The Amazing Francis Asbury

(This amazing man, who you have probably never even heard of, was so important if not more so, than anyone else in the founding of America.  Do, for sure, learn about him here:)

In 1735, a young Oxford graduate named John Wesley was sent as the Anglican minister to the new American Colony of Georgia. He sailed on a ship called the Simmons.

The Simmonds, was also carrying a group of 25 German Moravian missionaries, as Wesley noted in his journal: “Sunday, January 25, 1736 at seven I went to the Germans (Moravians). I had long before observed their humility by performing those servile offices for the other passengers, which none of the English would undertake saying ‘their loving Savior had done more for them’ If they were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again and went away; but no complaint was found in their mouth.”

On the Wesleys’ trip to Georgia, their ship, the Simmonds, was caught in a terrible storm which shredded the main sail and flooded the deck.

John Wesley saw how everyone panicked in fear except for the Moravians, who continued to sing praise songs. He noticed their relationship with the Lord was closer than his, as he wrote in his journal: “There was now an opportunity of trying whether they were delivered from the spirit of fear. In the midst of the psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the main-sail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English.

The Germans (Moravians) calmly sung on. I asked one of them afterwards, ‘Was you not afraid?’ He answered, ‘I thank God, no.’ I asked, ‘But were not your women and children afraid?’ He replied, mildly, ‘No; our women and children are not afraid to die.’ From them I went to their crying, trembling neighbors, and pointed out to them the difference in the hour of trial, between him that feareth God, and him that feareth him not. At twelve the wind fell. This was the most glorious day which I have hitherto seen.”

John Wesley was unsuccessful in his ministry in Georgia, and after a year, the he sailed back to England. Depressed at his failure, he accepted an invitation to attend a Moravian prayer meeting in Aldersgate in May of 1738. John was touched by the Holy Spirit and had a profound conversion experience, writing that his “heart strangely warmed.” He wrote in his journal after the prayer service: “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

Later in 1738, John Wesley traveled to Moravia in eastern Germany where he lived and worshiped for several months with Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf and the Moravian believers, experiencing first hand their sincere Christianity, being “the religion of the heart.” Wesley wrote in his journal: “God has given me, at length, the desire of my heart. I am with a church in whom is the mind of Christ, and who so walk as He walked.

John Wesley left Germany and returned to England, where he and his brother, Charles, began a revival movement within the Anglican Church called Methodism.

John preached thousands of sermons and organized a system of itinerate preachers who traveled through shires and towns in England in a circuit, or a circle of towns. John Wesley spoke of the inner witness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in one’s heart, as: “An inward impression on the soul of believers, whereby the Spirit of God directly testifies to their spirit that they are the children of God.”

Someone who was inspired by John Wesley to be an Anglican Methodist lay minister was 18-year-old Francis Asbury, born August 20, 1745.

(So, all the story about John Wesley is really just background; for the one that I really want you to know about is…..Francis Asbury.)

At the age 22, Francis Asbury was appointed by John Wesley to be a traveling preacher across England.

In 1771 most all of the preachers in America had died or were killed by the Indians. There was a great need for someone to go there and preach the gospel to the settlers Francis Asbury, at the age of 26, volunteered.

In 1771, Francis Asbury arrived in America, and for the next 45 years, he rode 300,000 miles on horseback, from the Atlantic to the Appalachians, from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, spreading the Gospel. He became one of the primary forces and influences on the founding of America, though few today have ever heard of him.

In English colonies, everyone paid taxes to the King’s government, and the government paid the salaries of the Anglican pastors. Pastors lived on church-government owned farms called “glebes.”

On July 9, 1776, patriots in New York pulled down the statue of King George.

Several American colonies made it an act of treason for pastors to continued saying public prayers for the King. As the Revolution progressed, Anglican ministers faced a crisis of conscience. They had to choose between allegiance to the King and state, or allegiance to the patriotic American cause. The problem was, if they joined with those fighting for independence, they would lose their means of livelihood. As a result, most Anglican ministers returned to England, but Francis Asbury was one of the few who chose to stay in America.

Asbury stated: “I can by no means agree to leave such a field for gathering souls to Christ as we have in America.” Francis Asbury preached over 16,000 sermons in churches, town squares and court houses, addressing everyone he met, from travelers to workers in the fields to laborers in tobacco houses. He rode an average of 6,000 miles a year.

Episcopal ministers, Rev. William Smith of Maryland and Rev. William White of Philadelphia, in 1786, proposed a revised Book of Common Prayer where references to the King were replaced with references to Congress. Near that same time, at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, Francis Asbury moved the Methodist revival movement into its own denomination – the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Francis Asbury

Besides the Methodist Episcopal church the colonies had Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Puritans, Separatists, Pilgrims, Quakers, and Baptists.

Why so many churches? Answering that question is Robert D. Woodberry, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Texas–Austin who stated: “When Luther in 1521 defied an imperial order to recant by insisting that ‘my conscience is captive to the Word of God,’ he stopped being the reformer of an old order and instead became the founder of a new stream of Christianity. He could flout the commands of popes, church councils, and emperors, but not those of his own individual conscience.”

Woodberry continued: “Most Protestants follow his lead. They tend to believe that people can acquire saving faith only as they personally and individually appropriate God’s Word. They tend toward separation and independence from ancient church structures and traditions as well as political authorities. The main reason for this is the important role of individual conscience. Because saving faith must be uncoerced and individual, it requires in practice a diversity of independent churches to satisfy the inevitable diversity of individual consciences.”

So, how did diversity of churches lay the foundation for American independence? Woodberry at U.T. Austin explained: “’The authority of Christ,’ wrote the Scots Calvinist divine William Graham in 1768, ‘removes all civil distinctions. All are upon a level equally, as they shall soon be before the awful tribunal of the great Judge.’ This stirring fusion of theology, eschatology, and politics not only characterizes Scottish Calvinism but also says much about the relationship between Protestantism and democracy.”

Rather than view the many denominations negatively, it was instead viewed positively, that they would be a check on each other to insure no one would be established as the official state denomination.

Charles Carroll, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration, wrote to Rev. John Stanford, October, 9, 1827: “Observing the Christian religion divided into many sects, I founded the hope that no one would be so predominant as to become the religion of the state. That hope was thus early entertained because all of them joined in the same cause.”

So, Rev. Francis Asbury stated: “We should so work as if we were to be saved by our works; and so rely on Jesus Christ, as if we did no works. My soul is more at rest from the tempter when I am busily employed.”

Francis Asbury wrote: “My desire is to live more to God today than yesterday, and to be more holy this day than the last. God is gracious beyond the power of language to describe. O what pride, conforming to the world and following its fashions! Warn them, warn them for me, while you have strength and time and be faithful to your duty. Preach as if you had seen heaven and its celestial inhabitants, and had hovered over the bottomless pit, and beheld the tortures, and heard the groans of the damned.”

Francis Asbury’s leadership resulted in the Methodist Church in America growing from just 1,200 people to 214,000, with 700 ordained minsters, by the time of his death in 1816.

Shortly after being sworn in as the first President, George Washington was visited in New York on May 19, 1789, by Methodist Bishop in America, Francis Asbury. The Bishop greeted Washington with the words: “We express to you our sincere congratulations, on your appointment to the presidentship of these States. We place as full a confidence in your wisdom and integrity, for the preservation of those civil and religious liberties which have been transmitted to us by the Providence of GOD. Dependence on the Great Governor of the Universe which you have repeatedly expressed, acknowledging Him the source of every blessing, and particularly of the most excellent Constitution of these States, which is at present the admiration of the world.”

Asbury continued: “We enjoy a holy expectation that you will always prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine, vital religion— the grand end of our creation and present probationary existence. We promise you our fervent prayers to the Throne of Grace, that GOD Almighty may endue you with all the graces and gifts of his Holy Spirit, that may enable you to fill up your important station to His glory.”

On May 29, 1789, President Washington wrote a reply: “To the Bishop Asbury of the Methodist-Episcopal Church: I return to you my thanks for the demonstrations of affection and the expressions of joy on my late appointment. It shall still be my endeavor to contribute towards the preservation of the civil and religious liberties of the American people. I hope, by the assistance of Divine Providence, not altogether to disappoint the confidence which you have been pleased to repose in me; in acknowledgments of homage to the Great Governor of the Universe”

Washington continued: “I trust the people of every denomination will have every occasion to be convinced that I shall always strive to prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine, vital religion. I take in the kindest part the promise you make of presenting your prayers at the Throne of Grace for me, and that I likewise implore the Divine benediction on yourselves and your religious community.”

Francis Asbury’s carriage driver and traveling assistant was “Black Harry” Hosier.

He had been at Asbury’s Christmas Conference of December 24, 1784, which began the Methodist Church. Though illiterate, Hosier listened to Francis Asbury’s sermons and memorized long passages of Scripture. “Black Harry” Hosier became one of the country’s most popular preachers, drawing crowds in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Boston, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Delaware, Baltimore and New York. Hosier rejected slavery, lifted up the common working man, and charged audiences “that they must be holy.” Hosier’s popularity gave birth to the name “Hoosier” being used to refer to persons of humble, low-born background who firmly held to fundamental Bible values, as the settlers who crossed the Ohio River to the Indiana shore.

