Please Pray for Your Persecuted Brothers in Christ

October 31

We associate Halloween with the fun of children dressing up like ghosts and monsters and their favorite storybook characters as they go around the neighborhood seeking treats from kindly neighbors who don’t want to be tricked by the little goblins.

But in our world today, there is a growing entity of evil that, if they could, would terrorize all mankind into bowing before their god. They allow no latitude in their belief system. Anyone who does not subscribe to it is ruthlessly expedited to their eternal reward.

I received the following information from a friend who is a nun. She just got a message from her brother who is a priest, asking her to shower him and his mission team to Iraq in prayer. ISIS has taken over the town where they have been ministering and their presence there is bringing fear and death to the populace.

He said ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and requiring the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has, and so far all have consequently been killed. But their parents have not been killed.

The UN has withdrawn and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families they are supporting, even if it means their own deaths.

He has no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who have seen their children martyred. Yet he says he knows God has called him for some reason to be His voice and His hands in this place at this time. Even so, he is begging prayers for courage to live out his vocation in such dire circumstances, and as the children have done, to accept martyrdom if he is called to do so.

My friend was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn't say it but I believe she thinks it will be their last conversation. Pray for her, too. She said he just kept asking her to help him know what to do and to be brave enough to do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for them and they are not alone or forgotten—no matter what happens.

The following message is from a man who leads Crisis Relief International:

"We lost the city of Queragosh (Qaraqosh). It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been smuggling food too. ISIS has pushed back Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working.

“Thousands fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN has evacuated its staff from Erbil. Our team will stay. Prayer cover needed!"

Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of the people of Northern Iraq from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for mass conversion or death for Christians across this region.

May I plead with you to be among those who stand in the gap for our fellow Christians who are being persecuted because of their faith in Christ and for others who are suffering because they do not subscribe to the ISIS philosophy.

We are oblivious to the suffering some have endured because of their faith in Christ. May He forgive us for our proclivity to focus on the nothingness of our comfortable little lives and help us to cry out for our brothers and sisters in the faith who are giving their all for the Christ who died to set us free from sin.

Samuel Adams

October 30

"The Roman Empire must have sunk...because Roman virtue was sunk." Sam Adams

Crying "No taxation without representation," he instigated the Stamp Act riots and the Boston Tea Party. After the "Boston Massacre," he spread Revolutionary sentiment with his network of Committees of Correspondence. Known as "The Father of the American Revolution," his name was Samuel Adams, born SEPTEMBER 27, 1722.

Samuel Adams called for the first Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence, stating: "We have explored the temple of royalty, and found that the idol we have bowed down to, has eyes which see not, ears that hear not our prayers, and a heart like the nether millstone. We have this day restored the Sovereign, to whom alone all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven..."

Samuel Adams continued: "There are instances of, I would say, an almost astonishing Providence in our favor; our success has staggered our enemies, and almost given faith to infidels; so that we may truly say it is not our own arm which has saved us. The hand of Heaven appears to have led us on to be, perhaps, humble instruments and means in the great Providential dispensation which is completing..."

"We have fled from the political Sodom; let us not look back...We may, with humility of soul, cry out, 'Not unto us, not unto us, but to thy Name be the praise'...Providence is yet gracious unto Zion, that it will turn away the captivity of Jacob."

A cousin of the Second President John Adams, Samuel Adams wrote in The Rights of Colonists, 1772: "Among the natural rights of Colonists are: FIRST, a right to life; SECONDLY, to liberty; THIRDLY, to property; together with the right to defend them...The supreme power cannot justly take from any man any part of his property without his consent."

In The Rights of the Colonists, section "The Rights of the Colonist as Subjects," Samuel Adams wrote: "Government has no right to absolute, arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes of the people; nor can mortals assume a prerogative...reserved for the exercise of the Deity alone."

In The Rights of the Colonists, section "The Rights of the Colonist as Men," Samuel Adams wrote: "In regards to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced...It is now generally agreed among Christians that this spirit of toleration, in the fullest extent consistent with the being of civil society, is the chief mark of the church."

Barbie and Ken

October 29
Barbie and Ken dolls depict Mary and the crucified Christ by Dr. Jim Denison

Barbie has been an astronaut, flight attendant, and even president. But two Argentine artists have given the doll a new role: the Virgin Mary. They have also created a Ken doll as the crucified Christ along with other saints and figures from world religions. However, they chose not to create a Ken doll as the Prophet Muhammad. Catholic bishops in Italy are denouncing the depictions.

