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CHRISTIAN MINUTEMAN REPORT
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Psalms 33:11-13
The
counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts
of his heart to all generations. Blessed
is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his
own inheritance. The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth
all the sons of men.
We begin this week with a
reflection on the real meaning of the Christian founding of
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Couples One
Adult Sunday School Class Memorial Day
Weekend 1999
American History from a Christian
Perspective-part 1
November 10th was a significant datnfor me because for the better part of a decade it meant
a grueling schedule of ceremonies and celebrations. In the year 1775, the
Marine Corps was born. For the last 100
years or so, a special event is held on November 10th at every Marine base
which features a pageant of uniforms representing every significant phase of
the Corp's history (this pageant was instituted under General Lejuene who was serving as the Marine Corps Commandant at
the time [early 19th century]).
It's a time for reflection as well as
inspiration as the highlights of Marine history are told once again. I remember
feeling especially proud of the uniform I wore during those times. As I
listened to the stories of heroism and sacrifice I was reminded of my military
heritage in a way that made me want to carry on in the same tradition.
This weekend we, as Americans, pause to reflect
on all servicemen and the sacrifice that many have made to perpetuate the
freedoms we enjoy. But there is more to consider than battlefields and
uniforms. What we commemorate during Memorial Day weekend is the willingness to
die in order that freedom might live. And while this characteristic of self
sacrifice is honorable, what makes it especially profound is the Divinely based concept that is being defended...
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.”
This idea that a man could successfully stand up
to tyranny and in so doing defy his king, at the time, was a novel idea at the
very least. Still, it was more than just mere dissatisfaction that had brought
the signers of the Declaration of Independence together. It was the fact that
God's Truth was being compromised. Rights that were Divinely
bestowed were being withheld by the king of
It was a bold step. All fifty six men who signed
the Declaration of Independence knew their fate should General Washington's
army fail. Yet, they believed themselves to be right and sealed their claim to
freedom by stating their reliance on the very One Whose
precepts justified their cause to begin with.
“We, therefore, the Representatives of the
United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the
Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the Name
and by Authority of the good people of these colonies solemnly publish and
declare, that these United Colonies are and of right ought to be free and
independent states, that they are absolved form all allegiance o the British
Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great
Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved, and that as free and Independent
States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude peace, contract alliances,
establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent
states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each
other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
It is this acknowledgement of God that we are
going to focus on this morning. It is Christ and His Word that inspired those
that shaped our country. When we review their words and their lives, it is not
just some vague reference to God that we see, rather
it is a specific reference to Jesus Christ and His precepts. This is our
heritage, this is what keeps our country strong and this is what makes Memorial
Day worth remembering.
Christopher
Columbus
"It was the Lord who put into my mind the
fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the
"O Lord Almighty and everlasting God, by Thy
holy Word Thou hast created the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, blessed and
glorified be Thy name, and praised be Thy majesty, which hath deigned to use
us, Thy humble servants, that Thy holy name may be proclaimed in this second
part of the earth." (Christopher Columbus)
In a letter to the Pope, Queen Isabella wrote of
All this to say that
while the allure of fame and fortune was a source of motivation, for
Christopher Columbus the principle inspiration was the spreading of
Christianity.
This is what is recorded in his journals and this is what is seen in his
actions and exploits throughout the time of his journeys.
The
Seventeenth Century
A) The
Puritans
The Reformation precipitated several
denominations which sought to reintroduce Christ into the church. Among these
was a group of people who sought to accomplish this by purifying the Church of
England. They were known as "The Puritans". They would seek religious
freedom in
B) The
Pilgrims
In 1620 off the coast of
At one point it reads: “In the Name of God,
Amen. Having undertaken for the glory of God and the advancement of the
Christian faith...”
This document articulated those things that
served as their strength and sense of purpose. It would also govern their
conduct and what would be considered right and honorable. Again, we see the
blatant presence of Christ in the hearts and minds of those who initiated what
would become the
Settlements continued to grow and be populated.