President Calvin Coolidge unveiled an Equestrian Statue of Francis Asbury in Washington, D.C., 1924, stating: “Francis Asbury, the first American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church made a tremendous contribution.”

Coolidge continued: “Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberty, and for the rights of mankind. Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government. Calling the people to righteousness (was) a direct preparation for self-government. It was for a continuation of this work that Francis Asbury was raised up.”

Coolidge added: “The government of a country never gets ahead of the religion of a country. There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man. Real reforms which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity, charity—these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of a Divine Grace .”

Coolidge continued about Francis Asbury: “Frontier mothers must have brought their children to him to receive his blessings! It is more than probable that Nancy Hanks, the mother of Lincoln, had heard him in her youth. Adams and Jefferson must have known him, and Jackson must have seen in him a flaming spirit as unconquerable as his own. He is entitled to rank as one of the builders of our nation. On the foundation of a religious civilization which he sought to build, our country has enjoyed greater blessing of liberty and prosperity than was ever before the lot of man. These cannot continue if we neglect the work which he did.”

Coolidge concluded: “We cannot depend on the government to do the work of religion. I do not see how anyone could recount the story of this early Bishop (Asbury) without feeling a renewed faith in our own country.”

Squanto

To aid the founding of America, God himself prepared a special man to make it happen. Without him and God’s preparation of him, the Pilgrims would never have survived at all. Do read about this amazing man and God’s miraculous preparation of him for the founding of America below:

The Amazing Squanto

In November of 1620 the Pilgrims left English persecution in Europe and sailed to America with a government charter to set up a new colony south of what we now call New England. Because of storms they landed much farther north than their charter called for. Without such a charter directed location, they formed their own republican type government with what was called the Pilgrim Compact, since their ship captain would not take them south to their designated location.

They were not experienced for life in the wilderness and did not even have the proper clothing for such. As a result half of them died in that first terrible winter. Then when warm weather finally came this English speaking indain came to them, named Squanto. He had been a member of the tribe who formerly lived at their location of Plymouth. All of his very vicious tribe had died of the plague shortly before their arrival.

Several years before, Squanto had been lured onto an English ship which stopped there. He was taken to Spain and sold into the slave market. An English nobelman wound up with him and taught him Christianity, English ways, and language. However, he was finally able to get bact to his origianal tribal location. With all of his tribe dead, he took-up with a neighboring tribe. The Pilgrims found it amazing when he knocked on their door and said: “What are you doing here brothers and sisters in Christ?”

Squanto stayed with them and taught them how to successfully grow corn by putting a fish under each plant. He taught them how to fish and hunt and live in the wilderness. However, his greatest contribution was making treaties with all the neighboring tribes for their safety. The Pilgrims survived, when most all of the other colonies founded at that time were wiped-out be the indians. The Pilgrims knew for sure that God had arranged for Squanto to go to England, learn English, become a Christian, come back, and teach them how to survive. They knew that it was all a miracle directly from God.

Following is the story of Squanto as told by the Pilgrim leaders, in their own verbatim words. If you would like to read Squanto’s story exactly as they told it, please do below:

Of 102 Pilgrims that landed on the shores of Massachusetts in November of 1620, only half survived till Spring.

In the Spring of 1621, as recorded by Pilgrim Governor William Bradford in his Of Plymouth Plantation: “About the 16th of March, a certain Indian came boldly amongst them and spoke to them in broken English. His name was Samoset. He told them also of another Indian whose name was Squanto, a native of this place, who had been in England and could speak better English than himself.”

Samoset’s initial visit to the Pilgrims was recorded in Mourt’s Relation, written by Edward Winslow and Governor William Bradford in 1622: “Friday the 16th a fair warm day towards; this morning we determined to conclude of the military orders, which we had begun to consider of before but were interrupted by the savages, as we mentioned formerly; and whilst we were busied hereabout, we were interrupted again, for there presented himself a savage, which caused an alarm. He very boldly came all alone and along the houses straight to the rendezvous, where we intercepted him, not suffering him to go in, as undoubtedly he would, out of his boldness.

He saluted us in English, and bade us welcome, for he had learned some broken English among the Englishmen that came to fish at Monchiggon, and knew by name the most of the captains, commanders, and masters that usually come. He was a man free in speech, so far as he could express his mind, and of a seemly carriage. We questioned him of many things; he was the first savage we could meet withal.

We questioned him of many things; he was the first savage we could meet withal. He said he was not of these parts, but of Morattiggon, and one of the sagamores or lords thereof, and had been eight months in these parts, it lying hence a day’s sail with a great wind, and five days by land. He discoursed of the whole country, and of every province, and of their sagamores, and their number of men, and strength. The wind being to rise a little, we cast a horseman’s coat about him, for he was stark naked, only a leather about his waist, with a fringe about a span long, or little more; he had a bow and two arrows, the one headed, and the other unheaded. He was a tall straight man, the hair of his head black, long behind, only short before, none on his face at all; he asked some beer, but we gave him strong water and biscuit, and butter, and cheese, and pudding, and a piece of mallard, all which he liked well, and had been acquainted with such amongst the English.”

Mourt’s Relation continued:

“(Samoset) told us the place where we now live is called Patuxet, and that about four years ago all the inhabitants died of an extraordinary plague, and there is neither man, woman, nor child remaining, as indeed we have found none, so as there is none to hinder our possession, or to lay claim unto it.

All the afternoon we spent in communication with him; we would gladly have been rid of him at night, but he was not willing to go this night. Then we thought to carry him on shipboard, wherewith he was well content, and went into the shallop (small boat), but the wind was high and the water scant, that it could not return back. We lodged him that night at Stephen Hopkins’ house, and watched him.”

“The next day he went away back to the Massasoits, from whence he said he came, who are our next bordering neighbors. They are sixty strong, as he saith. The Nausets are as near southeast of them, and are a hundred strong, and those were they of whom our people were encountered, as before related. They are much incensed and provoked against the English, and about eight months ago slew three Englishmen, and two more hardly escaped by flight to Monchiggon; they were Sir Ferdinando Gorges his men, as this savage told us. These people are ill affected towards the English, by reason of one (Thomas) Hunt, a master of a ship, who deceived the people, and got them under color of trucking (bartering) with them, twenty out of this very place where we inhabit, and seven men from Nauset, and carried them away, and sold them for slaves like a wretched man (for twenty pound a man) that cares not what mischief he doth for his profit. Saturday, in the morning we dismissed the savage, and gave him a knife, a bracelet, and a ring; he promised within a night or two to come again, and to bring with him some of the Massasoits, our neighbors, with such beavers’ skins as they had to truck with us.”

Governor Bradford wrote that a few days later, “Tishsquantum,” or Squanto arrived with the neighboring Wampanoag Chief Massasiot: “Massasoyt, who about four or five days after, came with the chief of his friends and other attendants, and with Squanto. With him, after friendly entertainment and some gifts, they made a peace which has now continued for twenty-four years.”

Governor Bradford described Squanto: “Squanto stayed with them and was their interpreter and was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation. He showed them how to plant corn, where to take fish and other commodities, and guided them to unknown places, and never left them till he died.”

Bradford added: “The settlers, as many as were able, then began to plant their corn, in which service Squanto stood them in good stead, showing them how to plant it and cultivate it. He also told them that unless they got fish to manure this exhausted old soil, it would come to nothing, and he showed them that in the middle of April plenty of fish would come up the brook by which they had begun to build, and taught them how to catch it, and where to get other necessary provisions; all of which they found true by experience. Nor was there a man among them who had ever seen a beaver skin till they came out, and were instructed by Squanto.”

Though records are scarce, it appears that Squanto may have been one of the five natives kidnapped around 1605 by Captain George Weymouth’s expedition. Sailing his ship Archangel, Weymouth was employed by the newly formed British East India Company to find a Northwest Passage to India and China. Sea voyages to find a Northwest Passage were first conceived after the Muslim Ottoman Turks had cut off the eastern land routes to India and China a century and a half earlier. Captain George Weymouth brought the natives back to England where they were introduced to William Shakespeare and the Earl of South Hampton, who funded both Shakespeare and the voyages. Three of the natives went to live in Plymouth, England, with Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who also funded the expedition and later, the settlement of Maine.

In A Briefe Narration of the Originall Undertakings for the Advancement of Plantations into the Parts of America (London: 1658), Sir Ferdinando Gorges mentioned the name “Tasquantum’: “(Captain George Weymouth, having failed at finding a Northwest Passage) happened into a River on the Coast of America, called Pemmaquid, from whence he brought five of the Natives, three of whose names were Manida, Sellwarroes, and Tasquantum, whom I seized upon, they were all of one Nation, but of several parts, and several Families; This accident must be acknowledged the means under God of putting on foot, and giving life to all our Plantations.”

In 1614, an expedition sailed to map the coast of New England, with Squanto traveling along as interpreter. At this time, Squanto was able to return to his tribe of Patuxet.

(And as these Pilgrim leaders describe again.) In 1614, Squanto was kidnapped along with some other natives, by the wretched Captain Thomas Hunt, who took them to Malaga, Spain, a city notorious for slave trading, begun during its Muslim occupation. Had the Muslim Ottoman Empire not been occupied from the 15th to 17th centuries with conquests in Venice, Wallachia, Moldava, Hungary, Rhodes, Malta, Cyprus, Austria, and Poland-Lithuania, it may have colonized the New World, and native American culture may have been completely erased and replaced with Islamic culture, just as the Byzantine Christian culture was replaced in Turkey.

