Pilgrims could observe our troubled world with its disillusioned outlook, its rebelliousness and its erosion of traditional values, they would be not only dismayed, but also shocked. However, since their time, certain things have not changed. There is still lust, greed, hatred and prejudice in the human heart. There is still persecution and war in the world. (Dr. Graham says) With all of the world's churches and universities, we would do well to go back to the church and the school of early Plymouth to see what those pioneers can teach us."
Dr. Graham is certainly right, though we'll have to wait till next time to hear what he says the Pilgrims left us as an example to follow. It's sad that present public school textbooks, and TV mini-series, as well as the news media give us such an un-true view of what the Pilgrims were like. Either through ignorance or by design, the liberal, "education elite" teach us that the Pilgrims were a little band of castaways washed up onto New England's rocky shore and just, quote, "lucked" their way into becoming the greatest nation in world history. That's not what great statesmen who lived closer to their time thought about them.
Daniel Webster, one of the greatest lawyers America ever produced said, as he was reflecting on who the Pilgrims and Puritans were:
"...Our fathers were brought here by their high [respect] for the Christian religion... They sought to incorporate its principles with... their society... and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions; civil, political, or [educational]."
Are you doing the same?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Nov 29, 2010 20:39:01 GMT -5
The Pilgrims: Who Were They?” (Part 2) by: Don Pinson
During the War Between the States, in 1863, President Lincoln, with Congress' wholehearted support, issued a Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. This Proclamation set aside the 4th Thursday in November as the day when Americans would pause from work, and set aside a day to give thanks to God, the Father of Jesus Christ, for all His blessings on us as a free people. This was nothing new to Americans. The Pilgrims had begun this tradition in the Fall of 1621. New England's first settlers were, as a group, deeply committed to Jesus Christ as their Master and Savior. They firmly believed it was their duty to give thanks to the God Who had brought them to this land; the God who had so miraculously sustained them here. They knew He had brought them here to establish a nation which would, by law, protect the right of parents to teach to their children the ways of the Gospel of Christ. That "root" is what America grew out of. That is our heritage.
Last time, I shared with you some of what Dr. Billy Graham had written in his Decision magazine, in the Nov. '02 issue. On this program, I want to quote more of his writing concerning the Pilgrims. Dr. Graham continues:
"First, the Pilgrims have left us an example of their deep, unwavering religious convictions. What were these convictions? They believed in Christ and in His Kingdom. They found fulfillment in Him. They had purpose in their lives. They had encountered the living Christ and they knew it. They feared neither monarch nor people, only God. Because they belonged to God, they had a deep faith and confidence in themselves. They believed in their own dignity, were confident that their cause was just, and walked with an uprightness that only fearless and free people can display."
"In our day agnosticism, anxiety, emptiness, and meaninglessness, have gripped much of our world---and even the Church. People are broad but shallow. Our youth are desperately searching for purpose and meaning and fulfillment in their lives. By contrast, these Pilgrim forebearers stand as shining examples of people who were narrow but deep, certain of what they believed, unswerving in their loyalty, and passionately dedicated to God Who they trusted, and for Whom they willingly would have died. I sincerely believe that a return to biblical faith and conviction would have a great impact at this hour."
"Second, the Pilgrims left us an example of disciplined living. They were Puritans who were ready to order everything---personal life, worship, the church, business affairs, political views, and even recreation---according to the commandments of God. The word "Puritan" itself in the contemporary mind identifies those who followed a strict and closely regulated life. Their lives were marked by characteristics that, according to Jonathan Edwards, need to distinguish the life of every Christian: [Edwards said,] "This practice of religion [is] not only to be his business at certain seasons...but the business of his life." "They did not mind being called narrow by the religious and civil establishment of the day. They remembered that their Lord Jesus had said, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it."
What a contrast between the conduct of the Pilgrims and the permissiveness and hedonism of today!
We'll continue Billy Graham's article next time - But do you mind being called “narrow” by the liberal thinkers around you? Do the pseudo intellectuals in the education system intimidate you and keep you from boldly speaking about Christ? Or are you fearless, as the Pilgrims were, concerning the persecution from the established church and government - or from your own family and friends? Do you fear God more than men?
Remember, you face God last!
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Dec 1, 2010 6:11:01 GMT -5
The Pilgrims: "People of Law” (Part 3) by: Don Pinson
Sometimes the ignorance is so great you feel like you need a hammer and a chisel to free someone's mind! Such is often my frustration as I talk with people about the Pilgrims and Puritans who laid the foundation of this nation. They have been so maligned by the media and liberal educators that almost no one knows the truth about them. This is why I've chosen to share with you Dr. Billy Graham's words this whole month. His article in Decision magazine, Nov. 2002, really reveals who the Pilgrims were and how they thought. His article would be great for you to read around your Thanksgiving Day table! Let's continue Dr. Graham's writing:
"Third, the Pilgrims have left us the example of freedom under law. The Mayflower Compact, forged before the Pilgrims left the ship, was the wedge that opened the door to a government controlled by the people; a government that has endured in the United States for centuries. Most historians agree that the Mayflower Compact was the forerunner of the Constitution of the United States. This little band of people searched for an equitable manner of earning a living and for a way of survival. They tried living a communal lifestyle, but according to Governor Bradford:
"This communal system conceived by Plato was found to breed much confusion."
When communal living failed, they assigned a parcel of land to every family; and with individual enterprise, prosperity came to the colony."
