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New Patriot Group On Chicago’s North Side

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Christian Patriots, christian traditions, Constitution, constitution and the bill of rights, divine providence, Founding fathers, government, judeo christian heritage, massachusetts bay colony, moral codes, sermon on the mount, socialism

Christian Patriots USA

Christian Patriots USA is an independent Patriot Group (Tea Party) dedicated to restoring America’s Judeo-Christian Heritage and fidelity to the principles found in our Founding Documents, the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. CPUSA is non-denominational and not affiliated with any particular denomination, Church or political organization.

These Things We Believe
No nation can survive without a written, objective and proven set of rules governing its national institutions. Government derives its character from the beliefs and customs of its culture. The American system has three major components, its culture, its government and its economy.

Culture
The Essence of the American culture was formed during our 169 year colonial period, based on the Judeo-Christian traditions found in the Holy Bible brought to America by the Pilgrims and the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The most important laws regulating our civil society have their roots in Biblical concepts, particularly those found in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Government
The principles on which the American system of government is based is found in the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration sets forth the justification for our existence as a separate nation and declares the principles on which all forms of government should be based. (Local, state and national) There are four distinctly American principles found in the Declaration, (1) belief in a Creator God, expressed as Creator, Divine Providence, nature’s God, etc; (2) Equality of all citizens under the law (All men are created equal);  (3) Unalienable natural rights, endowed by our Creator, the right to life from conception to natural death, liberty to manage our own affairs and property in a manner that we believe to be in our own best-interest, the right to acquire, use and protect private property — the fruits of our labor. (4) The sole legitimate purpose of government is to secure these rights.

The Constitution is the “Supreme Law of the Land”.  It is the final authority for the administration of our government. Any ambiguity in the text of the Constitution is clarified and emphasized by the first Ten Amendments, The Bill of Rights. The leaders of Colonial America as well as the framers of The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution believed that America came into existence by the providence of God. Subsequent American history has strengthened this belief in the minds of many modern Patriots. For those Patriots, our Founding Documents contain the “Plan of God” for the governing of America.

Economy
The American Economy is based on market capitalism, the oldest and most successful economic system yet devised. Its leading competitor, socialism, has been tried numerous times and in many different nations and cultures. There has never been a national economy based on socialism that can be held up as a successful economic model. Wherever it has been tried it has failed miserably, including our own past and ongoing socialist experiments in America.

Purpose and Methodology
The purpose of Christian Patriots USA is to provide motivation and assistance to patriotic Christians in attempting to bring about reforms in our political, cultural and economic systems more in keeping with our Founding Principles and in conformity with our Founding Documents. To carry out this purpose CPUSA will hold periodic meetings for exchanging information and opinions of current events, political news, and most important of all, instruction and discussion of our Founding Principles and our Founding Documents. Other planned activities of CPUSA include, Internet and print publishing, public gatherings for the purpose of petitioning government for redress of grievances and otherwise promoting the goals of CPUSA in whatever way seems appropriate to the membership.

Click Here for meeting information

Is Socialism Inevitable

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Christ, Christianity, Constitution, Founding fathers, government, patriots, religion, Secular Humanism, socialism

The idea of societies with shared labor and shared rewards are as old as mankind itself. The first communal societies were made up of family members, then voluntary communities and eventually to involuntary sharing of labor and property enforced by some form of government body. Finally, the idea evolved into the political system known today as “socialism”, a term believed to have originated with Robert Owen sometime around 1825 to describe the collective communities he developed in Lanark, Scotland and later in New Harmony, Indiana. The idea itself has a natural appeal to human nature as a way to satisfy basic human needs with minimum individual responsibility.

Abraham Maslow, a leading behavioral psychologist of the twentieth century and the father of “humanistic psychology” identified five common needs that, according to him, provide the motivation for all human behavior. These needs form a “hierarchy of needs”, the lower level ones having to be satisfied before we are motivated to strive for the satisfaction of the higher-level ones. These needs, listed in their hierarchical order are physical needs, security needs, social needs, ego needs and the highest of all, self-actualization needs. As the name of his field of research implies he did not consider the need all humanity has to know and worship God. However, his research does give us a model for understanding why democracies usually end up with some type of socialistic system of government. Socialism is the natural order of societies without God.

Many people are willing to forego the higher level needs which include self-determination, liberty and freedom, in exchange for the promising possibility of being freed from their own responsibility of providing their own security from hunger, thirst, lack of shelter, etc., etc. As soon as the number of people willing to trade liberty for security reaches a majority, the minority become unwilling servants laboring for the benefit of the majority. Socialism is often touted as the fulfillment of the Biblical injunction to “care for the poor”. This could not be further from the truth.

Tenth Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” Exodus 20:17

The early churches experimented with a form of voluntary socialism. We read in Acts 4:32

“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.”