In Spain, Squanto appears to have been rescued by some Catholic friars, who may have introduced him to some Christian concepts. They proceeded to give him his freedom. Sir Ferdinando Gorges wrote in A briefe relation of the discovery and plantation of New England (1622: London), that Captain Thomas Hunt was able to sell a few natives, but when “friars of those parts” discovered his unscrupulous activity, they took the rest of the natives to be “instructed in the Christian Faith; and so disappointed this unworthy fellow of his hopes of gain.”

The friars gave Squanto his freedom and he made his way to England, where he was hired by John Slaney, treasurer of the Newfoundland Account. He then worked for Newfoundland Colony Governor John Mason, who was later granted the patent for New Hampshire. Squanto then worked for Captain Thomas Dermer, an agent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges.

Governor Bradford wrote: “Squanto was a native of these parts, and had been one of the few survivors of the plague hereabouts. He was carried away with others by one Hunt, a captain of a ship, who intended to sell them for slaves in Spain.”

Bradford continued: “(Squanto) got away for England, and was received by a merchant in London, and employed in Newfoundland and other parts, and lastly brought into these parts by a Captain Dermer, a gentleman employed by Sir Ferdinand Gorges.”

(And taking up the story of Squanto again.) In 1619, Squanto was finally able to return to his Patuxet tribe, but sadly found that they had all died in a plague. As tragic as his kidnapping had been, it may have saved Squanto from dying in that plague.

As Governor William Bradford relates: “About three years before, a French ship was wrecked at Cape Cod, but the men got ashore and saved their lives and a large part of their provisions. When the Indians heard of it, they surrounded them and never left watching and dogging them till they got the advantage and killed them, all but three or four, whom they kept, and sent from one Sachem to another, making sport with them and using them worse than slaves.”

Other such accounts were related by French Catholic missionaries. Though they were unarmed and sought to peacefully reach natives, many suffered the fate of martyrs. One was Fr. Isaac Jogues, who taken prisoner by the Iroquois in 1641. Indians gnawed off two of his fingers and roughly sawed off his thumb. He was forced to run the deadly gauntlet, as described in The Jesuit Martyrs of North America, but before they could kill him, he escaped. He wandered till he found some Dutch fur traders who helped him make his way back to Quebec. From there, he was able to sail back to France.

Isaac Jogues later returned to America to continue his missionary work, where he was eventually killed

Bradford concluded more of the story of Squanto: “In Manamiock Bay where Squanto had gone to help Captain Standis as a guide, He fell ill of Indian fever, bleeding much at the nose, which the Indians take for a symptom of death, and within a few days he died. He begged the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen’s God in Heaven, and bequeathed several of his things to some of his English friends, as remembrances. His death was a great loss.”

As half of the Pilgrims died that first winter, there was the real possibility that they would not have survived another, had it not been for Squanto. 

Governor Bradford acknowledged:

“Squanto was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation.“

America – Blessed by God

There has never been a nation like America in all of history. When you go through its history, in all honesty you must come to the conclusion that it has been blessed by God. I really think that I can show you why. If you would like to see if you agree with me, do read the following: Ron

“O Beautiful, For Spacious Skies, For Amber Waves of Grain”

As you probably know, these words are from “America the Beautiful”. In 1926 it was almost chosen as our National Anthem.

It was written by Katherine Lee Bates, born August 12, 1859. Daughter of a Congregational minister, Katherine Lee Bates taught high school, then English literature at Wellesley College. She hosted gatherings at her home for students and literary guests, including Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg and William Butler Yeats.

Of her 1893 Colorado journey, Katherine Lee Bates wrote: “Some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to 14,000-foot Pikes Peak. We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.”

“So, I was inspired to write ‘America the Beautiful'”.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy at a service in Washington as president said: “As we gather together to ask the Lord’s blessings and give Him our thanks, let us unite in those familiar and cherished words of America the Beautiful.”

President Ronald Reagan in meeting South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan, November 14, 1983: “At the worship service Sunday morning with our soldiers less than a mile from one of the most tyrannical regimes on Earth, a choir of little girls, all orphans, closing the service, singing “America, the Beautiful” in our language, was a spiritual experience.”

So, here are the complete words of Katharine Lee Bates’ classic poem:

O Beautiful for Spacious Skies, For Amber Waves of Grain, For Purple Mountain Majesties Above the Fruited Plain! America! America! God Shed His Grace on Thee And Crowned Thy Good with Brotherhood From Sea to Shining Sea! O Beautiful for Pilgrims Feet, Whose Stern Impassioned Stress A Thoroughfare for Freedom Beat Across the Wilderness! America! America! God Mend Thy Every Flaw, Confirm Thy Soul in Self-Control Thy Liberty in Law! O Beautiful for Heroes Proved In Liberating Strife, Who More Than Self Their Country Loved, And Mercy More Than Life! America! America! May God Thy Gold Refine Till All Success Be Nobleness And Every Gain Divine! O Beautiful for Patriots Dream That Sees Beyond the Years Thine Alabaster Cities Gleam Undimmed by Human Tears! America! America! God Shed His Grace On Thee And Crown Thy Good With Brotherhood From Sea to Shining Sea!

Deuteronomy 28 states: “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments. All these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee.”

Since all through scripture God promised to bless those nations who acknowledged and honored Him. So, following are those states in our Union who did just that in alphabetical order:

Alabama 1901, Preamble. We the people of the State of Alabama invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution.

Alaska 1956, Preamble. We, the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land.

Arizona 1911, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution.

Arkansas 1874, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government.

California 1879, Preamble. We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom,

Colorado 1876, Preamble. We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe.

Connecticut 1818, Preamble. The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy.

Delaware 1897, Preamble. Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences.

Florida 1885, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Florida, grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty establish this Constitution.

Georgia 1777, Preamble. We, the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

Hawaii 1959, Preamble. We, the people of Hawaii, Grateful for Divine Guidance establish this Constitution.

Idaho 1889, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings.

Illinois 1870, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

Indiana 1851, Preamble. We, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to chose our form of government.

Iowa 1857, Preamble. We, the People of the State of Iowa, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings establish this Constitution.

Kansas 1859, Preamble. We, the people of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.

Kentucky 1891, Preamble. We, the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties.

Louisiana 1921, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.

Maine 1820, Preamble. We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity and imploring His aid and direction.

Massachusetts 1780, Preamble. We the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe in the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction.

Michigan 1835, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, and earnestly desiring to secure these blessings.

Minnesota 1857, Preamble. We, the people of the state of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings. 

Mississippi 1890, Preamble. We, the people of Mississippi, in Convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing.

Missouri 1945, Preamble. We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness establish this Constitution.

Montana 1889, Preamble. We, the people of Montana, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution.

Nebraska 1875, Preamble. We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom … establish this Constitution.

Nevada 1864, Preamble. We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom establish this Constitution.

New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.

New Jersey 1844, Preamble. We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

New Mexico 1911, Preamble. We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty.

New York 1846, Preamble. We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.

North Carolina 1868, Preamble. We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those.

North Dakota 1889, Preamble. We, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain.

Ohio 1852, Preamble. We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common good.

Oklahoma 1907, Preamble. Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty establish this.

Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences.

Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble. We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance.

Rhode Island 1842, Preamble. We the People of the State of Rhode Island … grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing.

South Carolina 1778, Preamble. We, the people of the State of South Carolina … grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

South Dakota 1889, Preamble. We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties establish this Constitution.

Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience.

Texas 1845, Preamble. We the People of the Republic of Texas, acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.

Utah 1896, Preamble. Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.

Vermont 1777, Preamble. Whereas all government ought to enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man.

Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other.

Washington 1889, Preamble. We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution.

West Virginia 1872, Preamble. Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God.

Wisconsin 1848, Preamble. We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility.

Wyoming 1890, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Wyoming, grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties establish this Constitution.

All through the Bible, the Holy Scriptures tell us that God promises to bless the nation that acknowledges God and honors Him. And as you see above, every one of the 50 states in our union have put in writing that they absolutely do just that.

Dr. Stanley as pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta, under Divine guidance, tells us that God absolutely, absolutely honors every one of His promises. So, that is why America has been blessed by God, and will continue to be as long as they keep his commandments.

The History of Writing

The “Times Complete History of the World” states: “No mention of a date appears before the start of human civilization about 5,000 years ago and the beginning of a written or pictorial history.”

“The part of Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the ‘city’ was invented. It was here that we learned how to write.”

Writing was first on pieces of clay, then on papyrus reeds from the Nile Delta. The reeds, which grew 16 feet tall, had their outer rind removed, leaving the sticky inner cores, which were cut into strips, interwoven together, soaked, pressed, and then dried.

The word “paper” comes from the word “papyrus.” It was the main medium to write upon for nearly 3,000 years.

Writing was invented in China around 2,600 BC during the reign of the legendary Yellow Emperor. Instead of using reeds, the Chinese used bamboo, which was cut into strips and written upon vertically. These strips were tied together creating bamboo annals or books.

Writing was also upon palm leaves, bark, bones, and stone in other parts of the world. Writing was then made on parchment made from the skins of sheep and goats, and on vellum made from calfskin.

