February 18, 2016
Author: Brett Kunkle
Stand to Reason Ministries

On Sunday, I returned home from another Berkeley Mission trip, where I intentionally exposed high school students to some of my atheist friends in the Bay Area. For the last six months, we’ve taught apologetics to these high schoolers from Upland Christian Academy. Now it was time for them to “get off the sidelines and into the game” and engage non-Christians with the truth. Of course, my atheist friends are more than happy to oblige, so they meet with our missions teams, challenge them with a short lecture, and then dive into some rigorous dialogue.

Without fail, a couple of our atheist guests will contend, “Religion is the cause of most wars.” This cultural mantra has been uttered so often and with so much force, it has come to be accepted as an undeniable declaration. Prominent atheists like Sam Harris contribute to the chorus of voices, arguing religion is “the most prolific source of violence in our history” (The End of Faith page 27). Richard Dawkins claims, “There’s no doubt that throughout history religious faith has been a major motivator for war and for destruction.”

But as we trained students for this trip, we equipped them with a simple question to expose such claims: “How did you come to that conclusion?” (also known as Columbo Question #2). We simply taught students to recognize when someone makes a claim and then to request their supporting reasons. When our atheist presenters were challenged to provide justification, they could only offer up the Crusades, the Inquisition, 9-11, or vague references to Islamic terrorism. Certainly we recognize religion’s role in these examples, but three or four references cannot support the claim that most wars are caused by religion.

Not only were students able to demonstrate the paucity of evidence for this claim, but we helped them discover that the facts of history show the opposite: religion is the cause of a very small minority of wars. Phillips and Axelrod’s three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars lays out the simple facts. They examined 5 millennia worth of wars—1,763 total—and found that only 123 (or about 7%) were “religious in nature.” If you remove the 66 wars waged in the name of Islam, it cuts the number down to a little more than 3%. A second scholarly source, The Encyclopedia of War edited by Gordon Martel, confirms this data, concluding that only 6% of the wars listed in its pages can be labelled religious wars. Thirdly, William Cavanaugh’s book, The Myth of Religious Violence, exposes the “wars of religion” claim. And finally, a recent report (2014) from the Institute for Economics and Peace further debunks this myth.

We didn’t stop there. We showed students it gets worse for the atheists’ claim. A strong case can be made that atheism, not religion, and certainly not Christianity, is responsible for a far greater degree of bloodshed. Indeed, R.J. Rummel’s work in Lethal Politics and Death by Government has the secular body count at more than 100 million...in the 20th century alone.

Our students were able to see that a simple examination of the facts relieves religion from blame for most of the world’s wars. In addition, we were able to help cultivate in students a healthy skepticism of atheistic claims. If the skeptic will shout such an unsubstantiated claim so loudly and with so much force, what other skeptical claims might quickly fall apart under rational scrutiny? 

Pulpits Are Silent

Jeremiah 5:26-31

For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?” An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?

Despite what the political parties would like you to believe, the problem in America is not the politicians, it is the pulpits. I hate to break the news to you, but most of America’s pulpits are filled with cowardly men unwilling to address the issues that have swept over our country like a tidal wave.

I am about fed-up with what I see. How did we ever get such man-pleasing leaders? All that our fore-fathers held dear is being destroyed before our very eyes and hardly a peep from the pulpit. They don’t want to hear it. It's the pulpiteers that I am talking about. They are concerned with being too harsh, they tell me that “Jesus is in control,” that they are not “called” to fight evil and that "we should pray for our enemies.”

What we need is a return of the Voice of God thundering through the prophets standing in America’s pulpits. Not the prissy purpose driven therapeutic Christianity drivel passing as the Gospel today. Few of the feminized-preachers of the day can hold a candle to those who ushered in The Great Awakening which led to the American Revolution, and the abolition of slavery -- two world-changing events spearheaded by the pulpit.

·         Public schools are destroying the faith of Christian children and the pulpits are silent.

·         Legislation is introduced to remove the rights of parents and the pulpits are silent.

·         Children are taught they came from apes and the pulpits are silent.

·         Millions of children are “medicated” to control their behavior and the pulpits are silent.