However, the practice was soon abandoned because it did not work. Instead, it created strife and divisions within the church, even though it was practiced within the church family and composed of professing Christians. The apostle Paul had to deal with the problems the experiment caused in several of the churches, including Corinth and Thessalonica. In his second epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote,

“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work , neither should he eat . For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies . Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work , and eat their own bread.”
~II Thessalonians 3:10-12

The Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts experienced similar results in their experience with the socialist system imposed by their charter. William Bradford wrote in “History of the Plymouth Plantation”,

“The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years, and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato’s & other ancients, applauded by some of later times;—that the taking away of property, and bringing in community into a commonwealth, would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser then God. For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion & discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort.

Far from being a fulfillment of Christian principles, political demands for socialism is universally based on covetousness, greed, jealousy and envy, the exact opposite of the Christian principle of caring for the sick, elderly and the poor. Socialism was first introduced into the American political system around 1892 by the Populist Party through its attacks on wealthy industrialists. Since then, the Democratic Party has routinely used class warfare and the people’s envy and jealousy of those who have been more successful than they have in life, to further their socialist agenda. This dubious tactic has been the hallmark of the Obama administration and the centerpiece of his reelection efforts.

History has shown that the good always ultimately triumphs over evil. That being true it might seem that the patriots (good guys) would easily triumph over the socialists (bad guys) in the 2012 elections. However, the key word in the above statement is “ultimately”. There is no doubt, at least in my mind, that socialism will ultimately be conquered. At the same time, we have to consider the possibility that God has condemned America to the misery of socialism as the consequences of its official rejection of His sovereignty and His plan for America for the past fifty years.

I believe as did the Founders, that America came into existence through the providence of God. I also believe, as did the Founders, that the providence of God guided the deliberations of the Second Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention to produce the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Based on History, I also believe that our founding documents contain the plan of God for America. The election of Barack Obama and a socialist Congress in 2008 was the culmination of a hundred year drift away from the Constitution and the principles on which America was founded.

The Apostle Peter in a circular letter to the churches admonishes us to,

“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme ; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.” I Peter 2:13-14

This passage has two messages. First, is the obvious command to be good, law-abiding citizens obeying the laws of the nation or locality in which we live. It is also a reminder that God uses political authorities to punish nations and citizens who disregard His commandments and persist in an immoral and ungodly lifestyle. One of the most severe punishments given to the nations of Israel and Judah was by Nebuchadnezzar, the idolatrous king of Babylon. In about 600 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem, destroyed and plundered the Temple and carried the best and brightest of Judah into captivity, leaving only a remnant of the poor and less industrious of the people behind.

The story of Nebuchadnezzar plays an important part in the Old Testament, appearing in the books of 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, and Ezekiel. The prophets make it clear that he was used as an instrument of judgment against Judah when its people rebelled against the commandments of God.

“But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath , He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.” Ezra 5:12

“I [God] have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come : and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish , saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.” Jeremiah 27:5-8

Nebuchadnezzar himself was also judged of God. The most famous judgment was when Nebuchadnezzar failed to give God recognition for the greatness of his kingdom, and as a result was sentenced to seven years of madness, living and sleeping in the fields and grazing with the cattle for his food. (As told in Daniel, chapter 4) Eventually, the Babylonian empire was overthrown by Cyrus the Great, King of the Medes.

Although the daily news stories of the past few years might indicate that God has given America into the hands of godless socialism, it is not inevitable; for we read in 2 Chronicles 7:14,

“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, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

If we are indeed to take back our county in 2012, it will be by the providence and grace of God.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

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Christian Patriots, Christianity, religion

From: Dr. Phil Stringer, Pastor of Ravenswood Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois
Subject: Reseed Chicago October 6 – 13,  2012

How would you like to take a missions trip to every country in the world without getting a passport or paying for an international plane ticket?

Fifty years ago Chicago was  a center for evangelical Christianity. Today Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam are main stream  Chicago religions. Evangelicalism is rare and Bible believing Baptists are even more rare. Each of the 73 different official branches of Islam has a mosque in Chicago. Most of them more than one. There are only a handful of independent Baptist churches in the city.

According to a daily newspaper in Brisbane, Australia –  Chicago is the most international city in the world. The Stringers are the only adults on our block that were born in the USA. The whole world is here in Chicago.

During a recent Bible conference in Wisconsin, I was hearing about massive  distributions of Scripture portions in major cities in foreign countries. The Lord burdened my heart about having such a campaign in Chicago. We have set aside eight days for just such a program – October 6 – 13, 2012.

Even though our church has very limited resources and manpower I have committed us to distributing 1,000,000 [that's one million] Scripture portions  during these 8 days. Pastor Mark Smith of Faith Baptist Church, Tacoma, Washington and James Hoffman of Bearing Precious Seed, Wyldewood Baptist Church, Oshkosh, Wisconsin are guiding me through the planning of this program.Both of this men have participated in massive Scripture distribution campaigns in other countries.