Reading and writing was, for the most part, limited to the ruling elite. It was the communication of the deep state class who wanted to control the ignorant and uneducated masses.

Anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss (1908-2008) wrote: “Ancient writing’s main function was to facilitate the enslavement of other human beings.”

Emphasizing how tyrants need the masses of people to be ignorant, George Orwell wrote in Nineteen Eighty-Four: “In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance.”

The National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece, in its section on Egyptian Artifacts, has a display on “Scribes,” stating: “Only a small percentage of ancient Egypt’s population was literate, namely the pharaoh, members of the royal family, officials, priests and scribes.

Particularly popular and lucrative, the scribe’s profession was mostly hereditary. Scribes had careers in the government, priesthood, and army. They began their rigorous training in their early childhood. Most of their training took place inside a building called the “House of Life,” attached to the temple. Scribes wrote on stone or clay sherds.”

Also in other countries, elite ruling classes always kept common people and slaves uninformed, prohibiting them from being educated or from communicating.

Thomas Aquinas wrote of Mohammed in Summa contra Gentiles, 1258: “It was a shrewd decision on his part to forbid his followers to read the Old and New Testaments, lest these books convict him of falsity.”

Ancient Israel was the first nation where the general population was literate. In the 4th century A.D., Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea quoted the Jewish historian Eupolemus, who wrote circa 150 B.C.: “Moses was the first wise man. He taught the alphabet to the Jews who passed it on to the Phoenicians, who passed it to the Greeks. Moses first wrote laws for the Jews.” (Praeparatio Evangelica, 9:26.1)

Levites taught the people the law, and taught them how to read the law. Israel functioned as a Hebrew republic for four hundred years before they sinned by asking for a king.

The democracy of ancient Athens and the republic of ancient Rome also required citizens to be educated and informed. Thomas Sowell wrote in Degeneration of Democracy, 6/2010: “A democracy needs informed citizens if it is to thrive, or ultimately even survive.”

In The Lessons of History (Simon & Schuster, 1968, p. 77), Will and Ariel Durant wrote: “Democracy is the most difficult of all forms of government, since it requires the widest spread of intelligence. Ignorance lends itself to manipulation by the forces that mold public opinion.”

James Madison wrote to W.T. Barry, August 4, 1822: “A people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both.”

On controlling education, George Orwell commented in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four: “If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened – that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death?

And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed – if all records told the same tale – then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future; who controls the present controls the past’. And when memory failed and written records were falsified – when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standards against which it could be tested.”

Orwell added: “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

This is similar to the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi, who conquered many kingdoms to unify China in 221 BC. When he was criticized for not ruling as rulers had in the past, he ordered all of the hand-written records of the past to be burned and the scholars buried.

The ‘Basic Annals of the First Emperor of Qin‘ reported that Qin’s Chancellor, Li Si, told the Emperor in 213 BC: ” I, your servant, propose that all historians’ records other than those of Qin’s be burned. If anyone under heaven has copies of the Classics of History (Shu Jing)  they shall deliver them to the governor for burning.

Anyone who dares to discuss the Classics of History shall be publicly executed. Anyone who uses history to criticize the present shall have his family executed. Anyone who has failed to burn the books after thirty days of this announcement shall be subjected to tattooing and be sent to build the Great Wall.”

(So, we have discussed the history of paper and writing. Now let’s look at what happened with the invention of printing and the printing press:)

The Qin Dynasty was overthrown, and in 202 BC the Han Dynasty ruled China. In the following centuries, Chinese scribes developed the process of making paper from tree pulp and rags.

Beginning in 175 AD, during the Han Dynasty, scribes placed paper over stone engravings of texts of Confucius and made rubbings with charcoal. This developed into laying paper over raised stone letters covered with ink, a technique which spread to other countries like Japan, where a Nara Empress printed a Buddhist charm in 768 AD. Using a method with carved wooden or baked clay blocks, China, during the Tang Dynasty, created what could be considered the first “printed” book in 868 AD.

In 1234, Korea’s Goryeo Dynasty invented the first “metal” movable type printing press. In 1443, Korean Emperor Sejong the Great introduced a 24-letter han’gul alphabet which made printing practical.

Whereas China used pictogram characters, and Egypt used hieroglyphs, Western Civilization had been using phonetic characters dating back to a Semitic alphabet around 1500 BC. It was not until 1400 AD that Europeans first began using carved wooden blocks applied with ink to print religious messages.

Then in Germany, Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press – the Western world’s first “metal moveable type” printing press.

On August 24, 1455, Gutenberg printed his masterpiece, the Gutenberg Bible, regarded as the first book of significance ever printed. No longer copied tediously by the hands of scribes, Bibles were soon mass produced.

Gutenberg wrote about his 42-line Gutenberg Bible, also called the Mazarin Bible, 1455: “God suffers in the multitude of souls whom His word can not reach. Religious truth is imprisoned in a small number of manuscript books which confine instead of spread the public treasure. Let us break the seal which seals up holy things and give wings to Truth in order that she may win every soul that comes into the world by her word no longer written at great expense by hands easily palsied, but multiplied like the wind by an untiring machine.”

Gutenberg continued: “Yes, it is a press, certainly, but a press from which shall flow in inexhaustible streams the most abundant and most marvelous liquor that has ever flowed to relieve the thirst of men. Through it, God will spread His word; a spring of pure truth shall flow from it; like a new star it shall scatter the darkness of ignorance, and cause a light hithertofore unknown to shine among men.”

“Taps”

We have heard the music “Taps” played all our lives.  It is most always played by a bugle at military funerals and at many other occasions.  Its sound is so plaintive that it almost seems emotional.  However, most have never heard of its origin.  I find its origin so interesting, that I wanted you to know about it also.  Do read it:

It all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Elli was with his men near Harrison’s Landing in Virginia . The Confederate Army was on the other side of the strip of land.

During the night, Captain Elli heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment.

When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead. The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy had enlisted in the Confederate Army.

The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted. The Captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral.
The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician.

The Captain went through the young man’s pockets and found a piece of paper.  It had a series of musical notes.  For his one musician the Captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play the series of musical notes he had found on the piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth’s uniform.
This wish was granted. The haunting melody, we now know as ‘Taps’ used at military funerals was born. However, there were also words there.  So, as you read those words here, hum along the sound of Taps in your mind with each word.

Day is done.
Gone the sun.
From the lakes
From the hills.
From the sky.
All is well.
Safely rest.
God is nigh.

Fading light.
Dims the sight.
And a star.
Gems the sky.
Gleaming bright.
From afar.
Drawing nigh.
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise.
For our days.
Neath the sun
Neath the stars.
Neath the sky
As we go.
This we know.
God is nigh

Now you know the real history of Taps.

Man First Conquers Space

Elon Musk has reenergized America in the interest of exploring space. Brilliant young engineers are once again volunteering to become astronauts. So, I thought it would be prescient to review the history of when we first conquered space and walked on the moon. In compiling this I was amazed to discover how everyone of the first astronauts, especially those who ventured into outer space, became so much closer to God because of those experiences. James Irwin even came back from walking on the moon and became an evangelical minister to tell people about Jesus the rest of his life. Do read the following to see how their ventures into space brought those highly trained astronauts so much closer to God. Ron

After World War II, Werner von Braun, and 1,600 German scientists, surrendered to the United States in Operation Paperclip, stating: “I myself, and everybody you see here, have decided to go West. We knew that we had created a new means of warfare. We felt that only by surrendering such a weapon to people who are guided by the Bible could such an assurance to the world be best secured.”

On October 4, 1957, Soviets launched Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite.

Werner von Braun and my best friend, Jack Smith developed America’s first space satellite, Explorer 1, launched on January 31, 1958. The Space Race was on. (Everyone was clamoring for the U.S. to put up a satellite like the Russians. The government tried its regular aircraft customers and they failed to get one up. Then Werner von Braun and Jack Smith used one of the rockets from McGregor, Texas and got one up in a few days.)

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, completing one orbit of the Earth in 108 minutes, reaching an altitude of 91 miles.

Less than a month later, May 5, 1961, American Alan Shepard piloted the Mercury Freedom 7 to become the second person in space. His 15 minute flight reached an altitude of 101.2 nautical miles above the earth.

On February 20, 1962, Astronaut John Glenn piloted the Mercury Friendship 7. “Godspeed, John Glenn,” radioed backup-pilot Scott Carpenter from the blockhouse as the rockets fired up. Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, circling 3 times in just under 5 hours, reaching an altitude of 162 nautical miles.

NASA’s first manned spaceflight program was Mercury, 1958-1963. Mercury Astronauts answered questions at a press conference in Washington, D.C., April 9, 1959: Alan Shepard, Malcolm Carpenter, Leroy Cooper, Gus Grissom, Walter Schirra, Donald Slayton, and John Glenn.

When questioned about his faith, John Glenn stated: “I don’t think any of us could really go on with something like this if we didn’t have pretty good backing at home, really. My wife’s attitude toward this has been the same as it has been all along through all my flying. If it is what I want to do, she is behind it, and the kids are too, a hundred percent.”

