Happy 4th of July!

Lately I've been pondering the importance of studying history. I took a break from reading history for a while, not intentionally, but it just happened that way for lots of reasons I think, that I might expound on later in another post. Anyway, as I've read other books by Christian authors and have really loved reading the Bible over the last year, I've wondered if it is really worth while at all to read history and want to study again. I LOVE history, so much so that I got a Master's degree in it. Lately, I've sunk my nose deep into a David McCullough book about Teddy Roosevelt, Mornings on Horseback, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. But sometimes I wonder what's the point in the grand scheme of things of God's glory and the advancement of His Kingdom? Is it just for simple pleasure or interest or is there purpose in looking back? I don't want to waste the precious time on earth just pursuing something only for interest and pleasure.

Eric and I have talked about it and it seems studying and reading history does have merit. In the Bible, there is an ever-present looking back at what God has done, for His glory. It points to His love for His people and His rescue of them, for His name sake. What God has done throughout the Old Testament gives context for what is in the New Testament. Though we don't look back on history quite the same way as the Israelites would have there is a definite need to look back and see the hand of God on history, on the rise and fall of kingdoms and rulers. It gives context to the world we live in now and the forces of change we experience. It should be a guide to keep us from going down the same wrong roads individually and as a nation and world.

Here's a quote I came across just today in a very odd place - quoted in a Christian homeschooling book. It is in a chapter about how to teach history and it's importance! I thought it was very fitting for what I've been pondering.

If we look familiarly into the daily life of our fellow-men thousands of years ago, it is to find them toiling at the same problems which perplex us; suffering the same conflict of passion and principle; failing, it may be, for our warning, or winning for our encouragement; in any case, reaching results which ought to prevent our repeating their mistakes. The national questions which fill our newspapers were discussed long ago in the Grove, the Agora, and the Forum... and no man whose vote...may sway in ever so small a degree the destinies of our Republic, can  afford to be ignorant of what has already been so wisely and fully accomplished. Present tasks can only be clearly seen and worthily performed in light of long experience; and that liberal acquaintance with history which, under a monarchical government, might safely be left as an ornament and privilege of the few, is here (in the US) the duty of the many. Preface to Thalmeier's Ancient History

We are citizens of the nations in which we were born or reside, by God's design. We should be good citizens and good stewards of the responsibility we are given to be good citizens, especially in our own country (the US) where its existence stands on the informed vote of its citizens. And much of that hinges on knowing the history, the "long experience" of our nation and of the thousands of years past. "No man... can afford to be ignorant of what has already been so wisely and fully accomplished."

And when the government in which we participate fails morally on an issue, we can be used of God as a light to bring about change, by being well-informed of the past which sheds light on the present wrong. For instance, William Wilberforce, a man who passionately loved the Lord, fought a hard battle to eventually end the long history of the slave trade in the British Empire.

Most importantly,  history points directly at our very definite need for a Savior. Man has tried through the ages, through all kinds of changing philosophies to make his own way and always it is a failure. Even in the US, though our nation has been a great one, and it's founding causes and virtues are noble and good and somewhat founded on the basis of God's law, it was/is still an effort by man to make life better through man's invention. Our satisfaction and hope does not lie in our national freedom and individual political liberty. It comes from freedom in Christ. As followers of Christ, we are free from the burden, not of an empirical monarch, but from our own heavy, tyrannical sin. He has fought the hard battle for us and won, once and for all. Our ultimate citizenship is in heaven, with Christ and His bride the church.

A Beautiful Prayer for the New Year

I read this on one of my friends private blogs who serves in a country in Central Asia. I thought would be good to share - a great prayer for the New Year, to pray all throughout the year!

Great God,

In public and private, in sanctuary and home, may my life be steeped in prayer, filled with the spirit of grace and supplication, each prayer perfumed with the incense of atoning blood.

Help me, defend me, until from praying ground I pass to the realm of unceasing praise. Urged by my need, invited by thy promises, called by thy Spirit, I enter thy presence, worshipping thee with godly fear, awed by thy majesty, greatness, glory, but encouraged by thy love. 

I am all poverty as well as as all guilt, having nothing of my own with which to repay thee, but I bring Jesus to thee in the arms of faith, pleading his righteousness to offset my iniquities, rejoicing that he will weigh down the scales from me, and satisfy thy justice.

