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Post by Heritage Ministries on Mar 29, 2011 15:32:52 GMT -5
What Went Wrong With This World by: Don Pinson
The recent earthquake in Japan, bringing devastation and death to thousands upon thousands of people, raises questions like: Why do these terrible things happen? Is there any way to be secure in this world? These are questions that demand answers. And the God who created us deserves that we should know His wisdom about these things.
When God “…made the earth, and created man upon it,” as Isaiah 45:10 states, it was a perfect world with no disorder in it. It was a paradise in which the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, were to live and rear the children God entrusted to them. There were no storms, earthquakes or tsunamis. But when we as mankind chose to refuse the life of God the right to live in us and thus, rebelled against God’s order, we brought disorder to this whole earth, the rule of which had been entrusted to us. This disorder permeated the planet, and thus we have these natural disasters.
But a worse disaster occurred inside man. Number one, we had taken a perfect life God had entrusted to us and used it for our own selfish purposes. Thus we owed to God one perfect life. But we couldn’t pay our debt because of the second thing that happened to us: That is, we received into our spirit, soul and body spiritual darkness. By that we mean the loss of understanding concerning Who God was, who we were, and what His plan for us was. This is what the Bible means when it says,
“The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
We lost our way as a blind person does when put into unfamiliar surroundings. And none of this would be resolved until Jesus paid our debt at the Cross, by offering up to the Father His perfect life as payment for the life we had stolen. Likewise it would take His resurrection to make possible the driving out of darkness from our soul. His indwelling life, which we would receive when we surrendered to His call to repentance, would bring light to our being once again.
But because most have refused to receive Him as their Light and Life, disorder still reigns in most lives across the earth. This engrafted selfishness is what has caused every hurt in our world. The loss of liberty in our spirit caused our mind, will, and emotions to be enslaved by satan. Fear came to dominate the thinking of most people: (Hebrews 2:14-15) Both personally, in their family life, and in their nation.
This fear would destroy civil liberty. Because of fear we would give in to others who claimed to know better how to operate education and government. As a result, most men would bow to dictators who would tell the fearful what to do with their lives. This is always how political tyranny begins. The elitists, who think they are better qualified to tell the rest of us how we should live, take control of the education system and use it as a tool to plant ideas of dependence in the minds of the populace. Then they infiltrate the government by promising impossible things to people to gain their vote. Then they create a crisis and begin to promote their dictator as the solution to the crisis they created. All political slavery begins with the fear in the human heart which invaded us when we rebelled against God in Eden.
However, there is a way to security in this world. And while it does not guarantee that tragedy will never strike us, it promises something better: That Jesus Christ Himself will live in us and with us in this present world, so that we will have what we need to walk through whatever may come our way. Have you received Him as your Lord - Your security?
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 Apr 2, 2011 6:31:59 GMT -5
God’s First Step Toward Fixing Us by: Don Pinson
When I was ten years old, three ladies in the community where I grew up in Pike County, Ky., came faithfully to our school each week to teach us the Bible. They taught us who God was, who we were, and what His plan was for our lives. One of the things they taught us was to memorize the Ten Commandments. Then they told us God wanted us to obey those Commandments. So I decided I would obey the Ten Commandments. I committed myself to “Have no other gods” before God, my Creator. I committed to not steal or lie or desire what belonged to somebody else. I committed to always obey my parents. Was I in for an awakening! I found out that, try as I might, sooner or later, I would break one of those Ten Commands. And you see, our Bible teachers knew that’s exactly what would happen: Because that’s the very reason God gave those Commands.
Perhaps you’re thinking: “Don, I don’t understand. Why would God give us a command that we couldn’t keep?” He does so because He’s wiser than we are. You see, He knows that when we refused to let His life indwell us in the Garden of Eden, we received instead “darkness” to indwell us. That is; we lost our understanding of why we were alive. From then on, satan planted different ideas in our mind about who God was and why we were alive. As we believed his lies, we plunged into darkness about the reason for our existence. Selfishness replaced purpose. This would cause all of the hurt we, as mankind, would ever experience. But we wouldn’t be able to identify what was causing the hurt because we were deceived: In other words our understanding was darkened. This is exactly what Jeremiah 17:9 says,
“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; [but] who can know it?”
Thus, God gave the Ten Commandments through Moses. He wants us to try to keep those Commands so that we will find out there’s something bad wrong inside us - something that needs to be changed. That something is the selfishness that darkens our mind and causes us to consistently see everything through a “lens” of selfishness. When we try to obey the Ten Commandments we discover that, even though we’re made in the image of God, and thus, should be able to obey His commands - we can’t. This, in turn, causes us to look for a Deliverer: Someone who can deliver us from our inbred selfishness and Who can enable us to live as God created us to originally live. This is why the New Testament teaches that
“The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.” (Galatians 3:24)
Unless we discover there’s something wrong with us, we’ll never look for a Savior (the word Savior means “deliverer”). This is why the Bible constantly tells parents to teach their children God’s Commandments.
The men who founded America had learned from the Bible this selfish principle was at work in man. This is why they created their civil governments with so many safety “checks” between the branches in those governments. James Madison, who wrote most of our national Constitution, would explain why they did it when he stated:
“…the primary political motive of man was self-interest, and that men, whether acting individually or collectively, were selfish and only imperfectly rational.” (Federalist Papers)
Have you admitted the selfishness in you; and that you need Jesus to deliver 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 Apr 15, 2011 20:32:42 GMT -5
Redemption Begins by: Don Pinson
Rob Bell’s book Love Wins is creating quite a stir among church folks all over America. Bell’s book does away with hell, indicating it’s a message that confuses those who want to know God: But God disagrees with Rob Bell, according to John 3:36; there God says,
“He that hath the Son hath everlasting life. He that hath not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Bell is just one more person who has bought into the lie that the Bible is not completely true, and therefore, we have to “help God” to reach people by being a little kinder. But God doesn’t need Rob Bell, nor any of the rest of us, to help Him look more loving. If you know the true story of redemption in the Bible, there could be no greater expression of the love of God for lost man. Consider it with me.
A young woman is startled when an angel sent from God suddenly appears to her. He tells this young virgin, named Mary, not to be afraid; that he has just then come from the presence of Almighty God to tell her wonderful news. She is to have a baby, a Boy; and she is to name Him Jesus, because He is going to be the hope of the world. His Name, which means ‘Deliverer,” will be forever after whispered on lips all throughout the ages. He will be the One who will deliver us from our rebellion against God. He will restore us to what God intended us to be from the beginning. No one will be able to resist His reasoning ability, and one day every human being will bow before Him and acknowledge that He is the rightful ruler of all, including that life that has their name attached to it.
And make no mistake about it. MARY WAS A VIRGIN! This would be a miraculous birth! The Second Person of the Godhead, Jesus, would contract to the size of her womb and be planted there by the Holy Spirit. He would be born nine months later just like all the rest of us. But His birth, and life, would greatly differ from ours in that He had no earthly father; which would mean He would have the potential of living a sinless life.
WE desperately needed for Him to live a sinless life! Because, you see, we had received a debt in the Garden of Eden that we couldn’t pay. That is, when we took a perfect life God loaned to us to be used for His glory and used it for ourselves, we earned a debt that we could never pay. A debt of one perfect life. We couldn’t pay it because we no longer had a perfect life we could offer to God to balance our account with Him. When sin entered into us (because we refused God the right to enter us) we stole the life God had loaned us and began to use it for our own selfish purposes. This contaminated that life so that it was no longer perfect. Thus, we could never again be right with God, our Creator, unless a perfect life could be found to pay our debt. None of us could pay it because we had earthly fathers, through which the sin principle was passed to us, making our life imperfect from conception.
But because Jesus did not have an earthly father, because God was His father, He had the potential to pay our debt to God. That’s exactly what He did! After facing every temptation we do, but never giving in to any of them, He offered up His perfect life at the Cross to pay the debt of a perfect life which we owed to God. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:18:
“For Christ has once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”
Have you acknowledged Him as your Lord and Savior? Is He your Master at this moment?
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 Apr 23, 2011 4:03:12 GMT -5
Jesus’ Resurrection Conquers Fear! by: Don Pinson
On Sunday, April 24th, millions of people across the world will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Though this event happened over 2000 years ago, it continues to be the hope of all mankind, whether or not they recognize it. Since man has lived in bondage to death and the fear of it, since the Garden of Eden, if Jesus really did rise from the dead, He has overcome the root of all fear in this world. And if He has conquered fear, think what possibilities there are for the human race. If mankind could live without fear, there would be no fear in relationships. Think what that could do for families---and even nations! If mankind could live without fear, think what that would mean to scientific and economic advancement. If mankind had no fear, there would be no dictators! Think what that would mean for government; and how government could be a true protector of God-given rights of life, liberty, and property. Think how much better life would be in this world without fear!
While this is wonderful to think about, it is not possible unless we face the truth that the Bible teaches us about ourselves, as well as about Jesus. In the beginning in Eden, we chose in our ancestor, Adam, to rebel against God who had made us. This brought into us the sin-root. The selfish attitude of “I want what I want when I want it.” This sin separated us from our Creator because we stole the life He had entrusted to us to be used for His purposes. This “sin-debt” we received removed the possibility of our being a vessel of His life. God will not dwell where there is rebellion against Him. That was problem number one: We now owed to God one perfect life. Problem number two was; we now had the root of selfishness, which colored all our actions with selfishness, and kept us from having a perfect life to offer to God to pay our debt.