Glenn added: “I am a Presbyterian, a Protestant Presbyterian, and I take my religion very seriously, as a matter of fact.” Glenn told of teaching Sunday school classes, being on church boards, and doing church work with his family: “We are placed here with certain talents and capabilities. It is up to each of us to use those talents and capabilities as best you can. If you do that, I think there is a Power greater than any of us that will place the opportunities in our way, and if we use our talents properly, we will be living the kind of life we should live.”

John Glenn, who had flown 147 combat missions in World War II and the Korean War, addressed Congress in 1962: “I still get a lump in my throat when I see the American flag passing by.”

Later that year, President Kennedy stated at Rice University in Houston, September 12, 1962: “Space is there and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and planets are there and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”

The Mercury Program was followed by the Gemini Program, 1961-1966, which had longer missions and developed techniques of orbital maneuvers, extra-vehicular activity, space rendezvous, docking and reentry. This put America ahead in the Space Race. Werner von Braun, father of modern space flight, developed the powerful Saturn V rocket capable of sending a spacecraft beyond Earth’s orbit in NASA’s Apollo Program.

An “astronaut” is defined as someone who has ascended over 62 miles (100km) above the Earth’s surface. As of 2021, over 570 individuals are in that group. Only 24 individuals have left Earth’s orbit, and only 12 have walked on the Moon.

The first mission to leave Earth’s orbit and fly around the moon was Apollo 8 in 1968.   The tiniest mistake would have sent them crashing into the moon’s surface or plummeting off into endless space. As they successfully went into lunar orbit, astronaut William Anders snapped the famous Earthrise photo that was printed in LIFE Magazine.

Apollo 8’s three man crew looked down on the earth from 250,000 miles away on Christmas Eve, 1968.

Commander Frank Borman radioed back a message, quoting from the Book of Genesis: “We are now approaching lunar sunrise. And for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Commander Borman continued: “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.”

Frank Borman ended by saying: “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.”

After returning to earth, a reporter told Borman that a Soviet cosmonaut returned from space and said he did not see God. Borman replied: “I did not see Him either, but I saw His evidence.” Later Frank Borman described his voyage: “I had an enormous feeling that there had to be a power greater than any of us – that there was a God, that there was indeed a beginning.”

The first mission to walk on the moon was Apollo 11, which blasted off JULY 16, 1969, from Cape Kennedy.

President Richard Nixon stated in Proclamation 3919: “Apollo 11 is on its way to the moon. It carries three brave astronauts; it also carries the hopes and prayers of hundreds of millions of people. That moment when man first sets foot on a body other than earth will stand through the centuries as one supreme in human experience. I call upon all of our people to join in prayer for the successful conclusion of Apollo 11’s mission.”

On July 20, 1969, Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed their lunar module, the Eagle on the moon. Buzz Aldrin read John 15:5 and partook of communion before exiting the lunar module. They spent a total of 21 hours and 37 minutes on the moon’s surface before redocking with the command ship Columbia.

President Richard Nixon spoke to the astronauts on the moon, July 20, 1969: “This certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House. The heavens have become a part of man’s world. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man all the people on this earth are truly one, one in our prayers that you will return safely to earth.”

President Nixon greeted the astronauts on the USS Hornet, July 24, 1969: “The millions who are seeing us on television now feel as I do, that our prayers have been answered. I think it would be very appropriate if Chaplain Piirto, the Chaplain of this ship, were to offer a prayer of thanksgiving.”

Addressing a joint session of Congress, September 16, 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong stated: “To those of you who have advocated looking high we owe our sincere gratitude, for you have granted us the opportunity to see some of the grandest views of the Creator.”

Apollo 12 Astronauts Charles “Pete” Conrad and Alan Bean walked on the moon for 31 hours.

Alan Bean later became an artist. One of his painting is of an astronaut kneeling in prayer on the moon, titled “We Came in Peace for All Mankind.”

On the Apollo 14 mission, February 6, 1971, Astronauts Edgar Mitchell and Alan Shepard left a tiny microfilm copy of the King James Bible aboard the lunar module Antares on the moon’s Fra Mauro highlands.

On Apollo 15’s mission, 1971, Astronaut James Irwin became the 8th person to walk on the moon. He spoke of leaving earth: “As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man, has to make a man appreciate the creation of God and the love of God.”

Jim Irwin and Dave Scott were mentioned in astronaut Alan Bean’s book: “Jim Irwin was one of my favorite astronauts. Jim was, unexpectedly, more religious than most of us realized. I can remember when he and Dave were riding along on their rover near the end of their third EVA and Dave said, ‘Oh, look at the mountains today, Jim. When they’re all sunlit isn’t that beautiful?’ Jim answered, ‘Really is, Dave. I’m reminded of a favorite Biblical passage from Psalms, ‘I look unto the hills from whence cometh my help.'”

Bean continued: ‘Jim would later say, ‘I was aware on the Moon that thousands of people on Earth were praying for the success of our mission. The hours I spent on the Moon were the most thrilling of my life. Not because I was there but because I could feel the presence of God. There were times I was filled with new challenges and help from God was immediate.'”

Alan Bean concluded: “Dave and Jim journeyed into space as test pilot astronauts and most of us returned the same way. But Jim changed outwardly. As he explained, ‘I returned determined to share with others that profound experience with God on the Moon and lift man into his highest flight of life.’”

Later, Astronaut James Irwin became an evangelical minister. Of his experience of walking on the moon, he stated: “I felt the power of God as I’d never felt it before. Being on the moon had a profound spiritual impact upon my life. Before I entered space with the Apollo 15 mission in July of 1971, I was a silent Christian, but I feel the Lord sent me to the moon so I could return to the earth and share His Son, Jesus Christ.”

He added: “Jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon.”

Apollo 16 Astronaut Charles Duke wrote (Charles Duke: Moonwalker, Rose Petal Press, 2nd edition, 2011, p. 256-261): “I used to say I could live ten thousand years and never have an experience as thrilling as walking on the moon. But the excitement and satisfaction of that walk doesn’t begin to compare with my walk with Jesus, a walk that lasts forever.”

The Amazing Dr. Livingstone

I am sure you have heard of David Livingstone, the famous missionary to Africa. However, not much has been written about him in recent times. In his travels of 29,000 miles back and forth across Africa he introduced Christianity to the people of a plethora of tribes; most of whom had never even hear of Jesus. As the very first white man or any outsider to ever visit so much of Africa, it is interesting to me what to him was the most important thing that he found there. We know from his personal diary and his writings what it was. Please read what I have compiled below, if you would like to know also: Ron

Dr. Livingstone was the internationally renowned missionary who had discovered the Zambezi River, Victoria Falls, and searched for the source of the Nile.

He had not been heard from in years and was rumored to have died. Stanley, a skeptic, was sent from America to find him and write a story about him if he could find him alive.

“Doctor Livingstone, I presume,” stated New York Herald reporter Henry Stanley on NOVEMBER 10, 1871, as he met David Livingstone on the banks of Africa’s Lake Tanganyika after searching all across Arica for him and finally finding him. His statement upon finding him became one of the most famous lines in modern history. I am sure you have heard it.

David Livingstone had been raised in the Church of Scotland, then the Congregational Church, and committed his life to Christ to become a medical missionary to China.

When the medical school required him to learn Latin, David Livingstone met a local Irish Catholic to tutor him, Daniel Gallagher, who later became a priest and founded St. Simon’s Church in Glasgow. David Livingstone’s plans changed when the Opium Wars broke out in China.

Livingstone was convinced by Missionary Robert Moffat to go to South Africa where there was “the smoke of a thousand villages, where no missionary had ever been.”

In his journal, David Livingstone wrote: “I place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. If anything will advance the interests of the kingdom, it shall be given away or kept, only as by giving or keeping it, I shall promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes in time and eternity.”

Traveling 29,000 miles back and forth across Africa, David Livingstone was horrified by the Arab Muslim slave trade. His letters, books, and journals stirred up a public outcry to abolish slavery.

Livingstone often passed caravans of 1,000 slaves tied together with neck yokes or leg irons, marching single file 500 miles down to the sea carrying ivory and heavy loads. Slaves who complained were speared and left to die, resulting in slave caravans being traced by vultures and hyenas feasting on corpses.

David Livingstone recorded in his journal: “To overdraw its evils is a simple impossibility. We passed a woman tied by the neck to a tree and dead. We came upon a man dead from starvation. We passed a slave woman shot or stabbed through the body and lying on the path. Onlookers said an Arab who passed early that morning had done it in anger at losing the price he had given for her, because she was unable to walk any longer.”

He added: “The strangest disease I have seen in this country seems really to be broken heartedness, and it attacks free men who have been captured and made slaves.”

Livingstone estimated that each year 80,000 died while being captured or forced to march from the African interior to the Arab Muslim slave markets of Zanzibar.

Describing the Muslim slave trade as “a monster brooding over Africa,” Livingstone once walked 120 miles near Lake Nyasa without seeing a single human being, as Arab slave traders had so depopulated the area.

In 1862, David Livingstone received a steam boat, but attempts to navigate the Ruvuma River failed due to the paddle wheels continually hitting bodies thrown in the river by slave traders.

He had hoped to open up “God’s Highway” to bring “Christianity, Commerce and Civilization” into Africa, and thereby put an end to the Arab Muslim slave trade, as he wrote to the editor of The New York Herald: “And if my disclosures regarding the terrible Ujijian slavery should lead to the suppression of the East Coast slave trade, I shall regard that as a greater matter by far than the discovery of all the Nile sources together.”