I bless thee that great sin draws out great grace, that, although the least sin deserves infinite punishment because done against an infinite God, yet there is mercy for me, for where guilt is most terrible, there thy mercy in Christ is most free and deep. 

Bless me by revealing to me more of his saving merits, by causing thy goodness to pass before me, by speaking peace to my contrite heart; strengthen me to give thee no rest until Christ shall reign supreme within me, in every thought, word, and deed, in a faith that purifies the heart, overcomes the world, works by love, fastens me to thee, and ever clings to the cross.  - From Valley of Vision "Meeting God."

Remembering Jesus

I have been reading through Revelation the last few weeks and the other day came across a great passage that I thought would be fitting for Christmas Eve. No, it is not the usual Christmas Eve passage but I think it is helpful in remembering just who Jesus, that tiny baby in a manger, really was.

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems (crowns), and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Rev. 19:11-16 (ESV)

So this Christmas, keep in mind that Jesus, the seemingly helpless babe, was and is The Word of God and that He was and is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the mighty conqueror. He is from the beginning and will be for all eternity. His power is unending. Doesn't this make Christmas mean all that much more - this gives the reality of Jesus in all of his power and splendor, a reminder of his divine nature, God himself and yet, "[He] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil 2:6-8)This is why he came - for us. This great warrior, this King of Kings, humbled himself and became a servant for us, suffering the humiliation and death that we deserved, taking it upon himself so that we wouldn't have to, so that we can walk with him and be with God for eternity. Praise God! But it was not for us alone. Ultimately it was his worship and for God's glory. "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil 2:9-11)

Merry Christmas! 

Santa or Not?

Among Christian circles there is great opinion about whether to include Santa Claus in the celebration of Christmas. Eric and I have been pondering how to handle this with our own children. Do we say Santa is a myth with no redeeming qualities or do we include him in some way in the season? On the one hand Santa seems to embody the consumeristic hunger that secular Christmas has become. On the other hand, it might be possible to further explain the spirit of giving at Christmas. Hank Hanegraaf wrote, "far from being a dangerous fairy tale, Santa Clause in reality is an Anglicized form of the Dutch name Sinter Klaus, which in turn is a reference to Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop from the fourth century. According to tradition, Saint Nick not only lavished gifts on needy children, but also valiantly supported the doctrine of the Trinity at the Council of Nicea in AD 325." The Heart of Christmas: A Devotional for the Season by Hank Hanegraaf. 

So, the real Santa Claus, not the embodiment of heresy and materialism, affirmed Christian beliefs about the divine nature of our Savior as expressed in the idea of the Trinity and was very generous. Hanegraaf concluded this devotional segment about Santa Claus and the Trinity, "In Sum, then, Christians may look back on the tradition of Saint Nick...as a legendary hero of the faith. Of course the notion that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole in a toy factory, that he sees children at all times and knows whether they've been bad or good, and that he travels in a sled pulled by flying reindeer, is clearly myth and should therefore be treated as such. This December 25 as you celebrate the coming of Christ with a Christmas tree surrounded by presents, may the story of selflessness on the part of Saint Nick remind you of the Savior who gave the greatest gift of all. Thus rather than supplant the Savior with Santa, we can use Saint Nick as a reminder to generously support God-ordained ministries so that the message of salvation can reach those who have not yet received salvation by God's grace alone, through faith alone - and on account of Christ alone. " And I add, giving generously to those in need around us and abroad.

So does all of this look like for our family? Our focus is Christ, his birth, the gift of salvation he offers to us, the Word became flesh. We've been reading several verses every day about the birth of Christ from the gospels and the prophecy of his coming from Isaiah and Malachi. We have a book called, J for Jesus by Crystal Bowman that expresses the legend of the candy cane but tells frankly the purpose of Christ's coming and death. We have another book that we are going to read to the boys a couple of days before Christmas and the day of called, My Christmas Gift also by Crystal Bowman that expresses the real gift of Christmas and not to miss it among the gift giving and receiving of Christmas Day. We have several books portraying the birth of Jesus that we've been reading. On Christmas Day we are going to give Wes a sticker book that once again explains the whole purpose of Christmas.

As far as Santa goes, we've read stories about him and explaining that there was a real Santa Claus who gave gifts to poor people and followed Jesus but we don't emphasize the flying reindeer and other myths associated with the jolly old man. We thought that we'd have the stockings be from Santa in the tradition of how Saint Nick would do it, but not focus on him actually coming down the chimney or watching over them to know if they've been naughty or nice.