We are in the early planning stages now. After my January trip to India and The Philippines, this project will be number one on my priority list. We recognize that many of the contacts that we make through this campaign will not be geographically close to our church. We will run this campaign through our church but we will be providing contacts to fundamental Baptist churches all over the Chicago land area.

Please put this campaign on your prayer list now. Please pray that God will  move in a great way during these eight days.

Perhaps you could come for all or part of this program and be a volunteer for Scripture distribution or door to door soul winning.

Perhaps you could help with the many expenses of this plan.

Many more details will be coming out near the end of February.

May God begin to work in the hearts of Chicago land residents even now.
Pastor Phil Stringer

Please forward a link to this announcement to all your friends, especially those living in Chicago area.

America, Weighed in the Balances

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Christ, Christianity, church and state, Constitution, Founding fathers, government, Jesus, moral codes, patriots, religion, religious liberty, Secular Humanism, socialism, Supreme Court

America today finds itself in its most precarious circumstances since 1775, and our future is far less certain today than it was then. We have a socialist White House and a socialist Senate. Most of our Republican Representatives in the House are incompetent. Four of our Nine Supreme Court Justices are either progressives or socialists. Our economy is in shambles. Our defense policies are the most vulnerable in recent memory. Our culture is fragmented and corrupted. Our political parties’ lust for power has overcome their sense of patriotism to the Country. Our state governments are corrupt and self-serving. Our educational institutions have become little more than socialist indoctrination centers. Our national media has become the propaganda arm of the progressive Democratic Party.

We have forsaken our principles and rejected our founding documents. Worst of all we have also rejected the God of our Founders. Our pulpits are filled with false prophets and teachers, teaching the wisdom of men for the commandments of God. Our public policies foster iniquity and depravity.

We are told that America is not a Christian nation in spite of the fact that 84% of our citizens self-identify as Christian. However, there can be no question that historically America was established as a Christian nation. The first Charter (1606) for both the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies contained this phrase as to their purpose;

“We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion…”

It is interesting to note that the plans for a Plymouth colony were significantly altered twice by weather conditions (acts of God?). George Popham, one of the original holders of the 1606 Plymouth charter, established a colony in what is now Maine in 1607 at the same time the Jamestown Colony was being settled in Virginia. A severe winter caused Popham and all the settlers to return to England in the spring of 1608 abandoning the effort. The plans for a second attempt by the Pilgrims in 1620 was again changed by weather. Their original plans called for the establishment of a colony in what is now New York at the mouth of the Hudson River. However, a storm at sea drove them a hundred miles off course and they were forced by weather conditions and a shortage of supplies to establish their colony at Cape Cod in what is now Massachusetts.

One of the most well known of colonial documents is the Mayflower Compact of 1620. In it the Pilgrims reaffirm as their purpose in establishing a colony in America as,

“Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia;”

In 1629 King Charles, successor to James, issued a second charter to the Plymouth Company replacing the 1606 charter. This charter was issued to a group of Puritans led by John Endicott and was for a site at Massachusetts Bay some forty miles north of the Plymouth Colony settled by the Pilgrims. Again, the Charter for Massachusetts contained a reference to establishing the Christian faith as their main objective.

“…our said people, inhabitants there, may be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed, as their good life and orderly conversation, may win and incite the natives of country, to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Savior of mankind, and the Christian faith, which in our royal intention, and the adventurers free profession, is the principal end of this plantation.”  (Emphasis added)

The Christian Faith of these three colonies, Jamestown, Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, provide the foundation on which the American culture was established and developed over the next three and a half centuries.  While the three colonies differed considerably as to the details of their faith, they were in agreement on the fundamental principles. The Jamestown Colony followed the teachings of the Church of England (Anglican) and their religious practices still closely resembled those of the Roman Catholic Church. The Puritans desired to reform the Church of England to bring it more in line with the teachings of the Bible. The Pilgrims believed the Church of England could no be reformed and therefore advocated a complete separation from it.

Among the principles they all agreed on were the authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, the Divinity of Jesus Christ and His atoning work, and the sovereignty of God in the affairs of man. Virtually all of the official documents during the colonial and revolutionary periods acknowledged the sovereignty of God as “God’s Providence” or “the Providence of God”. The Founding Fathers frequently expressed their faith in the Providence of God in their correspondence, the Declaration of Independence and in the Federalist Papers. George Washington, as Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary Army, endured more hardships during the struggle for Independence than any of the other Founders. His conclusion, as expressed in an August, 1788 letter to Thomas Nelson, one of his Generals, was,

“The Hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.”
~George Washington

These sentiments were also expressed by Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton and others in their writings. Many Christians and Christian Churches today avoid becoming too involved in the politics of the country, pointing to the fact that Jesus seemed to be a-political during his ministry and will frequently quote Jesus’ statement, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17) Many who do actively participate in political matters hesitate to mention God’s plan because of the “politically correct” but historically incorrect application of the doctrine of “separation of church and state”.