However, God would send His only Son, Jesus, Who had a perfect life, to pay our debt by offering up that life to God as a sacrifice through a cruel death on a Roman cross. But that’s not all He did. He went into death, that realm man is so afraid of, and on the third day, chose to come out of death. He thus showed He has the power over death! That means, for those who will receive Him as Lord and Deliverer in their own personal lives, they won’t have to live any longer in the fear of death. Our greatest fear has been conquered by Christ! This is why the Bible rings with crystal clarity the message that death is conquered: It states,
“O death, where is thy sting, O grave, where is thy victory! But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Corinthians 15:55, 57)
There is hope for man. But it is not found in a global government or the dictator that will sit at the top of it. It is not found in education that promotes globalism, but refuses to teach the Resurrection of the Son of God as the only power to overcome the selfishness in this world. It is not found in an economic system wherein business is controlled by environmental and other forms of government regulation. It is found only in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! He can change us internally so that our external acts in education, economy, and government agree with His ways. Indeed, this is what Americas Founders were attempting to do. Samuel Adams stated, as 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.”
Do you know the Christ who delivers both men and nations from fear?
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 Apr 27, 2011 19:58:42 GMT -5
Jesus’ Life Gives Us Hope by: Don Pinson
So many people today are controlled by fear. From the White House to the Schoolhouse, most of what is done by man is motivated by fear. The human race spends billions of dollars every year going to counselors and psychiatrists trying to overcome fear. And while we’ll not be able to rid ourselves of fear this way, there is a way we can live in peace and confidence in this world. Actually, the way has already been provided for us.
You see all our fear roots in the fear of death. The Bible says that mankind, “…through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:15)
We gained the “fear of death” as a result of refusing God, our Creator, the right to dwell within us and rule these lives in the Garden of Eden. The fear of death is really the fear of facing our Creator, since we rejected His right to rule this life we call ours, but which He made for His own purpose. And since, from then on, we didn’t have Him living within us releasing His ability through us, we lived in the fear of failing. We fear not being able to do the things we should-- both morally and vocationally. Thus, fear rules us.
However, “God who is rich in mercy…” (Ephesians 2:4), worked a plan whereby you and I could be restored to what He created us to be; so we could live life without fear! He sent Jesus, His Son, to become a man so He could deliver us from fear and restore us to what God intended us to be to start with. By birthing Jesus into this world through a young virgin, He became a man, but a man without the sin principle within Him. Thus, though he could have rebelled against God like all other men have done, he would have the ability to refuse the temptation to rebel. If He lived life by the power of the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within Him, He could give all the rest of us hope that we could live that same way: Because we, too, can have the Holy Spirit dwell within us and live the life of God through us in this world. In this way, we could come to be what God created us to be in this world.
If we would receive Jesus as the resurrected Christ, the rightful Master of this life that has our name attached to it, two things would happen which would allow us to live without fear. One, we would be accepted by God again, and thus, would no longer have to be afraid to face Him at death. The Bible says,
“As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God…” (John 1:12)
And secondly, if we receive Christ as our Lord and Deliverer, He will step inside us and begin to live through us the life God always intended us to live. He says,
“…I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come into him and [live] with Him; and he will me.” (Revelation 3:20)
By the power of His indwelling life, He can live this earthly life through us, being successful at what God has called us to do. He’s not afraid of failure! If we receive Him as Lord, letting Him live through us, we get delivered from the fear of failure!
So, you see, Jesus, the Son of God, has delivered us from fear!
Most of America’s Founders knew the power of this indwelling life of Christ.
George Washington received Christ as His personal Lord when he was a young man. When he lay dying at age 67, he said to the Doctor who was attending him:
“Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.”
Can you say you’re not afraid of death? Are you not afraid of life?
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 May 8, 2011 17:06:03 GMT -5
The Price Paid for Our Redemption by: Don Pinson
Ladies and Gentlemen, the following story is why you and I can know God...
"But this One was different. Some of the soldiers had noticed the way He had taken the scourging without crying out like most men did. The soldiers who had been at the trials had noticed the way He didn’t answer trumped-up charges; refusing to dignify such accusations with an answer. The times He did speak revealed His deep inner peace. He seemed to be drawing strength from a Source they couldn’t identify, but yet was very evident.
"However, the supreme test was about to occur.
"The soldiers get up, shift their armor into place, and start to form a circle around Jesus. But then they see something that they’ve never seen in all their years of crucifying men. Jesus, of His own will, moves over to His cross, and stretches Himself out on it. He then extends His hands and waits for the nails. They are shocked! Never, among all the many experiences of crucifixion they’ve had, have they ever had anyone willingly accept a cross. This Man is different! Jesus actions seem to say, “No one takes my life from Me; I lay it down willingly.” But why? Why would He embrace a cross?
"But they didn’t have time to ask questions. Besides, soldiers weren’t trained to think, only to obey orders; and they had an order from the governor to execute this Man. He must have done something worthy of death. They had a job to do!
"(Oh, the tragedy of acting without thinking! This is how most governmental wrongs have been accomplished: A few political schemers instigated evil while others assumed they weren’t qualified to question the actions of these in such high realms of government!) But to continue the story...
"One of the soldiers picked up a spike. With the other hand he grabbed a mallet, then he bent over the outstretched arm of Jesus. Out of habit he secured Jesus’ arm by pressing his knee against it. But with this Man there was no resistance, no pulling away as the nail was placed in His hand. The soldier, amazed that a man could face crucifixion this way, nevertheless, had a job to do.
"The soldier raised the mallet, and with a mighty blow brought it down against the spike. The huge nail ripped through Jesus’ hand, and the blood squirted out onto the cross piece. In a natural reflex to the pain, Jesus’ arm jerked, enlarging the hole in His hand. His blood begins to run over the edge of the beam and form a puddle on the ground.
"Now the soldiers hold His other arm against the opposite side of the cross. Though Jesus’ body is writhing in pain, He makes no effort to remove His other arm. Quickly the spike is driven through the other hand. The muscles in Jesus’ upper body are now beginning to spasm, as the soldiers move quickly to His feet.
"In all this torture, amazingly, there are no shrieks of pain coming from Jesus’ lips! Though He is feeling the pain the same way as the previous two men who were crucified that day, there is the noticeable absence of the loud screams. He is suffering in silence. This created for the soldiers a disturbing feeling that this was all wrong."
Have you had the disturbing feeling that you've treated Jesus like He was just another man?
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 May 18, 2011 21:33:01 GMT -5
The Pain of Our Redemption by: Don Pinson
Ladies and Gentlemen, we continue the story of Jesus' death; taken largely from the book, Why God Birthed America:
"But trying to ignore the feeling that these nails were going into an innocent man's hands, the Roman soldiers continued their bloody work. Another powerful blow of the mallet forces the spike through Jesus’ crossed feet. His body contorts and His quivering lips reveal the pain He’s absorbing, yet no sound is heard from His lips save the gasps for air. His blood is now running onto the ground at a steady rate; the earth soaking up the blood of its Creator.
"Yet in all this word-defying scene of horrendous torture, there is an unmistakable presence of peace surrounding this middle cross. Though unseen, it is undeniable. This Man is like no other that has ever hung on a cross. There is a Presence about Him. In spite of the cruelty, the ghastly sight of blood, and the stark disregard for human life, dignity pervades this scene! Something is happening here which defies description. A transaction is taking place between heaven and earth that will profoundly affect all of history.
"Suddenly, as He looks to heaven, Jesus breaks his silence: "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." (Luke 23:34) All eyes quickly turn toward Him. What did He say, "Father, forgive them?" Forgive those who had driven nails through His body? Forgive those who were wasting His very life's blood on the ground! Did they really hear Him right? Yet, the words were unmistakable. He was asking God to forgive the very ones who were torturing Him.
"The soldiers simply could not believe their ears. They knew Jesus had, in peace, been taking what they were dishing out. But when He said, "Father forgive them," He was stepping up to plead for mercy at the bar of judgment for them, his tormentors. They were all affected by the statement. And at least one was shaken to the core of his being. This soldier couldn't take his eyes off Jesus. The eyes of this Man, Jesus, were captivating. Even now, as His body is racked with pain, His eyes are full of peace. While Jesus had submitted to being nailed to this cross, this soldier had the distinct feeling that there were spiritual beings all around who were just longing to step in and stop this whole misuse of religious and governmental power. It seemed they were just waiting for a word from Jesus, a Word which never came.
"The soldier kept looking at Jesus, taking in what they had just inflicted on a - yes - an innocent Man! He found himself admitting it deep within. This Man was innocent! That made them the guilty ones! Now this soldier was willing to go a step further. Could this Jesus really be who He claimed to be - the Son of the God of the Jews? What a difficult thing to imagine. Could God dwell in a human body? The Romans had tried to make their emperors out to be gods, elevating a man to the position of a god. But could God come down to be a man?
"Watching all of this, the soldier is becoming more convinced that Jesus just might be Who He says He is. And if He is God's Son, then that fact demands He be listened to. If He was God’s Son, then He would be right about everything. And if there was only one God, and He sent His Son to earth to be a man, that would prove He cared about us: That He was trying to communicate something to us humans. Could God be telling us He has a plan for us?"