"In some parts of the world rebellious young people live, enjoying what they call "absolute freedom." They are free to take narcotics, free to experiment with sex, free to go unwashed, free to dress as they please, and do what they like. They remind me of a man in a hospital who had to be fed through a tube. Having tired of the tube with its discomfort, the man tore the tube from his body and declared that he was free. Free? He was free only to die, because he had removed himself from his hope of life."
"The freedom exercised by the Pilgrims didn't degenerate into license. Theirs was a liberty under law. The lawbreakers...dissidents, and criminals of our day would have been rejected by the Pilgrims. To them, freedom under the law meant judgment for the lawless. To them, retribution was not only a tenet of their faith, but it was also the practice of their commonwealth. They made laws in keeping with Biblical convictions. They not only feared those laws and their judges, but they also obeyed them. If they did not obey, they could expect a penalty."
"Fourth, the Pilgrims left us an example of a people who had keen social concern. They believed that every person was made in the image of God; that each one was of infinite value and worth in the sight of God. They lived with Native Americans who had a different religion, a different skin color, and a different culture. In March of 1621 Chief [Massasoit] visited the Pilgrims' village and signed a peace treaty that lasted for many years. It was a treaty with high social and ethical content, showing a deep concern for the social, political and spiritual needs of neighbors."
"Though the Pilgrims knew that they were citizens of another world, they sought to improve the world they were passing through."
"The Pilgrims made their new world better, not by tearing down the old, but by constructive toil and fair dealings with their neighbors."End quote.
The Bible says, "Remove not the ancient landmark which your fathers have set." (Proverbs 22:28)
Do your children know the landmark which the Pilgrims set for them, because you taught it to them?
Think About It. Because if you don't, someone will do your thinking for you, and for your children! And you won't like what that brings to you.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Dec 10, 2010 17:07:31 GMT -5
“The Pilgrims: Light Bearers” (Part 4) by: Don Pinson
We get all up in the air when some "minority race" is discriminated against. And well we should. We get very angry when any hint of prejudice surfaces against women; while much of that is even unfounded. We now are hearing a constant outcry that homosexuals should have equal rights, which really means accepting their lifestyle as being right - which is both Biblically and Constitutionally wrong! But there is virtually no outcry against the greatest discrimination occurring in our nation today. There is almost no voice being raised against the greatest lie that is being spread in America at this hour.
The indoctrination has been so widespread by the "educational elite" in Washington and in state bureaucracies, as well as in the national media, that we've believed it with hardly a thought. What discrimination do I speak of? What group of Americans has been so lied about? It is the Pilgrims and Puritans of the 1600's. But, thank God, Dr. Billy Graham has been one of those who knows the truth, and he has written an article (Decision, Nov. '02) which helps to set the record straight about the great people who pioneered this nation. I continue to quote from his article:
Dr. Graham declares: "Fifth, the Pilgrims were evangelists who set us an example in sharing their spiritual and material blessings with others."
"In the Mayflower Compact the Pilgrims committed themselves to the 'advancement of the Christian faith.’ The Pilgrims at Plymouth were followed by the Puritans at Massachusetts Bay. Together they built churches and schools. In 1636 Harvard College was founded to train men for the ministry. By 1663 the first Bible was printed (the Algonquin Bible) for the Native Americans in their own tongue."
"These settlers came to the new world not only to find freedom for themselves, but also to tell others of their faith."
"Sixth, the Pilgrims were people of vision and hope.
For 'where there is no vision, the people perish,' says the Bible. (Proverbs 29:18)
“The Pilgrims dreamed great dreams. They dreamed of a haven for themselves and for their children. They dreamed of religious freedom. They dreamed of a world where God would rule the hearts of men. They lived and died with these hopes. The Pilgrims' strength of spirit was forged by a personal faith in Christ, by tough discipline, and by regular habits of devotion."
"Today it seems that many of us have neither vision nor hope. But if we so chose, we too could become like the Pilgrims. We could regain hope. We could recover the spiritual and the moral strength that we have lost. But we would have to willing to take up the same cross of Christ that they bore. We would have to put our faith in the same Christ that they did. We would have to make the same kind of lifetime commitments that they made. We would have to discipline ourselves as they did."
Then Dr. Graham adds, “And, like the Pilgrims, we need to dream great dreams, embrace great principles, renew our hope, and above all, believe in the Christ who alone can give total meaning and an ultimate goal to our lives:
‘For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.’” (Acts 17: 28)
Thank you Dr. Billy Graham: For helping us know the truth about the Pilgrims and Puritans who founded the greatest nation in the history of the world!
Will you commit to learning their true story, and teaching it 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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Dec 17, 2010 16:37:54 GMT -5
"The Birth That Affected Civil Law” by: Don Pinson
This time of year there’s a lot of reference to the Baby Jesus in the manger. That’s a good thing. We think of the Christ child and hope comes to us that God literally invaded history and brought hope that there could be “peace on earth toward men of good will.” (Luke 2:14)
And yet, for all this good feeling surrounding the Baby Jesus, few ever think beyond the manger. And even of those who do think of His important life, death, and resurrection, even fewer ever come to understand His impact on all civilization; and particularly here in the western hemisphere. Jesus was the most important law giver in world history. His influence over moral and civil law in this world makes Him, without question, the most influential person in all of history. Yet, few law schools in America ever acknowledge His powerful impact.
