“In God We Trust”

That nation is great which knows the Lord! Most Americans would be astounded to discover the Christian character of our Republic and the interposition of Divine Providence in the founding, the colonization, the independence, the development, and the government of United States of America. The events of our history, the testimony of our forefathers, the documents of our national heritage give vivid expression of the controlling power of Christian principles and the purposes of God.

The record of our history contains a vast, rich treasury of documented evidence declaring the Christian foundation upon which the United States was built.

The American revolution replaced tyranny with liberty: How did it happen? Why did it occur? When did it begin? The Revolution was effected before the war began. It was in the hearts and minds of the people. The event, which history refer to as the “American Revolution” and its begining with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was only the catalyst in the revolution, which began centuries earlier, on a different continent, at a different period in the progress of civilization.

What started the initial change from a society based on the supreme rights of the state to a society based on the supreme rights of man? The true revolution began with Jesus Christ who announced, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Christianity appeared and proclaimed to the world that man was created in the image of God and destined for immortality; that in the eyes of God, all men are equal. Christianity alone results in true liberty and reveals to man that external freedom is achieved by internal liberty: “the liberty where with Christ hath made us free.”

“Christianity always operated outward from within: if effected no violent revolutions, like the self-will which follows not God’s ways with patient resignation, but wishes to effectthose changesat once by an army of flesh which can only succeed under God’s guidance i gradual development.” [Memorials of Christian Life, 1845, by Dr. Augustus Neander]

America is abundantly blessed with freedom, and the people need to take heed to these words:

“The greatest and most dangerous of despotism is that beneath which the depraved inclination of human nature, the deadly influence of the world, namely,sin, miserably subjects the human consciene. There are, no doubt many countries, especially among those which the sun of Christianity has not yet illuminated, that are without civil liberty, and that groan under the arbitrary rule of powerful masters. But, in order to become free outwardly, men must first succeed in being free inwardly. In the human heart there is a vast country to be delivered from slavery -abysses which man cannot cross alone, heights he cannot climb unaided, fortresses he cannot take, armies he cannot put to flight. In order to conquer in this moral battle, man must unite wih One stronger than himself -with the Son of God.” [History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, 1867, by Dr. J. H. Merle D'Aubigue]

“I have lived, Sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth; The God governs in the affairs of men! And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable than an empire can rise without His aid?” [Benjamin Franklin]

“The power and goodness of the Almighty were strongly manifested in events of our late glorious revolution, and His kind interposition in our behalf has been no less visible in the establishment of our present equal government.” [George Washington]

“I believe we are all agents and isntruments of Devine Providence. I hold myself in my present position and with the authority invested in me, as an instrument of Providence. I am conscious every moment that all I am and all I have are subject to the control of a higher Power, and that Power can use me or not use me in any manner and at time as in His wisdom might be pleasing to Him.” [Abraham Lincoln]

The greatest fact of history, whether it is the history of the United States or of the world, is that God governs in the affairs of men. God is the Supreme Ruler of all nations, and they rise and fall under the control of His omnipotent hand. “Exaltation does not come from the east, the west, or the desert, for God is the Judge: He brings down one and exalts another.” Psalms 75:6,7 . Each step by which this country advanced to the destiny of a free and independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some evidence of Devine Providence.

January 5, 1876, about 135 years ago, the Reverend S. W. Foljambe in a sermon delivered to the lawmakers of Massahusettes said: “observe the Hand of Godin the wise and deneficent timing of events in the dawn of our history. The events of history are not accidents. There are no accidents in the lives of men or of nations. We may go back to the underlying cause of every event, and discover in each God’s overruling and intervening wisdom. It has been said that history is the biography of Communities; in another, and profounder sense, it is the autobiography of Him who is graciously timing all events in the interest of His Christ, and of the kingdom of God on earth.”

This history of the world reveals the purpose of God in the development of the nations and the westward movement of Christianity. Regardless of our 21st century skepticism, God’s design for this nation irrefutably binds Christianity to America.

A Christian Nation is Born!

The Declaration of Independence announced to the world the fact of the United States of America. It was inspiration from heaven that Thomas Jefferson poured the sentiment of the content into this mounental act of independence.

“When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nataure’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.”

No other document in the world announcing the independence and individuality of a nation expresses so explicitly in a Christian manner the reasons for it existence as our Declaration of Independence.