·         Gambling is promoted to pay for schools and the pulpit is silent.

·         Precious babies are being murdered in the womb and the pulpits are silent.

·         Planned Parenthood kills babies with our tax dollars and the pulpits are silent.

·         Judges make laws and the pulpits are silent.

·         Tolerance trumps Truth and the pulpits are silent.

·         Sodomy is granted legal protection and the pulpits are silent.

·         The institution of marriage is crumbling and the pulpits are silent.

·         Obama says the Sermon on the Mount justifies gay marriage and the pulpits are silent.

·         Government has replaced God as defender and provider and the pulpits are silent.

·         Faith-based initiatives invite the government into the Church and the pulpits are silent.

·         The IRS muzzles the voice of the Church and the pulpits are silent.

·         Taxes are levied to do the work of the Church and the pulpits are silent.

·         The Church locks arms with compassionate-conservativism and the pulpits are silent.

·         Children’s service agencies separate family members and the pulpits are silent.

·         Self-help books replace the Bible and the pulpits are silent.

·         A Purpose Driven Life is elevated above dying to self and the pulpits are silent.

·         Leaders say Christians and Muslims worship the same God and the pulpits are silent.

·         The Constitution is ignored and the pulpits are silent.

·         Pagans pray to open a session of Congress and the pulpits are silent.

·         Our elected officials lie and steal and the pulpits are silent.

·         Private property is stolen by government and the pulpits are silent.

·         Mother Earth is protected more than Father God is defended and the pulpits are silent.

·         Illegal aliens over-run our borders and the pulpits are silent.

·         The entertainment industry celebrates debauchery and the pulpits are silent.

Death of Common Sense

Napoleon believed the Bible

"The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it." — Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821)

America's Christian Heritage Quiz

America's Christian Heritage - Question

Lost Episode for January 23

Watchman On The Wall

In a letter to fellow Founding Father John Adams on January 23, 1807, Benjamin Rush wrote:

“By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects. Our Saviour in speaking of it calls it the “Truth” in the abstract. It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published. It contains a faithful representation of all its follies, vices, and crimes. All systems of religion, morals, and government not founded upon it must perish, and how consoling the thought – it will not only survive the wreck of these systems but the world itself. ‘The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.’ [Matthew 16:18]*

Founder Benjamin Rush’s belief that the Bible is an essential foundation for enduring government is a lost episode in American history.

*Source Citation: L.H. Butterfield, ed., Letters of Benjamin Rush, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951), 2:936. Bracketed item added.

Samuel Morse believed the Bible

Samuel Morse, famous for his invention of the telegraph, was a devout Christian who was very generous and gave large sums of money to charity. He was not bitter when other people and companies made fortunes using his inventions, but did not pay him for the use of his patented telegraph. Morse was also interested in the relationship of science and religion, and provided funds to start lectures on “the relation of the Bible to the Sciences.”

Before his death, Samuel Morse wrote;

 “The nearer I approach to the end of my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine origin of the Bible, the grandeur and sublimity of God's remedy for fallen man are more appreciated, and the future is illumined with hope and joy.”

Socialist movement in America – 1905

A Case Study in Changing our Nation’s Culture

"The article below is a brief history of how Socialism came to America. Take special note of the infiltration into all areas of society, but most especially the  educational system. This is why our schools need to be entirely overhauled - from curriculum to teaching methods. For it is not the quality of teachers that is in question, but rather the method and content of what they are required to teach." – Ricki Pepin

On September 12, 1905, approximately 100 people  met in a loft over Peck's Restaurant, at 140 Fulton Street, in lower Manhattan. The purpose of the meeting was to strategize the overthrow of the Christian worldview that still pervaded much of American culture and to replace it with the ideas of a then rather unknown writer by the name of Karl  Marx. They called the organization they formed that day the Intercollegiate Socialist Society.

The godfather of the organization was a 27-year-old author named Upton Sinclair. The first
president chosen was the author Jack London,  age 29. Also present was Clarence Darrow, the
attorney.

