© 2023 Don Pinson | [Download]
(Link not working? Right-click and select “Save As”.)
It wasn’t working. The spring of 1623 saw the Pilgrims into their third year in America. But there was a serious problem. They were hungry: And because of it they had no energy with which to plow their fields and plant their crops. They knew winter would come again and with it death by starvation if they didn’t go to the fields. Yet many of them just seemed unable to get themselves moving.
Recognizing the seriousness of their situation, their Governor, William Bradford, called for a meeting of the leaders of the colony. They didn’t have to discuss their problem very long until they pinpointed what was wrong: It was the socialistic economy they were trying to labor under. They had long known this. The businessmen who had financed their trip had insisted they live by a common storehouse. In other words, they were to put all their produce into one storehouse, no matter which family had raised that produce. Then, they were to take out as little as they could get by with for their own needs, and send the rest of it back to England to their financiers as payment for their debt. The Pilgrims knew this would not work, but the businessmen insisted this is how they must do it. The Pilgrims knew the Scripture taught that, “If any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). And they knew that even Christian people, like themselves, had to know they could “reap what they sowed” if they were to produce well. However, they felt they had no choice. They had to Continue reading
Why did God tell fathers to tell the stories of His workings in the past to their children? Because hearing the stories of God showing up in history helps the next generation know that God is real; and that He cares about His creation, man. That knowledge helps them not be deceived into thinking that “We’re on our own here in this world.” Knowing how God has worked in previous generations encourages us to seek Him that we might know Him and His purpose for us, as an individual in the present generation. This is also why satan does not want us to know of God’s workings in the past; not in Bible history, or in our nation’s history!
I cannot tell you how very disappointed I’ve been with church leaders in recent days. The so-called “pandemic” revealed some very interesting things about our lack of understanding of the Biblical principles of civil government. This is not to say that, in the beginning of it, there was not the need for caution. There certainly was; since we didn’t know what we were dealing with. But the way church leadership just bowed down to the so-called “medical experts” and were willing to stop most ministry just because some governor said they had to, reveals a tremendous lack of understanding as to how Communists, and the many groups which work with them, work to take over free nations. This lack of understanding is scary. It shows that we’ve let our minds be shaped by socialist ideas: That we haven’t known that Karl Marx, the father of Communism, stated that his whole aim in establishing worldwide communism was for the purpose of destroying Christianity. What kind of ignorance does this reveal in us who lead the church? Remember the Bible says,
Liberty or Security? Which is most important in the long run? It is impossible to have 100% of both liberty and security in this natural world. Liberty, of necessity, must involve some risks. The major one is that you have to trust your neighbor to respect your God-given rights of life, liberty, and ownership of property. Likewise, your neighbor must be able to trust you in the same way. This is why our Founders warned us that we couldn’t maintain this Republic, with its great amount of liberty for the individual, without most of our people knowing the religion of Jesus Christ in the pure way that Jesus gave it. If I know that I will “reap what I sow”, both in this world, and in the world to come (Galatians 6:7), I have a strong reason to respect your rights; knowing that God Himself is judging me in my actions. If I’ve had those truths hidden from me both in the home and the school, then I don’t know that I will surely “reap what I’m now sowing”; thus, I have no deterrent to my own selfish desires, leaving your rights at risk.
You must be logged in to post a comment.