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 May 21, 2011 7:46:38 GMT -5
The Purpose of Our Redemption by: Don Pinson
Ladies and Gentlemen, we continue to see the crucifixion of Jesus as written in the book, Why God Birthed America:
"By now it was noon, and a strange thing begins to happen. The sky begins to darken with an eerie blackness. For a few brief moments, the air was so still it seemed to choke you as the darkness deepened. Then the earth began to tremble. Lightning bolts were exploding against the ground.
"Then, unexpectedly, the voice of Jesus pierces the darkness. In a loud, wrenching voice Jesus cries out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!” (John 19:26-27)
"The level of emotional pain expressed by this outcry was incomprehensible. All who heard it were arrested by its intensity. While the light produced by the lightning bolts was short-lived, the pain in His face that they exposed was unforgettable. His brow was deeply wrinkled. The blood on his battered face was streaked with the trails of tears. One felt as if He was experiencing loneliness on a level never before known by man.
"As the minutes crawled by, it felt like the rejection of all the ages was pouring into Jesus. Indeed, later it would be revealed that the punishment for every man’s rebellion against God was being absorbed into Jesus’ being in those hours. He was taking, in our place, the wrath of His Father, the righteous Judge. (See Luke 23:39-43) That afternoon on the cross, He became, in every sense of the word, our substitute.
"At one point He moaned, “I thirst!” (John 19:28) One of the soldiers who had gambled for His robe stuck a sponge on the end of his spear, soaked it with sour wine, and held it up against the lips of Jesus. Refused the last act of kindness He ever requested from those He had created, Jesus weakly turned His face away.
"Now the end was near. His breathing was so labored that those watching expected death to come at any moment. But then, in an unmistakable voice of triumph, Jesus cried out, “It…is…finished!” (John 19:30) The words rang with victory, with accomplishment! It was as if His perspective on this whole ordeal was that a work was being done. The tone of His voice spoke of completing something that had been planned from eternity past. The books were now balanced! He had paid man’s debt to God: That debt of one perfect life which man had incurred in Eden when he used, for selfish purposes, the perfect life God had loaned him---that debt was now paid. The work was now accomplished!
"A few moments later, Jesus uttered His last words from the cross. Focused on the Father, He was heard to say, “Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit.” (Luke 23:46) Though His body was weakened beyond exhaustion, the words rung distinctly with inexhaustible faith! He was entering death, but He was believing the promise recorded in Psalm 22 that God would not leave Him in death. The vision of God concerning Him would be accomplished!
"With these last words, Jesus bowed His head and released Himself into the realm of death.
"Now it was in the Father’s hands. What faith is here expressed by the Son of God! He would face all that death had to offer with only the naked faith in what God had written through prophets hundreds of years before. When all is said and done, the ultimate question is always: “Do I believe what is written in the Scripture?” Jesus did."
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 May 29, 2011 7:36:10 GMT -5
Jesus Is Alive! by: Don Pinson
Jesus had been dead three days. Some of the women who had followed Him came to His tomb early and had found the stone door rolled away and His body gone! They had told His disciples, and Peter and John had come to the grave site and seen for themselves that His body was gone. But now the others had left and only Mary Magdalene remained. It is here we pick up the story from the book, Why God Birthed America:
"Mary did not want to leave. She stood there a few steps from the entrance to the grave, trying to sort out all that had happened. The angels had said He was alive. Jesus Himself had told them He would come back to life. But could that really be?
She moved closer to the entrance. Questions were flying through her mind. Could He really be alive again?
She didn’t know how long she stood there lost in thought. But as she put her head on the doorway and wept, she was instantly blinded with light! There they were again! The two shining creatures they had seen earlier. They looked at her with compassion. “Woman, why are you weeping?” they asked. “Because they’ve taken away my Lord and I don’t know where they’ve put Him,” she wailed.
She turned her head away, having no stamina which could stand up to the questions of celestial beings. What had happened? Where was His body? Her mind was racing, exceeded only by the racing of her heart. Blinded by tears, she turned from the doorway and nearly bumped into a figure standing there. In between her sobs, she heard the person say, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
More questions! Everyone kept asking her questions. She was tired. She was confused. Couldn’t somebody just tell her where Jesus’ body was!
Then a thought seemed to force its way to the surface of her thinking. Could this perhaps be the caretaker? Maybe he had moved the body---or knew who did.
In childlike faith she fell at his feet, grasping his ankles and pleading, “Sir, if you have done something with the body of Jesus, please tell me. I’ll come and take it away,” her tears revealing her deep sincerity. And then she heard it:
“Mary!”
The voice! It was - Oh could it be - that voice! It was the voice that had first spoken peace to her tormented soul. It was the voice that had driven out the evil spirits that had bound her. It was Jesus’ voice!
She turned her tear-stained face upward to see those kind eyes looking down at her. It was Him! He was alive!
“Master! Mary exclaimed, hugging His ankles with all the strength in her. She had found Him again - He was alive! - and she wasn’t about to let go of Him. The joy flooding her emotions knew no bounds! Her tears of pain were now turned to tears of joy: Joy greater than she had ever known!
Jesus gently said to her, “Stop clinging to Me. I’m on the way to the Father. But go tell my brothers that I’m ascending to My Father, Who is also their Father.” (John 20: 11-18)
And after a moment, He was gone. She had just had His ankles in her hands - and now He was gone! But what should have been a loss didn’t feel that way now. He was alive! Mary had the distinct witness in her heart that He wasn’t gone forever - that He wasn’t far away. She rose from the ground and began to run to tell the others. They must know. Just like He said, He had gone into death and come out of it at will; and He was not only spirit. She had held the ankles of His new body in her own hands. He was flesh and bone again!"
We'll continue the story next week: But do you personally know this Resurrected Christ?
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 Jun 3, 2011 21:38:32 GMT -5
It's Enough! by: Don Pinson
When rulers try to rule without "the fear of God" (Exodus 18:21), they miss the very foundation of success. The worldview that denies the existence of God, as well as His right to rule us and our institutions can end only in confusion and death to liberty. That's why in recent programs we've been sharing the Biblical foundations for ourselves and our nation from the book Why God Birthed America. We continue with the story of Jesus' Resurrection:
"What Mary didn’t see in that Garden was the host of others who were there. The many believers from the past who were standing around Jesus, waiting for the most triumphant entry ever staged. They were the “spirits of just men made perfect.”(Hebrews 12:22-23) Abel, Noah, Moses, David, Daniel and many, many others. They did not yet have their new bodies, like the one Jesus had. But they knew His was the certain promise that theirs would one day come. (Ephesians 1:14)
"He was leading them from Paradise (the place where they had been at rest ever since their death) into heaven. The Father in heaven had ever wanted them with Him, but something had to happen first. Since all the spirit realm operates on legal principles (Psalms 94:20), there was a legality that must be taken care of before they could enter the Presence of the Almighty God.
"As they reached the gate of heaven, they found it opening to them. Light more brilliant than the mind can conceive shines from the other end of this main street of heaven. The angels bow and worship, announcing the return of the Son of God. Jesus strides toward the end of that street. He walks right up to the throne of the Almighty, Creator God, His Father. And then, the most sublime act in all of history is done by Jesus: He simply stretches His hands toward the Father, palms up, presenting the blood of His fresh wounds.
"The Father takes those hands into His own. With tenderness He holds them, gazing at them with all-knowing eyes. All heaven is absolutely still. There is no movement, no sound anywhere. All eyes are on the hands of Jesus held by the Father’s own hands. Eternity seems to hang in the balance. The destiny of every human being is about to be revealed.
"Then, in a resounding voice that shakes the very foundations of heaven, earth, and hell, the Father states: “It’s enough! It’s enough, Son! One sacrifice for sin for all time. The debt is paid in full! (Heb. 10:10-14)
"The Father now looks toward the faithful believers waiting at the gate. “Let them come,” He shouts! His eyes return to Jesus. Respect as only God can give was seen in the Father’s eyes as He looked on Jesus in that moment. Exaltation resounded in the Father’s voice as He said to Jesus, “Come, sit here at My right hand while I make Your enemies Your footstool.” (Hebrews 10: 12)
"Jesus is seated on the Father’s right side while all the waiting believers rush to the throne. A thunderous shout of praise echoes over the hills of heaven! It reverberates throughout heaven and hell! Earth was brightened in that moment with the hope that man could be restored to all that God originally intended him to be.
"All is now right. Mankind is redeemed; bought with Jesus’ own blood. The debt of one perfect life which man owed to God is now paid. Jesus’ perfect life was offered up to God as a sacrifice that the debt might be removed. There is now no barrier between man and God.
"The stage is now set."
Only one thing remains for God to be able to live His life through us. We'll see that next week.
Is God living His life through 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 Jun 15, 2011 13:19:32 GMT -5
“Why Memorial Day?” by: Don Pinson
At this time of year, we celebrate Memorial Day: A time when we visit the graves of departed loved ones. But why was this day established as a national holiday? How did this American tradition get started?
During the War Between the States, some southern women began to decorate the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers who had died in battle. Out of their love and respect has grown this national holiday, celebrated in May of each year. Thus, the real reason for the day is to show respect for those who have defended our liberties. We are to "give honor to whom honor is due" (Rom. 13:7) according to the Bible. Certainly, it is right to show respect to those who have laid down their all to keep our liberties secure.
