Realmscapes

A Prayer for Blessing and of Thanks

Father in heaven, despite the unworthiness of our sinful natures, thank you for the grace and salvation you have given all people through penitent faith in Christ your Son; and for your Holy Spirit who gives us the words to speak, the Faith to believe Your promises, and the wisdom on how to use your blessings to represent You in this life. We also petition you to bless these two initiatives we are preparing for Grail Quest Books to work out successfully so that Kas and I can focus full-time on this business, supporting the creative team associations, and all its related opportunities that you are blessing us with. We ask this in Jesus' Name and that you would grant it for His sake according to Your will. Amen.

Intermittent Posting

We are working on two big projects here at Grail Quest Books, specifically for Shadow of the Stars, Decipher's WARS, and another initiative we hope to announce next week. So the posts here will be intermittant for a spell. Perhaps take this time to check out one of the pages or 600+ other posts that have been archived on this weblog. I will try to post something at least weekly, but no guarentees...

Thank you!

Thinking of Mother Britannia

I love the UK nearly as much as my own country. It really hurts to see what is going on there. I pray wisdom is given to the leaders to address the issues, protection to the police that are trying to restore the peace and the citizens living through the unrest, reflection to the protesters as to whether their actions are truly honorable and productive, and patience to all.

Empirical Proof for God

If we can know Shakespeare existed because we can touch, see, hear, taste, and smell his work or elements in those works, then we can accept the existence of God based on the same senses and Scripture.

On Denominations in Christendom

Saying that denominations don't matter is the same as saying there is no right or wrong way to teach God's Word. There is right and wrong Christian theology. There is bad theology and incorrect focus being taught among large parts of the Christian community. The only way to define these errors is through defining each denomination's interpretation (and its methodolgy) of Scripture.

American Freedom

There are many Americans who enjoy all the benefits of American freedoms and are completely ignorant as to how they are achieved; they don't do the research and are content to rely on one media or activist source to tell them how to react.

The irony is that those same Americans then support elected officials who truly intend to take away American freedoms via regulations and taxes and socialised economics.

Pros/Cons of American Capitalism

Pros: Each person has the opportunity to be successful in whatever they want to do.

Cons: Each person has the opportunity to be successful in whatever they want to do.

Case in point: Only in America could Christopher Paolini have become a successful authour.

Invoking McCarthyism, Dixie-crats

Would it be fair to raise the spectres of the pro-segragation/anti-civil rights Democrats every time the libs compare conservatives to Joseph McCarthy?

On Gandhi & Strength

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” - Gandhi

Faith in Christ means something far more than an indomitable strength or will: the indomitable God (Romans 8:18-39).

One Nation, Under God, With Liberty

I recently came across a remarkable quote that was referenced in one of the introductions to W. Cleon Skousen's excellent The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World. The quote is itself from a book by Peter Marshall called The Rebirth of America. In that book Mr Marshall says to every generation, "The choice before us is plain, Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as American citizens. The time is come, it is now, when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. America's future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God's government."

God's government.

It is rarely taught in history classes these days, but the great majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were men of absolute God-ly conviction (admittedly in the spirit of their heroes, Locke and Calvin), if not practicing traditional Christians. Before them, the pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock seeking to build a Christian community that could worship freely apart from the 17th century oppressions of the Church of England. It was paramount to the Founders that a union of free states could only be successful if the church remained free from control of the state to accomplish its divine mission while at the same time maintaining a vital influence in American communities. This important ideal was solidified in words when President Eisenhower, inspired by the words of a pastor he heard one Sunday morning, signed a law that added "under God" to the "Pledge of Allegiance".

In the digital age the default definition of the separation of church and state has evolved from Bible instruction in 18th century New England grammar schools to the outright eviction of God from our political buildings and education. In order to justify such movements as pro-choice and pro-homosexuality rights, judges at every level of the U.S. justice system as well as Constitutional law educators and organisations have embraced a progressive "freedom from religion" interpretation of the First Amendment that is wholly contrary to the Founders original intent.

Other than in the Declaration of Independence where "Life" is clearly identified as sacred to the American moral fabric, nowhere is this intent more plain than in Article III of the Northwest Ordinance--an act unanimously passed by the same Congress that would ratify the United States Constitution almost a year later--where it is written, "Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged."

George Washington reaffirmed this stance in his Farewell Address (1796) written to the new American nation: "Of all the dispositions and 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 to the exclusion of religious principle." This Address was not meant as the mere swansong of an American patriarch, but a real call to awareness that is as relevant right now as it was to the United States in the twilight of the 18th century. The Farewell Address was published while much of Europe was squarely in the middle of the bloodlust-chaos that characterised the French Revolution; God and morals were deemed expendable as the French people searched for a new identity. The result was a country that threw off its unwanted monarchy only to be seized by a God-less dictator who would plunge the whole continent into war for over a decade.

In 1831, French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville, was touring the United States and wrote often on the positive relationship between faith, citizenship, and government in the U.S. Growing up in post-Napoleon Europe, de Tocqueville was pleasantly encouraged by the energy and integrity of the Christian-American landscape. His observances were published in his famous Democracy in America (1835) and included insights such as, "The revolutionists of America are obliged to profess an ostensible respect for Christian morality and equity, which does not permit them to violate wantonly the laws that oppose their designs.... Thus, while the law permits the Americans to do what they please, religion prevents them from conceiving, and forbids them to commit, what is rash or unjust." I fear that de Tocqueville would be terribly disappointed to find the America he experienced gravitating towards the cynical, anti-religion European attitudes that emerged in his day. Much less because Americans no longer hold to Christian principle, but more because modern American government, law, and culture is being allowed to stifle Christian morality.

God has promised to bless any nation that places their trust on him. This does not mean that the United States won't face hardship or tragedy. We do ourselves a great disservice if we blame God when such events occur as part of a world cursed with original sin. This curse means that political freedom is never guaranteed; our men and women in uniform pay for it daily through their courage and sacrifice. The day may still be coming when the U.S. is reduced in its influence, and perhaps even its freedoms. What do we do then?

Paul reminds us in his letter to the Galatians of a different, and far more valuable, freedom that has been won for us by our Saviour, God's Son, Jesus. This is where our focus needs to be. It is our duty as a God-serving, freedom-loving people to aid those who are less fortunate in their political freedoms. But more important is our duty as Christians to proclaim the liberty of the human heart, broken under the crushing weight of sin and death. This eternal liberty is guarenteed for those with the spiritual strength to believe and provides citizenship in a heavenly nation comprised of God's people. This citizenship can never be taken from us by any force man-made, natural, or supernatural.

God's Word was not written for political advice or pop culture commentary, but it does speak clearly of God's plan of salvation marked by humanity's "Independence Day"--Easter.