“God’s Government”

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This time of year we often hear the words:

Gods Government 1For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with…justice
From that time forward, even forever… (Isaiah 9:6-7)

These words, taken from Isaiah 9, express the longing of every thinking person on earth.  Most everyone wants justice and order and peace:  In other words, good government.  Every conscientious person wants the kind of government which will produce these things in a society.  Every good person wants good government.  Then why is good government so hard to find?

Number one, good government is hard to find because, as William Penn, said,

“Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them; and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined [also].  Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad…But if men be bad, let the government be ever so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn.”

(Penn, William. April 25, 1682, in the preface of his Frame of Government of Pennsylvania | A Collection of Charters and Other Public Acts (Philadelphia: B. Franklin, 1740), pp. 10-12 | Gary DeMar, God and Government – A Biblical and Historical Study (Atlanta, GA: American Vision, 1982), p. 115.)

So governments go bad because man has Continue reading →

“Why They Came – Part 2”

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Why They Came - Part 2 1The spray from the waters of Cape Cod blowing in the wind was covering the men in this small boat.  They were looking more and more like ‘ice men’ as the spray quickly turned to ice as it hit their beards and clothing.  The snow was becoming blinding.  The wind was picking up now, making any site of land impossible.  Not only was it looking like they wouldn’t be able to find a place to build their houses today, they were beginning to fear this might be their last day on earth.  This storm was such a rage, they began to pray in desperation that they could find any safe harbor.  Suddenly, as if God had intervened, the wind died enough for one of them to see what he thought was a shoreline.  They struggled desperately with the waves and the elements, and with great difficulty finally made land.  They had no clue where they were, for in weeks of looking around Cape Cod for a place to settle their families, they had never been here before.  They were really afraid because their guns had gotten wet and would not fire.  They had already encountered the Indians in this area and they had proven to be enemies instead of friends.  The men prayed and prayed for the storm to stop and for God to protect them.

The next morning when the sky had cleared the men found they were on an island in what is now Plymouth Bay.  The storm had blown them through the narrow entrance of the bay just as if God had planned it so.  Indeed they would come to believe He had; for as they looked across the bay to the mainland, they could see what would become their home.  The land was gently sloping, good for farming, with four fresh water springs.  The top of the hill was perfect for defense against unfriendly neighbors and the harbor was deep enough for ships bigger than the Mayflower to anchor.  Indeed, they believed God had prepared and preserved this spot for them.  But they didn’t know the half of it!

Four months later, they would Continue reading →

“Why They Came”

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Why They Came 1


© 2019 Don Pinson | [Download]
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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 Continue reading →