Jesus’ birth came at a time when Rome ruled the world with crushing dictatorial power. No one criticized Roman authority without placing their lives at great risk.
Into this oppressive realm Jesus was born. The very place of his birth was determined (naturally speaking) by the edict of Augustus, the Roman Emperor, that every Roman citizen must travel to his native town to register for oppressive taxes.
Jesus’ life was lived out under this same oppressive government. By the way He lived, He showed us the delicate balance of acting in accordance with civil law whenever possible, while, at the same time, speaking the truth in love, though that generally contradicted Roman law. Indeed, He would be executed on a Roman cross simply because He refused to bow to those who had bowed to Rome.
Jesus’ teaching and demonstration that man was a vessel God had created for Himself and in whom God wanted to dwell, would revolutionize civil government. When Jesus said,
“The Father dwelling in me, He does the works…” (Jn. 14:10)
He was teaching God could live in and through a man. Jesus was demonstrating that anyone who had God living inside them could think with God about government and government servants. It would be thirteen centuries before John Wycliffe would write into the introduction of the first Bible in English the words,
“The Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Yet here, resident in the life and teaching of Jesus, was it’s root. That truth would change the course of history.
America would be birthed by the power of this truth. The Pilgrims would bring it to these shores and work it into their civil government. Thus, for the first time in history, the common man would demonstrate that he could rule his own civil government because he could, himself, be ruled by the power of Christ within. Taking his blueprint from his own Biblically based home and church, he would create a civil government that was both responsive to the common man, and submissive to the will of God as revealed in the Bible. It was the marriage of democracy with law, and that is called a republic!
This is why America’s Founding Fathers, identified the source of their thinking as being the teachings of Jesus Christ. Sam Adams, later known as the Father of the American Revolution, stated this fact when he wrote:
“…the rights of the Colonists as Christians may best be understood by reading and carefully studying the institutions of The Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written… in the New Testament.”
This is what made America the freest and most prosperous nation in world history.
Does Jesus Christ live and rule inside you; inside your home; inside your children? Would you want your self-government to be the standard for civil government? It is you know!
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Dec 23, 2010 6:03:22 GMT -5
"Born to Raise the Sons of Earth” by: Don Pinson
At this time of year we probably hear the Name of Jesus spoken more often than at any other time. We thrill to the story of His miraculous birth and the way He arose out of very humble surroundings to become a Man who helped so many hurting people. But there, most people’s thoughts of Him stop. And we miss the reason for all His background and upbringing. We miss what the great hymn written by Charles Wesley captured so well when he wrote in the 1700’s that Jesus was; “…born to raise the sons of earth; born to give them second birth.” (From; Hark the Herald Angels Sing)
So how does Jesus raise the sons of earth? Well, He starts by bringing us into what the next phrase of the hymn calls “the second birth.” He has the Holy Spirit convince us that we have rebelled against God and His order for our lives; thus, the Bible reveals to us that we are each sinners. Then the Holy Spirit convinces us that Jesus has paid the penalty for our rebellion by dying on a cross so we could be legally forgiven by God the Father. He then enables us to admit that God is right, and we’ve been wrong in the way we’ve thought about God and ourselves.
He then convinces us that Jesus was - and is - alive from the dead! Which means that Jesus is able to step into these lives we’ve called ours, and change them by living through us in this world. This is what the Bible means when it says, “…as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:12). In other words, “to be born again.” (See John 3:3).
When we acknowledge the risen Christ has the right to rule these lives which have our name attached to them, and invite Him to step into them, He comes to live inside us and He births His own life in our spirits. This, then, makes possible Him flowing out of our spirit into our soul (in other words our mind, will, and emotions) and through the actions of our body so that He literally begins to live His life through us in this present world! Thus, He starts “raising the sons of earth” to His level of life. Even Jesus’ enemies often admit that His life on this earth was one of the greatest ever lived. If He could get inside us and live through us, He would definitely raise us to a much more noble life.
Thus, Jesus returns us to the order our Creator planned for us. Men become the leaders, providers, and protectors of the family. Women become the helper of their husbands in achieving the vision God has for them. Children become the reason we live.
And I don’t mean working to plan your life around the child’s activities and wants---absolutely not! I’m talking about teaching the next generation the ways of God and His plan for them, so they, too, can submit to Christ’s rule in them; and thus become what God created them to be. In this way, the truth is passed from generation to generation; and the will of God for each individual is taught so that each life can become what God created it to be.
This is how God “raises the sons of earth.” He restores us to His order through the truth of who He is, who we are, and what His plan for us is. Wherever this has been done in history individuals and nations have changed for the better. It is why Sam Adams would rise and say on the day the Declaration of Independence was being signed:
“We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting… sun, let His kingdom come.”
Is your aim this Christmas season that His kingdom would come in you and your family?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Jan 7, 2011 19:33:38 GMT -5
The Courage of George Washington by: Don Pinson
This time of year, in 1776, the American army was battling for its life. A devastating defeat at Brandywine in September had threatened to destroy the army’s resolve. In that one battle, nearly one-fourth of our army was killed. The rest of the fall, General George Washington had worked hard to inflict damage on the vastly superior British force, yet stay out of a full frontal battle, which he was sure to loose. As winter drew near, fewer and fewer of the men had re-enlisted to fight for the liberty of the young American nation. In a few days it would be Christmas. If Washington could not work a major victory before the first of the New Year, his army would almost surely disintegrate. But the truth was, he had little with which to fight. Not only was he short on soldiers, he was even shorter on supplies and ammunition for his rag-tag army.
