"Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in." ~ Isaiah 58:12
It had been extremely hot and dry. There had hardly been any rain for twelve weeks. The corn and other crops had wilted and looked to be beyond reviving. This would mean starvation come winter. There was no hope in their own ability to fix this situation. But this group had learned to trust God, their Creator, as God, their Sustainer. Thus, they called for a day of fasting and prayer to seek God’s face as to why He had withheld the rain. After genuine repentance and worship that day in 1623, the rain began to fall that very night and to their astonishment, their corn revived and produced wonderfully that summer. The Pilgrims proved, once again, that prayer to God Almighty, the Father of Jesus Christ, is the way to move things in this world!
In the midst of our current crisis, we must remember that it is not up to us, but the Lord Himself, to change our hearts and forms of government. While our part is to work with Him in what He’s doing, our praying will be what ultimately wins this battle. God stirs us to prayer, reminding us,
“…you have not because you ask not. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it on your own desires.” (James 4:2-3)
Others, beside the Pilgrims, have proven this throughout history….
Ladies and gentlemen, the following story is why we have Christmas:
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away [privately]. But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins.’ Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us.’ And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS.”
(Matthew 1:18-23)
“Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be [taxed]. This was the first census made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to [be taxed], every one to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; to [be taxed] with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child. And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
“And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.’
“And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, ‘Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this child. And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds.”
(Luke 2:1-17)
Wise men still seek Him! Parents, Grandparents: Shouldn’t you be teaching that to your children—and teaching them to teach it to their children?
Think about it! Because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.
The date was December 7th, 1941. The time was 7:55am. To the complete surprise of American forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Japanese planes began to sweep down and drop devastating bombs onto our fleet and also our planes on the ground. When the attack was done, eighteen of our ships were sunk or sinking and nearly all of our planes were destroyed. Over 3,500 of our servicemen were dead. We were shocked at such a bold and devastating attack on our U.S Navy. Many wondered if the Navy would ever recover. Even worse, we wondered if our liberty would shortly be ended and we would be required to worship the Emperor of Japan as god.
In the midst of this despair, President Franklin Roosevelt replaced the commander of our Pacific fleet with an Admiral named Chester Nimitz. Nimitz arrived at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. He immediately went for an inspection of the harbor. Sunken ships and twisted metal were everywhere. Once Nimitz had inspected the whole harbor, the young seaman at the helm of his boat asked him, “Well, Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?” Nimitz’ reply shocked everyone listening. He said,
The little boy tugged at the young man’s coat sleeve. “How far is it to America?” he asked, “Will we soon be there?” “No, lad,” the man replied, “It will take many days to cross this huge ocean.” The little boy gazed briefly across the ocean to the west. Then, unaware of the risks of such a voyage, he ran to find his friend to tell him this ship, the Mayflower, would be their playground for a long time. The young man continued to gaze across the vast ocean. His thoughts drifted back twenty years—to the time he had first met these people he was now a part of.
He remembered the wonderful meetings they had in their homes in England. For the first time in his life he had felt accepted, really accepted. These people were genuine, somehow he just knew it. Though others were saying this group were bigots who thought they were the only ones who were right and that they had “gone off the deep end” with their religion, he knew the truth. These people were real. They people didn’t claim to be perfect. They readily admitted that they too were capable of selfishness. But the unique thing about them (that so set them apart from those who were against them) was that they had entered into an agreement to help each other not give into selfishness by letting their friends point it out to them. And the way they did it seemed safer to him than living the way his relatives did. Because they recognized their own bent toward selfishness, they didn’t trust their own thoughts alone. They had agreed to compare their thoughts about another member’s actions to what the Bible said about those actions. Those who were critical of them certainly didn’t live that way. As he had considered their agreement (which they called their “Covenant”) he had come to recognize this was the safest way to live on this earth and had decided that—no matter what anyone said—he would cast his lot with this group, who now referred to themselves as “Pilgrims”. The years had brought them much hardship, but also much maturity. The peace they enjoyed was worth all the difficulties of living in a world system which was against their Covenant.
The Pilgrims landed in America over 400 years ago. But do you know why they came to America? Was it to start a new life? Well, yes; but what kind of life? Was it so they could be free? Well, yes; but what kind of freedom were they looking for? Because most of us don’t know the answer to these questions is why we continue to accept—or even vote for—more and more of the slavery from which they were fleeing.
Perhaps you would say, “They came here for religious freedom.” And you would be right—but, what kind of religious freedom? Did they come merely so they could sing songs to God and study the Bible in their own gatherings? No, they came with a much broader desire than that.