Throughout this time of expansion, the Presence of Christ is seen again and
again. In
“Let every student be plainly instructed and
earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to
know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. And
therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound
knowledge of learning.”
As the 18th century came into view,
This was the spiritual tone of
The Birth
of a Nation
The American Army was desperately inferior to its
British adversary. They were poorly trained and poorly equipped. Historians
agree that it was only the army's love of liberty and their admiration
of their beloved General that held them together. George Washington possessed a
bearing and a presence that was more than inspiring. But what was it that gave
“Bless O Lord the whole race of mankind, and let
the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ.” (from George Washington's personal prayer book)
“It is impossible to rightly govern the world
without God the Bible. (
“Of all the habits which lead to political
prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. Reason and experience both forbid us to
expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
(
George Washington was a devout Christian. His
habits of prayer were well known among his subordinates. George Washington
often spent hours in prayer without interruption. In his prayer book, he wrote:
"Direct my thoughts, words, and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate
Blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit...Daily frame me more
and more into the likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ. ("Red Sky in the
Morning" by Bill Bright and John Damoose, p62)
And he was not alone in his passion for God's
strength and direction. In both their personal lives as well as their pursuit
of political liberties, Washington and many others looked to the Scriptures and
spoke of them in ways that went beyond mere casual acknowledgements...
In his dying words, Alexander Hamilton, signer
of the Constitution, spoke of his faith in Christ: "I have a tender
reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I am a
sinner. I look to Him for mercy."
Patrick Henry, whose "give me liberty or
give me death" speech helped spark the war, declared in his will, "This
is all the inheritance I give to my dear family. The religion of Christ will
give them one which will make them rich indeed."
To discover the faith of some of the other Founders,
consider the following words from their wills:
Samuel Adams, signer of the Declaration:
"First of all, I resign my soul to the Almighty Being who gave it. relying on the merits of Jesus Christ for the pardon of my
sins."
Gabriel Duval, delegate to the Constitutional
Convention and U.S. Supreme Court Justice: "I resign my soul into the
hands of the Almighty who gave it in humble hopes of His mercy through our
Savior Jesus Christ."
Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration:
"On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation and on His merits; not
on the works I have done in obedience to those precepts."
Other signers of the Declaration include John
Witherspoon, a Presbyterian pastor; William Treat Payne, a military chaplain,
and Benjamin Rush, who founded the Pennsylvania Bible Society.
Of those who signed the Constitution, Charles
Pinckney and John Langdon founded the American Bible Society, James McHenry
founded the Baltimore Bible Society, and Rufus King helped found a Bible
Society for Anglicans. Abraham Baldwin was a chaplain in the Revolution, and
four others were theological writers.
("Red Sky in the Morning" by Bill Bright and John Damoose, p64-65)
Our nation is based on more than just the noble
references to God that we are accustomed to hearing in our classroom. Rather,
it is based on an intense adherence to Jesus Christ.
Patrick Henry, for example…
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too
often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by
Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” ("Red Sky in the Morning" by Bill
Bright and John Damoose, p11)
John Quincy
“The highest glory of the American Revolution
was this: That it connected in one indissovable bond
the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”
We are a Christian nation.
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Psalms 107:33-34
He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into
barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
Author John McTernan
has written a book documenting major disasters over the past several decades,
and
showing that they are directly related to ungodly actions by our nation. The book is entitled "God's Final
Warning to
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On
tremendous
damage to the city and the state. The
winds were recorded around 135 miles per hour, and
the
headlines in the newspapers referred to Hugo as a 'Monster Storm'. Hurricane Hugo was classified as a Category
Four in power. The damage from Hugo
would total over $7 billion.
On
Hugo
approaching the
subtitled
'Looting Continues: Hurricane Expected to Hit Mainland Friday'. The next day the storm's
eye
struck right near
The Washington Post, also on
September 21, had a front page article about abortion. This article was actually touching and
directly beneath the Hurricane Hugo article.