We have 4,000 years of recorded history in the Old Testament Scriptures regarding God’s dealing with nations plus another 2,400 years of secular history. In Malachi 3:6 God reminds us, “I am the Lord, I Change not”. In Hebrews 13:8 Paul says “Jesus Christ [is] the same, yesterday, and today, and for ever.”  God does not change. Christians today should not believe that God will deal with America any differently than He dealt with Israel and other nations as recorded in the Old Testament.

In the fifth chapter of Daniel, Daniel tells the story of Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans as he gave a great feast for a thousand of his lords. As they drank wine and praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, wood and stone a hand appeared and wrote on the wall of the palace, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN”.

“This is the interpretation of the thing:
MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:26-28)

That same night, Belshazzar was killed and his Kingdom was taken over by Darius, King of the Medes. In considering the condition of America today the Christian can not help but consider that God may have weighed us in the balances and found us also wanting.

The Old Testament is a litany of God’s judgments against the rulers and the people of Israel, Judah, and the nations they dealt with. When they honored God and followed his commandments, God blessed them with peace and prosperity. When they turned to other gods and forsook His commandments he punished them with famine, pestilence and the sword, eventually destroying the nations of Israel and Judah, scattering the remnant of their people over the face of the earth.

With the possible exception of Israel under King Solomon, (970-930 B.C) no nation in history has enjoyed the blessings of God more than America. For some two hundred years America was the wealthiest, freest, and mightiest nation on earth. The dream of the poor and oppressed the world over was to someday migrate to America and become an “American”. Everywhere, “American exceptionalnism” was recognized as being due to the special blessings of God. All that began to change during the past two or three generations.

Prior to the mid-twentieth century the official policy of the American government was to acknowledge the sovereignty and providence of God in our national affairs and to seek His blessings through public prayers. Christianity was encouraged in our schools, and other public institutions. However, as early as 1890, at the beginning of the progressive era, a Wisconsin court ruled against using the King James Version of the Bible in public schools. Opposition to the idea of America as a “Christian Nation” continued to grow, slowly at first, until finally it reached the Supreme Court. A number of court ruling during the 1960s led to the eventual removal of all official recognition of God or Christianity from our public institutions. George Washington could not be elected to public office in twenty-first century America. Any public official delivering a speech with the Christian overtones of Washington’s Farewell Address of 1796 or his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 would immediately be subject to condemnation by the modern American society and calls would be made for his or her resignation.

Along with our official rejection of God’s presence in our public affairs came the inevitable decline of morality in the American culture. Covetousness, jealousy, greed, sodomy, abortion, and various forms of idolatry are not only condoned, but encouraged by public policy. Washington D.C. has become the temple of our new god, the U.S. government. The worship of government, the environment and individual needs have replaced the worship of the Creator God of our forefathers. Virtually all of God’s commandments have been made disreputable by our official public policies and “politically correct” laws.

The Founders firmly believed that our success in gaining our independence from England and establishing our form of government was due to the providence of God. Years of studying history and the Bible has brought me to the same conclusion. Apart from that, history also shows that a society cannot long exist without an objective and enduring standard of behavior and order. For America, that standard is found in our four founding documents, the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The further we move away from that standard the more our problems multiply. With these thoughts in mind, it is easy to relate our current problems to the sentiment expressed by Thomas Jefferson in 1785.

“Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever..;” ~Thomas Jefferson

Nothing would go further in preserving our republic and reestablishing our lost liberty than another “great awakening” similar to the one from 1720 to 1770 that provided the moral fortitude for our establishment as an independent nation and constitutional republic. Just as Thomas Jefferson credited the state legislatures with saving the Constitution and the Republic during the administration of John Adams, Christians and Christian Churches have the opportunity today of helping to save our nation from the Judgment of God. We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines and watch our nation slip into godless socialism.

“…If the watchman see the sword come , and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned ; if the sword come , and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.”
Ezekiel 33:6

Natural Law and Economic Prosperity

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Christian Patriots, Christianity, church and state, Constitution, Founding fathers, government, Jesus, socialism

Benjamin Franklin, at age 81, addressing the Philadelphia Convention, June 28, 1787 said, “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God Governs in the affairs of men.”  After years of studying American History, the writings and biographies of the Founding Fathers, the Bible and America’s founding documents, I came to the same conclusion; as did Madison, Washington, Adams, and Jefferson; and when I consider the changes that have taken place in America, just during my lifetime, I am forced to also agree with Jefferson when he said, “Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

America did not become the foremost nation on earth for over a hundred years due to the wisdom of man, but by the Providence of God. George Washington firmly believed this when he took over command of the militias surrounding the Port of Boston in 1775. The signers of the Declaration of Independence believed this when they signed their name to that document in 1776, fully realizing the consequences if they were wrong. James Madison expressed the same belief when he wrote in Federalist Number 37, “It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.”