It was then he decided on one of the boldest moves of the War. He would attack the British force at Trenton, hoping to free New Jersey from British control; and in so doing, greatly boost the moral of his men and the American people. But it was a bold gamble. The weather, the lack of supplies and munitions, plus the very well supplied and entrenched British force, all meant that it would take the help and protection of God Almighty if this effort was to be successful. Abbott, in his biography of Washington says, “One can imagine the fervor with which he pleaded with God to come to the aid of his little army.”
If he lost, Americans would live as slaves to a tyrannical King George. He himself would most surely be hung - if he could even survive the battle!
Knowing all this all too well, Washington made his move on Christmas night, 1776. Risking all, he entered one of the lead boats as 2500 of his men began to cross the Delaware River. Carefully picking their way through huge chunks of ice in the river, they landed above Trenton, hoping to catch by surprise the German soldiers, which had been hired to fight for the British government.
A raging storm of rain and sleet drove the British sentries inside, helping to cover the Americans’ approach. Because his artillery was delayed by the storm, Washington waited until 8am on the 26th to attack. The German army, many with ‘hangovers’ from the party the night before, was caught totally off guard. The 45-minute battle ended in Washington’s complete triumph. H. Knox, one of Washington’s leading officers, described the battle as follows:
“The hurry, fright, and confusion of the enemy was not unlike that which will be when the last trumpet will sound.”
Washington captured 1000 prisoners; 1000 muskets; 6 brass field pieces; and a great amount of powder and shot. Henry Knox’ summary of the battle revealed a faith that was then common to Americans. He stated:
“Providence seems to have smiled upon every part of this enterprise.”
Washington’s “courage and prudence” in crossing the Delaware was rewarded by the way this battle greatly lifted the spirits of his army, as well as all America. Washington lived out the Bible command to, “Be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses…commanded… Do not turn from it…that you may prosper wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7)
Are we living this command as George Washington and his army did? Are we teaching our children to live that way?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Jan 13, 2011 22:41:30 GMT -5
Can We Take Our Medicine? by: Don Pinson
Now that the new Congress has taken the oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States, what can we expect of them? Will they overturn the disastrous policies of the last three years? Will they actually work for a balanced budget? More importantly, will they work to stop abortion and protect the Biblical family unit? Let’s consider these things.
First, let’s remember that the so-called conservative majority is only true in the House of Representatives. It is not true in the U.S. Senate and certainly not true in the White House. For any law to pass (including laws which overturn previous laws) both Houses of Congress and the President must sign it; or both Houses of Congress have to pass it over the President’s veto by a two-thirds majority. Even if it’s true that conservatives control the House of Representatives---and that’s still to be proven---the Senate and White House are definitely not. Therefore, the likelihood of overturning the bad policies of the last 3 years is not great.
What is more probable is that we will see at best, a stalemate; at worst, a compromise in which laws would be passed which are somewhat more conservative than we’ve seen recently. A stalemate, which stopped the activity of the national government for months, would not be a bad thing. It would force the states to stand up to Washington and take back their power from decades of national government intrusion into state capitols. It would force us, as citizens, to find our own personal solutions to problems we run into, rather than expecting Washington to take care of us.
Now the pressing needs in all this will demand that Washington do something, even if it’s wrong. So I would suspect that we would see a slow down, or perhaps even a stoppage of Obama’s Marxist policies by the House of Representatives. But as to what is already in place, unless the House of Representatives were to have the courage to refuse to fund his previous programs, there is no stopping the slavery which he has already managed to impose upon us. This may sound gloomy. But remember, a majority of the people voted for him to have a four-year term and voted for his first Congress, most of whom thought like he did. Therefore, he got everything he wanted; and everything he wanted moves us toward a dictatorship. We are reaping what we sowed. And the Bible warns us what happens when we elect leaders who are set against God and His Word; it says,
“Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. But he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption…” (Galatians 6:7-8)
So is there any hope in all this? Yes! There absolutely is! If we, as citizens, will continue this beginning, that’s now small but growing, of repentance toward God, there is hope. God Almighty promises that if we
“…humble ourselves and pray and turn from our wicked ways, then will I (God is talking) hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
The installment of a new House of Representatives, which is more conservative, may be an indicator that God is giving us a reprieve from impending judgment. However, if, over the next two years, we complain about the stalemate in Washington between the Congress and the White House, it will show we don’t really understand God’s judgment processes; and therefore, are not worthy of being delivered from the slavery we’ve previously chosen.
Can you and I “take our medicine?”