Another thing we've incorporated this year into the festivities is a Jesse Tree. I had hoped to do it last year but couldn't get all the sewing done for it in time! A fellow worker in Lebanon introduced this idea to me years ago. Mine looks far different from hers but the concept is still the same. You start  on December 1, each day read until Christmas a  major story of the Bible that points to Christ's coming (creation, fall, flood, Abraham, Isaac, the 10 commandments, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, Daniel and the lion, Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, the shepherds, etc) and then pick the ornament that goes along with the story and hang it on the tree. I don't think Wes would have appreciated it last year. This has been a lot of fun this year!


On Christmas Day, we plan to open a gift or two, or their stockings and then have a breakfast together with a breakfast cake for Jesus, sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, read the Christmas story again (we probably will have read it the night before as well for the Jesse Tree) from the Jesus Storybook Bible and sing some Christmas carols.  Then we can finish opening gifts.

We may rethink all of this next year, but for now, this is our plan. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Our Christmas Letter

So, our printer has been giving us fits lately! It ran out of ink and also kept having paper jams and unknown errors. We put in new ink but it printed very fuzzy! We couldn't figure out how to fix this or buy a new printer before we needed to send out our Christmas letters so we just decided to put the letter on my blog. Hope you don't mind. I guess this is more environmentally friendly. :) Enjoy!

Ps. It is my plan to post a bunch of pictures from the last several months and to start posting blogs more regularly after the new year.

Beautiful Blessings of 2013

God has blessed us so much this year. One of the biggest blessings this year has been the surprise news of another little one joining our family, biologically! And... it’s a girl! She’s due April 4, 2014.

Our boys bring us great delight. Wesley Joseph has such contagious laughter, a wild imagination and an inquisitive nature, is extra-extroverted, has boundless energy and an iron will. He loves to make all kinds of noise, talk, have people over, plan parties, create new train track configurations, and do anything that requires running, jumping, hiding, climbing, throwing, swinging and pedaling. Lately, we’ve had wonderful conversations about Jesus, the gospel, God, sin, and the Bible. What a blessing!

David Elliot’s personality has blossomed. He’s a laid-back, quiet, stubborn thinker - a little shy, but terribly cuddly and sweet. He loves his blankies and thumb, music, puzzles, books, trains, cars, animals, stacking blocks, hiding things, lining things up in perfect rows including his peas and noodles, and stuffing small things into other small things. He mostly does his own thing but also enjoys people and still smiles with a sparkle in his eyes. 

Last year, God gave Melanie a desire to gather women from church for fellowship together and mutual encouragement. This has resulted in a few small gatherings for prayer and book discussions (In the Land of Blue Burqas and Battling Unbelief) which she plans to continue. Lately she’s really been especially burdened for young moms and is praying for direction in that area. Along with this, God has rekindled in her a passion for children’s development and education and has been reading many books, blogs and articles on these topics. She also still enjoys doing crafty things and preparing whole, unprocessed food and recipes.

Eric has continued to work as a mechanical engineer at Black & Veatch, and achieved his first promotion!  Along with this 8-5 job he continued to serve as a pastor/elder at Cross Fellowship Church.  It has been greatly challenging and rewarding for him to serve in this role; both from the standpoint of developing an organization together with others that previously didn’t exist, and most greatly in knitting our lives together with our brothers and sisters at CFC.  In his free time (does that exist any more?) he worked on projects around the house, designed and built the boy’s playground (with a lot of help from his dad!), fixed a few things on his new truck (1997 F150 4x4 manual transmission...yea baby!), and squeezed in a few good books and movies.

We enrolled Wesley in a 3 year old class in a homeschool co-op that meets once a week and Melanie teaches part of this class. This co-op gives Wes more social interaction that he loves; Melanie gets a creative outlet for teaching.  Though it makes for an exhausting day, it has been a huge blessing to her because of the parenting wisdom she’s gleaned from all the more experienced moms she regularly gets to interact with there. 