For the first 80 years, America flourished and prospered believing itself to be an exceptional nation, especially blessed by the providence of God. This began to change with the Civil War, and a generation later, we began our long journey from a nation of religious, political and economic liberty to a secular nation that looked to government, rather than God, for the blessings of life. Today we find ourselves on the verge of Godless socialism, where faith in God is tolerated but not celebrated; where “busy-body politicians” restrict individual liberty at all levels of government, and the government takes the fruits of our labor from us, to be given to others.

There is ample evidence in our four-hundred-four year history to believe that our founding documents contain God’s plan for America based on “the laws of nature and nature‘s God”. When we ignore or reject the principles prescribed in that plan, we suffer the consequences. The best example is perhaps the Civil War; NO, I am not saying that the Civil War was a judgment from God. What I am saying is that had America accepted and abided by the principle that “all men are created equal” as stated in the Declaration of Independence, there would have been no reason for a Civil War with its devastating destruction of property and the loss of 500,000 lives would not have happened; not to mention the 100 years of racial strife engendered by the backlash from the “radical reconstruction” period after the war.

The problems we are facing today are due to our failure to honor the principles on which our nation was founded as outlined in our founding documents. Political correctness and the “nanny state” has devastated our culture. The primary reason for this is that we no longer honor God as the source of our blessings as a nation and no longer teach our children to keep his commandments. Our government system is failing due to our departure from the precepts of the constitution and the principle of the rule of law for our elected and appointed officials. When we exempt our leaders, from the President on down, from the necessity of following the law, is it any wonder that the citizenry is become less law abiding with each passing generation? Among the major problems we face today are our economic problems. The genesis of these problems are even more evident that those of our culture and politics.

We have rejected the principle of spontaneous order that governed our economy for the first century of our existence. Instead, we have turned to a form of central planning by government for the economic decisions we make. America is not the first country to believe that central planning is the way to prosperity, and it will not be the last. The problem is that it has never been successful, and in fact, it can never be because it violates the economic laws of nature. In a spontaneously ordered economy in nations such as ours, millions of people make billions of economic decisions daily, based on their perception as to what is in their own best interest. The principle of spontaneous order arranges these decisions into a natural system that results in the highest possible level of prosperity for the maximum number of people.

In a centrally planned economy, government bureaucrats attempt to predict needs and organize resources to provide for an equal distribution of goods and services to everyone. The result is inefficiency, shortages, and a general decline in overall prosperity. Central planning does not and cannot work because no individual or collection of individuals has the intellectual capacity or management skills to anticipate and fulfill the needs of any group of people larger than those of an individual family. Even that does not always result in everyone’s satisfaction.

The principle of spontaneous economic order is the foundation of our capitalist system. The liberty of individuals to make their own personal economic decisions and live with the consequences is protected by the Constitution in Article I, Section 10 and defended by Jesus in Matthew 20: 1-15.  The current trend of the American government away from free market capitalism and toward the socialist ideal of a centrally planned and bureaucratically directed economy is not sanctioned by our Constitution or by the Judeo-Christian traditions of our culture. This trend must be reversed if we are to regain the liberty and prosperity we have lost over the past 100 years. American exceptionalism is not yet lost, but it is getting harder with each passing year to distinguish America from all the other nations of the world.

Forget the social issues? You got to be kidding!

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Christianity, church and state, Constitution, First Amendment, Founding fathers, gay marriage, government, Jefferson, King James Bible, moral codes, religion, religious liberty

Fiscal conservatives, moderates and libertarians, particularly those supporting Ron Paul for President, are advising Republicans to forget about the social issues in the 2012 election campaigns. The theory is that brining up issues like gay marriage, abortion, or religion will alienate independents, women, moderates etc., resulting in a loss for the Republican candidate and a return to office of Barack Obama. They argue that the only issues in this campaign are economic: jobs, spending, taxes, and the ballooning national debt.

These, of course, are critical and immediate problems that must be dealt with if we are to continue as a free nation. However, they are only symptoms of a greater underlying crisis. Of far more significance than our economic woes is the problem of our decaying culture. The newspapers carry stories daily about mass murders, parents killing their children and children killing their parents, teenage gang wars with innocents being killed in crossfire, domestic violence, robberies, corruption at all levels of government, and government officially sanctioning abortion and sodomy. All these things reflect the decline of the American culture that has transpired over the past half-century.