Sadly, slavery of Africans still continues in Islamic dominated areas of Africa, and political groups that demand reparations for past slavery are strangely silent about modern-day slavery.

Fredrick Ngugi wrote May 5, 2017, Face2FaceAfrica.com: “It may be more than two centuries since the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade ended, but slavery is still very much alive in many African countries as well as much of the ancient world. Other varied forms of slavery still exist across the continent, including domestic service, debt bondage, military slavery, slaves for sacrifice, local slave trade, and more. Here are the top five African countries where slavery is still rampant: Mauritania; Sudan; Libya; Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula; South Africa.”

Reaching the headwaters of the Congo at Lualaba River in 1871, which he mistakenly thought to be the Nile, Livingstone recorded that at Nyangwe he saw Arab Muslim slave traders massacre nearly 400 Africans.

Disheartened, he went back to Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, where, after years of the world not hearing from him, The New York Herald reporter Henry Stanley found him.

Henry Stanley described the famous old missionary: “Here is a man who is manifestly sustained as well as guided by influences from Heaven. The Holy Spirit dwells in him. God speaks through him. The heroism, the nobility, the pure and stainless enthusiasm as the root of his life come, beyond question, from Christ. There must, therefore, be a Christ; and it is worth while to have such a Helper and Redeemer as this Christ undoubtedly is, and as He here reveals Himself to this wonderful disciple.”

David Livingstone, ever the explorer, stated: ”I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward.”

Once he was attacked by a lion. Livingstone wrote that it: “caught me by the shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier does a rat.”

Livingstone was so loved by Africans that when they found him dead in 1873 near Lake Bangweulu, kneeling beside his bed after suffering from malaria, they buried his heart in Africa. His body was sent, packed in salt, back to England to be buried in Westminster Abbey.

Monuments around the world are dedicated to the memory of David Livingstone, as well as movies and documentaries, including the 1939 film Stanley and Livingstone, starring Spencer Tracy.

In his Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, 1857, Dr. David Livingstone revealed what motivated him: “The perfect fullness with which the pardon of all our guilt is offered in God’s Book, drew forth feelings of affectionate love to Him who bought us with His blood. A sense of deep obligation to Him for His mercy has influenced my conduct ever since.”

Dr. Livingstone

Georgia

The history of this great state is just amazing, especially its Christian history which was so integral to its founding. I find it so interesting that I have compiled a synopsis of that history from the time before its founding as a colony to the 20th Century. If you would like to know about this state’s amazing history, do read the following:

Ron

Early in his career, Eugene of Savoy, under the command of Polish King Jan Sobieski, helped repel 200,000 Ottoman Turks on September 11, 1683, thus saving the city of Vienna, Austria. Austrian Prince Eugene of Savoy went on to become one of Europe’s most famous commanders.

Savoy helped drive the Ottomans from Budapest in 1686. In 1687, he gallantly commanded a cavalry brigade defeating the Turkish army at the Second Battle of Mohács in Hungary.

This defeat was so significant that the Ottoman army mutinied against its leadership, resulting in the Grand Vizier, Sarı Süleyman Pasha, being executed, and the Sultan, Mehmed IV, being deposed.

Prince Eugene of Savoy was famous for his victory over 100,000 Islamic warriors at the Battle of Zenta, Serbia, September 11, 1697.

The Ottoman army then invaded Russia. The new Turkish Grand Vizier, Baltacı Mehmet, defeated Peter the Great’s Russian Army in the Russo-Turkish War (1710-1711).

Turks then went on the offensive, invading Greece and Venetian territories, led by Turkish Grand Vizier Damat Ali in the Turkish-Venetian War (1714-1718). Once again, Europe was rescued by Austrian Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Austro-Turkish War, 1716-1718. In 1716, Savoy defeated the Ottoman Turks at Petrovaradin, captured the Banat (areas of Romania, Serbia and Hungary) and the capital city of Timisoara. In 1717, Savoy recaptured Belgrade, Serbia, whose Christian population had been brutally crushed and enslaved by numerous Islamist campaigns dating back to 1521. Savoy’s successful halt of the Ottoman invasion into Europe resulted in the Turkish Empire suing for peace in 1718 with the Treaty of Passarowitz, as the sharia practice was, when you are strong, attack without mercy, but when you are weak, make treaties until you can become strong again.

One of the young soldiers fighting at the Battle of Belgrade, who served as an aide-de-camp to Prince Savoy, was 17-year-old Englishman James Oglethorpe.

Oglethorpe fought with distinction in the Austro-Turkish War, and then returned to England at the age of 21. He unintentionally killed a man in a brawl and spent five months in prison. Upon release, James followed in the footsteps of his father, Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, and became a member of Parliament, where he served for 32 years, 1722-1754.

In Parliament, he became known for opposing slavery. In 1728, one of James Oglethorpe’s friends, Robert Castell, was unable to pay his debts and was thrown into London’s notorious Fleet Debtor’s Prison. At the time, in English prisons, prisoners had to pay the guards to get food and a decent room. As Castell was unable to pay, he was put in a cell with someone dying of smallpox. Castell caught the disease and died. When Oglethorpe heard the news, he was distraught. He began a national campaign for prison reform, and headed a parliamentary committee to investigate them. Steps were made to end the extortion and abuse of prisoners, and improve sanitary conditions.

James Oglethorpe conceived of an idea for a colony in America where poor debtors and religious refugees could get a second chance. He named the colony “Georgia” after Britain’s King George II.

Georgia’s Colonial Charter, 1732, stated regarding religious freedom: “There shall be a liberty of conscience allowed in the worship of God, and that all such persons, except papists, shall have a free exercise of their religion.”

Sailing on the ship Ann, the 115 settlers landed on JANUARY 13, 1733.

A year later, Protestant refugees from Salzburg, Austria, called “Salzburgers,” settled the town of Ebenezer, Georgia. In 1735, Moravian Christian settlers from Bohemia arrived and built Fort Argyle. Scottish Presbyterians arrived from New Inverness in 1736. And in the same year, Huguenot Protestant refugees arrived from France.

James Oglethorpe’s secretary was Charles Wesley, who later became a hymn writer, composing among others, the carol “Hark, the Herald Angel Sings.”

Charles Wesley’s brother, John Wesley, served in 1735 as Georgia’s Anglican minister. The Wesleys’ friend, Rev. George Whitefield, preached to enthusiastic crowds in Georgia in 1738, and later started an orphanage there.

On July 11, 1733, 34 Portuguese Sephardic Jews and 8 German Ashkenazic Jews, arrived in Savannah, Georgia. This was the largest group of Jews to land in North America prior to the Revolutionary War. They began the Holy Congregation Hope of Israel-“Kahal Kodesh Mickve Israel,” the third oldest Jewish congregation in the United States.

In 1742, during the War of Jenkin’s Ear, some 3,000 Spanish soldiers landed on Georgia’s St. Simon’s Island. Oglethorpe repelled the Spanish in the Battle of Bloody Marsh, July 7, 1742. The next year, Oglethorpe returned to England where he served in the military.

Beginning in 1755, Britain expelled all French Catholics from Acadia, Canada. Some expelled Catholics traveled to South Carolina, others to St. Dominique Island, and still others to the French Catholic Louisiana Territory, where the pronunciation of “Acadian” evolved to “Cajun.”

Other Protestants arrived in Georgia.

In 1772, Daniel Marshall established Kiokee Baptist Church – the first Baptist Church in Georgia. Georgia is also known for Polish General Casmir Pulaski, father of the American cavalry, who died fighting the British at Savannah In the Revolutionary War.

Georgia had many Revolutionary War patriots, such as Nancy Hart. While her husband was away, six British soldiers converged on their frontier home.

Soldiers shot her prize gobbler and ordered her to cook it. After feeding and serving them lots of wine Nancy grabbed one of their guns, promising to shoot the first one that moved. After shooting two, her husband showed up and they hung the rest.

Colonel Mordecai Sheftall of Georgia became the Continental Army’s highest ranking Jewish officer, serving as Deputy Commissary General for American troops in 1778.

In 1777, Georgia passed its first State Constitution, stating: “We the people of Georgia, relying upon the protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution.” Georgia’s Constitution, 1777, Article 6 stated: “Representatives shall be chosen out of the residents in each county and they shall be of the Protestant religion.”

In 1788, Georgia was the 4th State to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1789, Georgia’s population was over 82,000. It adopted a second Constitution which removed the Protestant requirement, simply stating: “All persons shall have the free exercise of religion.” A third Georgia Constitution was adopted in 1798, establishing religious toleration.

In the first 34 years of Georgia’s statehood, conflicts arose between settlers and Indians, especially when gold was discovered on Cherokee land in 1829, causing the Georgia Gold Rush. An Indian Removal Act was hurriedly rushed through a Democrat controlled Congress in 1830. This resulted in the tragic “Trail of Tears” where over 16,000 men, women, and children of the tribes Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee, were evicted form their homes and rounded up at gun point by Federal troops. They were first put in wooden stockade Federal internment camps, then, in the bitter winter of 1838, marched from Georgia and southeastern regions of the United States to the Oklahoma Territory. Over 4,000 died on the march.