This year has not brought much outward turmoil or struggle, other than being more busy than we can handle sometimes, but we’ve faced some definite inward challenges that have pushed us beyond ourselves. With the challenges that parenting brings and the responsibilities of work and church planting combined, we are often confronted with our own sin. Time and again we’ve been reminded of God’s beautiful grace that sent Jesus to take away the guilt and punishment of our sin and of His assurance that He loves us and doesn’t want us to stay like we are. We’ve also been reminded through other people’s suffering of how big God is, how unjust is the sin in our world that causes pain and suffering, how precious life and family and friends are, how much we waste on worthless things and bad attitudes, and how beautiful and strong is the body of Christ far and near. All these things that come to our lives are for a reason, pleasant or unpleasant, to draw us to the Lord, to push us to rely less on ourselves and make us more like Him. Through these truths God has taught us greater joy and satisfaction in Him alone, to be worshipful throughout the day, to seek out how He’s working knowing that each day is purposeful for Him and His glory. This is so, even in what seems the mundane things of life. All of these things are a great blessing indeed! 

2013 Highlights

Winter - Eric traveled to the middle of the Indian Ocean for work and also had lots of time for snorkeling, a 5k run, golfing and eating fresh fish while Melanie and her sister shoveled out loads of snow as two huge snow storms passed through Kansas in four days. We gave a facelift to our unfinished basement to give the boys a space to run around in during the long, frigid winter months. What a blessing!!!!!!

Spring - Eric passed his Professional Engineering exam!!! Hurray!  Melanie was delightfully involved with a few others in choosing a new children’s curriculum for our church. We both thoroughly enjoyed doing premarital counseling with another couple and learned a lot about ourselves and each other in the process! What Did You Expect is the best marriage book ever! 

Summer (VERY BUSY!)

• We were again involved in another huge neighborhood garage sale with our church. 
• Our church hosted a backyard Bible club for the first time. Great fun! 
• After several weeks of physical therapy to push him along and correct a very awkward gate, David learned to walk! 
• Melanie’s parents visited. We learned that to give Wes a regular size hot fudge Sunday is not a good idea. 
• On Mel’s big 4-0 birthday, we found out we are going to have another baby!

- Melanie visited a dear friend in Oklahoma

• We trekked across America to GA and Florida to visit family and friends and have a little vacation at the beach. Wesley enjoyed body surfing and David just mostly wanted to walk up and down the beach - once he learned to walk, he didn’t want to stop!  
• The boys enjoyed many days going for walks, riding tricycles and playing on their new swing set.
• Went family camping in the backyard for the first time!  Wes and Eric roasted marshmallows over the Coleman!

Fall - Eric joined a men’s bible study through work.  Melanie and the boys started teaching/attending the homeschool co-op. Wesley learned to ride a bike (with training wheels). Melanie discovered and devoured the parenting book Don’t Make Me Count to Three that has been a huge help in biblically training our boys to love, be kind, share, obey and be respectful. We are so thankful to have found this very practical jewel!

Prayer Points - 

• Big picture direction for the short and long term future
• Better time management skills and a oneness in prioritization
• A safe and easier pregnancy, i.e, no bed rest!

Pumpkin Day

This year, I decided to call Halloween Pumpkin Day. We don't really like all the scary stuff and Wes and David certainly don't but, I love all things pumpkin so we made it a day of pumpkins. Here is what Wes and I did while Papa was hard at work.

We've just introduced him to glue and he loves it! So I came up with lots of pasting activities. Wes colored paper pumpkin parts and then pasted them onto paper. Then, he sorted out big and little paper pumpkins and glued them in the appropriate box. Then he had to match up pumpkins and glue them in the matching box. Lastly, though not a glueing activity, he traced lines from the family to the pumpkin patch and did very well, on the first one at least. After that, the trace got worse and worse. Something to note later. Too much of something doesn't always mean better. He also colored the letter P and different things that start with P.

After that we read 4 library books about pumpkins. Our favorite was called Pumpkin Cat about a black cat and a mouse trying to grow a pumpkin. 

Then we moved into the kitchen. We placed our real pumpkin on the floor and sang "Ring around the Pumpkin, pocket full of seed, leaves, leaves, we all fall down" sung to the Ring around the Rosie song. Then we marched around, hopped around and stomped around. Again, I found that too much of something doesn't always mean better. Very surprisingly, Wes got tired of hopping and marching around the pumpkin! 

Next, we carved the pumpkin into a kitty cat face inspired by the Pumpkin Cat book. Sadly the pictures I took with Wesley in them didn't come out good. 

Then, we took the scooped out seeds and roasted them in the oven with a little olive oil, salt and pepper at 350 until they started turning a little brown. Yummy!