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Jan 19, 2011 17:11:26 GMT -5
The Change Revival Brings by: Don Pinson
Today there is an outcry for change. Those, like Mr. Obama, who are to the left on the political spectrum, say more national government control is necessary to bring about change. Those to the right, say less government is needed to bring the right kind of change. But few in government recognize the real change that is needed. Our great need as Americans, or as mankind in general, is not change from the outside; but rather, it is change from the inside. For the only lasting change for good, which comes to any society, comes from a change in the human heart. Good or bad comes from the inside of a man, not the outside. The Bible tells us, “…as thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)The Bible teaches it is from the heart of man that evil things come. Things like: “…adultery, [nakedness in public], hatred, sorcery (like Harry Potter teaches), murders, drunkenness…” (Galatians 5:19-21)All of these things come from within man because of the sin principle that is born into us. You can’t legislate these things out of man. This is where political liberals like Barak Obama and Harry Reid are greatly deceived. They don’t believe that man has sin, and thus selfishness, in his heart. But the Bible teaches that only a change in the human heart can bring change for the good to mankind. This is why Thomas Jefferson said, “…the legislative powers of government reach actions only…”Government cannot change the human heart. And this is what needs to be changed if our actions are to be peaceful and productive toward our fellow man. We can only be permanently changed for the better through the power of Jesus Christ, as He is allowed to come inside us and become our “resident Master.” So our need in America is not more civil government. It is more of Jesus as Governor---in us personally and in our society. In the past, when Americans allowed Jesus to reign in them and their culture, the society changed for the better. In the late 1820s the citizens of Rochester, New York, allowed Jesus to be the Lord of their hearts and community. Here’s how one eye-witness described the good changes in their city: “The whole community was stirred. Religion was the topic of conversation, in the house, in the shop, in the office and on the street…The only theater in the city was converted into a livery stable; the only circus into a soap and candle factory. [Bars] were closed; the Sabbath was honored; the sanctuaries were thronged with happy worshippers…the fountains of benevolence were opened, and men lived to do good…
“It is not too much to say that the whole character of the city was changed by that revival. Most of the leaders of society being converted, and exerting a controlling influence in social life, in business, and in civil affairs, religion was enthroned as it has been in few places…Even the courts and the prisons bore witness to its blessed effects. There was a wonderful falling off in crime. The courts had little to do, and the jail was nearly empty for years afterward.” (Finney Lives On, by V Raymond Edman)
Can this happen again in America? Could our local communities and nation change to look like this again? Yes! If you and I are willing surrender these lives to Christ; if we are willing to admit that He has the right to rule us in every area of our lives: If you and I are willing to live by the Bible as they did, it can happen again! 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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Jan 29, 2011 8:44:25 GMT -5
Why The Shooting? by: Don Pinson
A few days ago, a gunman opened fire in Tucson, Arizona and killed six people and wounded 14 more. Among those shot was a U.S. Representative, and a Judge. The news media, psychiatrists, and talk show hosts have tried to answer the question, “Why do tragedies like this occur?” And, as usual, most of them aren’t even close. But there is a simple, “root” reason for things like this occurring. But because of the general media’s rejection of the Bible as the understanding for life, they can come up with only more questions, and no definitive answers.
The Bible explains why mankind behaves the way we do. It’s simple: Because of our refusal to allow the life of God to enter us in the Garden of Eden, so we could be a channel of the life of God in this earth, we received a “sin principle.” That is, a root of sin that colors all our thinking. It produces the attitude: “I want what I want when I want it.” This causes us to lash out at others when we don’t get what we want, when we want it. This attitude is the foundation of all the political philosophies in the world - except God’s original plan for government, which is the one revealed in the Bible.
The accused gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, was of a political philosophy that has set itself against God, and thus, God’s creation of mankind. Fox News reported that in his back yard there was found a satanic altar. On his facebook site, among his favorite books was listed The Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf. Mein Kampf was written by Adolf Hitler, and the title means “My Struggle.” It becomes obvious, contrary to the way the secular media tried to spin it, that his root thinking was against God and the Bible. Thus, we have another example of the wrong thinking producing the wrong actions. Jesus identified this principle when he stated:
“For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” (Luke 6:43)
What we put into our mind is going to determine our actions. Therefore, when things like The Communist Manifesto are what you put into your mind, you’re naturally going to develop a lack of respect for other’s property, including their life. Since it teaches that only a few are wise enough to rule everyone else; and that violent revolution is the way to establish a new humanistic government that will produce world peace and prosperity, this young man was simply acting out what he had put into his mind.
But the foundation of American thinking was completely different from this. The wisdom of America’s Founders never ceases to amaze me. They warned us of the tragedies that would happen if we removed the teaching of the Bible from the minds of our youth. Daniel Webster, the great statesman of the early 1800’s summed up their teaching when he stated:
“If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; If the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without end... The thought is one to cause solemn reflection on the part of every patriot and Christian.”
What are you putting into the minds of children? Are you certain it will produce a life which respects the property of others, because you got it from the Bible?
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Feb 4, 2011 17:10:40 GMT -5
Only God’s Government Is Stable by: Don Pinson
What kind of law should we have? What should be the ideas that form the foundation for our law? Would you rather have a man with a string of degrees after his name to write our law; or would you rather a man who knows the Bible write our civil law? Which seems most stable: the changing desires of man - or the unchangeable will of God? America’s Founders had some strong convictions about what should be the basis of our law - and thus, our liberty!
Noah Webster, the Father of our original educational system in this Republic, identified for students the foundation for our law. He stated:
“The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… and to this we owe our free Constitutions of Government.”
Sam Adams, the Father of the American Revolution; perhaps the man most responsible for our liberty, very pointedly stated where it came from. He declared:
“The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, the rights of the Colonists…may best be understood by reading and carefully studying… the New Testament.”
If you have an honest heart, and want only the truth about the basis for our law; and you’re willing to research our Founder’s writings, there can be no mistake about what that foundation is: It is Biblical Christianity!
In 1892 the U.S. Supreme Court stated what are the foundations and guiding principles of our Republic. Justice Josiah Brewer wrote the opinion of the Court in Church of the Holy Trinity v. U.S. (143 U.S. 457-458, 465-471, 36 L ed 226), in which he identified hundreds of documents which built the case for his conclusion. He then quoted the four references to the Christian God in the Declaration of Independence. Then he stated:
“...We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth... this is a Christian nation....”