The strategy of the organization was to infiltrate their ideas into academia by organizing chapters in
as many colleges and universities as possible. And organize they did. Walter Lippmann, later author
and director of the Council on Foreign Relations, was the president of the Harvard chapter. Walter
Reuther, the future president of the United Auto Workers, headed the Wayne State chapter; and
Eugene Debs, who went on to become the five-time Socialist candidate for president, was the leader
at Columbia.

The society grew. The first annual convention was held in 1910, and by 1917 they were active on 61
campuses and a dozen graduate schools. Other early activists included W. E. B. DuBois, who would
become an official of the NAACP and later a Communist Party member, and Victor L. Berger of
Wisconsin, who became the first Socialist elected to Congress.

In 1921, the Intercollegiate Socialist Society took its next organizational step, changing its name to
the League for Industrial Democracy. Its purpose was "education for a new social order based on production
for use and not for profit." Norman Thomas, another perennial Socialist candidate for president, was the
leader behind the scenes. The renamed organization’s first president was Robert Lovett, editor of
the New Republic, and field secretary with Paul Blanshard, who later became an author.

The college chapters of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society now became the Student League for
Industrial Democracy. As members graduated from college, some entered the pulpit, others the
classroom; some wrote textbooks while others into the labor movement in both political parties.
When the New Deal began in 1933, they were prepared. At the time the leak had only 5,652
members that they were in positions of leadership everywhere.

By 1941 John Dewey, the founder of progressive education in the league VP in the 1930s, was its
honorary president, and Reinhold Niebuhr, the  theologian, its treasurer. Dewey had already
organized the Progressive Education Association  and the American Association of University
Professors.

The League for Industrial Democracy was so successful that those who held membership in the
movement or were cooperating with it could have been a list for Who's Who in America: Robert N.
Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union; Charles Beard, the historian; Carroll Binder, editor of the  Minneapolis Tribune; Helen Gahagan Douglas, the Congresswoman who was defeated by Richard Nixon for the U.S. Senate;  Felix Frankfurter, Supreme Court Justice; Sidney Hook, the educational social philosopher; Edna St. Vincent Millay, the poet; Henry Morganthau Jr., one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's most trusted  economic advisers; Walter and Victor Reuther, United Auto Workers; Will Rogers Jr., humorist; Franklin Roosevelt Jr., the president signed; and Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the historian.

The obscure loft in Manhattan where they organized has long been forgotten, but what began there
that night permeates America's institutions and culture, having replaced the Bible-based values of the 19th century with the liberalism based on Marxism.

Consider
To what extent do you feel that you have been influenced by the anti-Christian forces of modern culture? Do you think you have picked up any of the values of the League for Industrial Democracy? Unfortunately, all of us are the products of our own backgrounds. Even after we become Christians we still are influenced by our culture. We need to evaluate our presuppositions against the truth revealed in God's Word.

[Excerpted from - The One Year Book of Christian History,  by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten,
published by Tyndale House, Wheaton IL,  2003. Pages 512-513.                     ISBN 0-8423-5507-3]

America observes Thanksgiving - Part 5

Resolution of the Senate in 1863 Appointing a Day of Fasting and Prayer

At the close of the session of Congress, the Senate of the United States, March 2, 1863, passed the following resolution:

RESOLUTION

Resolved, That, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, and sincerely believing that no people, however great in numbers and resources, or however strong in the justice of their cause, can prosper without his favor, and at the same time deploring the national offences which have provoked his righteous judgment, yet encouraged, in this day of trouble, by the assurances of his word, to seek him for succor according to his appointed way, through Jesus Christ, the Senate of the United States do hereby request the President of the United States, by his proclamation, to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation, requesting all the people of the land to suspend their secular pursuits and unite in keeping the day in solemn communion with the Lord of Hosts, supplicating him to enlighten the councils and direct the policy of the rulers of the nation, and to support all our soldiers, sailors, and marines, and the whole people, in the firm discharge of duty, until the existing rebellion shall be overthrown and the blessings of peace restored to our bleeding country.

The President’s Proclamation – In pursuance of this resolution and request, President Abraham Lincoln issued the following:

PROCLAMATION

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State.

America observes Thanksgiving - Part 4

Biblical mandate and current timeline

There is a multitude of Scripture that establishes a spirit of thanksgiving and praise to God, our Creator and Provider.