The article was titled 'U.S. May Forego Request for Abortion Review,' subtitled 'Administration Faces Friday Deadline for
Action in Minnesota Case'. The article
went on to explain the Bush Administration only had until Friday (the next day)
to make oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the Hodgson v. Minnesota
case. The oral argument
was for the possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade, and thus end
legalized abortion in
It is ironic that a national
newspaper should have two front-page articles, one dealing with abortion, and
the second with Hurricane Hugo, literally touching each other. Very few hurricanes with the power of Hugo
have hit
The National Climatic Data Center
(NCDC) has documented the billion-dollar weather related disasters that have
hit
Between 1980 and 1991, the nation
averaged a billion-dollar disaster a year.
This included all forms of disasters.
From 1992 to 1997, the average was four disasters (billion dollars or
greater) a year, with five occurring in 1995.
The increase in billion-dollar disasters has been fourfold since 1992!
These disasters have cost
hundreds of billions of dollars and have weakened many institutions like the
insurance industry. Tens of thousands of
people have been left homeless, and thousands of businesses have been
destroyed. In some cases, entire states
were affected by these disasters.
In the mid-1980s, American went
from being a creditor nation to the 1990s when it became the world's greatest
debtor nation. By 1993, the U.S.
Commerce Department reported
These events are not happening by
coincidence; they are warnings from God.
Americans are now
either
practicing or tolerating lifestyles which the Bible clearly states will remove
God's blessings and bring the wrath of God.
God has warned in the Bible that He will destroy any nation which openly
practices fornication, adultery, homosexuality, sexual perversion, and the
shedding of the blood of innocent children.
The shedding of the blood of children includes abortion. Concerning abortion, the Bible makes no
distinction between a child in the womb and a newly born baby.
On
Just eight days before the stock
market crash, on
homosexuals
probably in world history took place in
over
200,000 people marched past the White House and gathered near the Capitol. Some reports
claimed
the marchers numbered half a million.
The homosexuals were marching to end discrimination
and
increase funding for AIDS research. The
newspapers reported the crowd carried signs stating,
"Thank God I'm Gay" and
"Condoms, Not Condemnation".
Others were saying, "I'm gay and I'm proud."
Has thee ever been a time in
history when such a huge group of homosexuals gathered in a nation's
capital
to demand their rights?
God answered this march just
eight days later with the greatest stock market crash in
The economy contracted 10 percent
in just three years! With the size of
the economy, this results in the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars. As late as August 1992, the newspapers
reported 20 percent of the stocks had not recovered from the crash. The recession of 1991 and 1992 can be traced
primarily to the crash of 1987. Many
American firms downsized after the crash and hundreds of thousands of jobs were
lost. The crash had a powerful impact on
the economy. The downsizing of corporations
continued into the late 1990s. The crash
permanently changed the face of corporate
God shook
economic
'heart attack'! This 'heart attack'
happened just eight days after the massive homosexual rally! The crash of 1987 did not result in a
1930s-type depression.
The homosexuals marched in the
nation's capital, and the entire country was shaken through the stock market
crash. The largest gathering of
homosexuals in history was immediately followed by one of the greatest stock
market crashed in history. The timing of
these events was no coincidence!
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I Timothy 4:10-12
For
therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because
we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all
men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an
example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in
faith, in purity.