Lastly, we made Pumpkin Pecan Bites (Cookies) from a recipe I found in The Kid's Nature Book I found at a homeschool book sale for $1. :) They were delicious! They were crunchy on the outside, at least for a while, and soft on the inside. 

Later in the day we went to our church's neighborhood fall festival. Wes had a great time! We kind of lost track of all the candy he was eating which is a bad thing because he never eats any. We paid for it later, especially since it was the first day of really feeling better after a week long stomach bug. He lost all of it and then some. Yuck! We felt terrible. 

David didn't really know what was going on but just smiled at everyone. 

I guess this is a Tigger the Tiger costume. It fits his personality. He's happy and bouncy. Usually when he's sitting up at the table in his high chair he just happily bounces and smiles at us. 

It was a great day! I hope next year to invite a few people over and do much the same thing - celebrating Pumpkin Day with lots of fun crafts and baking. I would have done it this year but I thought up the idea literally the night before! 

This is our friend Jamie (sorry her face is so blurred!) holding David and his friend Logan the Lion at the Fall Festival. Logan is just 4 weeks older than David. 

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Unusual Christmas Message

This Sunday in church the text was from 2 Pet. 3, a chapter about "The Day of the Lord," judgment day. Not the usual text read for a Christmas message. So here is how it fits...

For the last four weeks, the sermons have had to do with Advent, a time set aside for the anticipation of Christmas. The first week's topic was "Longing." The text was Psalm 40 where the psalmist cries out, "How long O Lord?" It is an acknowledgement that all is just not right with the world and in our hearts and the desire for them to be made right. The second week was about the "Promise" from God to reweave the fabric of society, to make all things right, to put creation back as it should be, to restore the relationship with the people He created. The third week discussed the "Arrival" of the King to begin to fulfill the promise. It was the inauguration of His kingdom, the setting in motion to make all things right, beginning with the hearts of man. Jesus was sent by God the Father as God the Son, from heaven, to walk with us as humans, to weep with us, full of sorrow because of our sorrow and our sin. He took this burden on Himself, dying in our place, to make us whole and make things right with us in relation to God. We don't have to prove ourselves or do things to measure up to Him. There is no way we could. He has done it for us. We are covered by His blood alone.

So, now we are up to the fourth week, "Anticipation." It is the idea that Christ will come to finish His work. He has been working, is working and will complete His work on the judgment day. His kingdom was inaugurated when he arrived on earth 2000 years ago; He will return to consummate His Kingdom and to have His day of reckoning for all that is not and has not been right. He will make all things right! So, though we may have looked on the Day of the Lord with fear, if we are followers of Jesus, living a life of repentance, then we have nothing to fear. It should be looked to as a day of rejoicing because it will be the completion of all that God has done to make things right that have been messed up by us. What hope is there in Christmas and in longing and the promise from God if there is no final reckoning to deal decisively with all the injustice in the world? Without the Day of the Lord, there is not climax to the plot, no resolution to the storyline. This is the exclamation point at the end of the entirety of the gospel story.

So how does this affect our lives? This anticipation for the consummation of the Kingdom should give us a deep passion for the Lord! A diligence, a focus, a clarity of purpose to set our hearts on the holiness of God, to let our lives be a reflection of that and to speak the whole gospel story. It should resize us so that God is the main character, not us. It should encourage us to examine our lives daily and live with a repentant heart, not to perform for Him but because He has performed and finished the work for us.

I've never much thought about the Day of the Lord and am a complete skeptic with regard to so many people trying to predict when the end will be and that we live in end times. As a student of history, I've studied how bad all of history has been. The things that started out good get twisted. Our present age is not the inventor of evil. It has ebbed and flowed throughout history, hidden for a time but still working and thoroughly heinous and obvious at times. Every generation thinks they are living in the end times. However, in light of certain things in our own lives, I've been confronted personally with the fact that all is really just not right with the world, our country, our laws, etc. No government is perfect, nothing is. We expect things to work with swift justice and they simply don't. It has forced me to long for the day when all of this mess will be made right forever, when there will be no more orphans and no more fight for them and no more hunger and starvation and disease and extreme poverty and slavery and human trafficking. This anticipation should wake us up to these things, all the injustice and wrong in the world, and to cry out to the Lord to see and hear and work and to seek to help soften the blows of our fallen world but with realization that only God will finally put an end to it all, that we are not the saviors to end all of this, it is not our burden to carry. Christ, the Holy Child, is the Savior and Coming, Conquering, Victorious King.