One OT example is; “If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried. Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings. And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.” - Leviticus 7: 12-15

One NT example is; “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Recent Historical Time Line of Thanksgiving Observances:
· 1541 - Spanish explorer, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, led a thanksgiving Communion celebration at the Palo Duro Canyon, West Texas.
· 1565 - Pedro Menendez de Aviles and 800 settlers gathered for a meal with the Timucuan Indians in the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, Florida.
· 1621 - Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated a harvest feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
· 1630 - Settlers observed the first Thanksgiving of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England on July 8, 1630.
· 1777 - George Washington and his army on the way to Valley Forge, stopped in blistering weather in open fields to observe the first Thanksgiving of the new United States of America.
· 1789 - President Washington declared November 26, 1789, as a national day of "thanksgiving and prayer."

· 1800s - The annual presidential thanksgiving proclamations ceased for 45 years in the early 1800s.
· 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln resumed the tradition of Thanksgiving proclamations in 1863. Since this date, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States.
· 1941 - President Roosevelt established the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

"The Rock on which the Pilgrims disembarked is still shown [and] has become an object of veneration in the United States. I have seen fragments carefully preserved in several American cities. Does that not clearly prove that man's power and greatness resides entirely in his soul? A few poor souls trod for an instant on this rock, and it has become famous, it is prized by a great nation; fragments are venerated, and tiny pieces distributed far and wide. What has become of the doorsteps of a thousand palaces? Who cares for them?" - Alexis de Tocquevill

This passage, from Alexis de Tocqueville's classic book, Democracy in America, was written in 1835. That was more than two centuries after the Pilgrims first arrived at that cold and rocky spot on the Massachusetts coast in a dreary November, 1620. The place would become their Plymouth Bay Colony. Tocqueville's words show us that even after so long a passage of time, Americans in the 1800s still cherished the stories of their country's beginnings. Now, almost two hundred years after Tocqueville, the story of those early settlers should move us still.

Why did they come? They tell us plainly in the governing document they signed, the Mayflower Compact: "For the Glory of God and the Advancement of the Christian faith, and the honour of our King and Country." They wanted to worship the Lord in the way their consciences and their understanding of Holy Scripture led them, which included building a community in which they could daily live out their faith in Jesus Christ. They called their dangerous effort "an errand into the wilderness." Sadly, many of them died in that first terrible year. Hunger and disease took their toll. But the Pilgrims are honored because they did not give up.

When their little ship, the Mayflower, returned to England, not one of their little band abandoned the call. They called on God to sustain them. And they accepted the timely help of the Wampanoag Indians, especially the English-speaking Squanto. Without this help, they might all have died.

The story of Plymouth Rock also reminds us of the Israelites in the Old Testament. They would place standing stones in key places to help them remember how God had led them, how He had watched over them. The Pilgrims identified most strongly with the people of God in the Bible. There may never have been so highly literate a community. All the Pilgrims eagerly learned to read words so that they might read the Word.

This Thanksgiving is a good time to remind our children of the many blessings that Our Lord has showered upon us in the past year. Even in this time of war and of deepening economic hardships, the harvests of our fields are still abundant. Our people have been spared further terrorist attacks, and we passed through a hotly contested election without the violence that too often mars political conflict in less happy lands.

Most of all, we give thanks for the joys of family life. When we gather around a holiday table, the faith, love, and commitment of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers bind our family circle. Let us also remember to give thanks to God for the brave young men and women who stand guard for us and our blood-bought freedoms in distant lands.

And let us resolve in this season to live as "living stones [who] are being built into a spiritual house." (1 Peter 2:4-5)

America observes Thanksgiving - Part 3

The “Thanksgiving” Celebration

The harvest in October was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for the winter. There was corn, fruits and vegetables, fish to be packed in salt, and meat to be cured over smoky fires.

Governor William Bradford recorded in his journal:
Modern Language Version: "They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwelling against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports."

Edward Winslow's letter written December 11, 1621 recorded more detail of the event we now know as “Thanksgiving”
Modern Language Version: "Our corn did prove well, and, God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown. They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom.


Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

The Pilgrims had much to praise God for, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. They had beaten the odds and it was time to give thanks to God, The Creator and Provider.

