The Five Thousand Year Leap, Principles 18-20

(To view this series from the beginning, click here.)


Principle 18: Importance of a Written Constitution


By this title, it seems there shouldn't be much more said than this: if you have a good idea, write it down before you forget it.  Ok, There ya have it.  Principle 18. Done.

A few interesting facts about writing stuff down--- Americans started the whole written Constitution thing...starting with the Mayflower Compact in 1620.  Ok, so that's not a constitution, but it is a charter, an agreement and was meant to be adhered to and honored.

"Time has also proven the tremendous advantage of having a completely written document for reference purposes rather than relying upon tradition and a few scattered statutes as the fundamental law of the land." (p.159)

Principle 19: Our Government's Limited and Divine Powers 

There was fear amongst many states that a federal constitution would squash states' rights and this is why the 10 Amendments were then added.

I love how our Constitution emphasizes and makes provision for local self-government. --intended to keep the Federal Government at bay.   (And vice-versa.)  Too bad it isn't as effective as we had hoped.  The Constitution isn't to be blamed for this.  It is more the failure of politicians and judges to uphold the Constitution and for these same people to hold one another accountable.

Chew on this and hold it in your heart:  "...the people...have recourse...in case of usurpation or abuse..."(p.163)  Now's the time, folks.  Well, in all honesty, the time was long ago when we should have had our eyes wide open to the offenses of our leaders against our Constitution.  Is it too late?  Some think it is.  Many think it is.  But, I tend to think, "What can the Lord not do?" (Gen. 18:14)  As my pastor brought up last Sunday, Israel over and over rebelled against God's law and they paid severe consequences for it; but over and over they saw the error of their ways and repented, then God restored them to their land and nation.  We are on a serious downward spiral in this country.  Our exceptionalism, our blessing, our success, our ingenuity, our power, our freedom as a nation has been for no other reason than the divine gift of God upon a people initially committed to Him.  But now (and for several decades) we have denied Him, rejected Him, refused Him and the abominations we commit have defiled our land (Lev. 18:27), and will eventually lead us to our own depravity and degradation (Rom. 1:18-32).  We are already seeing the degradation ---just look at the reputation of the USA today as compared to the past.
So, what do we do about this downward spiral that seems unrecoverable?  

God said he would save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of a few righteous...unfortunately there weren't enough righteous to save the land. (Gen. 18:16-19:17) Maybe He might save this land for the sake of the multitude of us who love Him and love this country desperately.
Here's what you and I as God's people can do:

1. Humble yourself.
2. Pray.
3. Seek Him diligently.
4. Turn away from any wickedness you have in your life.  Search your heart here for anything dishonoring to your God.

If we do this, God says He will hear us, forgive us, and heal our land.  (2 Chr. 7:14)  It's up to those of us who are His.  WE MUST PETITION HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY AND SERIOUSLY.

If it was good enough for him,
it's good enough for us.

But, I digress... (No kidding! LOL!)

Principle 20: Majority Rule, Minority Rights

Ok, so the Framers desired unanimity and really, don't we all?  Can't we all just get along?  But, unfortunately or fortunately, we all aren't a bunch of think-alike robots.  So, they purposed to come to a general consensus and agreement, and they committed to one another to uphold the decisions of the delegation even if it wasn't an individual's personal ideal.

"...every man, by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government, puts himself under an obligation to every one of that society to submit to the determination of the majority, and to be concluded (bound) by it." ~John Locke

Unanimity "is next (to) impossible ever to be had." ~John Locke 

A 50% +1 majority is hardly endorsable.  So, we can be thankful for the substantial 2/3 and 3/4 majority rules we have in place for legislation, veto-overrides, and the like.

As if Madison could foresee the filibusters of the present:

"The public business must in some way or other go forward.  If a pertinacious (definition: stubborn; holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action) minority can control the opinion of the majority, respecting the best mode of conducting it, the majority in order that something may be done must conform to the views of the minority; and thus the sense of the smaller number will overrule that of the greater and give a tone to the national proceedings.  Hence, tedious delays; continual negotiation and intrigue; contemptible compromises of the public good."  (The Federalist Papers, No. 22, pp. 147-148) (Emphasis mine.)

And let me close with this genius.:

"Every ethnic group in the United States was once a minority.  We are literally a nation of minorities.  ...It is the responsibility of the minorites themselves to learn the language, seek needed education, become self-sustaining, and make themselves recognized as a genuine asset to the community.  Meanwhile, those who are already well-established can help.  The United States has built a reputation of being more helpful to newcomers than any other nation.  It is a reputation worth preserving.  Once upon a time, we were all minorities." (p.167)

Amen, Skousen.  Say it!

(For the next post in this series, click here.)

passionate truth vs. emotional opinion

"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." -Proverbs 19:2

When I write and speak, I desire to do so with conviction.  In this blog, I often include links to sites or resources that verify what I am saying.  If I feel unsettled having written something as if it were truth, but have not verified it myself; I must preface it as my opinion or find out what the truth of the matter is.