Justice Brewer later wrote a commentary on that 1892 case. He summarized it by saying, “Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind (referring to Jesus).”
Justice Brewer would write a book about that case in 1905. In it he stated:
“I could show how largely our laws… are based upon the laws of Moses and the teachings of Christ; how constantly the Bible is appealed to as the guide of life and the authority in… morals.”
Since Biblical Christianity has been proven to be the foundation of our law, why did Mr. Obama and Nancy Pelosi, when she was Speaker of the House, remove the references to God when they quoted the Declaration of Independence last summer and fall? That’s right; on more than one occasion they quoted the Declaration’s second paragraph where it states that all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” as saying that all men “are endowed…with certain unalienable rights.” They left out God. This was no oversight. They did it too many times for it to be denied that they planned to leave out the reference to God. But we shouldn’t be surprised. They really plan to “change” us to atheism and socialism, as Mr. Obama told us in his campaign!
The Bible commands us: “My son, cease to hear instruction that causes you to err from the way of [truth].” (Proverbs 19:27)
Are 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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Feb 14, 2011 6:16:14 GMT -5
Religious Acts By Our American Government by: Don Pinson
Today we hear much about what is called the “separation of church and state”. By that phrase is meant that the Bible, nor Christian ideas, have any right to influence government. Groups such as the ACLU, who promote this idea, say that the First Amendment to the Constitution forbids Biblical ideas from influencing government. But an honest study of the men who wrote the First Amendment will reveal just the opposite.
America’s Founders came from a long line of people who looked to God as the Source and Strength of their lives. Prayer to them was as natural as breathing, and an absolute necessity in times of national crisis. When the first major step toward war occurred, which was the blockading of Boston harbor, the first Continental Congress was then in session. This gathering marked the first time the thirteen colonies had come together to discuss how to deal with the King of England’s tyranny over the American colonies. Their very first act was to invite a minister to start their sessions with prayer and the reading of the Bible.
On September 7, 1774, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, describing the effects of the prayer. He wrote:
“When the Congress met, Mr. Cushing made a motion that it should be opened with Prayer. It was opposed by Mr. Jay of New York, and Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina because we were so divided in religious sentiments, some Episcopalians, some Quakers [and so forth] that we could not join in the same act of worship.
“Mr. Samuel Adams arose and said that he was no bigot, and could hear a Prayer from any gentleman of Piety and virtue, who was at the same time a friend to his Country. He…had heard that Mr. Duche' deserved that character and therefore he moved that Mr. Duche', an Episcopal clergyman, might…read Prayers to Congress tomorrow morning.
“The motion was seconded, and passed in the affirmative.
“Accordingly, next morning [Reverend…Duche'] appeared…and read several prayers…and read…the thirty-fifth Psalm. You must remember, this was the next morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning.
“After this, Mr. Duche', unexpectedly to everybody, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard a better prayer, or one so well pronounced…prayed with such fervor…such earnestness…for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially the town of Boston. It has had an excellent effect upon everybody here…”
“All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son and our Savior, Amen.”
“Washington was kneeling there, and [Patrick] Henry, Randolph, Rutledge, Lee, and Jay, and by their side there stood, bowed in reverence, the Puritan Patriots of New England, who at that moment, had reason to believe that…armed soldiers [were] wasting their humble households;…They prayed fervently ‘for America, for Congress, for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially for the town of Boston; and who can realize the emotion with which they turned …to Heaven for Divine [intervention]. It was enough to melt a heart of stone. I saw the tears gush into the eyes of [even] the old [staunch] Quakers of Philadelphia.”
Ladies and gentlemen, our forefathers believed God answers the prayers of those who will humble themselves before Him. And they wanted Jesus Christ to show up in their government. Do you?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you: And you won’t like what that brings to you.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Feb 17, 2011 6:24:48 GMT -5
Creation Is the Foundation by: Don Pinson
Did you know that over 350 pastors in America have designated Sunday, February 13th, as “Evolution Sunday?” That’s right. 350 pastors across the nation are going to celebrate Darwin’s birthday (which was February12th) by teaching their congregations that evolution was how we came into being. Evolutionists are greatly disturbed by the tremendous reception that Answers in Genesis and other Creation ministries have received the last several years, and they are reacting by more boldly proclaiming their belief that we were not created by God but by evolution.
America’s Founders were not fooled by the teaching of evolution. You see, Darwin was not the first one to believe in evolution. Others had put forth the theory for centuries. But America’s Founders were men who had already considered the arguments against the Bible’s explanation of man’s origins, and had rejected those arguments. George Washington revealed his thinking on the subject when he stated:
“It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe, without the agency of a Supreme Being…A reasoning being would lose his reason, in attempting to account for the great phenomena of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to.”
Sam Adams, the Father of the American Revolution stated:
"In the state of nature, every man has a right to think and act according to the dictates of his own mind, which, in that state, are subject to no other control…than the laws and ordinances of the great Creator of all things."