When we demand our government officials follow the rules of government laid out in our founding documents we are usually thinking of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These documents provide the basis for our form of government. However, they do not provide a sound source for shaping our culture which is even more important, since government is the outgrowth of a nation’s culture and moral foundation. The founding document on which the American culture was established is overlooked by the mass of the American people and despised by the progressives. It is that document that shaped the moral character of America for 169 years before the Declaration of Independence.

The founding document that provides the foundation for our culture is the Holy Bible. I realize that the mere mentioning of the Bible or Christianity makes many Americans uncomfortable and sometimes angry. That’s okay, the Bible is supposed to do that, because it reminds us of how far short of God’s requirements we fall in our social and moral responsibilities. “for the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” . Hebrews 4:12.

America is a Christian nation; its culture was founded on the Judeo-Christian principles found in the King James Version of the Bible. To deny that fact is to deny history. When the first settlers came to America in 1607 they brought with them The Bishop’s Bible first printed in 1568. Both the Pilgrims and the Puritans, as dissenters from the Church of England, preferred the Geneva Bible printed in 1560. Both Bibles were large “pulpit” Bibles, the Geneva Bible being 14 inches thick, too heavy for one man to lift and carry. A copy of these Bibles was usually kept in the Bishop’s or Pastor’s residence for his personal study with a second copy chained to the pulpit in the Church for public use. Readers were routinely available to read the Bible to the illiterate.

In 1611, the King James Version replaced the Bishop’s Bible as the official, authorized version. In 1612, a home sized edition of the King James Bible was published and made available to the public. For the first time in history, it became possible for ordinary citizens to own and study the Bible for themselves. The King James Version soon overtook the Geneva Bible in popularity and the Geneva Bible went out of print in 1644. Throughout the colonial period and early history of the United States the King James Bible was commonly used in Churches and homes everywhere in America. The KJV had no serious competition for the loyalty of American Christians until the progressive era when the English Revised Version began to gain popularity among “modernists” and secular Christians during the 1880s.

The Founder’s generation was intimately familiar with the King James Bible. It enjoyed a status in the American home similar to the telephone and TV today; virtually every home had a “family Bible“. It was used to record marriages, births, deaths and other important events and passed down from generation to generation as a record of the family history. It was used to teach children to read and family members gathered daily for Bible reading. No book in history has ever approached the readership of the King James Bible. It the only book ever to have a billion copies in print. The Bible is also the most hated book in history. There have been periods when its mere possession was punishable by torture and death.

The Framers were well versed in Bible principles and were influenced by those principles when they wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Two principles they especially took to heart was the “liberty of conscience” and the “providence of God” over the affairs of nations. Benjamin Franklin addressed the Philadelphia Convention with these words: “The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—That God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can arise without His aid?” George Washington commented concerning the Convention, “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel who lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.”

The Constitution does not mention God or religion because it is a governing document and religion is not the business of government. However, the First Amendment guarantees absolute freedom in all matters of religion: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”  These two clauses guarantee absolute religious liberty to all Americans. It forbids the federal government from prescribing any particular religion or sect on the American People. It also reaffirms our right to worship God in any way we choose, and to speak or write freely in expressing our faith to others. As Thomas Jefferson said, “…religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God…”

The religious liberty guaranteed by the First Amendment was more or less honored until 1962. Three ruling by the Supreme Court in 1962 and 1963 made it unlawful to pray or read the Bible in public schools. These and subsequent rulings by the courts added to the doctrine of political correctness resulted in changing the religious liberty enjoyed by our forefathers into religious tolerance only. Today we are not allowed to affirm our faith publicly, especially in a public setting or event. We are told that religious matters should be restricted to church or other religious functions. A Christianity that is confined within the walls of a church building or other special religious event is not the Christianity of the Bible and is of little use in reinforcing the moral foundation of our culture.

George Washington warned us in his farewell address to the nation in 1796, “…let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” The words of Thomas Jefferson regarding the institution of slavery in 1785 is applicable today as we consider how far we have strayed from our culture’s founding document: “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever…; The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a context…”

The New Testament makes it clear that for individuals, our works will be judged at the “Day of Judgment”. However, the Old Testament makes in equally clear that nations are judged in the here and now when they ignore the natural laws established by our Creator and His revealed will. Those who argue that we ignore the so-called “social issues” and focus only on matters of money are ignoring history and the God of history, inviting His judgment. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  Heb. 10:31

God and November 2

Tags

Christianity, church and state, Constitution, Founding fathers, gay marriage, Jefferson, religion, religious liberty

By Jerry McDaniel

As the November elections approach, many of our most devout Christians are sitting on the sidelines rather than actively taking part, believing that religion and politics do not mix. There are a number of reasons why this view is so prevalent among Christian Churches and Christians in general. Most important, perhaps is the fact that the New Testament and the ministry of Jesus are apolitical. Another important reason why Churches and Christians are not as involved in politics as they perhaps should be is the politically correct, although historically incorrect, theory of the separation of church and state.