The most noted speech ever given in honor of the defenders of liberty was given by Abraham Lincoln. He spoke these immortal words on Nov. 19, 1863 on the battlefield at Gettysburg where over 50,000 men died in battle. Lincoln said there:
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those, who here, gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Lincoln was so moved by the sacrifice of the fallen men at Gettysburg, it was there he committed his life to Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior; to be used by Him for the preservation of Liberty in this world.
Are you committed to preserving liberty? Then you, too, must first receive the Author of liberty, Jesus Christ, as your Lord. Only then, once you know internal liberty, will you be able to join in God's great army of people who are praying and working to preserve external liberty in this world. And even then, you will need to set aside specific time to educate yourself as to how our Founding Fathers thought; else you'll be a hindrance instead of a help to the cause of liberty. Are you willing to receive Christ as Lord? Are you willing to set aside some time each day to study how our Founders thought?
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 Church News on Jun 23, 2011 11:41:08 GMT -5
Man's Hope - Being God's Earthsuit by: Don Pinson
Most people live and die without ever finding the hope that they can be what God created them to be. But you can have hope! Jesus Christ wants to step into you and live His life through you. He wants to bring you into all He created you to be. Thousands in the first three centuries found that hope. Here's how it happened as described in the book Why God Birthed America:
"Jesus’ followers had been together a lot during those ten days after He had returned to heaven They had opened their hearts to each other in a way they had never done before. Somehow, reflecting on Jesus' different appearances made it easier to bare one’s thoughts, the hopes and the fears. This opening of the heart began to work a oneness, a unity among them that made them feel as if they were a real part of the others: An actual body of believers, joined together by the same thinking, moving in the same direction.
"They had decided to come together on the Day of Pentecost; a Feast with reminded them of God's awesome power displayed when God gave the Ten Commandments. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God had promised that one day He would take away the hard heart of man and give him a teachable heart. Now, His awesome power was about to just that.
"It happened on the first day of the Feast. They were gathered together as they had often done since Jesus’ return to heaven; when, all of a sudden, the room was filled with the sound of a powerful wind. Fire appeared and began to come onto each of them! It was impossible to remain still! They were stirred to cry aloud; and when they did, languages that they had never spoken before flowed out of their mouths. They were ecstatic with joy! And there was power, power to be what they had been created to be! Boldness immediately replaced fear. This must be the coming of the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised them! His power simply could not be contained. Some of them began to go down the stairs and out into the street.
"Peter, the disciple who for fear had denied his Lord three times when Jesus had been on trial, now stands up and begins to address a gathering crowd. With all fear gone, He begins to explain to them that this is what God had promised through the prophets. This was the promised Holy Spirit Who could empower them to be all God had created them to be! He then points out their sin in crucifying Jesus. Without mincing words, he puts the blame for Jesus’ death squarely on their shoulders; but then tells them that it is possible for the Holy Spirit to live inside them also. This promise is also for them and their children! If they would admit they were God's property, not their own, they, by the indwelling life of God, could be made into what God had created them to be! The change in thousands of lives that day was too much to keep a secret, not that they were trying to!
"They were becoming what God had created them to be a channel of His life. And over the next three hundred years, the impact of this release of Christ’s life through believers affected every part of the culture.
"Building strong families and educating their children from the principles in the Bible produced generation after generation of people who were examples of morality and wisdom in the midst of an ever-decaying Roman society. The followers of Jesus were like lights in a dark world, holding high Christ Himself as the answer to all the searchings of mankind, and the cure for all the ills in society."
Are you His light in this decaying society?
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 Jun 28, 2011 18:16:29 GMT -5
Why Flag Day? by: Don Pinson
Recently one of the churches in our community held a special meeting on Flag Day, June 14th. They honored the United States Flag, "...the Republic for which it stands," and the soldiers who have defended that Republic. Our original Continental Congress approved the basic design of our Flag on June 14, 1777, which is why the day has been set aside as a day to honor our Flag.
I remember being taught the importance of our flag as a child by my Dad and Mom. Dad was a WWII veteran and had a great love for our country. The public school I attended likewise taught us respect for country and the flag which represents it. We saluted the Flag and pledged allegiance to it every morning. This is rarely done now as the emphasis through the education system is on nations coming together in a one-world nation. However, we were taught the Biblical understanding that:
"God hath made of one blood all nations of men...and appointed...the boundaries of their habitation." (Acts 17:26)
Now most children don't even know the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Let's carefully consider this pledge in an effort to regain its powerful message. The Pledge states:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
The word pledge, defined by Noah Webster in his original 1828 dictionary means "to give as a warrant or security." In other words, when we pledge to do something, we are giving our solemn promise.
The word allegiance means the 'duty of firm adherence to the government under which one is born.' (paraphrased from Webster's 1828) Thus, when we "pledge allegiance" we are committing to firmly guard our country against all who would seek to take away its right to exist. This commitment must agree with the Bible to be valid, for no commitment to an earthly person or thing can be valid if that person or thing is not in the order of God. As Acts 5:19 says, "We must obey God rather than men."
We "pledge allegiance...to the Republic for which (the flag) stands." Webster defines a Republic as: "A commonwealth; a state in which the exercise of the sovereign power is lodged in representatives elected by the people." A "commonwealth" he defines as: “a certain portion of men united by compact or... agreement, under one form of government and system of laws." In other words we are pledging allegiance, not to one man as the Germans did Hitler in the 1930's. We are pledging our allegiance to a government in which we the people have ourselves chosen our laws. And those civil laws must be in agreement with the Biblical moral laws to be valid. Thus, we pledge to defend law as the highest authority, not one man's will as the highest authority!
The next phrase in the pledge is: "One nation under God..."
America exists only because of the plan of God. Her purpose is wrapped up in the desire of Jesus Christ to get His Gospel to the world. It is only "under God" that she is "indivisible;” and it is only "under God" that she will have "liberty and justice for all." "Justice" means “giving to every one what is his due." This is impossible in a nation that does not embrace the Bible as the standard for what is right or wrong. This is why Jedediah Morse, a leader in our early Republic, warned us:
"...Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present Republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with 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 Jun 29, 2011 19:35:37 GMT -5
John Adams: Example of Founder’s Thinking by: Don Pinson [/i] The Bible says, “Remember those who led you…” (Heb. 13:7) Yet, in America we’ve forgotten what those who founded this nation were like. We no longer know how they thought or what they did. Someone has truthfully described us as having ‘national amnesia’.
The great danger in a nation forgetting its past is that they will lose the foundational ideas that made that nation great. We’re missing out on the inspiration provided by the stories of our ancestors who did amazing things to birth, grow, and protect America. Worse still, we’re missing the interventions by God Himself so that we no longer credit Him with America’s existence. Thus we lose the very Strength Who has brought the good to us which we now enjoy.
A renowned minister, A.W. Foljambe, spoke great wisdom when he said in 1876: "The more thoroughly a nation deals with its history, the more decidedly will it recognize and own an over-ruling Providence [in it], and the more religious a nation [it will] become; while the more superficially it deals with its history, seeing only secondary causes and human agencies, the more irreligious will it be."
One of the greatest ways to rediscover our past is simply to read the statements of our Founding Fathers. They wrote a great deal in journals and documents just so the following generations could know the foundational ideas on which they birthed and built this nation into the greatest in world history. They didn’t claim that they came up with these ideas. They constantly acknowledged the Bible to be the source of this wisdom.
Let’s look at some statements of one of America’s Founders, John Adams. He gave over fifty years of his life in the service of his country. He signed the Declaration of Independence. He was an Ambassador, Vice President under Washington, then finally President. He was very qualified to speak about the founding principles on which this nation was built. He was willing to lay his all on the altar of liberty that his children might have opportunity to hear the truth of the Gospel in all areas of life. He wrote:
“If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready, at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have… a free country!
When some delegates in Philadelphia were hesitating to make the break with England, he urged them to approve, that very day, the Declaration of Independence. He told them:
“Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope [for] in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence forever!
The delegates heeded Adams’ words and voted that day to approve the Declaration of Independence.
John Adams had always believed God had birthed America for the purpose of getting the Gospel to the world. Their work that day in Philadelphia would create a national government that would begin to secure that purpose. He summed up his feelings about America when he wrote:
“I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand…design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.”
Did you realize that was why God birthed America? Are you teaching it to you children?
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 Jul 1, 2011 18:41:56 GMT -5
OUR FREEDOM DOCUMENT by: Don Pinson
The Bible says, "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Gal. 5:1) [/b] Ladies and Gentlemen: The following document is the reason you and I, in America, are free:
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitles them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of a absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world ...”
[They then listed 27 violations of God's laws for government which the King had violated.]
“... In every stage of these Suppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
“Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore,…hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
WE, THEREFORE, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES…and that…they have full Power…to do all…Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
Declaration of Independence signed by our Founders, July 4th, 1776.
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 Jul 19, 2011 5:15:04 GMT -5
The Spirit & Structure of Government by: Don Pinson
Why are governments always changing? Why are there so many revolutions across the earth that topple one government and set up a different one? Believe it or not, there's a simple answer to all this: There is a war in the spirit realm for the souls of men! So it does matter what form of government a nation has and the spirit in which that government operates. For God, in the Bible, reveals both the spirit and the structure by which government is to exist. And the warfare concerning government is between the forces of God and the forces of satan over whether or not a nation will operate by God's system. The nation which will operate by God's system is a vessel God can use to bring men to His way of life. A nation which operates otherwise fights against the plan and purpose of God to get the Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ to the next generation. It's that simple!