For 150 years the Founding Fathers had been practicing self-government. They firmly believed that the principle of self-government is predicated upon the Rights of Man, and they unequivocally declared these to be Christian rights:

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among are these are Life, and the Pursuit of Happiness -That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men …”

Found in hese words is the embodiment of the Christian basis of government; the depth of their meaning was expressed in 1890 by Richard Frothingham in The Rise of the Republic:

“This is the American theory, expressed ‘in words the memory of which can never die.’ it includes far more than it expresses; for by recognizing human equality and brotherhood, and the individual as the unit of society, it accepts the Christian idea of man as the basis of political institutions; and by proclaiming the right to alter them to meet the progress of society, it provided for the results of a tendency to look, not to the past, but to the future, for types of perfection that was brought into the world by Christianity. To maintain such a theory were fought the battles of the revolution. To build on it a worthly superstructure of government and law, was the work entered upon by heroes and sages, and bequeathed to posterity.)”

The Foundation of America

The Mayflower Compact the first document of self-government. In the first century Christianity came to these shores with the tiny settlement of the Mayflower Pilgrims. The history of the founding of this nation is a Christian history, because the government of the United States was established upon the unique form of government derived from the Bible principle of ‘self-government.’

The document is our first example of the formation of government by consent of individuals -the right of men to associate and covenant in the name of God.

“In the name God. Amen. We, whose names are written, the loyal Subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britian, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one of another,covenant and combine ourselves together into civil body -politic, for our better order and perservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid, and by virtue hereof to enact, constitiute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names …”

This was the birth of popular constitutional libety. In the cabin of the Mayflower, humanity pronounced its rights and instituted government on the basis of “just and equal laws” for general good -all for ‘the glory of God and the advancemet of Christian faith.”

Our Pilgrim Fathers should not only be revered because of the suffering they endured to bring Liberty of  conscience to this continent, but also for planting deep into the soil of our heritage the seed of Christian self-government.

It had taken 1,620 years for the appearing of Christian Liberty to be expressed by the Pilgrims. The eternal truths they heldin their hearts revered the course of history and eventually found magnificent expression in the Declaration of Independence.

 

H.R. 2349, Veterans 2nd Amendment Act

THE U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committe passed an amendment by U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont, designedto help protect veterans’ Right to Keep and Bear Arms, as part of a larger piece of veterans’ legislation. 

The Bill as an amendment that would provide individuals receiving veterans’ benefits  with added protection against the loss of the right to posses firearms due to mental health decisions.

“Members of our Armed Forces who risked life and limb in defense of country ar being denied their Second Amendment freedom simply because they’ve been appointed a fiduciary by the Department of Veteran Affairs to handle their financial affairs,” NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox said.

H.R.2349 addresses this issue and rightly ensures that vertans and their family members are not prohibited from having guns unless they have been found to be dangerous.

 

Armed Citizen

BRANDON KRUSE WAS on his way to get some sushi when three teens surrounded him, and one of them punched Kruse in the head. “One guy to my far right just punched me in the face and started swinging.” Kruse said. “At that point, I just pulled my gun and the three guys scattered.” Kruse dialed 9-1-1 and kept the SIG Sauer .40-cal. pistol, which he is licensed to carry, ready. Strangely, the suspects lingered in a nearby parking lot and were arrested by responding officers for assault and drug possession.  [New Haven Register, New Haven, Conn. 08/02/11]

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AFTER A RECENT BURGLARY, an elderly man began storing his gun in a more accessible fashion. Not long thereafter he awoke at 3 a.m. and realized his home was again being invaded. He grabbed his gun and confronted three suspects in the hallway, shooting one suspect several times. The wounded man fled with an accomplice, but a third suspect grabbed a knife and chose to fight. During the struggle, the homeowner’s gun dishcarged, wounding the suspectic hand. The injured suspect decided to wait for police, but unfortunately the homeowner had no phone and was to weak to go for help. Thus began a lengthy sand-off. Unbelievably, the homeowner held the suspect for eight hours before he was able to muster enough strength to escort him next door and phone police. [Reno Gazette-Journal, Reno,Nev. 08/22/11]

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EARLY ONE AFTERNOON a man knocked on a woman’s door and claimed to be there to check on roof damage for an insurance company. As soon as he was inside, he punched the woman and knocked her to the ground. The woman broke free in the ensuring struggle,and the suspect followed her into the bedroom. She manage to fight off the suspect and claw her way to her pistol. As soon as she had the gun in her hands, the man fled the area. [Ashland Times-Gazette, Ashland, Ohio, 08/06/11]