Doug Phillips said this:
“I believe there are two views of human action in the future.
One view posits that Christians should be serfs, and that the Coliseum is that highest ideal to which Christians can aspire. This particular perspective says that there is no hope, that everything is bad, and only getting worse, and there is little to no hope of any sort of practical advancement of the church and that our greatest goal to which we aspire is to be martyred for Christ and to be serfs in occupied countries. I think this is a mistaken view. Brothers and sisters, I don’t think that our eschatological position needs to ghettoize us into this particular perspective.
Generational leadership, dominion, given first to Adam, again to Noah and to all of us—occupation and kingdom advancement is the duty of Christians, until Christ returns, be that in 100 years or 10,000, and our human action is driven by duty, hope, the promises of God, our responsibilities, that we walk by faith and not by sight. And so first and foremost we are faith walkers, and not evidentialists. No matter whether tremendous horrors breakout in these United States of America in the next five years, our basic worldview does not change, our basic commitments do not change. We are the Church of Jesus Christ that has persevered for 2,000 years, and the gates of hell have not prevailed against His church. Until Christ comes back, regardless of whether we’re besieged by the Hun, attacked by Islam, thrown into the Coliseum, whether we’re ruling with Oliver Cromwell, or staging massive events with the Scotch Covenanters, whether we’re landing on Plymouth shore or in the halls of Congress in Philadelphia or whether the Church is in a state of apostasy and our nation is in judgment, our mission is the same: God intends for us, to have faith and to prosper through good times and bad for the glory of God and we must have a vision for generational faithfulness, for dominion, for occupation, for kingdom advancement, as long as God has us here as we look to the great and glorious hope of the future.”
In the world in which we live, something is in the air, the Lord is at work in an unusual way, and this was true during the founding generation. I love the words of Abigail in speaking to her son John Quincy, while he was an ambassador overseas at the age of 14, Abagail said this, “These are the times in which a genius would wish to live, it’s not in the still calm of life or in the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed, the habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties, great necessities call out great virtues.” What is she saying? “Look around you, my boy! This is the time men should be living; all these past generations were preparations for right now, you need to understand that.” You see Abigail Adams understood the signs of their time and history has proven her right. She turned to her children and said, “Understand the times, they are great times, they are important times. Understand the times my son.” He was his father’s son and also his mother’s son, that same mother who took him, and literally pointed him to the
Dear friends you are watching battles live before your eyes, you have watched with your own eyes the Supreme Court fall, you have watched churches fall, you have watched the American government educational institution, which was flawed from it’s very inception nonetheless fall, you are watching elements of culture fall, you are seeing things fall to the left and the right, and the proper answer is not to despair, it is this “Great necessities call out great virtues, the habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties.” And I’m here to tell you today, these are the greatest times we could ever hope to be alive. God has placed you and I in a state of warfare. We are alive at a time when our culture is in disrepair. That means opportunity. It means blessing. It means hope. It means the cultivation of a vigorous mind. Henry Knox understood this too—this is that robust, extremely overweight, but precocious young general who was like a son to George Washington who went down and brought up those guns, those great big cannons in one of the most amazing military maneuvers in all of history, got them up there to Dorchester Heights to help Washington win that battle, and the British simply couldn’t believe it that Washington pulled it off. But, Knox understood it had to be done. Knox said, “The eyes of all of
Samuel Adams, the great Puritan rabble-rouser from
We were blessed with warm hospitality and a fine dinner after church in a friend's home.
Rushdoony said this:
“The Lord says that this world, being fallen, is going to disintegrate into total anarchy, total chaos, apart from us. We are the preserving agency. We are the salt of the earth. Even as we overwhelm it on its own premises, we, as the light of the world, provide the light whereby the world is to be redeemed and made into the
For there to be a future Christians must teach their children to look to the future with confidence. We must thoroughly know The Scriptures and History so that we do not forget the works of God, His commandments (Psalm 78) and not be a stubborn and rebellious generation. Not to study history is to flee the battle. Not studying History makes us easily dissuaded by the world around us. We must remember that we stand on the shoulders of millions of Christians who fought the same battles and got the victory. It keeps you in the battle when all others have fled.
If we know our history we would not always be looking for the non-existent escape-hatch when things get tough. Times of disaster are also exciting times because Christians can breathe hope to the hopeless world.
California has the 7th largest economy in the world.
We have a multi billion dollar produce industry.
We have relationships here. It may not feel like we are rooted here, but when we move, we leave people and built up over years.
Cultures without God are naturally suicidal. Our job is to rebuild.
Charissa wasn't feeling well, so we kept her company.
Isa. 58:11-12
The Lord will guide you continually
And satisfy your soul in drought,
Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations
of many generations;
And you shall be called the
Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.”
Sweet hospitality!R.J. Rushdoony said
“It is now imperative to see the promise land for us,
in history, as this world”.
“The holy land is now the whole earth.
We must reposes it for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
2 comments:
Lance, this is very well written, a message that is hated by much of our society. I was particularly taken by it, as I am presently finishing up a short biography of Winston Churchill who, perhaps more than almost anyone else in the twentieth century, applied himself fully to the living out of precisely what you are saying here. I was a little surprised to learn of his solid grounding in God's Word, his frequent return to it for wisdom, support, direction, encouragement. He understood well that we are here by the sovereign design of our Maker, and that for a purpose. It is that understanding that drove him to do all he could to withstand evil and persue good. You might benefit from reading some on him, his life and work. It may encourage you further. I'll also say that is is when men, such as yourself, begin to understand these things and thereby refuse to accept the status quo that real change for the better will come into a society.
Very encouraging message.
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