So what is the spirit in which government is to operate? America's Founders taught that it was the Biblical principle of morality. Morality is defined in America's original dictionary as: "the conformity of an act to the Divine will." In other words, if the people and their government servants live by the Bible, then the spirit of their government will be right. If they live and make laws out their selfishness, then their nation will self-destruct. America's Founders constantly told us this. John Adams, our second President stated:
"...this constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
Patrick Henry, the fiery orator of the American Revolution, referring to the new Newly won independence of America, stated:
"Whether this will prove a blessing or a curse will depend upon the use our people make of the blessings, which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a nation. Reader! Whoever thou art, remember this - and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others."
Daniel Webster, the great 19th century statesman, warned us:
“But if we and our posterity neglect [Christian] instruction... trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”
So what about the structure of government? How important is the form of a government? The structure of government is so important that, even if we have the spirit of morality in the wrong structure of government, that government will still self-destruct. So what is God's form of government? It is known as a Republic, and is the form of government God gave to His people in Deuteronomy 1. A Republic is a government in which the people choose representatives to make their laws; those laws being based under the law of God in the Bible. Thus, law is the highest authority; not the whims of some government leader.
America's Founders identified the source of our Republic as being God's law. Noah Webster stated:
"...the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament or the Christian religion."
Can you identify a Republic? Do you know how to operate it so as to preserve liberty for you children to hear the Gospel of Christ?
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 Jul 25, 2011 21:37:38 GMT -5
Compromise Brings the Curse by: Don Pinson
Recently, Ken Ham, founder of the Answers in Genesis Ministry, published a book entitled Already Compromised. The book reveals how students at many so-called Christian colleges are being destroyed by ideas taught in the classroom that are against the truth revealed in the Bible. Many of these colleges teach, for example, that Adam was just a picture of Israel, not a real person. Some teach that the apostles were "lousy at exegesis," meaning the early church leaders like Paul weren't good at explaining the meaning of the Scripture.
Is it any wonder our churches are weakening and not impacting our culture, when our church-funded schools are denying the truth of the Bible? But we shouldn't be too surprised at this warfare with compromise; it's been satan's chief tool since the Garden of Eden. When he said to Eve, "Hath God really said...?" he was revealing that his main weapon against mankind is to get us to doubt the Words of God.
Indeed, it was exactly what he did to try to slow the sharing of the Gospel message in the 300's. After Jesus' resurrection, the Holy Spirit indwelt all who would receive Christ as Lord. As a result of Him living the life of Christ through believers, half the known world would hear of Jesus in just 300 years---that was without the aid of radio, television, or internet: They didn't even have the printed page! But this is what God can do with people who have Christ indwelling them and living through their lives. But because of it, satan was loosing his grip on mankind which he'd had since we rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. He had to get this stopped or his world-wide rule would be over.
Thus, he began to try to convince church leaders that the Bible didn't really mean what it said when it declared, “...unless one is born...of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (John 3:5) satan's lie was: "Aren't we all creations of God; therefore all should be members of God's kingdom." Church leaders embraced this lie as the truth in the year 380 AD. They baptized all Roman citizens into the church and now, for the first time, there were large numbers of lost people in the church. Since lost people live a lie and don't want to hear the truth, the Bible was removed from the common man and rarely used as the standard for living. As a result, the next 1000 years would see men slip into destruction all over the earth.
Mankind went backwards educationally; without the goal of being able to read the Bible and hear from God, there was no reason to learn to read. Most didn't. We went backwards scientifically, thus the average life span dropped to be only 35 years, with thousands dying in those years by horrible plagues. We went backwards economically, as the average person worked from daylight to dark only to be able to barely eat and keep a leaky roof over their heads. We went backwards governmentally and freedom was almost completely lost. Governmental power got concentrated into the hands of one man, the Pope, who not only ruled the church, but most civil governments as well. Thus mankind lived in terrible oppression and difficulty for over a thousand years.
Only by giving the Bible back to the common man and teaching him to read it would this terrible situation be changed, but we must leave that story for next week.
Are you protecting your children from the lies of satan through the media and the secular education methods? Or could it be you've believed those lies 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 Jul 29, 2011 22:11:59 GMT -5
The Battle For the Bible by: Don Pinson
The Battle for the Bible continues. The American Family Association reports that the new Director of the Houston National Cemetery is removing God and the Bible from funerals there. The AFA June 30 Action Alert states: "Since taking the directorship of the Houston [National Cemetery] in April, 2010, Arleen Ocasio has used her position to bully Christians, repeatedly trampling on the religious liberties of Veterans of Foreign Wars District 4, The American Legion Post 586, and the National Memorial Ladies."
Thus, the battle over mentioning the Name of God in public continues. This is not new to history, only to America. After the church married the world in the year 380 AD, the Bible was removed from the common man. This enslaved him and caused his life to be miserable. He lived in poverty and sickness, his life only averaging 35 years all through the 1000 years after that. But God had always intended man to be an expression of His own life in this world, so God moved a man in the 1300's named John Wycliffe to give the Bible back to the common man. Wycliffe worked several years translating the Bible into the English spoken by the average Englishman on the street. He completed His translation in 1382. As the common man in England began to learn that God had a plan for his life and wasn't just sitting in heaven as the Judge, hoping we'd sin so He could wipe us out, men started turning to God in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. This brought revival to both individuals and the culture. Men began to learn the educational and economic laws of the Bible and thus began to come out of their slavery and poverty. This came about because John Wycliffe not only gave the Bible back to the average person in England, but he also taught them to read it. He would go to the street corners and read portions of the Bible to people as he translated it. He then would ask the people gathered to hear: "How would you like to read the Bible?" They'd respond, “O Professor John, I love to read the Bible---but I can't even read!" Then he would say, “Sure you can! Say this after me: A says "ah"; E says "eh"; I says "ih." By using phonetic sounds he would teach them the sounds of the letters of our language. And before they would leave the street corner, they would be reading simple Bible verses, like: "God is light." (1 John 1:5)
This caused revival fires to burn all over England and within 25 years, half of England had turned to Jesus Christ as their personal Lord! But in the process of translating the Bible, John Wycliffe would also discover a basic truth about government. That truth would change the course of history in the Western world. It was so important he wrote it in the introduction to his Bible so that all would learn it and live by it. That truth would be the cornerstone of American government. It stated: “The Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Through Wycliffe's translation of the Bible, mankind would learn again that God had a plan for their individual lives, their families, their churches, and their institutions of education, economy, and government. Through the reading of the Bible, men would begin to throw off the yoke of church and government dictatorship. Do you read the Bible consistently? - or maybe you like being a slave. 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 Aug 9, 2011 17:52:27 GMT -5
The Bible And Government For the People by: Don Pinson
The so-called Environmental Protection Agency last week issued a new ruling which sets standards for obtaining coal mining permits at such a level so as to make strip-mining virtually impossible. The EPA reason for this? The agency stated, "The guidelines will better protect water quality and aquatic life in streams below mountaintop strip mines." (Lexington Herald, 7/22/11) Well those of us who live in this coal mining region could ask: "And what about the humans who live below and from these mines!"
Is this ruling for the good of the people, or the good of an agenda?
The "Climategate" scandal proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt that the whole global warming issue is being used by left-wing activists to move us into huge control of business through government control of the environment. The EPA appears to be "in bed" with these left-wing activists in destroying the coal mining in this region in order to drive up the price of energy and thus to plunge our economy into deeper crisis. Their aim is, of course, to create a crisis in our nation; then offer as a solution to that crisis the increase of government control. This has been their strategy to produce a dictatorship in this country ever since the 1960's.
What should be our response to this attempted enslavement by the current administration in Washington? As always, we must look to the Bible for wisdom in how to handle this. The Bible tells us how to deal with government oppression. And, as the men of Massachuetts said in answer to King George the III's tyranny over them, "A free-born people are not required by the religion of Jesus Christ to submit to tyranny, but may make use of such power as God has given them to recover... their...liberties."
And the power God has given us is fourfold:
First, we pray. John Wycliffe wrote in the introduction to the very first English Bible, translated in 1382 the principle that: “The Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
If government is to be "of the people," then the people must do the most important thing first: get the mind of God on each issue before them. This is done through humble prayer asking God to enlighten us from the Bible as to how to deal with this crisis.
Secondly, we resist the ruling without force. That means we speak and write against it. We point out to others near us the wrong of it, from the Bible. And we simply try to stay clear of it as much as is possible. Included in resisting is the power of voting for candidates who will firmly work to do away with un-Biblical agencies like the EPA. If we aren't willing to work and give money to elect Biblical-thinking candidates there is no hope of preserving our liberty!
Only after doing these three things at great length is it right to take up arms in resistance to government oppression.
And remember, God warns us that economic difficulty will come as a result of us refusing to obey the Bible in our personal and national lives. God says in Deuteronomy 28:15 (through 20)
But... if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day... The LORD shall send upon thee cursing... in all that thou settest thine hand...to do, until thou be destroyed..."
Is our selfish living bringing these curses on our economy?