Likewise Thomas Jefferson, wrote:
“…Almighty God hath created the mind free…”
James Madison, who wrote most of our Constitution, said similar words; he stated:
“Religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator,…can be directed only by reason and conviction…”
The Bible reveals plainly that, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) And that “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female, created He them.” (Genesis 1:27)
It teaches that God had a threefold purpose in making man: He made us “in his image” to look like Him. He made us “after his likeness” to live like Him. And He made us to “have dominion over all the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)
God made man to literally be an expression of His life in this world. He wanted to step inside us and live His life through us. You might say, He wanted to put us on as an “earth suit” and through us express Himself in this world.
In teaching children that they are made in the image of God to be an expression of His life in this world; and that they are alive to teach that to their children, they grow up to be beings of purpose. Thus, they are delivered from the lies of satan through humanists that would have them believe they are “chance meaningless accidents between the accidents of life and death.” By knowing their purpose and being equipped by proper education to fulfill that purpose, they don’t fall into the temptation of drugs and suicide.
They live to prepare themselves to be able to shape the minds of their children, so they, too, can know their Creator through Jesus Christ; and shape the minds of their children to think with their Creator.
Are you preparing your children to fulfill the purpose for which God created them by teaching them, that He did create them!
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Feb 26, 2011 15:41:28 GMT -5
Creation Is the Foundation of Liberty by: Don Pinson
Is there any connection between the belief that there is a Creator and civil liberty? America’s Founders thought so. On the wall of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. hang the words of Thomas Jefferson. Remember, Jefferson is the Founder who wrote our Declaration of Independence, and therefore had to know why we had the right to declare our independence from England. Here is what his words say on the wall of his Memorial.
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever;”
Jefferson obviously connected our security with our belief in God as Creator. It was the plain belief of our Founders that there was no such thing as enduring civil liberty unless we believed that we were created by God and thus, had inherited the right to “life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Why did they believe this? Well first of all, they knew it is impossible for us to recognize our true worth and dignity outside of our association with our Creator. The fact that He is the all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful Being that He is demands our respect. He deserves respect. Anytime a force powerful enough to destroy us, at will, comes against us, we automatically stand in awe of that force. God is certainly able to do that. Jesus said, “Fear God, who can cast both soul and body into hell.” But His desire is not to destroy us, but rather to deliver us from what we became because of our rebellion against Him in the Garden of Eden, and to change us into a being who bears His image in this world. Jesus said, “I came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” He wants to deliver us into what He originally planned for us to be. He wants us to “look like Him, live like Him, and rule like Him in this world. He wants to share His Name with us. If the greatest Being in existence wants to make us part of His family, we ought to recognize what we’re worth to Him. That is what gives us our sense of worth and dignity.
Secondly, America’s Founders understood that only if we recognized others were also made in God’s image could we ever have the respect for their person and property that would make civil law work. In other words, only if we believed a person was worthy of our respect would we respect Him and what was His. Civil law cannot make a person good. It can deal only with actions of the body. It cannot see into the heart and identify motives. Thus, you can never have a police force large enough to protect God-given rights. In the long run, liberty for all can only be preserved when we want to respect another’s rights of life and property. Plus, only if we have our Creator, Jesus Christ, living inside us can we possibly love others enough to respect their rights. Those who deny that we have a sin principle at work in us until we are born into God’s family, cannot possibly bring into being the perfect world they claim to be working toward.
Only when Christ returns to earth and is given His rightful place as ruler of this, His world, will we see the peace they so long for.
So liberty is tied to our Creator. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us to to true peace, inside and outside!
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you, and for your children!
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Mar 15, 2011 15:53:42 GMT -5
The Need to Return To Our Biblical Roots by: Don Pinson
In 1835, Charles Darwin visited the Galapogus Islands off the western coast of S. America. It was here he observed strange animals and began to put together ideas of evolution learned from his grandfather. In 1859 he published his ideas in a book entitled The Origin of Species. He would later say, “...to my astonishment, the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them."
Charles Darwin's ideas became the basis of current thought about life and living. As seminaries and universities considered, and eventually embraced his ideas, all of Western Culture was altered. That which had been founded on the Bible and the Blood of the Martyrs gradually shifted more and more to a "man-centered outlook". Educational, governmental, and economic systems that had been based on Reformation theology now began to change. As the idea that man was the controller of his own destiny took hold, the 20th century became the testimony of what that idea can bring:
2 World Wars,
A Great Depression,
The Removal of Moral Restraint,
The traditional family has been so shattered that most of us cannot even define what it is well enough to be able to defend it. Also, violent crime has grown to the point we cannot build prisons fast enough to house those who commit the crimes; costing the taxpayer $60,000 a year to house one criminal!
A Debt-based Economy is allowing a handful of people to control the world.
Do you want your children to grow up in this kind of world? Do you want them to have to try to shelter their children from a culture that will otherwise so affect the thinking of your grandchildren, that they themselves will become the agents of their own destruction?
Do you want your children to look at you one day and say, “Daddy (Grandpa), what were you doing when freedom in America died?"
If we want to avoid those heart-rending words, we must come to understand what is happening in America right now. We must heed the words of Woodrow Wilson when he said, "A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, or what it is trying to do....America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplfy...the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture..."
He continues, “When we resist...the concentration of [governmental] power, we are resisting the powers of death, because concentration is what always precedes the destruction of human liberties."
The 28th President then gives the answer to our destructive trends: He says, “There are a good many problems before the American people today... but I expect to find the solution to those problems... in the study of the Word of God."
Does the Bible really have the answer to our problems? To that question I want to answer a resounding "YES!" The only reason we have these problems is because we’ve left the Bible as our textbook, and that not only for building the individual or family life, but as the textbook for nation-building as well.