This means I must be so careful about what I write.  Opinion is one thing, as is passion, but I'd rather have passionate truth, than emotional opinion.

You know how sometimes you'll pick up your Bible, skim through a chapter and something just jumps out at you?  This verse did just that to me yesterday.

Zeal.  Translated in other versions as soul, enthusiasm, desire.

Good ol' Webster defines zeal as: fervor; eager and ardent interest in pursuit of something.

There is wisdom in this:
When you are fired up over something and ready to respond with a hot retort, write it down, but also wait.  "...nor (is it good) to be hasty and miss the way."  
I took a speech class in college.  Though, I don't remember anything else from that class, I do remember this: words, once escaped from your mouth, can never be taken back.  You may be able to apologize and seek forgiveness, but the words can never be erased from the mind and heart of the one they have so offended.

I often find myself in this sort of a situation.  And I don't often respond properly.  Someone has just struck a nerve spiritually or politically and I am ready to fire back...and probably in a not-so-nice way.

Pause.

Let your heart and mind settle.  Pray.  And then respond if you still feel that you ought.   Consider 2 Timothy 2:24-26.



Now, back to the subject at hand.  "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge..."  If you're gonna speak about something, know what you're talking about. Be sure.  Otherwise, don't say anything.  What is that fantastic phrase?  "It's better to let someone think you're a fool, than to open your mouth and confirm it."

In a virtual world where everyone has an opinion and a soapbox to stand on.  Sometimes, we take everything we read and hear as truth.

"Now these Jews (from Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so."  ~Acts 17:10-11

The Berean's were commended for seeking out the truth for themselves of what they heard from the Apostles.  There are a multitude of reputable sources of information and though it may weary us to do research that has already been done, make sure your sources are credible.  Whoever reads what I write here may believe what I say, I certainly believe it, and my children will believe it.  I must have truth deep in my heart and a desperate desire to seek it out in the areas where I am unsure.  We must lead people in all truth and integrity.

Be passionate.  Be zealous.  But be sure you are standing rightly first.

"Be sure to put your feet in the right place,

then stand firm."

~Abraham Lincoln

exchanging inconvenience for praise

You pack the diaper bag. 

bottles,

food,

formula,

pacifiers,

wipes,

changing pad.

Don't forget your Bible...

(which you may never actually have a chance to crack open.)

You lug everything into the nursery

where you barely hear any of the message.

And you wonder why you bother.

Your children hear you sing praises to Jesus in their ears from their earliest memory.  

And then one day...

..the precious little 5-year-old sitting in your lap will sing those same songs right along with you.

And your heart will leap for joy.  

Then, you will know that forming the habit of fellowship, worship, and learning God's word with your church family is so worth the temporary difficulty and inconvenience.

Brando's 7th birthday

Pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  

Opening his present.

Mini golf.

Since we are camping, it's a little difficult to bake a cake, plus I have a cake planned for his party on Saturday, so more cake today seemed overkill…we opted for brownies.  With the altitude throwing off the recipe a tad and making it nearly impossible to cut the brownies into cute little squares, I made an executive decision for everybody to grab a fork and dig straight into the pan!  Now, that's what I'm talking about!  Silas was so excited …you know since he's my bend-the-rules, try-to-figure-out-another-way-to-get-it-done kid (which ironically is just like his mother).  Jamie looked at me like I was crazy…you know 'cause I am.  And we all dove into the chocolate decadence.  Jamie had to set some rules (must be the cop in him…teehee) and we all ate our fill.  

Now the boys are out in the field hitting balls with the new bat we picked up for the boys to share.

A happy day.  

We ventured to Legoland yesterday where Brandon got to call all the shots. 

Loving my now 7-year-old.  Can you believe it?  He is a big boy.  Kind, responsible (in some areas), and a treasure to my heart.  Brandon is an artist, an inventor, a scientist, and a thinker.  His writing is beautiful and intricate.  Soft freckles are beginning to pepper his nose and cheeks.  His eyelashes are still way longer than mine and it's just not right.  

To borrow from my beloved Sally who often calls her oldest son, Joel, her mysterious introverted child...so Brandon is to me.  Hard to know, but so easy to love.

Happy Birthday, my precious boy.  You are a world-changer already…because you have bettered my world in infinite ways.  

Loving you always,

Mommy

Ben Franklin's Junto

...a meeting of the minds.

We are studying the life, inventions, and mind of the genius, Benjamin Franklin.  I discovered the coolest book: Benjamin Franklin: American Genius.  It has great experiments and activities.  It is 2 weeks overdue at the library and so it must go back and I am only just beginning to go through it with my boys.  So, I bought it.  It's just too cool to not own!

