It was Monumental

"Hmmm, maybe I should post this on my blog" I thought as I wrote in my journal, the sound of tapping key's filling my ears. So here it is. Let me know if you have any thoughts on this subject! I'd love to hear from you!

March 17, TuesdayMonumental.That’s the name of the movie that we saw tonight, Kirk Cameron’s new movie about the founding of America. Not the founding fathers, but before that: the Pilgrims. It was a very though provoking film and centered around the reasons why the Pilgrims left England for America. There were quite a few that I didn’t know about, like the fact that King James had tripled the national debt and had declared that he had the "divine right of kings," a phrase that he invented. I won’t go into all the details here because there were so many but it’s a movie well worth watching, and a subject that I will have to study in more depth at some point in the near future.The point that I found to be the most intriguing actually didn’t have to do with the Pilgrims but with the economic and moral state that England was in during the early 1600s. They had what would now be called a "church-state." King James (The successor to Queen  Elizabeth) controlled the church, and thus, wouldn’t allow people to diverge from its teaching. Having the Bible in English was capital crime, and punishable by death by tortuous means. On top of that, he tripled, yes, tripled the national debt! After hearing about all of these things, it really makes our situation look pretty rosy. Not saying that we’re on an upward slope, but we certainly don’t have it as hard as they did back then. People who say “Oh it’s never been this bad, the end must surly be near!” obviously have not been a student of history. It’s good to keep things in perspective. Our nation is sick, and we as christians need to reclaim our Christian heritage. The Lord has greatly blessed this nation because it was founded in the fear of God. Yes, some of the founders were not God-fearing men (Some of them were flat opposed to him!), but that doesn’t mean that we are not a nation built on godly principles! We as Christians should be shining lights in this time of darkness, the salt of the earth, if you will. God doesn’t work through majorities (usually), but through dedicated minorities. It doesn’t take much leaven to leaven the whole loaf (Galatians 5:9). 

So get out there and be the light, salt, and leaven of the world!
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid" (Mat 5:14).

Extinguished Churches

“Stop by.No one’s burst into flames yet.”

I read that as I leafed through the few items in the mail today. I was like, “Huh?!?” so I flipped over the large card stock ad to read the back side. The last part of it said,

“Come to [our church] this Easter, wear whatever you want, and be yourself. We really want to show you how much fun getting to know God can be!”

It was a flyer for a church in our area. I still haven’t figured out how the front relates to the back, though maybe it served its purpose: to get me to flip it over and read the back. Though I have to wonder, by "No one's burst into flames yet," are they implying that they're just luke warm? Anyway . . .

I think that this is probably the most watery presentation of why one should come to church that I’ve ever heard (though I haven’t been around for very long, so I guess that that’s not saying much). Where’s the command to repentance? I don’t recall any section of the book of Acts in which the apostles told everybody how much fun getting saved was going to be. If “fun” is the only reason why people should “get to know God”, than I can see why it would be lower then a football game in most peoples lives. 

~Paul

Liberty vs. Safety

A while back, I was going through security at the airport, and I remember a lady thanking one of the security officers for "keeping us safe". "Because we're too incompetent and weak to do it ourselves" I thought.
Benjamin Franklin said this nearly 300 years ago, and it's exactly what's happening today:

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety"

The Government can't be everywhere at once (Thank goodness!), so they can't protect you in every circumstance. The purpose of the law isn't to catch criminals in the act as much as it is to bring them to justice afterwards. It's the citizens responsibility to protect himself, his family, and look out for those around him.
So the next time you hear a politician talking about how we should "give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety", think of this quote.
~Paul

Only God knows . . .

Here's a really good one:

"Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me." He added, after a pause, looking me full in the face: "That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave"

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

Civil War Era Quote

So I've given you the time period, but do you know who said this? The answer will surprise you. Take a guess in the comments, but don't look it up and then answer, I'll tell you in a few days.

“I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.”

Ladies First

Those are two words I don't hear very often in the outside world (I.E. outside of the Christian homeschooling crowds that I live in). The feminists have done a very good job at what they think is equalizing women, namely, elevating women, because according to them, working a 9 to 5, is so much more prestigious then being a homemaker. But what they've really done, is pull men down, and try to make them switch rolls. They may say that they simply want equality, but if that were really the case, then you would expect that at least half the time, they would be holding doors for men. But no.

In they're minds, 'equality' means 'identical', or ('congruent' to use the math term). Yet you can ask any doctor, any counselor, or any married person for that matter, and (if they're honest) they will have to admit that there are differences. Try as one might to mask it, their always will be. But is that Bad? Let me ask you this, is an ax head more important then the handle which holds it? Is the trim on a house more important then the studs which support it? They are both vastly different, and yet, they both need each other. If the studs in a house decided that they wanted to be trim as well, then the whole house would come down. Yet if it had no trim, the house would simply be a building. neither would be very comely to look upon. If the ax handle decided that it wanted to be a head, then both would be useless. They both need each other. God designed the genders to be complimentary. Equal, yet distinct. 
This blog has some really good insights into feminism, I've found it to be really helpful, he has some really good insights.


Anyway, Back to the title of this post. I thought about all of this because I was at a business lunch the other day, and when the waiter came to take our orders, she said "Ladies first" and started with the woman at the table. I was pleasantly surprised when she did so, it's not something I hear often at restaurants, probably because the waitress's are concerned that they might offend the feminist demographic. But I think that the lady at the table was appreciative.
So go hold a door, offer your umbrella, and be generally courteous to the women in your life, wether they're 5 years old or 85 years young, they'll appreciate it.
~Paul