We must, once again, teach how our Founding Fathers birthed and built this nation on the Word of God: To the end that we would rebuild this nation from that same Book!
We must heed the words of Jesus when He said, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Mar 19, 2011 7:52:53 GMT -5
Creation’s Purpose: His Life Flowing Through Us by: Don Pinson
Recently I was with a friend at a magnificent overlook of some of our E. Ky. mountains. A Park system sign stated that this deep gorge had been formed over millions of years as the river ran through these mountains. What an unscientific explanation for such an astounding piece of creation! But it’s typical of what our children are being taught everyday through the public school textbooks and the secular media. This plan is designed to separate us from our Creator, and thus, our accountability to Him. And yes, there are those who say they believe it because it deceptively helps the Judgment to seem unlikely; and some of those are knowingly working to change our whole nation to a “secular” (i.e. “without God”) way of life.
The thing they don’t understand is that this is a scheme of satan to keep us from discovering God’s real plan for us, and how he uniquely put us together to be able to fulfill that plan. The Bible reveals that God made us “in His image” (Genesis 1:26) in one 24-hour day.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 describes what it means to be “made in His image.” It reveals that He made us “…spirit, soul, and body,” so He could come to live inside us and express His life through us. His original plan for us was that we would allow Him to come to live inside our spirit, from which He would release His life into our soul, and thus express Himself through the actions of our body. This is how He intended us to look like Him, live like Him, and rule like Him in this present world, as well as in eternity.
Our soul, being made up of the mind, the will, and the emotions, is a channel through which God can flow out of us to the world, so others can see what He’s like. Here’s how it works: God releases His thoughts into our mind. Those thoughts call for a decision about some proposed action. As we agree with God, His will is released through our will. That decision affects our emotions. Out of His thoughts, will, and feelings flowing through us, come the actions of our body. This is how God lives His life through us; and that is our purpose, for God to get to live His life through us.
To try to live any other way on this earth means we’re going to miss our purpose. And that means two things: We’re going to be miserable; and God is not going to get the glory from that life He entrusted to us. If we refuse His life, the only alternative we have is to live for pleasure, prestige or possessions: And any or all of these are terribly poor substitutes for His life.
But there is a better way! Acts 17:28 records it when the Apostle Paul said to a group of worldly philosophers:
“For in Him we live and move and have our being…”
Americas Founders likewise understood that God created us for His purpose. This is why they earnestly wanted their children to learn to think with God from the Bible. As Sam Adams, the Father of our American Revolution, stated:
“Let [ministers] and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity and universal philanthropy, and, in subordination to these great principles, the love of their country; of instructing them in the art of self-government without which they never can act a wise part in the government of societies, great or small; in short, of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.”
Are you teaching your children the “exalted virtues of the Christian system?”
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.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Mar 21, 2011 20:46:02 GMT -5
What Went Wrong With Man by: Don Pinson
In 1934, John Dewey, the Father of America’s current education system, spoke of achieving a “democratic ideal.” By that he meant a society where all was perfect. Where everyone would live respecting the rights of his neighbor, and where there would be no wrong. Of course, how to bring this perfect world into being has been the question. The current thought, taught by Dewey and others at the top of today’s education system, insists we must have a world-wide government which can force each person to work for this goal of perfect peace.
There’s only one thing wrong with this: Man has a selfish nature. And this selfishness keeps him from consistently respecting his neighbor’s rights. How do we know this? From what America’s Founders called “natural law” and “revealed law.” “Natural law” is what we see repeated over and over in nature. This is illustrated by how animals fight with one another for their right to live. “Revealed Law” is what we find written in the Bible. William Blackstone, the English Judge from which our Founder’s studied law a great deal, stated these words about the “revealed law:” “…this we call the revealed law; they are to be found only in the Holy Scriptures…”
Likewise the Bible teaches that selfishness is in the heart of man. It states: “There’s not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” (Eccl. 7:20)
“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not… of your lusts that war in your members?” (James 4:1)
God’s “revealed law” is teaching us here that there is a root of selfish desire in us that constantly wants its own way. This is what starts quarrels between individuals; and it is what starts wars between nations. This is why the humanists, like John Dewey, will never seen their dream realized in this world. They deny this selfishness is in man. Thus their reasoning is faulty. You cannot start with a lie and wind up with the truth.
So how did we get this selfishness in us? God gave us the opportunity to receive His life in the Garden of Eden. This was pictured by the Tree of Life (Genesis 2:9). But we refused His life the right to come inside us and be released through us---which was why God made us (Genesis 1:26). We chose to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This meant we would live life by experience, not by the revelation of God’s will. Thus, our own thoughts about our experience would be the only standard for right and wrong. This is why John Dewey’s education system is called Outcome-based education. You try some method of teaching, and if it seems to work, use it. That is to say: Whether something is truth is to be judged by our experience. The thing that is wrong with that system is that, as the Bible reveals, we have a root of selfishness in us that keeps us from being able to judge our experiences impartially.
However, we were created to live by the life of God flowing through us. His flowing life would reveal His will for us. So we were designed to think with God in our mind and thus to let our actions be God acting through us. In short, we were designed to live by revelation, not experience!
There will be a perfect world one day; but only when Jesus Christ is finally acknowledged by every human to be their rightful Lord! Have you agreed He should be your Lord?
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.
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