We read about Franklin's Junto meetings and Brandon just about came out of his seat.  He wanted to start a Junto immediately and gathered the family together for our first meeting.  He's the leader.  I am the secretary...or so he told me.  And everyone else has a job, too.  I keep telling him that he needs to start a meeting of the minds with his peers, but he is insistent.  He has big plans for a robot he wants to build that can help the soldiers.  He has drawn the blue print and distributed a copy to each of us.  My little inventor.

So, what is a Junto you ask?  It is a meeting where things are discussed.

Anything might be discussed at a Junto meeting, from "What is wisdom?" to whether or not indentured servants made the colonies more prosperous.  Franklin wrote a list of 24 questions for members to keep in mind.  (p. 30.  Benjamin Franklin: American Genius)

Other ideas for topics:

• Should a certain event or legislation come to fruition?
• The happenings around town.
• What can your group do that would be of service to others?
• In what manner can the Junto assist you in any of your ideas? 

I really love this idea.  It reminds me of the group that Sally Clarkson's daughter, Joy, is part of: The Inklings (modeled after a group of adored authors).  Opportunities to exchange thoughts and to brainstorm possibly life-changing ideas.   (Click here for another one of Sally's posts about The Inklings.)

Maybe your kids want to start a Junto, too?!

A happy and beautiful day to you!

wolves in sheep's clothing

Preach the Word!  Be ready in season and out of season.  Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (2 Tim.. 4:2)

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Tim. 2:5) 

I recently had a back-and-forth with someone who claims to be a Christian but is, in fact, a heretic and not unlike the man who would be better off if he tied a millstone around his neck and hurled himself into the depths of the sea.(Mk. 9:42)  Why?  He leads people astray by boldly corrupting the Word of God, and advocates a false & blasphemous doctrine.   Not only is he dragging himself to hell, but he is taking with him his children and anyone else over whom he may have the slightest influence.  Further, those who support or cling to this particular person's "theology" and philosophy are accurately described in the latter part of this passage:

"For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world that He might comdemn the world , but that the world might be saved through Him.  Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

This, then, is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed." (John 3:16-20)

So, I imagine you can guess what type of folks side with a heretic:  those who don't want their actions exposed for the evil that they really are.

We must involve ourselves in a Bible-teaching church.  Are they teaching the whole Word of God or twisting the parts that aren't politically correct so that everyone can feel accepted and uncondemned? This isn't a buffet.  God doesn't make it when we order it.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, the will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. (2 Tim. 2: 3-4)

Eternal.
As far back as forever ago and as far forward as infinitude.  God is unchanging as is His instruction book for how we must live.

As my beloved Chuck Smith (Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa) once said (and I paraphrase):  "If you want to feel good about your sin and attend a church that helps you to feel good about your sin, then you'll feel good all the way to hell." (Emphasis mine.)

Just 'cause it sounds nice and welcoming doesn't mean it is.

For all the heretics and "tolerance" police who may be reading this:  I'm sure you are ready to accuse me of bigotry and narrow-mindedness.

"Enter through the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.  How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves."  (Matthew 7:13-15) 

I'll stick to the narrow path.  Because life is a vapor and not worthy to be compared to eternity, and so my soul is firmly set on an eternal perspective and not on pleasing the whims of the latest philosophical craze.

And I'll battle wolves in the meantime.

"Let him go. He's a big boy."

Personal responsibility.
Something I apparently push on everyone else but don't trust my own children with.

I hover,
I instruct,
I nit-pick.

We attended a memorial yesterday for my beloved great Uncle Bill.  It was at an Episcopalian church and so I prepped the boys beforehand with what to expect and brought along some quiet activities to keep idle hands and minds busy and to avoid the squirmies.

Later in the reception hall, Brandon wanted to get some food, but I was mid-conversation with a newly acquainted distant cousin, and so I implored him to wait.  This cousin said to me, "Let him go.  He's a big boy."  And then turning to both boys, she said, "Get a napkin and put a couple of things on it and bring it back to the table."

I guess I could have been offended that she was so forward, or angry that she stepped in front of the Mama Grizzly but I only pondered the moment and realized that she was right and I can't hover over them forever and expect them to make good decisions on their own and to do things properly and respectfully on their own.  Sure, my immediate thoughts were, "Oh no! What if they spill some thing or touch every little piece of food before they settle on the one they want?  What if they cut and push their way to the front?"  But, I said, "Don't handle all the food, but pick up the first thing you touch and take it with you."

Why am I such a control freak over my kids in public?
Because I want their safety and I want to monitor their behavior.  But, I think mostly because of my pride.  I want them to be well-behaved so I don't look like a neglectful mother.  Yuck!

So, off both boys went.  I observed that Si waited patiently for his turn at the table and Brandon returned to tell me, "Mommy, there was a lady in a wheelchair and she couldn't reach the cheese or the bread, so I got it for her."

Not only were they totally fine, but they had the opportunity to model good manners and service.

This was a good lesson for me to learn.