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 Aug 21, 2011 21:25:38 GMT -5
The Most Important Government by: Don Pinson
Recently there's been a lot of talk about government and the money it takes to operate it. But all this so-called "shutdown debate" has produced is just more debt, more tax, and more destruction of our nation---And the government continues to grow. And if we don't quickly return to the Founding principle of America we will shortly live under a dictator.
Our Founders taught a principle to their children which summed up all the Biblical teaching about government. It was this:
"The more internal self-government you have, the less external civil government you need. But the less internal self-government you have, the more external civil government you need."
America was built on this principle. The Pilgrims learned to walk in the internal self-government which the Holy Spirit produces when a life is surrendered to Christ. This started when they received Christ as their Lord and Deliverer and thus, were born again. But the earliest among them had learned something about this internal self government that would profoundly affect the birthing and the growth of America.
In the mid-1500's they had gone to Geneva, Switzerland to learn from a scholar by the name of John Calvin. Calvin taught a simple principle which would change the course of the Western world. He called it "renovation." The word renovation means to make new. This is what Christ does when He enters a life that has just surrendered to Him as Master. He changes that life by flowing with His life from that person's spirit, into his soul, and out through the actions of his body. That is what the Bible means when it says,
"Be ye (being) filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18)
When the Holy Spirit flows through a life, He is in control of that life. The word govern means to "control." Thus, the Holy Spirit is governing that life. This is what the word morality means; and it is the concept from which our Founders got the phrase internal self-government.
It was John Calvin who taught the relationship between this internal self-government by the Holy Spirit, and external civil government. He taught that believers must allow this internal self-government by the Holy Spirit to grow to the institutions of education, economy, and civil government. If they did, the education system would teach the next generation how to know Christ and let the Holy Spirit live through them. This would keep external civil government small because men wouldn't need government to tell them how to do education; the Bible would be doing that. They wouldn't need for government to tell them how to do business for the Bible would be doing that. They wouldn't need much civil government because there would not be much crime: The Bible says,
"Love works no ill to his neighbor." (Romans 13:10)
All this adds up to less civil government. That means less tax; fewer people work for government, so there are fewer salaries to pay. Thus, there's no need to borrow money to meet the needs of government, a small tax base takes care of it. It means government doesn't tell you how to run your family, your church, or your business.
All this spells MORE LIBERTY!! As one of our early statesmen, Robert Winthrop, said,
"Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled... either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man...”
Will it be God or government? Those are your only choices.
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 Aug 23, 2011 4:50:39 GMT -5
The Bible Brings Revival by: Don Pinson
This past Saturday "well over 30,000" people gathered in Houston's Reliant Stadium, not for a Houston Texan football game; but to approach the Creator God, the Father of Jesus Christ, and to openly admit the sins of Americans; asking for His forgiveness and mercy, though admitting we deserve judgment. They came with dark skin and light skin. They came as Protestants, Catholics, Fundamentalists, Pentecostals, and everything in between. They came for one purpose: to meet Holy God with repentance and a heart cry for our sin-sick nation. More than 80,000 internet hookups and at least one television network broadcasting the whole 7 hour event meant that, no doubt, millions of people participated at other locations around the nation. There were many, many messages from all over the world from Christians who had tied in through internet and wanted to encourage us that they were praying for revival in America! What an awesome worldwide gathering!
The constant cry was one of repentance and a plea for God to intervene in this crisis in our nation. We admitted before God and the watching world that, as a nation, we were bankrupt; spiritually, morally, relationally, economically, educationally, and governmentally. There were constant pleas toward God that He would return us to the Bible in our homes, churches, schools, businesses, and in our governments. The prayers seemed genuine; free of hype and show. There were no pre-event promotions of well-known Christian leaders or musicians. The worship was led by people who are mostly unknown in the Christian world. When "notables" did come to the platform, most were not even called by their names to do their part. Only a brief flashing of their name on the screens ever revealed their identity. I was so blessed by this operation of humility as something that I have longed for many years. To God be the glory!
Did we genuinely repent? Did our tears touch God? He is the only judge of that.
If we did; there will, over time, be seen miraculous moves by Him in this land. There will be a ripple effect of the humility seen on Saturday that will move across the nation. Individuals, families, churches, and local communities will be changed to more Godliness in our thinking which will produce more Godliness in our actions. It is His promise; He says,
"If My people which 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, forgive their sin, and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
A return to Biblical living has produced revival before in America's history. In 1734, in answer to intense, humble prayer, and repentance on the part of especially young people, God came to Northampton, Mass and started revival that brought thousands back to faith in the Bible as both the right and the best way to live life on this earth. As a result of wave after wave of God's Spirit over the next thirty years, 75% of Americans were born again and began to become what God had created them to be. It was this time period into which America's Founders were born. Considering this, it becomes obvious they created a Biblical Republic which would preserve the liberty to take the Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ to the next generation.
Will we join in this revival God is now beginning to work in our land? Will we go far enough with Him in reforming our lives and institutions that this nation will once again be "one nation under God?" Only you and I can determine that? What about 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 Aug 31, 2011 4:58:07 GMT -5
Attempting Biblical Reformation by: Don Pinson
Polls the last few days reveal that 78% of Americans are dissatisfied with this present national government. The tremendous move toward socialism the Obama administration has made is now producing what it always produces: a falling economy and dissatisfaction among the people.
What should we do? Why not return to the roots of America? Why not return to the Biblical thinking of our Founders concerning education, economy, and government. Indeed, the way we educate is what produces the kind of government we have. Abraham Lincoln said it plainly:
"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."
The emphasis on the Bible brought revival and some reformation to Scotland in the mid 1500's. John Knox, the leader of the Reformation in Scotland, set the example by being a great man of prayer. Iain Murray, who wrote his story, said of Knox that his prayer was
"an earnest and familiar talking with God."
When the persecution under Queen Mary first started, Knox wrote a book entitled:
"What True Prayer Is, How We Should Pray, and For What We Should Pray."
In fact, it is said that Queen Mary, whom satan greatly used to try to hinder the revival, herself stated: "I fear nothing so much as the prayers of John Knox."
All liberty is always birthed out of true prayer.
The Scottish Reformation is very important to Americans because it became the pattern for our own Independence. The writing of The Declaration of Independence was the fruit of the tremendous revival known as The Great Awakening in America that occurred all through the mid 1700's. In this great move of the Spirit of God across the thirteen colonies, Americans began to earnestly pray and return to the Bible as the textbook for living. And not only was the personal and family life touched. How to structure and operate education and government was also greatly affected. And while the Scots had not completely established a republic as a result of their Reformation, Americans would. The writing of The Declaration of Independence would begin it; and the writing of our original Constitution would complete it. Found in principle in those documents is the fourfold covenant of the Scots with their rulers, which grew out of the Scottish Reformation of the 1560's. That covenant included the newly elected rulers taking an oath that they would:
1. Obey the law of God themselves.
2. Rule the people according to how the Bible said to do it. Then the people took an oath that they would:
3. Obey the law of God and be His people.
4. Obey their rulers as long as the rulers kept their covenant with God and the people!
They gained this understanding from the Scripture in passages like 2 Chron. 23 where young Joash is crowned king of Judah. The Bible says there:
"And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king [Joash], that they should be the LORD'S people. (2 Chron. 16:23)
Thus, the Biblical thinking of the Reformation in Scotland, as well that among the Pilgrims, became the basis for the writing of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
Will America return to the Bible with a full commitment; believing we must build our personal and family lives from it? Believing we must once again educate our children from its principles? Believing we must rebuild our local and national governments from it? You and I must decide that!
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 4, 2011 15:05:09 GMT -5
Who Were the Pilgrims by: Don Pinson
The little boy tugged at the young man's coat sleeve: "How far is it to America?" he asked. "Will we soon be there?" "No, son," the man replied, "It will take many days to cross this huge ocean." As the little boy ran off to play, the young man continued to gaze across the vast ocean. His thoughts drifted back twenty years; to the time he had first met these people he was now a part of:
He remembered the wonderful meetings they had in their homes in England. For the first time in his life he had felt accepted, really accepted. These people were genuine, somehow he just knew it. Though others were saying these people were bigots who thought they were the only ones who were right, he just knew they were 'real'. These people didn't claim to be perfect. They readily admitted they, too, were capable of selfishness. But the unique thing about them that so set them apart from those who were against them, was that they had entered into an agreement to help each other not give into selfishness: By letting their friends point it out to them! And the way they did it seemed safer to him than living the way his relatives did. Because they recognized their own bent toward selfishness, they didn't trust their own thoughts alone. They had agreed to compare their thoughts about another member's actions to what the Bible said about those actions. Those who were critical of them certainly didn't live that way. As he had considered their agreement, which they called a Covenant, he had come to recognize this was the safest way to live on this earth and he had decided: No matter what anyone said, he would cast his lot with these, who now referred to themselves as 'Pilgrims'. The years had brought them much hardship, but also much maturity. The peace they enjoyed was worth all the difficulties of living in a world system which was against their Covenant.
They had felt the sting of this world's criticism both in England and Holland. In England, the government and the church were fused together. The leaders in the state church used governmental authority to keep people from reading the Bible for themselves. The Pilgrims believed God wanted men to learn what He wrote for them in the Bible. Thus, eventually these Pilgrims had been forced to leave England and flee to Holland. In Holland the government allowed them to worship anyway they wished. However, they encountered great difficulty another way. Holland's economy was controlled by the government, in other words they had socialism in their economic system. After several years of struggling financially under this oppressive system, they had finally decided to trust all into the hands of their heavenly Father and make the dangerous voyage to America with their families.