Jesus did not come to earth as a political leader. He did not come to establish an earthly kingdom. Neither was his purpose to lead a rebellion against the Roman Empire. Jesus came to proclaim the gospel of salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven. Politics, as we know it today, did not exist at the time of Christ. Political differences were settled with the sword, not at the ballot box.

At the time of Jesus’ birth the Angels proclaimed “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” (Luke 2:14) and so it was. While the Prince of Peace walked the earth, the earth was at peace. There were no wars anywhere among the civilized nations while Jesus was on earth. The Caesar Octavian had eliminated Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, his last important political rivals in 31 BC at the Battle of Actium. When Jesus was a teenager, Octavian, then known as Caesar Augustus died, and his adopted son Tiberius assumed power, heralding the end of the Empire as a republic and the beginning of the Roman Principate.

During the three years of Christ’s ministry, the entire known world was under Caesar Tiberius as the supreme ruler. During that time and for several years following, the citizens of Rome still enjoyed the relative liberty of the Roman Republic. Due to the variety of religions and cultures in the Roman Empire, there was a high degree of tolerance practiced toward the many religions and cults. The Jewish religion was one of those protected by Rome. Their protection was justified by Roman authorities by classifying synagogues as “colleges”. The wide spread tolerance of religion by the Roman government and the unity of the Roman Empire was instrumental in the spread of the gospel throughout the civilized world during the early church age. There was no reason for Christ or the early Churches to involve themselves in the politics of the day.

It would be a mistake, however, to conclude from these facts that Christians should not participate in politics. The New Testament covers a period of less than a hundred years, the ministry of Christ only three. For the reasons mentioned above the early Christians had little motivation to become involved in politics. For political guidance we have to go to the Old Testament which covers a period of about 3500 years from Creation to Malachi. The lessons we learn from the Old Testament in its totality, concerning governance, are that God macro manages the affairs of nations according to His will and, for the most part, leaves the micro managing of day to day politics up to the people and their leaders.

Moses records in Deuteronomy 17:14, 15; “When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose:”

The next five verses contain a brief “constitution” for the King to follow. He is not to enrich himself; he is not to have multiple wives; he is to consult the “constitution” daily, he is not to lead the people astray, and he is not to exalt himself above the people.

This prophecy came to pass some three hundred years later during the life of Samuel the Prophet and is recorded in I Samuel 8:4-7.

“Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and said unto him, behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”

In the following verses, Samuel warns the people of the consequences and dangers of having a King rule over them, but the people persisted and God, through the Prophet Samuel, gives Israel Saul as their first King. For the next thousand years or so Israel and later Judea existed as Kingdoms. Whenever they lapsed into idolatry or otherwise rebelled against God’s commandments God’s wrath was poured out in judgment. After warnings by the prophets and calls to repentance, the people suffered the consequences of their apostasies when they failed to heed the warnings. Eventually they lost their sovereignty and at the time of Christ, fifteen hundred years later, they were under the domination of the Roman Empire.

The danger we face today is not from socialism or Islam, but from the danger that God will withhold his blessings from us as a nation or that He will judge us by allowing us to be conquered from within through statism and socialism ending in tyranny. Why should He not? America was established under the providence of God and blessed above all other nations of history as an exceptional nation, envied and sought out by all the peoples of the world. Over the past hundred years we have departed from the principles on which we were founded.

Our leaders no longer make any attempt at following our Constitution; we pride ourselves on tolerating the sins of Baal, human sacrifice (abortion) and the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. We entertain ourselves daily on violence and lasciviousness through our entertainment media. We no longer demand morality and virtue from our elected officials. We not only tolerate corruption we even admire, to an extent, officials who traffic in corruption. The list is too long to mention them all, but some examples are, ex-governor Blagojevich, Mayor Richard Daley, Congressman Charles Rangel, and ex-President Bill Clinton, just to name a few.

Like Israel, we have turned aside from following the precepts of God and to idolatry, worshiping at the alter of environmentalism and the god Gaia, worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. We bow at the alter of statism, and seek the blessings of socialism rather than the blessings of God. If I may quote Thomas Jefferson out of context, “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever..; The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a context.

Jesus said, we are “the light of the world” and “the salt of the earth, if the salt hath lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted”. When we consider these words of Jesus and apply them to today we might conclude that it is only the presence of God’s people in America that stays his hand of judgment. If the churches and Christians do not cry out against the sins of America, who will?  If we sit idly by and passively watch as our country progresses deeper into socialism and corruption without lifting our voice, we become accomplices to tyranny. These are the thoughts that should guide our decision on November 2, not whether or not our party can win an election.