Come, Lord Jesus Come!!!

Happy Independence Day!

Being the history nut that I am and especially given my love for Revolutionary War history, I wanted to give a timeline of the events leading to the Declaration of Independence.

1765-1775 -

• A series of taxes and acts instituted by the British government to help pay for the French and Indian War. The issue was not so much that the colonies were being taxed but they were being taxed without any representation in the government therefore, making colonists feel as if they were second class citizens without the full rights of those living in England even though many of them had direct British ancestors.
• Boston Massacre 1770, Boston Tea Party 1773.
• Continental Congress 1774, 1775, 1776 - discussions on how to respond to British encroachment in the affairs of the colonies, arguments over reconciliation
• 1774 - Declaration of Rights
• Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 1775
• 1775 - Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms
• 1775 - Falmouth, Massachusetts and Norfolk, Virginia destroyed by British war ships
• Olive Branch Petition, Jan 1776 - a petition of reconciliation with King George which was flatly rejected by the monarch
• Common Sense by Thomas Paine published the day after word of the King's rejection. Paine's sold 150,000 publications and countless others read it as well causing an already weakening sentiment for monarchical rule to almost disappear very quickly. He stated that the war and rebellion was not a revolt against taxation but a fight for the survival of liberty for future generations across the world.
• War campaign in Canada failed leaving many colonists to believe that the only way to win the war was with foreign assistance and the only way to gain help from other nations was by declaring independence from Britain.
• May 1776 - John Adams (who had been itching for independence for at least a year but had waited patiently for the right timing) introduced a resolution to Congress for states to terminate their colonial governments and adopt state constitutions. "Adams's resolution had driven a stake through the heart of the foes of independence everywhere. With considerable truth he could boast that his resolution had initiated 'the most important step that ever was taken in America.'"
• June 1776 - Richard Henry Lee presents a resolution to Congress to officially declare independence from Britain. Congress creates the Committee of Five (Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston.) to prepare a declaration of Independence. Adams chaired the committee, Jefferson was chosen to draft the document. Jefferson wrote the document in a few days time having already thought intensely about independence since the early 1770's. Also, by that time so much had been written in newspapers, books, pamphlets and by colonial assemblies, especially Virginia's Declaration of Rights, regarding independence, drafting the document proved relatively easy for Jefferson.
• The Declaration of Independence was presented to Congress by the Committee of Five on June 29, 1776
• July 1, 1776 Congress discussed independence and voted 9-2 in favor - New York abstained, Pennsylvania and South Carolina opposed, Delaware, tied. Official vote deferred until July 2
• July 2, 1776 - At the end of the day, independence was revisited, debated and the official vote taken - 12-0. New York still abstained.
• July 3 & 4 - the draft revised
• July 4 - The Declaration of Independence adopted in the evening, the last item of business for the day, almost as a side note.
• July 6- the document was published
• July 8 - "Independence was officially proclaimed at noon on July 8 before a crowd of thousands assembled outside the State House (in Philadelphia). Bells pealed all that day and night, Adams told a friend, and soldiers 'paraded on the common, and gave us the Fue de Joy, notwithstanding the scarcity of powder.'"
• July 10- General Washington read the Declaration to the Continental Army in New York City. That night some soldiers and citizens in New York City tore down and decapitated a statue of George III.

"Adams was cautiously exultant. He knew that independence would be accompanied by manifold hazards. He knew too that courage was required 'to ride in this Whirlwind.' Not only was victory not assured, but he trembled at the realization that 'mighty Revolutions... sett many violent Passions as Work.' The only certainty about America's future was its uncertainty. Yet his optimism surpassed his apprehension. From deep within his soul he truly believed that victory would be won, America's republican experiment would succeed, and that both his generation and posterity would benefit from what he and Congress had done. But Adams was also a hardheaded realist who knew full well that 'the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration' would be immense.'"

Quotes from Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson and the American Revolution by John Ferling.

Happy Late 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!! Umm, well, maybe this is a little late! I actually started writing this on the 4th. Does that count? :)

Over this past year or so I have been reading about the Founding Fathers and the American Revolution. I have been enamored with it for some reason. As I watched the fireworks this year, I almost teared up as I recalled the sacrifices these men made to bring about the birth of a new nation. Did you remember that by writing and signing the Declaration of Independence they were making themselves known as traitors? They were committing an open act of treason against one of the longest running and most powerful empires in existence at that time. If any of them were caught they would have been hanged. Many of them lost their fortunes and their health as a result of their revolutionary endeavors to break away and form a government with roots in philosophical, "enlightenment" ideas many of them had been raised on and dreamed about. Sometimes I think we don't ponder these things enough.