Georgia’s religious history included the Jewish Mickve Israel Congregation, which in 1786 had an attendance of 73. In 1790, Georgia’s Governor granted the Jewish congregation a State Charter. President Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregation in Savannah, Georgia, May 1790: “May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in the promised land, whose Providential Agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation, still continue to water them with the dews of Heaven, and make the inhabitants of every denomination partake in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people, whose God is Jehovah.”

The first Catholic residents moved into Georgia from Maryland around 1793. They initially had no priests, but when the French Revolution sparked a slave revolt on the Island of St. Dominique-Haiti, a few French priests fled to Georgia. In 1810, the State Legislature incorporated the Catholic Church of Augusta. In 1820, Irish Bishop John England was appointed over the State’s one hundred Catholics in Savannah, plus a few more in Augusta.

Bishop England founded America’s first Catholic newspaper, The United States Catholic Miscellany. In 1826, Bishop John England delivered the first Catholic Sermon in the U.S. Capitol, at a Sunday morning Church service held in the House of Representatives.

The overflow audience included President John Quincy Adams, who had previously referred to the Catholic Church in an address, July 4, 1821, as “fetters of ecclesiastical domination” incompatible with republican institutions.

Bishop England reassured the predominately Protestant audience, January 8, 1826: “We do not believe that God gave to the Church any power to interfere with our civil rights, or our civil concerns. I would not allow to the Pope, or to any bishop of our Church the smallest interference with the humblest vote at our most insignificant balloting box.”

In 1836, Methodists founded Emory College, named after Methodist Bishop John Emory, in the city of Oxford, and Wesleyan Female College at Macon — the first institution of learning founded specifically for women in America.

Georgia was devastated as the Civil War progressed, especially in the fall of Atlanta and General Sherman’s march to the sea.

The population of Georgia in 1870 was 1,184,109. In 1877, Georgia’s Constitution stated: “Relying upon the protection and guidance of Almighty God, all men have the natural and inalienable right to worship God, each according to the dictates of his own conscience.”

In 1877, Baptists founded Shorter College at Rome, and in 1881, Methodists founded Morris Brown College.

In 1895, history was made at the International Exposition in Atlanta when the black President of the Tuskegee Institute, Booker T. Washington, was invited to give a keynote address.

In 1900, the population of Georgia was 2,216,331. As of 1910, the State of Georgia gave full liberty of conscience in matters of religious opinion and worship, but did not legalize willful or profane scoffing. It was unlawful to conduct any secular business on Sunday.

As of 1910, the State of Georgia gave full liberty of conscience in matters of religious opinion and worship, but did not legalize willful or profane scoffing.

It was unlawful to conduct any secular business on Sunday. Georgia’s oath of office was administered with one hand upon the Bible and the other uplifted, with the affirmation: “You do solemnly swear in the presence of the ever living God.”  Legislative sessions opened with prayer.

When James Oglethorpe and the first settlers touched Georgia’s shore, JANUARY 13, 1733, they knelt while Rev. Herbert Henry offered prayer. They declared: “Our end in leaving our native country is not to gain riches and honor, but singly this: to live wholly to the glory of God.”

Their object was: “To make Georgia a religious colony.”

James Oglethorpe

John Quincy Adams

This great man was so very influential in American history. He not only was President of the Unite States, he was one of the only patriots who not only knew all of the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, but also knew Abraham Lincoln. I think you would be interested in the fact that he was one of the first who recognized how dangerous Muslims were. And no U.S. political figure was ever as great a scholar of the Bible as this amazing man. He mastered Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, French, German, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew as written in the time of Christ. His intellect was astounding. We can learn much from what such intellect chose to be centered upon. Do read some of his story that I have compiled below: Ron

The son of the second President, John Adams, John Quincy Adams had one of the longest careers in American politics.

His many positions included:

At age 11, he accompanied his father as part of a diplomatic team to France and the Netherlands, 1778;

At 14 , he was secretary to the American diplomat to Russia, 1781-1783;

At 17, he assisted his father’s diplomatic role in England, 1784;

President Washington appointed him U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, 1794-1797;

U.S. Ambassador to Portugal, 1796;

U.S Ambassador to Prussia, 1797-1801;

U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, 1803;-1808

Professor of Logic at Brown University, 1803-1808;

Professor Rhetoric & Oratory, Harvard University, 1806-1809;

Argued before Supreme Court, Fletcher v. Peck, 1809;

President Madison appointed him to be First U.S. Minister to Russia, 1809-1814;

Published Lectures on Rhetoric & Oratory, 1810;

President Madison nominated him to the Supreme Court, being confirmed unanimously by the Senate, but declined, 1811;

He negotiated the Treaty of Ghent, which favorably ended the War of 1812 (Britain intended to retain the territory around the Great Lakes);

President Madison appointed him U.S. Minister to Great Britain, appointed by Madison, 1815-1817;

U.S. Secretary of State, under President Monroe, 1817-1825, where he negotiated the Adams-Onis Treaty, obtaining Florida from Spain;

He was the 6th President of the United States, 1825-1829;

U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts, 1831-1848.

John Quincy Adams was the only U.S President to serve as a Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives after having been President.

In Congress, he earned the nicknamed “The Hell-Hound of Slavery” for relentlessly speaking out against slavery. In 1839, he introduced a constitutional amendment to ban slavery in all new states entering the Union.

In 1841, at the age of 73, John Quincy Adams spoke for nine hours defending the 53 Africans accused of mutiny aboard the Spanish slave ship La Amistad. With the help of lawyer Francis Scott Key, he argued their case before the U.S. Supreme Court and won, giving them back their freedom.

He was the only major figure in American history to know both the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.

The annotated John Quincy Adams-A Bibliography, compiled by Lynn H. Parsons (Westport, CT, 1993, p. 41): “The natural hatred of the Mussulmen towards the infidels is in just accordance with the precepts of the Koran. The fundamental doctrine of the Christian religion is the extirpation of hatred from the human heart. It forbids the exercise of it, even towards enemies.

He continued:

“In the 7th century of the Christian era, a wandering Arab spread desolation and delusion over an extensive portion of the earth. (Muhammad)

He declared undistinguishing and exterminating war as a part of his religion. The essence of his doctrine was violence and lust, to exalt the brutal over the spiritual part of human nature.”

“Prophet, We have made lawful to you the slave girls whom Allah has given you as booty.”

John Quincy Adams-A Bibliography reported that during the Barbary Pirate Wars: “Our gallant Commodore Stephen Decatur chastised the pirate of Algiers. The Dey (Omar Bashaw) disdained to conceal his intentions; ‘My power,’ said he, ‘has been wrested from my hands; draw ye the treaty at your pleasure, and I will sign it; but beware of the moment, when I shall recover my power, for with that moment, your treaty shall be waste paper.'”

Frederick Leiner wrote in The End of the Barbary Terror-America’s 1815 War Against the Pirates of North Africa (Oxford University Press): “Commodore Stephen Decatur and diplomat William Shaler withdrew to consult in private. The Algerians were believed to be masters of duplicity, willing to make agreements and break them as they found convenient.”

The Annotated John Quincy Adams-A Bibliography (NY: 1830) continued with the statement: “The vanquished may purchase their lives, by the payment of tribute; the victorious may be appeased by a false and delusive promise of peace. The faithful follower of the prophet may submit to the imperious necessities of defeat: but the command to propagate the Moslem creed by the sword is always obligatory, when it can be made effective. The commands of the prophet may be performed alike, by fraud, or by force.”

John Quincy Adams described Muslim behavior in “Essay on Turks” (The American Annual Register for 1827-28-29): “Such is the spirit, which governs the hearts of men, to whom treachery and violence are taught as principles of religion.”

Scottish philosopher David Hume wrote the Prophet of Islam in Of the Standard of Taste, 1760: “Let us attend to his narration; and we shall soon find, that the prophet bestows praise on such instances of treachery, inhumanity, cruelty, revenge, bigotry, as are utterly incompatible with civilized society.”

Winston Churchill described Muslim behavior in The Story of the Malakand Field Force (Dover Publications, 1898):   “Their system of ethics, which regards treachery and violence as virtues rather than vices, has produced a code of honor so strange and inconsistent, that it is incomprehensible to a logical mind.”

After reading the insight of John Quincy Adams, Winston Churchill and David Hume, one is faced with a perplexing question — if someone is capable of decapitating you, would they first be willing to lie to you about their intentions?

While General Andrew Jackson was fighting the British in the area of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and West Florida, John Quincy Adams was negotiating the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium, which ended the War of 1812.

Afterwards, he traveled to Paris and saw Napoleon being returned to power for his famous 100 last days as Emperor.

One of the major influences that shaped the views and actions of John Quincy Adams was the Bible, as he wrote in his diary, September 26, 1810: “I have made it a practice for several years to read the Bible through in the course of every year. I usually devote to this reading the first hour after I rise every morning. I have this morning commenced it anew, this time with Ostervald’s French translation.”

In September of 1811, John Quincy Adams wrote to his son from St. Petersburg, Russia: “My dear Son, you mentioned that you read to your aunt a chapter in the Bible or a section of Doddridge’s Annotations every evening. This information gave me real pleasure; for so great is my veneration for the Bible. It is of all books in the world, that which contributes most to make men good, wise, and happy. My custom is, to read four to five chapters every morning immediately after rising from my bed.

