This was a message Cathleen gave back in 2008 prior to that Election.... I believe it is appropriate again today. Enjoy :)
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Today we are here to talk about our National Treasure. We live in a country that is officially 231 years old. But unofficially the heart of our country started well before 231 years ago. The heart of America started way back with the yearnings of individuals who just wanted to worship the God of the Bible in freedom. They wanted the opportunity to explore scripture and apply their understandings to their lives. For various reasons, which we don’t have time to get into today, they simply weren’t allowed to do this. Over the course of time many of these individuals made their way to the North American chores. Once they got here they embarked on what they referred to as ‘The Holy Experiment’.
The experiment was to establish a community where all manners of life where grounded in scripture. The New England colonies have often been called "Bible Commonwealths" because they sought the guidance of the scriptures in regulating all aspects of the lives of their citizens. As they began developing criminal statutes Scripture was cited as authority behind the established laws.
The Holy Experiment was a huge vision dreamed of by just regular people. This dream affects every aspect of how we, as Americans, live our lives even today. I’d like to just take the opportunity to share with you some golden nuggets of truth and wisdom from some of our founding fathers and then briefly examine what any of this has to do with you and I and why this is a topic we chose to take up on Sunday morning - in church of all places.
George Washington - the oath that is still taken in court to this day started with G.W. pg. 35 (all quotes from, 'God in America' by Newt Gingrich)
in 1795 G.W. called for a national day of prayer and thanksgiving. In his speech he said... pg. 40-41
1 Peter 2:16 "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God."
Thomas Jefferson - was the author of a ‘wall of separation between church and state’. *modern day definition
public buildings for church services, including the Capitol itself!
recommended that Congress provide $100.00 per year to a missionary of an Indian tribe.
in developing school curriculums he used the Bible as the teaching text to learn to read.
when Jefferson talked about the separation between church and state he was referring to the state being separate from the affairs of the church - not the other way around. I truly believe he’d be horrified to see how his words have been so manipulated by our current culture. An incredible quote of his confirms his heart on this issue. He said: pg. 42
Abraham Lincoln -
I love an excerpt that was written on a dinner he hosted at the White House. During the night’s closing prayer the pastor commented pg.54. I love his response pg. 54
He emphasized that our purpose is not to desire the Lord to be on our side - but don’t we ask for that a lot? Problems at work - Lord show them, change them, fix them. Problems at home - give them a reality check. From playing a football game to going to war - help us win! Lincoln’s point was that God is not to be on our side - we are to recognize that he is always on the RIGHT side - whether it’s ours or not - and our desire should be to be on his side. Joe often prays not that God would bless what he’s doing but that he would do what God is blessing.
Franklin Roosevelt -
elected for four terms
referred to God and our need to depend on him numerous times in his fireside chats, state of the union addresses, and ...
One of his final addresses was most poignant. pg. 71/72
Ronald Reagan - remember what I said that coming to America was referred to in our early history? The Holy Experiment. Listen to this quote by R.R. and it ties all of this together today. Pg. 103.
Cool huh?
You know I’ve reviewed all of this today for a couple of reasons.
One is it is so easy to forget where we’ve come from. To forget what others have sacrificed so that we can be here and talk openly about our love of God and our desire to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
Two is to remind us to make sure our children know these things. Joe and I have it easy. Because our kids go to a Christian school they know more about our Christian heritage than I do. That’s an incredible blessing! If your kids don’t have that opportunity then you need to make sure you tell them.
Deuteronomy 4:5-9
"See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
Three is because we need to remember our part in all of this. For many of the recent years the Christian church bought into the manipulated idea of the ‘separation of Church and state’. Because of this we’ve been remarkably quite in the political arena, with the exception of the election of G.B. where the Christian community really began to make their voices heard. But our true voice has yet to be discovered. How do I know it is important to God that we are a part of the political process? Because a huge part of the Old Testament is a history book. It is example after example of God showing himself in and through the nations. Either by raising up Godly leadership to rule the nations or by rescuing a nation of people who’ve turned from him and now in the consequence of the rebellion are crying out to him for restoration.
So what does that mean to us within the perspective of all we’ve talked about today and with the understanding that we are in the midst our political process that results in the election of our next President? We must get involved. Listen to what’s going on. Evaluate what we’re listening to. Here’s the challenge. Evaluate things according to Biblical principle. That doesn’t seem too hard but I am surprisingly it sure can be. We are so saturated in our own opinions and our own experiences that it is not uncommon for us to come across something in scripture and realize that our opinion my not totally line up with Biblical principle. Jesus himself understands this about us and wants us to understand it about ourselves. One day he’d told the Pharisees something that didn’t particularly agree with and they argued hey - how do we know you’re right on this - all we have is your word and this was Jesus’ reply
John 14-18 "You're right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I've come from and where I go next. You don't know where I'm from or where I'm headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don't make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn't make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father."
So we must test everything we think against the word of God and where we see inconsistencies we decide if we are going to trust his judgement over our own and then we do exactly what Paul teaches us in Romans 12:1-3 where he tells us,
‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.’
So use this sober judgement to clearly see the political process that is unraveling on our tv sets every night. Make sure you are registered to vote then Go Vote. Evaluate things according to principal and not politics. Let principle trump politics in the process and vote. When we do this we absolutely follow the Biblical example of being vessels that God will use to influence the nations. Let’s be a part of what the early settlers called the Holy Experiment and Reagan referred to as the American Experiment. Let’s keep the experiment Holy. God blessed us with a Holy America - let’s do are part in maintaining the blessing.
- Cathleen Parks (http://tinyurl.com/cathleenparks)