Something to ponder. We may not like the "other party", whichever side that may be, but we should be thankful that we can have safe political dialogue. And elections, though sometimes the outcomes are highly contested or very disappointing, do not erupt in violence in the streets or even the threat of it. And not only should we be thankful, we should pray for those nations that do not enjoy the political freedoms that we do, that they will be ruled in peace and justice.

As a tribute to this holiday is an excerpt from the introduction of a book I am currently reading, Founding Brothers, by Joseph Ellis. It is very fitting for the recent celebration.

What distinguishes the American Revolutions from most, if not all, subsequent revolutions worthy of the name is that in the battle for supremacy, for the "true meaning" of the revolution, neither side completely triumphed. Here I do not just mean that the American Revoltuion did not "devour its own children" and lead to blood-soaked scenes at the guillotine or the firing-squad wall, though that is true enough. Instead, I mean that the revolutionary generation found a way to contain the explosive energies of the debate in the form of an ongoing argument or dialogue that was eventually institutionalized and rendered safe by the creation of political parties. The source of the disagreement... involv[es] conflicting attitudes toward government itself, competing versions of citizenship, differing postures toward the twin goals of freedom and equality.

But the key point is that the debate was not resolved so much as built into the fabric of the national identity... Why is it that there is a core of truth to the distinctive iconography of the American Revolution, which does not depict dramatic scenes of mass slaughter, but, instead, a gallery of well-dressed personalities in classical poses?

First, the achievement of the revolutionary generation was a collective enterprise that succeeded because of the diversity of personalities and ideologies present in the mix. [It is] not because any of them was perfect or infallible, but because their mutual imperfections and fallibilities, as well as their eccentricities and excesses, checked each other...

Second, they all knew one another personally, meaning they broke bread together, sat together at countless meetings, corresponded with one another about private as well as public matters. Politics...remained a face-to-face affair.

Third, they managed to take the most threatening and divisive issue off the political agenda. That issue, of course, was slavery, which was clearly incompatible with the principles of the American Revolution, no matter what version once championed. (Could they have tried to abolish slavery and manage to keep the nation? ) ... The revolutionary generation decided that the risks outweighed the prospects for succes; they quite self-consciously chose to defer the slavery question by placing any discussion of it out-of-bounds at both the national and federal level.

Fourth, they developed a keen sense of their historical significance even while they were making the history on which their reputations would rest...If they sometimes behaved like actors in a historical drama, that is often how they regarded themselves. ..We are the audience for which they were performing; knowing we would be watching helped to keep them on their best behavior.

A Resurrection Article

Pardon the cheesy Easter basket clip art. In contrast to the article posted yesterday, here is a devotional article from Ravi Zacharias’ ministry about history and the resurrection. I thought I would share it with you since Easter is coming quickly upon us. Blessings!

http://www.rzim.org/USA/USFV/tabid/436/ArticleID/10249/CBModuleId/1133/Default.aspx

Thanksgiving - A little late!

This is a blog entry from my pastor’s blog. I liked it a lot and wanted to share it with you.

“Thanksgiving, quite contrary to political correctness and revisionist historians, began as an act of faith and worship by the Pilgrims.

The first Thanksgiving was held in the autumn of 1621 in Plymouth, and it was a celebration of God’s bountiful blessing, which the Pilgrims shared with the Indians.

The Pilgrims’ lives had been characterized by religious persecution and loss of almost all worldly possessions. Many had died during the grueling voyage to the new land, and those that survived faced many more hardships that are so dramatically more treacherous than the difficulties faced by Americans today that we cannot quite grasp the gravity of it except romantically.

Yet, with bountiful food and the freedom to worship God, they gave thanks many times each day, but on this day in a most festive and worshipful way.

Let us not forget: Thanksgiving is an act of worship by God’s people. It is our thankfulness to Him for what He has done and does. Thus from the vantage point of heaven, complaining must be a most sacrilegious act of self-absorption.

This Thanksgiving, celebrate it as an act of faith and worship, fulfilling the will of God. “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)”