Have a blessed and glorious day!

America observes Thanksgiving - part 2

Starving Time
The winter of 1620 was especially harsh considering the Pilgrims didn’t have shelter. This began their worst ordeal, the "Starving Time." John Carver, the Governor elect, organized the colonists to immediately build a common shelter for all to share and then planned additional out buildings afterward. The weather was unforgiving and supplies were minimal. The settlers were overcome by scurvy and other diseases, which caused half to parish within five months. Governor John Carver died also. It was at that time that William Bradford was elected Governor. Seven persons avoided the sickness two of which were Mr. William Brewster, their reverend Elder, & Myles Standish, their Captain & military commander. These people were preoccupied tending to the sick and those who died.

Friendly Indian Encounter
But spring brought unexpected relief - the help of a noble and generous Christian brother, Squanto.

On March 16, 1621, what was to become an important event took place, an Indian brave walked into the settlement. The Pilgrims were frightened until the Indian called out "Welcome" (in English!). His name was Samoset and he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English from the captains of fishing boats that had sailed off the coast. After staying the night Samoset left the next day. He soon returned with another Indian named Squanto who spoke better English than Samoset.

Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean and his visits to England and Spain. It was in England where he had learned English. Historical accounts of Squanto’s life vary, but historians believe that around 1608, more than a decade before the Pilgrims arrived, a group of English traders sailed to what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts. When the trusting Wampanoag Indians came out to trade, the traders took them prisoner, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery. It was an unimaginable horror, but God had an amazing plan for one of the captured Indians, the boy named Squanto.

Squanto was bought by a well-meaning Spanish monk, who treated him well and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto’s desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America. It wasn’t until 1618, ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped, that a ship was found.

According to the diary of Governor William Bradford, Squanto “became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities . . . and was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died.” 

When Squanto lay dying of a fever, (November 1622) Bradford wrote that their Indian friend “desir[ed] the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen’s God in heaven.” Squanto bequeathed his possessions to the Pilgrims “as remembrances of his love.”

America observes Thanksgiving - Part 1

 A Time to remember

The national observance of Thanksgiving is unique to America. It is both distinctly Christian and exclusively American it is a holiday for celebrating faith, family, and freedom. Let’s examine the rich heritage of this American Holiday.

In 1609 a group of Christians known as Puritans fled religious persecution imposed by the Church of England to Holland. In Holland persecution was not as prevalent but continued making it increasingly harder for the Puritans to make a living. In addition there was increasing concern that the young were becoming attached to the Dutch ways. They feared that soon they would become Dutch in tastes and habits, and that their descendants would be likely not only to lose the English language and character, but also to allow the precious fire to die out on the altar. A removal seemed to be demanded. The resolution to settle in North America became fixed.

Finally on September 16, 1620, after years of planning and preparation the tiny band of Puritans accompanied by the ships crew became what we now know as pilgrims, 102 in total.

The long trip led to many disagreements between the Puritans and the ships crew. After land was sighted a meeting was held and an agreement was worked out known as the Mayflower Compact, which guaranteed equality and unified the two groups. They joined together and became what we now know as the Pilgrims totaling 101 now due to the death of one crewmember during the voyage. The Mayflower Compact was penned on November 11 and signed on November 21, 1620. This document established the foundation of Christianity in the New World and established the basis of government. It was at this time that John Carver was elected as Governor.

On December 22, 1620 the Pilgrims planted their feet on the Rock of Plymouth, and began a new era in the history of the world. The day and the rock became canonized in American history and embodies Christian ideas and associations. The first act of the Puritans, after landing, was to kneel down and offer their thanksgiving to God, and by a solemn act of prayer, and in the name and for the sake of Christ, to take possession of the continent. They thus repeated the Christian consecration which Columbus, more than a century before, had given to the New World, and so twice in the most formal and solemn manner was it devoted to Christ and Christian civilization.

Dwight Eisenhower Believed the Bible

"The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth. The Bible is endorsed by the ages. Our civilization is built upon its words. In no other book is there such a collection of inspired wisdom, reality, and hope."