“I have tried to tell a simple, straightforward story,
with no attempt at embellishment. My regret is that what I have attempted to do
has been done so imperfectly. The greater part of my time and strength is
required for the executive work connected with the Tuskegee Normal and
Industrial Institute, and in securing the money necessary for the support of
the institution. Much of what I have said has been written on board trains, or at hotels or railroad stations while I have been
waiting for trains, or during the moments that I could spare from my work while
at
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339-UP FROM
SLAVERY
CHAPTER 11-part 1
A LITTLE later in the history of the school we had a
visit from General J.F.B. Marshall, the Treasurer of the Hampton Institute, who
had had faith enough to lend us the first two hundred and fifty dollars with
which to make a payment down on the farm. He remained with us a week, and made
a careful inspection of everything. He seemed well pleased with our progress,
and wrote back interesting and encouraging reports to
At the time of the visits of these
This first visit which General Armstrong made to
It is now long ago that I learned this lesson from
General Armstrong, and resolved that I would permit no man, no matter what his colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me
hate him. With God's help, I believe that I have completely rid myself of any
ill feeling toward the Southern white man for any wrong that he may have
inflicted upon my race. I am made to feel just as happy now when I am rendering
service to Southern white men as when the service is rendered to a member of my
own race. I pity from the bottom of my heart any individual who is so
unfortunate as to get into the habit of holding race prejudice.
The more I consider the subject, the more strongly I am
convinced that the most harmful effect of the practice to which the people in
certain sections of the South have felt themselves compelled to resort, in
order to get rid of the force of the Negroes' ballot, is not wholly in the
wrong done to the Negro, but in the permanent injury to the morals of the white
man. The wrong to the Negro is temporary, but to the morals of the white man
the injury is permanent. I have noted time and time again that when an
individual perjures himself in order to break the force of the black man's
ballot, he soon learns to practise dishonesty in
other relations of life, not only where the Negro is concerned, but equally so
where a white man is concerned. The white man who begins by cheating a Negro
usually ends by cheating a white man. The white man who begins to break the law
by lynching a Negro soon yields to the temptation to lynch a white man. All
this, it seems to me, makes it important that the whole Nation lend a hand in
trying to lift the burden of ignorance from the South.
Another thing that is becoming more apparent each year
in the development of education in the South is the influence of General
Armstrong's idea of education; and this not upon the blacks alone, but upon the
whites also. At the present time there is almost no Southern state that is not
putting forth efforts in the direction of securing industrial education for its
white boys and girls, and in most cases it is easy to trace the history of
these efforts back to General Armstrong.
Soon after the opening of our humble boarding department
students began coming to us in still larger numbers. For weeks we not only had
to contend with the difficulty of providing board, with no money, but also with
that of providing sleeping accommodations. For this purpose we rented a number
of cabins near the school. These cabins were in a dilapidated condition, and
during the winter months the students who occupied them necessarily suffered
from the cold. We charge the students eight dollars a month -- all they were
able to pay -- for their board. This included, besides board, room, fuel, and
washing. We also gave the students credit on their board bills for all the work
which they did for the school which was of any value to the institution. The
cost of tuition, which was fifty dollars a year for each student, we had to
secure then, as now, wherever we could.
This small charge in cash gave us no capital with which
to start a boarding department. The weather during the second winter of our
work was very cold. We were not able to provide enough bed-clothes to keep the
students warm. In fact, for some time we were not able to provide, except in a
few cases, bedsteads and mattresses of any kind. During the coldest nights I
was so troubled about the discomfort of the students that I could not sleep
myself. I recall that on several occasions I went in the middle of the night to
the shanties occupied by the young men, for the purpose of confronting them.
Often I found some of them sitting huddled around a fire, with the one blanket
which we had been able to provide wrapped around them, trying in this way to
keep warm. During the whole night some of them did not attempt to lie down. One
morning, when the night previous had been unusually cold, I asked those of the
students in the chapel who thought that they had been frostbitten during the
night to raise their hands. Three hands went up. Notwithstanding these
experiences, there was almost no complaining on the part of the students. They
knew that we were doing the best that we could for them. They were happy in the
privilege of being permitted to enjoy any kind of opportunity that would enable
them to improve their condition. They were constantly asking what they might do
to lighten the burdens of the teachers.
I have heard it stated more than once, both in the North
and in the South, that coloured
people would not obey and respect each other when one member of the race is
placed in a position of authority over others. In regard to this general belief
and these statements, I can say that during the nineteen years of my experience
at
While writing upon this subject, it is a pleasure for me
to add that in all my contact with the white people of the South I have never
received a single personal insult. The white people in and near Tuskegee, to an
especial [sic] degree, seem to count it as a privilege to show me all the
respect within their power, and often go out of their way to do this.