HELP WANTED: Patriot

By Jerry McDaniel

America’s founding principles of life, liberty and property are rooted in the Judeo-Christian traditions found in the Holy Bible. I have long believed that our founding documents contain God’s plan for the American government.  No, this was not reveled to me by an angel in a vision and I am not a crazed religious fanatic. Neither am I claiming Divine inspiration for the Founding Documents. I came to this view after many years of study in American History, the Founding Documents and the Bible, particularly the Old Testament which reveals God’s dealings with the nations of the earth.

We know from history that virtually all the Founders, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson had a deep and abiding faith in the sovereignty of God over the affairs of man as expressed in the frequently used term, “Divine Providence.” Thomas Jefferson is the author of “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” in the Declaration of Independence.  Congress as a whole added the phrase, “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence”, after extensive debate.  Benjamin Franklin expressed his faith in the Providence of God during the Philadelphia Convention by calling for prayer for God’s guidance on their deliberations; “…The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?” He declared. The Founding Fathers fervently prayed for God’s guidance as they debated the new government. The historical evidence is that God heard those prayers and answered them.

Throughout our history, whenever we have strayed from our principles as expressed in our founding documents, we have multiplied our problems. After a century of ignoring the Constitution and corrupting its meaning when convenient, it appears that we, as a nation, have lost our faith in both Divine Providence and America. Our national leaders no longer have faith in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the founding principles or American exceptionalism. Expressions of faith by a political leader, are routinely met with ridicule and derision by large segments of the “elite ruling class” and the popular media. Is it any wonder that we find ourselves on the very brink of losing the liberty so many Americans have sacrificed and died to protect.

In the Old Testament God used prophets to pronounce judgment on Israel and Judah for their idolatrous ways and to call for repentance. From our founding, there have been patriots whose roles in our origin and development as a nation were similar to the prophets of old. Early American prophets like, Samuel Bryan, Melancton Smith, Robert Yates and John DeWitt warned us about the dangers of a consolidated national government, an over-powerful executive, rogue courts with lifetime judges, the danger of internal taxes and the insatiable appetite for power of professional politicians. It is to them we owe the addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution.

The Bill of Rights is our protection against an out-of-control national government. In recent generations, we have allowed our internal enemies to use it instead, to deny us the liberty it was designed to protect, through perverted interpretation and application by the courts and rogue congresses. Instead of a shield of liberty, we have allowed it to be used as a tool of socialist tyranny. It is time for us to “bring forth fruit worthy of repentance” as a nation and reaffirm our faith in God, America, and American principles when we go to the polls in a few weeks to elect a new Congress.

Millions of Americans are discovering anew our founding documents and demanding that we return to the principles they espouse. For that to happen we cannot continue to vote for candidates who deny the principles of our Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights whatever the excuse. What we need today is a few modern day prophets like those of old who are willing to stand up to the powers that be and declare the judgment of God on America’s idolatrous apostasy from our founding principles.

Defeating the Obama Machine

Originally Published at HUMAN EVENTS

Defeating the Obama Machine (VIDEO) – HUMAN EVENTS, posted with vodpod

Church Publicity Stunt Endangers Missionaries

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9/11, Book burning, Dove Outreach Center, Islam, Koran, Muslim, Pastor Terry Jones, Quoran

By Jerry McDaniel

A Gainesville, Florida Church, Dove World Outreach Center, has announced plans to commemorate the attack on the World Trade Center by burning copies of the Quran on the Church grounds September 11. The act, reminiscent of some of the publicity stunts staged by FM radio disk jockeys when their rating start to slip, will undoubtedly be met with violence around the world. Fifteen people died in Muslim violence in 2005 in retaliation for the erroneous report of a Quran being flushed down the toilet at “Gitmo”.  Then, there was the incident of the cartoonist who set off riots in various parts of the world by drawing a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed.

General Petraeus has warned that images of the burning would be shown via TV throughout the Muslim world and used to foment violence. “I am very concerned by the potential repercussions of the possible burning. Even the rumor that it might take place has sparked demonstrations such as the one that took place in Kabul yesterday,” Petraeus said. “Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult.”

For those who accuse me of advocating appeasement, let me remind you that it is not appeasement to suggest that the church forgo a few news cycles of publicity, in order to avoid unnecessary danger to others while they rest in the safety of the Florida sunshine. It is the height of irresponsibility to even suggest such a demonstration. Just the rumor that it is to take place has already sparked a number of protest demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Jakarta and five other cities in Indonesia.

It is bad enough they are willing to put our soldiers in jeopardy in Iraq and Afghanistan; however, they have armor and weapons to defend themselves. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of Christian Missionary families serving in Muslim countries all over the globe. These families are unarmed and unprotected. They will be the natural targets for Muslims angry about the desecration of their “holy book”. Dr. Terry Jones, Pastor, along with his wife Sylvia, of the Church has indicated that he plans to go ahead with the “book burning” as planned, in spite of the protests. He has named September 11 as “International Burn a Koran Day”. The blood of any missionary spilled as a consequence of his actions will be on his hands.