"It takes no brains to be an atheist. Any stupid person can deny the existence of a supernatural power because man's physical senses cannot detect it. But there cannot be ignored the influence of conscience, the respect we feel for the Moral Law, the mystery of first life…or the marvelous order in which the universe moves about us on this earth. All these evidence the handiwork of the beneficent Deity…That Deity is the God of the Bible and of Jesus Christ, His Son".    -- Dwight Eisenhower

Celebrate Halloween or Reformation Day?

October 31st is celebrated as Halloween but it is also marked as the day that Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg Germany.

It was October 31, 1517 that marked the official beginning of the Protestant Reformation. However, several men such as John Wycliffe and John Huss laid much of the groundwork that helped inspire Martin Luther to challenge the papacy.

October is observed as Protestant Reformation month, which serves as an opportunity to better understand the people, issues and the influence the Reformation had on our society. I encourage everyone to take some time to study and reflect upon this highly influential event. I’m sure that in doing so you will truly find cause for celebration on this, and every other, October.

Christians need no longer question the observance of Halloween by trying to repackage or “Christianize” the occasion. Indeed, that was taken care of for us by our LORD through His workman, Martin Luther in 1517. Share this nugget of little known history with others and take this Halloween Reformation Day as a reminder and opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who may not know that their Hope rests in Him alone.

Day of prayer

Lost Episodes: Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer
October 26, 2011

On Friday, October 26, 1781, the Journal of the Continental Congress reports that a committee, consisting of “Mr. Witherspoon, Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Varnum, Mr. Sherman,” was appointed to prepare a recommendation for setting apart a day of public thanksgiving and prayer in light of the momentous victory over the British at Yorktown, which was agreed to as follows:

“Whereas, it hath pleased Almighty God, the supreme Disposer of all Events father of mercies, remarkably to assist and support the United States of America in their important struggle for liberty, against the long continued efforts of a powerful nation: it is the duty of all ranks to observe and thankfully acknowledge the interpositions of his Providence in their behalf. Through the whole of the contest, from its first rise to this time, the influence of divine Providence may be clearly perceived in many signal instances…and in which, after the success of our allies by sea, a General of the first Rank, with his whole army, has been captured by the allied forces under the direction of our illustrious Commander in Chief.

It is therefore recommended to the several states to set apart the 13th day of December next, to be religiously observed as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer; that all the people may assemble on that day, with grateful hearts, to celebrate the praises of our gracious Benefactor; to confess our manifold sins; to offer up our most fervent supplications to the God of all grace, that it may please Him to pardon our offences, and incline our hearts for the future to keep all his laws; to comfort and relieve all our brethren who are in distress or captivity; to prosper our husbandmen, and give success to all engaged in lawful commerce; to impart wisdom and integrity to our counsellors, judgment and fortitude to our officers and soldiers; to protect and prosper our illustrious ally, and favor our united exertions for the speedy establishment of a safe, honorable and lasting peace; to bless all seminaries of learning; and cause the knowledge of God to cover the earth, as the waters cover the seas.”*

This proclamation was written by Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, delegate from New Jersey, President of what is now Princeton, and a minister of the Gospel. The fact that Congress recommended that Americans set aside a “Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer” for their victory in the War for Independence is another lost episode in American history.


*Source Citation: Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, 34 vols., (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1907-37), 21:1074-76.

From Secularism to Atheism to Socialism to …

The changing landscape of America.

Current events have given us a glimpse into our future. The Occupy Wall Street movement is no exception. Though their message is not cohesive and varies widely, not only among individuals but also by location – one thing is clear. Their underlying message is wealth redistribution through entitlement and regulation, aka Socialism.

Where does this ideology come from? It originates as Secularism, that is to remove God from the public square and from any discussion related to public policy. After a generation or two Atheism becomes the worldview that is dominant I shaping ideology and policy. Out of this the culture is eager to embrace Socialism not realizing or ignoring the natural progression that has been demonstrated and proven many times throughout history.  

Former Atheist Peter Hitchens reminds his readers that Atheism and the political system it spawns – Socialism, comes at a great price to the 99% while catering to the elite.            