Not very long ago I was making a journey between
On another occasion, when I was making
a trip from
To add further to the embarrassment of the situation,
soon after the supper was placed on the table one of the ladies remembered that
she had in her satchel a special kind of tea which she wished served, and as
she said she felt quite sure the porter did not know how to brew it properly,
she insisted upon getting up and preparing and serving it herself. At last the
meal was over; and it seemed the longest one that I had ever eaten. When we
were through, I decided to get myself out of the embarrassing situation and go
to the smoking-room, where most of the men were by that time, to see how the
land lay. In the meantime, however, it had become known in some way throughout
the car who I was. When I went into the smoking-room I
was never more surprised in my life than when each man, nearly every one of
them a citizen of Georgia, came up and introduced himself to me and thanked me
earnestly for the work that I was trying to do for the whole South. This was
not flattery, because each one of these individuals knew that he had nothing to
gain by trying to flatter me.
From the first I have sought to impress the students
with the idea that
It was my aim from the first at
In the early days we had very few students who had been
used to handling carpenters' tools, and the bedsteads made by the students then
were very rough and very weak. Not unfrequently [sic]
when I went into the students' rooms in the morning I would find at least two
bedsteads lying about on the floor. The problem of providing mattresses was a
difficult one to solve. We finally mastered this, however, by getting some
cheap cloth and sewing pieces of this together as to make large bags. These
bags we filled with the pine straw -- or, as it is
sometimes called, pine needles -- which we secured from the forests near by. I
am glad to say that the industry of mattress-making has grown steadily since
then, and has been improved to such an extent that at the present time it is an
important branch of the work which is taught systematically to a number of our
girls, and that the mattresses that now come out of the mattress-shop at
Tuskegee are about as good as those bought in the average store. For some time
after the opening of the boarding department we had no chairs in the students'
bedrooms or in the dining rooms. Instead of chairs we used stools which the
students constructed by nailing together three pieces of rough board. As a
rule, the furniture in the students' rooms during the early days of the school
consisted of a bed, some stools, and sometimes a rough table made by the
students. The plan of having the students make the furniture is still followed,
but the number of pieces in a room has been increased, and the workmanship has
so improved that little fault can be found with the articles now. One thing
that I have always insisted upon at
Another thing that has been insisted upon at the school
is the use of the tooth-brush. "The gospel of the tooth-brush," as
General Armstrong used to call it, is part of our creed at
It has been interesting to note the effect that the use
of the tooth-brush has had in bringing about a higher degree of civilization
among the students. With few exceptions, I have noticed that, if we can get a
student to the point where, when the first or second tooth-brush disappears, he
of his own motion buys another, I have not been disappointed in the future of
that individual. Absolute cleanliness of the body has been insisted upon from
the first. The students have been taught to bathe as regularly as to take their
meals. This lesson we began teaching before we had anything in the shape of a
bath-house. Most of the students came from plantation districts, and often we
had to teach them how to sleep at night; that is, whether between the two
sheets -- after we got to the point where we could provide them two sheets --
or under both of them. Naturally I found it difficult to teach them to sleep
between two sheets when we were able to supply but one. The importance of the
use of the night-gown received the same attention.
For a long time one of the most difficult tasks was to teach the students that all the buttons were to be kept on their clothes, and that there must be no torn places or grease-spots. This lesson, I am pleased to be able to say, has been so thoroughly learned and so faithfully handed down from year to year by one set of students to another that often at the present time, when the students march out of the chapel in the evening and their dress is inspected, as it is every night, not one button is found to be missing.
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This brings us to our Christian Minuteman question of
the week. Which American attorney said
the following? “The church must take the
right ground in regard to politics. Politics are a part of religion in a
country as this. And Christians must do their duty to the country as a part of
their duty to God. And God will bless a nation according to the course
Christians take in politics.” God
bless. MARANATHA!
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