Adams continued:

It is essential, my son that you should form and adopt certain rules of your own conduct. It is in the Bible, you must learn them. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thy self.’ On these two commandments, Jesus Christ expressly says, ‘hang all the law and the prophets.'”

John Quincy Adams’ correspondence to his son is compiled in Letters of John Quincy Adams to his son, on the Bible and its Teachings, which contains his statement: “No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible.”

On March 13, 1812, John Quincy Adams noted: “This morning I finished the perusal of the German Bible.”

Adams wrote December 24, 1814: “You ask me what Bible I take as the standard of my faith — the Hebrew, the Samaritan, the old English translation, or what? I answer, the Bible containing the Sermon on the Mount. The New Testament I have repeatedly read in the original Greek, in the Latin, in the Geneva Protestant, in Sacy’s Catholic French translations, in Luther’s German translation, in the common English Protestant, and in the Douay Catholic translations. I take any one of them for my standard of faith.”

On December 31, 1825, John Quincy Adams wrote in his diary: “I rise usually between five and six. I walk by the light of the moon or stars, or none, about four miles, usually returning home. I then make my fire, and read three chapters of the Bible.”

The Real Origin of Americas Government

Very few people know the real origin of America’s government.  It is the origin of the Pilgrim’s Compact and the origin of the Colonial pastors sermons from which our Constitution was patterned. I really want you to know it. So, if you will read the following, you will for sure know:      Ron   

Hartford’s Traveler’s Square has a bronze statue of Connecticut’s first settlers and a plaque which reads: “In June of 1635, about one hundred members of Thomas Hooker’s congregation arrived safely in this vicinity with one hundred and sixty cattle. They followed old Indian trails from Massachusetts Bay Colony to the Connecticut River to build a community. Here they established the form of government upon which the present Constitution of the United States is modeled.”

This is a significant acknowledgment, that their “covenant” congregational church government became their colonial government, which then became the model for the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution was completely modeled on the sermon preached by the pastor of this church.

As explained by the famous historian Dr. Charles Wolfe in his writings in 1989: “The pastor of this church, Rev. Hooker preached a scholarly sermon that guided the men of Connecticut in framing the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639, commonly called ‘the world’s first complete written constitution’. And this document became the exact model of the America’s constitution”

In New England, instead of separation of church and state, it was pastors and churches that created the state. How could someone say, “Pastor, do not preach on politics” when it is a pastor’s sermon that became their constitution? How could someone say “Church members should not be involved in politics” when all there was in Hartford at that time was the church members?

President Calvin Coolidge stated at the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, July 5, 1926: “The principles which went into the Declaration of Independence are found in the sermons of the early colonial clergy who were earnestly undertaking to instruct their congregations in the great mystery of how to live. They preached equality because they believed in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. They justified freedom by the text that we are all created in the divine image, placing every man on a plane where he acknowledged no superiors, where no one possessed any right to rule over him, he must inevitably choose his own rulers through a system of self-government.

In other countries the authority was the king or ruler, a Mullah, a Potentate, a Czar……always, one supreme arthority. However, when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth instead of way south where they were supposed to land where they had a governing charter, they had no governing instrument. So, they devised what they called a Charter. It was a form of government that was controlled completely by the people. This became an example for our Constitution. And as President Coolidge stated above, the Pastors of the Colonies that were formed in early America preached a form of self government that also became an examplr for our Constitution.

But where did they get those those revoutionary ideas for self government? The answer to that is what I have written all of this to finally explain.

Since the Pilgrims and the Colonial pastors were so very steeped in the Bible, it is only logical that their ideas about government came from the bible. In early and even most all later times, governments were ruled by a king or some other similar authority. The first government where the people ruled was the four hundred years that the “Children of Israel” had a republican government where the people were the rulers. It was the four hundred years where their government was the one they had when they finally lived in their Promised Land together.

During those first four hundred years in the Promised Land they had peace, prosperity, and they multiplied greatly. For all those years, they lived under a covenant with God. Their laws were those that God himself had set up and were given to the people by Moses on Mount Sinai directly from God. For all those years they strictly kept those laws out of reverence to God.

Eventually they most all decided that they wanted a king, like the other nations surrounding them had. God did not want them to have a king, but He finally let them have a king such as they were clamoring for. He warned them through his prophets that such a government was not nearly as good as the republican one with just the people ruling which they had prospered under since arriving in the Promised Land.

The got their king, King Saul; and sure enough he immediately executed over one thousand priests and prophets to solidify his authority. They were not nearly as well off as they had been during those four hundred years, but it was too late now.

Where did America’s founders get this idea of people ruling themselves?

They did draw some ideas from the Roman Republic and the Athenian city states. Ultimately, though, America’s New England founders looked back to Ancient Israel, that four hundred years where they prospered upon finally arriving in the Promised Land.

Harvard President Samuel Langdon gave an address, June 5, 1788, titled “The Republic of the Israelites an Example to the American States stating: The ISRAELITES may be considered as a pattern to the world in all ages. Government on republican principles, required laws; without which it would have degenerated immediately into absolute monarchy. How unexampled was this quick progress of the ISRAELITES, from abject slavery, ignorance, and almost total want of order, to a national establishment perfected in all its parts far beyond all other kingdoms and states! From a mere mob, to a well regulated nation, under a government and laws far superior to what any other nation could boast!”

Langdon concluded:

“It was a long time after the law of Moses was given before the rest of the world knew any thing of government by law. It was six hundred years after Moses before Grecian republics received a very imperfect code of laws from Lycurgus. It was about five hundred years from the first founding of the celebrated Roman empire before the first laws of that empire.”

Dr. Pat Robertson wrote in America’s Dates with Destiny, 1986: “What was happening in America had no real precedent, even as far back as the city-states of Greece. The only real precedent was established thousands of years before by THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL in the covenant with God and with each other.”

What was the Republic of the Israelites? Around 1,400 BC, the Children of Israel left Egypt and entered the Promised Land.

As explained in detail in the book “Rise of the Tyrant: Volume Two of Change to Chains-The 6,000 Year Quest for Global Control”:

*Ancient Israel was the first well-recorded instance of an entire nation ruled without a king, that first 400 year period in the Promised Land.

*Ancient Israel taught that everyone, male and females, was made in the image of the Creator who was not a respecter of persons, commanding judges to treat everyone equally before the law. This was the beginning of the concept of equality on planet earth. There was no royal family to curry favor with for the 400 year period prior to King Saul.

*Ancient Israel had a system of honesty, as God hates unjust weights and measures. This provided a basis for commerce.

*Ancient Israel had the land divided up and permanently titled to each individual family. This prevented a dictator from gathering up the land and putting the people back into slavery. If someone owned land, they could accumulate possessions: the Bible called this being blessed. And you could give away some of your possessions: the Bible called this “charity.” Karl Marx wanted the exact opposite, as he wrote in his Communist Manifesto, 1848: “The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”

*Ancient Israel had a bureaucracy-free welfare system. When someone harvested their field, they left the gleanings for the poor.

*Ancient Israel was the first nation where everyone was taught to read.

*Ancient Israel had no police, as the people were not only taught the Law, they were accountable to enforce it.

Albert Einstein stated: “The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are constitutional rights secure.”

*Ancient Israel had no prisons, as the Law required swift justice at the city gates and a “city of refuge” where fugitives could flee to await a trial.

*Ancient Israel had no standing army, as every man was in the militia, armed, and ready at a moment’s notice to defend his community.

*Ancient Israel had the people of every town gather in the meeting house — synagogue — where they were taught the Law and where they chose their elders who would sit in the gates:

  • Deuteronomy 1:3-13: “How can I myself alone bear … your burden? … TAKE YOU wise men, and understanding, and KNOWN AMONG YOUR TRIBES, and I will make them rulers over you.”
  • Deuteronomy 16:18–19 “Judges and officers SHALT THOU MAKE THEE IN ALL THY GATES which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes.”
  • Exodus 18:21 “Moreover thou shalt provide OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”

But why would a person obey internal morals? Ancient Israel had the key ingredients: 1) God is watching everyone; 2) God wants you to be fair; and 3) God will hold you accountable in the future.

If you had the opportunity to steal and not get caught, you might considered it.

But if you remember God is watching, that He wants you to be fair, and that He will hold you accountable in the future, you would hesitate.

This is called having a “conscience.

Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan stated in 1908: “There is a powerful restraining influence in the belief that an All-seeing eye scrutinizes every thought and word and act of the individual.”

This only works, though, with the God of the Bible. An Islamic Allah permits lying, stealing, and raping infidel kafir non-Muslims. Only the God of the Bible declares that all men and women are equal, made in the image of the Creator, and to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

E.C. Wines wrote in Commentaries on the Laws of the Ancient Hebrews, with an Introductory Essay on Civil Society & Government (NY: Geo. P. Putnam & Co., 1853): “Another of those great ideas, which constituted the basis of the Hebrew state, was liberty. The Hebrew people enjoyed as great a degree of personal liberty, as can ever be combined with an efficient and stable government. There is a powerful restraining influence in the belief that an All-seeing eye scrutinizes every thought and word and act of the individual.”

Ancient Israel’s unique system was dependent upon the Levites and priests teaching the Law.

Noah Webster wrote in the preface of his 1828 Webster’s Dictionary: “The Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”

(So, if you have been patient to follow along with these words and the history that they represent, now you know the real origin of America’s government.)

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