In America they would be the government. They would create an educational system which would teach the Gospel and every academic subject from that Gospel. They would create a Biblical Free Enterprise economy. They would create a Republic; the form of government God teaches in the Bible. The rest is history. The Spirit of God through their lives filled these three institutions and thus, developed the greatest nation in the history of the world.
The Bible says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17)
Shouldn't we be willing for Him to restore this nation to what He originally created it to be. Shouldn't we be willing for Him to do that work, through us?
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 13, 2011 4:15:38 GMT -5
THINK ABOUT IT How The Pilgrims Faced Death by: Don Pinson
The first winter the Pilgrims were here they lost almost half their number through death. How were they able to go on facing the bitter cold of a New England winter while experiencing the bitter cold of grief in their soul. Whenever death comes for those we love, we have two choices: We can stop living and grieve away our own life; or we can thank God that He's numbered our days, and in His kind Providence, He has taken our loved one from us. If we choose to thank Him, it's perhaps the greatest expression of faith we can know on this earth. The Pilgrims chose to thank Him. And through the grieving they experienced they learned more and more to trust God, their heavenly Father.
Why can those who know God face with courage the death of those they love? The first reason is because they have the Lord's life dwelling inside them. He releases His perspective through them and many times they receive understanding as to why this is happening. Understanding always carries with it a measure of comfort and confidence about the future. But even if they don't understand why it happened, they know the loving God who had numbered that person's days, and that means it was right for all concerned. It doesn't totally remove the hurt of temporarily loosing their presence on earth, but it does help us go on with life. Just knowing that a loving Creator is in control of all events in this world allows us to trust when we cannot understand. The Pilgrims walked in this understanding and it allowed them to thank God for the death of those they loved. It enabled them to choose to go back to work building their houses, knowing this work was the work God had called them to do.
They likewise understood another truth the Bible teaches: That death is only the separation of the thinking, conscious, person from the body, it is not the end of their existence. The Bible teaches that for those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, and the Pilgrims did, death is a temporary separation of the soul and spirit from the body. The Apostle Paul wrote that he was...
"... willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8)
In the days of the Old Testament, God often referred to a believer's death as when he was "gathered to his people." Death is not ceasing to exist; it is only changing locations. Jesus spoke of "preparing a place for [us].” He calls that place "heaven" in the Scripture. He will later, after He Himself returns to this earth, bring heaven to earth. That's why we speak of believers being gone only temporarily. They will return with Jesus. This truth allowed the Pilgrims to go back to work with an expectation in their heart of the return of Christ---and the return of their loved ones.
This is one of the things that makes the Christian faith so different from all other religions. As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:13,
"...we do not sorrow as [those] who have no hope."
Believer's sorrow at the loss of a loved one is not at all the paralyzing sorrow of people who are unbelievers. Believers carry a deep assurance from the Bible that they will see again their loved ones who believed in Christ. Lost people don't have that hope, for they themselves will not be with Christ when they die.
What will happen to you when your body dies? Will you be in heaven with Christ; or in hell with only loneliness and torment?
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 22, 2011 4:59:12 GMT -5
THINK ABOUT IT How The Pilgrims Faced Natural Disasters by: Don Pinson
Recent years in America have shown alarming disasters in our nation. The attacks 10 years ago on September 11th marked the first time our nation had experienced outside attack since the War of 1812. Tremendous storms have ravaged our land in recent years. This year drought has worked tremendous destruction in much of the southern United States. And, in spite of all our knowledge about medicine, disease plagues many Americans; particularly sexually transmitted disease. Those who believe they are the ultimate authority dismiss this as coincidence. The Bible has a different viewpoint.
When continual disasters plague a nation, God says it's because of that nation's refusal to obey his Word. When Israel and Judah rebelled against Him and started worshipping like the nations around them, He warned them that He would send natural disasters to bring them to repentance. He promised that, if they repented, He would stop the disasters. If they didn't repent, the disasters would intensify; eventually reaching a point of "no return" when He would allow other nations to overcome them.
Through the prophet Jeremiah, who lived in the years just before Judah was overrun by the King of Babylon, God spoke a warning to His people, telling them what kinds of disasters would come to them if they didn't repent. He identified three specifically. He stated:
"Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not [listened] unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth." (Jeremiah 34:17)
God promised His people that if they didn't repent, He would send war, pestilence (which means disease and natural disasters), and famine (which is the result of drought). America wake up!
The Pilgrims faced a serious twelve week drought in 1623. Finally, they called for a fast and a day of confessing their personal and corporate sins to the Lord and to each other. When they left the church at 5pm that day, the clouds were already gathering in the western sky. It rained gently for the next two weeks and completely delivered their crops!
It is of great interest to note that the recent earthquake that shook Washington, D.C. left a crack near the top of the Washington Monument. On the very tip top of the Monument is a brass plate which has on it the words:
"Praise be to God."
As soon as I heard that the Monument had cracked near the top. The Lord seemed to be saying inside me that this was a picture of how we've left off praising Him in our nation and have been praising other things and people as god. It seems to me to be a clear picture of the judgment we're facing if we don't repent. Also, three of the four pinnacle stones of the National Cathedral fell off during the earthquake. Without trying to read too much into this one natural event, any person of spiritual discernment would have to conclude that the Lord is working to get our attention and bring us into repentance. He wants us to acknowledge that our personal dependence on government is against His Word; and that recent changes to concentrate power in the Executive Branch of government violate His clear teaching that the separation of governmental power is the best way to protect civil liberty (see Isaiah 33:22).
Is God calling you and me, and all Americans, to repentance?
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 10, 2011 20:05:41 GMT -5
The Extremes of Government by: Don Pinson
Recently we've seen considerable political unrest in the world's newest nation; South Sudan. Having separated from Sudan, South Sudan is going through the turmoil that is natural to any new government. However, having come from the extreme dictatorial-type government of Sudan, some citizens have been going to the other extreme of taking the law into their own hands.
Actually what we are seeing among Sudanese people are the two extremes of the political spectrum. In the totalitarian regime of the north you have the far right: absolute control by the government over a people. In citizens "doing what is right in their own eyes," you have the far left. It's called anarchy. There is no order whatsoever to this last type of government, for indeed---there is no control at all. And, if you have to choose between the two, the far right is better, because there has to be order in society for anything to work. Without order there is no security; no peace. Neither family nor business can exist in an atmosphere of anarchy. Not that things are a lot better in a dictatorship: There is still a lot of family and economic oppression. It's just a little better than anarchy.
But there is something much better on the political spectrum, and it's what the people of South Sudan are attempting. It's located in the middle of the political field, not on the edges. You say, "Oh Don, I know what it is: It's a democracy - yes, a democracy!"
WRONG! It's not a democracy! Regardless of how much you hear that word kicked around now in the news media and in the education realm, it's DEAD WRONG!!
Our Founding Fathers did not create a democracy. They didn't trust democracy. John Adams said, "There's never yet been a democracy which didn't commit suicide."
At the end of the Constitutional Convention where our Constitution was written, Ben Franklin summed it up. As he was leaving the Convention, a lady in the hallway asked him, "Well, Mr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us; a monarchy or a democracy?" Ben Franklin replied, “Neither, my dear. We have given you a Republic - if you can keep it."
A republic! That's the balance on the political spectrum. That's the type of government which is in the middle of the political field. Dictatorship makes the will of one man the highest law. Anarchy makes the will of every individual the highest law. A Republic founded on the Bible makes the will of God the highest law. That is why our Declaration of Independence said that our right to establish our American Republic rests on the "...Laws of Nature and of Nature's God..." The great peace and security which Americans have enjoyed in most all their history is the result of the order produced by respect for the law of God revealed in the Bible.
How do we know it was Christianity which produced the order which has brought security and prosperity to Americans? Noah Webster, the Father of America's original educational system, wrote in his history textbook: "...the religion which has introduced civil liberty, is the religion of Christ and His apostles...to this we owe our free constitutions of government."
A Christian Republic represents the balance point on the political spectrum. Democracy and anarchy are to the left: Oligarchy - (the rule of a few - like our Supreme Court) - Oligarchy and Dictatorship are to the right. The Bible says, "The counsel of the Lord stands forever; the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord..." (Psalms 33:11-12)
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. I'm Don Pinson, this has been Think About It.