It was November 11th, 1620. After sixty-six days at sea, with over half that time in violent storms, they were more than ready to get off the ship. The Mayflower had just dropped anchor inside Cape Cod Bay. They had been blown off course by the storm, and deposited here, much farther north than they had intended. But they came to believe that the storm was the Lord’s way to get them to settle in this place.
These “Pilgrims”, as they called themselves, had come to America to have the freedom to teach their children the Bible; and to them that meant much more than teaching them how to be born again. It included teaching to their children reading, writing, and all the other academic subjects. Their Pastor, John Robinson, had taught them how to establish from the Bible the institutions of education, government, and economy. These Pilgrims were Christians who believed the Bible was true and that its teachings could be lived out in this present world. Thus, they were intent on creating a community which agreed that their children would be taught the Bible, and all the academic subjects from the principles of the Bible; and they had agreed on establishing a Biblical economy to fund that teaching; as well as a Biblical government to protect that education system and that economic system so they could accomplish the Pilgrim vision.
Ever hear of Hadrian’s Wall? It was a wall built across England in the 2nd century. It was named after the Roman Emperor Hadrian because his Roman armies, while occupying England, could never defeat the people of Scotland in those days. Though the strongest, best-equipped army on earth, the Romans simply could not overcome these ‘freedom-loving’ mountain people called Picts. The Roman Commander, in trying to explain to the Emperor why Rome was not occupying Scotland, stated that these “red-headed Picts” would die in a ‘heartbeat’ rather than live in subjection to someone else. They loved freedom so much they would rather die free than live enslaved. So the Romans built this giant wall all the way across England for the purpose of keeping out of southern England these freedom-loving Picts; lest they invade the south and stir up the English to rebel against the Romans.
But that’s not the end of the story. After the Romans left England, several centuries later it became the goal of English kings to conquer the Scots. King Edward of England marched his armies against the Scots in the early 1300s. And though he succeeded in executing their popular leader, William Wallace, better known to our generation as Braveheart, Edward’s forces were no match for Scotland’s fierce warriors of freedom. Not long afterward Robert the Bruce conquered the English army and preserved Scotland’s precious liberty.
On October 31st, a lot of people in this land will celebrate Halloween. Though begun as a day to remember many Godly people and the truth they gave to the world, it has degenerated into becoming the high day of satanism throughout the world. Hideous acts of worship to satan will be done on this night. The occult will have its greatest celebration on this night. But it was not always so in America.
Up until the mid-1800s, America celebrated a different day on October 31st. It was known as Reformation Day; and it reminded Americans of the great price that was paid for the “liberty of conscience”. It was a celebration of the liberty brought to the personal life and the life of the nation as a result of men laying down their lives to stand with the truth of the Bible.
That liberty had begun with John Wycliffe, an Englishman in the mid-1300s, who translated the Bible into the language of the common people. Being able to read the Bible caused men to question the occultic superstitions of the back-slidden church of that day. It also pointed the way to civil liberty. Wycliffe actually wrote in the introduction to his translation these words, which would become the cornerstone of this American Republic, he stated:
In just the last few days we have celebrated Columbus Day. But why do we celebrate this day? I remember learning in school that Columbus discovered America, but I don’t ever remember hearing why Columbus discovered America.
When we read Columbus’ own writings, it becomes obvious he decided to make his journey because of inspiration from God, his Creator. Columbus wrote,
“It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me)…that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter…[But] There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures…”
(Columbus, Christopher. August 3, 1492, as recounted by Bartolome’ de Las Casas. Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1942), p. 149. | John Eidsmoe, Columbus & Cortez, Conquerors for Christ (Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Press, 1992), p. 106.)
While there are those who reject the idea that God can lead us in this world and make plain to us what He wants us to do, the Bible is plain that, in reality, God created us for that very kind of life. Jesus said,
In April of 1917 the United States entered into World War I. While all wars are caused by the selfishness of man, the desire of our people as a whole was not our gain. Rather, it was our desire to protect the liberty which God had entrusted to us. And our people responded in great numbers to the request of President Woodrow Wilson to observe a Day of Public Humiliation, Prayer and Fasting on May 11, 1918. He requested our people to:
“…humbly and devoutly…acknowledge our dependence on Almighty God and to implore His aid and protection…with religious solemnity and the offering of fervent supplications to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of our cause, His blessings on our arms, and a speedy restoration of an honorable and lasting peace to the nations of the earth…”
(American Minute by William Federer, April 6, 2015)
Our prayers “were heard and graciously answered.” Few would argue that it was American arms which won the day for liberty in the nations of the earth and brought this mighty scourge of war to an end. And while answered prayer cannot be scientifically proven, an honest analysis of the outcome of battles and their timing can only honestly admit that God’s Hand was evident.
You must be logged in to post a comment.