Peter Hitchens, brother of outspoken “New Atheist” Christopher Hitchens, is a British journalist and author of the book The Rage Against God, published in 2010. At age fifteen, young Peter set fire to his Bible on the playing field of his Cambridge boarding school and set out on a life of denying the existence of God.

Peter attributes his return to faith to seeing Socialism in practice during his years as a correspondent in Eastern Europe and in Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union. In his book, he describes what it was like for the Russian people who were living under the tyranny of godless Communism

 “Soviet citizens all knew life was like this. They knew the daily drudgery of finding anything decent to eat....They knew that if they wanted anesthetics at the dentist, or antibiotics at the hospital, or co-operation from their child’s teacher, or a holiday by the sea, they would need to bribe someone to get them. Even in Moscow, the show city of the Evil Empire, they knew that they dwelt in the suburbs of hell, that in mile after mile of mass-produced housing you would be hard put to find a single family untouched by divorce, that no mother reared her own children, that the schools taught lies, that secret government establishments leaked radiation into air and water. Fresh eggs were an event. ‘No’ meant ‘How much will you pay me?’ Rats were commonplace and played merrily among the trashcans of apartment blocks and in the entrances of railway terminals. Windows were filthy as a matter of course...

 “While most struggled to survive, a secret elite enjoyed great privilege - special living spaces, special hospitals with Western drugs and equipment, special schools in which their children were well taught in English, special waiting rooms in stations and airports, and special lanes along which the Politburo’s giant armored limousines roared at 90 miles an hour, shouldering aside anyone who dared get in the way. The elite had privileged access to good food, foreign travel and books, and the groveling servility of the organs of the state, which oppressed the common people and extorted money from them. This society, promoted by its leaders as an egalitarian utopia, was in truth one of the most unequal societies on earth.” ~ Peter Hitchens

Peter Hitchens describes life in Russia in the early 1990’s as harsh and dangerous. In 1990 there were 6.46 million abortions in the USSR and only 4.85 million live births.

Quote from Peter Hitchens’ book “The Rage Against God : how atheism led me to faith”

Indispensable Books

Lost Episodes | Indispensable Book
October 18, 2011

American newspaper journalist Charles Dana died on October 17, 1897. In 1839, he had entered Harvard, but the impairment of his eyesight forced him to leave college in 1841, and caused him to abandon his intention of entering the ministry. He later served as editor-in-chief of the New York Sun, and under his management it became one of the largest and most influential newspapers in the country. Dana also served as Assistant Secretary of War during the Civil War. Regarding the essential tools for a journalist, Charles Dana declared to the Wisconsin Editorial Association:

“[T]here are some books that are absolutely indispensable to the kind of education that we are contemplating, and to the profession that we are now considering; and of all these, the most indispensable, the most useful, the one whose knowledge is most effective, is the Bible. There is no Book from which more valuable lessons can be learned. I am considering it now as a manual of utility, or professional preparation, and professional use for a journalist.

There is no Book whose style is more suggestive and more instructive, from which you learn more directly that sublime simplicity which never exaggerates, which recounts the greatest event with solemnity, of course, but without sentimentality or affection, none which you open with such confidence and lay down with such reverence; there is no Book like the Bible.

When you get into a controversy and want exactly the right answer, when you are looking for an expression, what is there that closes a dispute like a verse from the Bible? What is it that sets up the right principle for you, which pleads for a policy, for a cause, so much as the right passage of the Holy Scripture?”*

The fact that there actually was a major newspaper editor who had such great respect for the Bible and even advocated its use by fellow journalists is yet another lost episode in American history.

*Source Citation: Charles Dana, The Art of Newspaper Making: Three Lectures (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1895), 48-49.

For Whom Our Constitution Was Made

Lost Episodes | October 11, 2011


On October 11, 1798, President John Adams stated in a letter to the officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts:

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." 1

Other nations have copied our Constitution almost verbatim but have not enjoyed our success. John Adams gives us the reason. Our Constitution only works if “We the People” are moral and virtuous, which only results from religious principle and practice. John Adam’s statement on the Constitution is another lost episode in American history.


1 Source Citation: Charles Francis Adams, ed., The Works of John Adams – Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes, and Illustration, 10 vols., (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1854), 9:228-229.