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Post by Heritage Ministries on Oct 14, 2011 7:17:10 GMT -5
The Pilgrims Remedy for Economic Depression by: Don PinsonMr. Obama's recent speech to the Congress about fixing the bad economy offered no hope: just more words, like he's done for the last 3 years. His solution to high gas prices and fewer and fewer jobs is more government "stimulus." That is, more tax to create more government jobs. It's socialism to the "back teeth" and it does not work!! For the first 2 1/2 years the Pilgrims were here, they tried to live by a socialistic economic system. They nearly starved to death. Recognizing the seriousness of their situation, their Governor, William Bradford, called for a meeting of the leaders of the colony. They had long known their problem was this socialistic system they were laboring under. The businessmen who had financed their trip had insisted they live by a common storehouse. In other words, they were to put all their produce into one storehouse, no matter which family had raised that produce. Then, they were to take out as little as they could get by with for their own needs, and send the rest of it back to England to their financiers as payment for their debt. The Pilgrims knew this would not work, but the businessmen insisted this is how they must do it. The Pilgrims well knew the Scripture taught that, “If any would not work, neither should he eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10)
And they knew that even Christian people, like themselves, had to know they could “reap what they sowed,” if they were to produce well. However, they felt they had no choice. They had to pay for their voyage. Thus, they submitted to an anti-Biblical economic system. They had tried diligently for these years to make it work. But an economic system outside the order of God revealed in the Bible, simply was not going to work well. They knew they had to change this. So the leaders agreed that each family should have their own private property; that they should stake a plot of land and be able to keep most everything they raised on that spot for their own families. However, they did owe a debt to the businessmen who had paid for their trip. So they agreed to take 20% of the crops of each family as a means of paying their debt. The tax would cease once the debt was paid. It worked wonderfully! Governor Bradford would report, “It made all hands industrious…”
Soon the 20% was much more than the government was getting when it was charging a much larger tax. The Biblical principle that a man should be able to do with his own what he chose (Matthew 20:15), was proving to be true. Families worked harder and produced more when they could keep the proceeds from their labor. The new Biblical economy gave the greatest amount of economic liberty and the greatest material prosperity, to more citizens, than any economy in world history. Our national government should take a lesson from this. Government ownership of business, including the medical insurance industry through a so-called “health care system,” is a recipe for disaster! The Pilgrims already tried socialism in this land and it didn’t work. Let’s not buy this lie again! The Pilgrims were never hungry again after instituting a Biblical Free Enterprise system. The greatest economic engine in world history grew out of that simple change to private ownership that took place in the spring of 1623. It made the American economy the most prosperous in all of history. Why would we want to change back to a poverty economy? Why would we want to enslave our children with poverty? 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, 2011 9:39:16 GMT -5
The Pilgrims' Education System by: Don PinsonOver the last 50 years Kentucky has made major overhauls to its education system at least three or four times. Every other year in the Legislature there is the tremendous battle over the education budget. Those in the system always want more money. And yet the overall quality of Kentucky's education has continually gone downhill, as has most of the other states in this nation. Why don't we consider our education system that made America the greatest nation in world history? Why don't we go back to our roots in educating our children? It didn't cost nearly as much and produced far greater people. Why not consider it? When the Pilgrims came to America their reason for coming here was to get the truth to their children and those around them. Governor William Bradford identified that purpose when he wrote their story 25 years after they came. He wrote, “... they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations…for the propagation...of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in [those] remote parts of the world...”
To be able to teach their children the "Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ," those children had to be able to read and reason from what they read to the issues of their day. Therefore the Pilgrim's education system taught children how to read and reason from a foundation of Biblical truth. This prepared their children to know God; and thus to be responsible family members as well as citizens. This kind of education prompted Alex DeToqueville, the noted French political scientist, to write, "America is great because America is good..."
Education will always determine the greatness and the goodness of a nation. There are no exceptions to this. The Pilgrims education system has been very specifically and accurately pictured in a statue of The Monument to the Forefathers which is located in Plymouth, Mass. This statue is named Education and shows a young female teacher looking up toward God and outward toward the next generation. With her right hand she is pointing to an open book she's holding in her left hand. It's the book of education and may well represent the Bible, since the Pilgrims desired to teach their children the academic subjects from the principles of the Bible. On the right side of her pedestal is a picture of a mother holding her little girl with her right hand, and holding a school book in her left hand. The Pilgrims believed firmly that it was the responsibility of parents to educate their children, and that education must be based in the Scriptures. They believed that no where in the Bible did God teach that the state should control education; for this would give a few people at the top of government the ability to control the children which God had given to parents. They believed parents would stand before God and give an account for what went into the minds of their children; therefore parents must control what their children saw and heard. The object of the Pilgrim education system was wisdom, not just knowledge. "Wisdom" is defined in Webster's original dictionary as being "the right use of knowledge." The world's education always emphasizes "how much" a child knows. The Bible always emphasizes the quality of what a child knows. In other words, how well can a child apply technical knowledge in a moral way! This is true education. Otherwise, children can be made to think the way others, who want to control them, desire them to think. Which do you think is happening in America today? 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 19, 2011 4:51:43 GMT -5
The Property Right of Attention by: Don Pinson I try to set aside one day a week to have a date with my wife in order for us keep our marriage what the Lord planned for it to be. We try to communicate with each other and just do things that we both like to do. Recently, on our "date day," I took her to lunch to one of our favorite restaurants. It's normally a festive atmosphere, but often times has romantic music that we enjoy listening to. This day, however, two men sat near us and one of them received and made several calls on his cell phone. His voice carried over to our table very distinctly. At first, we tried to ignore his multiple conversations. That didn't work. Then we tried talking a little louder so we could hear each other. That didn't work very well either. Needless to say, it would be later before my wife and I could focus only on each other. I often notice people "texting" or talking on their phones who are supposed to be giving their undivided attention to someone else. While modern technology can be a wonderful tool in advancing the Kingdom of Christ, which is why the Lord gave us this knowledge, it can also be an instrument by which we grossly violate the property rights of others. Perhaps you're thinking "property rights," what's that? That's the whole problem! We no longer understand "property rights." Property rights are rooted in the fact that God is Sovereign. That is, He rules over everything. He owns everything, including the space you have at a restaurant or an eating table anywhere. That's why it is not right for more than one person at a time to talk at an eating table. If God has given to you that "air space" in which to say something, and I start talking at the same time as you, I have "invaded" your God-given "air space." I have violated your "space," your "property." It's only been the last 100 years in America that we have been moving away from the Biblical truth that God owns everything---including these lives which have our name attached to them. The more we try in schools or homes to teach "manners" to our children, basing manners only on the idea that another person deserves your respect, the less respect we see being given to others. Why? Because if we're not the property of God, I can invade your property rights, reasoning that my ideas or desires are more important than yours. And if I'm not going to be accountable to God, and have to have my ideas judged by Him with His standard of the Bible, then I'm my own highest authority. Therefore, your ideas are not as important as mine. Thus, I conclude that I should get most of the "talk time" in a conversation. And does our sinful pride love that!! Is this "ringing a bell" with you? Early Americans, like the Pilgrims, taught their children that they must respect the property rights of others; which included listening more than speaking, especially if their children were with people older than themselves. And to have talked with someone, when they were to be giving their attention to someone else, brought the quickest and severest rebuke. They learned in their school books to respect the property rights of others. Noah Webster's Blue Backed Speller, which educated the nation through the 1800's, taught students: "...keep your seat; and sit still. You must not say a word, nor laugh, nor play. Look on your book, learn your letters, study you lesson."
In other words, children were to respect the right of the teacher to do the talking. Only when they were asked questions were they to speak. George Washington was taught by his parents at home. They used a book entitled The Rules of Civility to teach him to read and write. The very first rule stated: "Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present."
Another rule stated: "Read no letters, books, or papers in company [of others]."
To put it in our language: "Don't text or talk on the phone in the presence of others!!!
The Bible says, “Be swift to hear, [but] slow to speak.” (James 1:19)
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, 2011 5:49:50 GMT -5
Columbus and the Gospel by: Don PinsonIn just the last few days we have celebrated Columbus Day. Schools are out, many people have a holiday weekend. But why do we celebrate this day? I remember learning in school that Columbus discovered America, but I don't ever remember hearing why Columbus discovered America. When we read Columbus' own writings, it becomes obvious he decided to make his journey because of inspiration from God, his Creator. Columbus wrote, "It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me)...that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter... [But] There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures..."
While there are those who reject the idea that God can lead us in this world and make plain to us what He wants us to do, the Bible is plain that, in reality, God created us for that very kind of life. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me." (John 10:27)
Columbus told of his own relationship to God through His Son Jesus Christ: "I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely..."
When he left port in Spain he took communion and announced that he was starting this voyage in the Name of Jesus Christ. He obviously believed Jesus was the Son of God and our only Savior. He stated plainly it was his belief that there wasn't much time to get the Gospel of Christ to the world and he was making this voyage to take that message to heathen lands. Were you aware that Columbus had this kind of commitment to Jesus Christ? I wasn't until I read his own writings. I find amazing truths about our forefathers when I read their own words instead of taking what others say about them. But not only did Columbus get the idea for his voyage from God, he got the mechanics of how to make that journey from the Lord. He would state; "...For the execution of the journey to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied...”
Though Columbus was probably the best navigator of his day, he didn't rely on his excellent knowledge of the ocean and sailing to get him here. He relied first on the accuracy of the Bible to tell him to do this, and how to do it! What would our lives---and the life of our nation, be like if we did this again!! Columbus has a word for us today, in our present situation. After seeing how faithful God would be to provide for and to protect those who would obey His leading, he would write: "No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service...
Oh, what a gracious Lord, who desires that people should perform for Him those things for which He holds Himself responsible."
You see, Columbus glimpsed the truth that we were made by God to be a vessel of His life. And that any life that will surrender to the will of God, will become a vessel that Jesus Christ will literally flow through in this present world! Are you that life? Or do you think that life that has your name attached to it is yours to do with what you want? His plan for you is, the only right plan! 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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