These are challenging days for Jews and Christians. The Jewish New Year known as Rosh Hashanah was marked Wednesday by Israelis pessimistic about peace, with an economy struggling to recover from the latest war with Hamas. Global anti-Semitism continues to escalate: a rabbi in Jackson, Mississippi reports that he was recently thrown out of a local restaurant because he is Jewish.

Persecution of Christians is intensifying as well. In North Korea, a quarter of the nation's Christians now live in forced labor camps. Earlier this year in Orissa, India, 500 Christians were hacked to death by Hindu radicals and 50,000 were made homeless. ISIS radicals are forcing parents to watch as they behead their children for being Christians. Egypt has seen its worst anti-Christian violence in seven centuries.

The Pew Research Center documents discrimination against Christians in 139 countries, nearly three-fourths of the world's nations. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity estimates that 100,000 Christians die every year for their faith—11 every hour.

Yet we can experience joy in the midst of pain, no matter the source or circumstances of our suffering. Today I was struck by Psalm 97:11: "Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart." "Righteous" (saddiq in the Hebrew) denotes one who is godly and devout; "upright" (yisre) refers to those who are correct and just with others. When we are right with God and just with people, we will have God's light and joy.

Is this because God likes the righteous and upright better than others? Not at all. Rather, being righteous and upright positions us to receive what our Father's grace wants to give. Joy is one of the "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22), the result of the Spirit's work in our lives. It is a product, not an achievement.

Ezekiel 20:13 is a commentary on this fact: Israel "did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live." The rules are available to everyone, but those who obey them experience the good they are intended to produce.

The same principle applies in other areas of life. Jonas Salk perfected a vaccine for polio, but it is effective only for those who are inoculated by it. I think the Mexican restaurant down the street from our office has the best fajitas in Dallas, but you'd have to eat there to verify my opinion.

Do you need more of the Spirit's joy today? Then choose to be right with God and just with others. And your joyful heart will prove the reality of your faith to a skeptical culture.

The world can take our freedom, but it cannot take our joy.

Romans, Chapter 16

October 28
Romans, Chapter 16

I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2 That you receive her in the Lord, as becomes saints, and that you assist her in whatsoever business she has need of you: for she has succored of many, including myself.

3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.

7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. 9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. 10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household. 11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. 12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord.

Salute the beloved Persis, which labored much in the Lord. 13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brothers who are with them. 15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. 16 Salute one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

17 Now I beseech you, brothers, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
19 Knowledge of your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. 20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

21 Timothy my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. 23 Gaius my host, salutes you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city salutes you, and Quartus a brother. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Concluding Doxology

25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

Daniel Boone

October 27
Daniel Boone, American Pioneer by Bill Federer

Daniel Boone served with George Washington in 1755 during the French and Indian War, under British General Edward Braddock. In 1765, Daniel Boone explored Florida.

He once exclaimed: "I can't say I was ever lost, but I was bewildered once for three days."

Daniel Boone's Quaker family had pioneered North Carolina's Yadkin River Valley. In 1767, Daniel Boone began exploring Kentucky. In 1769, Boone traveled through the Cumberland Gap in the mountains and spent two years hunting and trapping in eastern Kentucky with his friend, John Stewart. Indians captured and separated them, and, unfortunately, Boone eventually found John Stewart's body shot dead.
In 1773, Daniel Boone and Captain William Russell were ordered by Virginia's Governor, Lord Dunmore, to settle an area called Castle Woods. Daniel Boone's 17-year-old son, James Boone, and Captain Russell's 17-year-old son, Henry, were bringing supplies to Castle Woods when they were ambushed by Indians and brutally massacred.

Captain William Russell left Daniel Boone in charge of Moore's Fort in lower Castle Woods from 1773-1775. When the Revolution began, Lord Dunmore fled and Patrick Henry was elected the first American Governor of Virginia.

A fort was named Fort Patrick Henry, from which Daniel Boone set off from in 1775 to survey Kentucky for the Pennsylvania Company. Daniel Boone erected a fort on the Kentucky River, which he named Boonesboro.

On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and her teenage friends, Fanny and Betsy Callaway, decided to leave the confines of Boonesboro and were captured by Shawnee Indians. Boone and his men caught up with them two days later, ambushed the Indians while they were stopped for a meal, and rescued the girls.
James Fennimore Cooper drew from this incident in writing his classic book, The Last of the Mohicans (1826). On April 24, 1777, Shawnee Indians were recruited by the British Governor of Canada to attack Boonesboro. Led by Chief Blackfish, the attack was repelled, though Daniel Boone was shot in the leg.

Because Shawnees destroyed cattle and crops, food supplies ran low so settlers needed salt to preserve meat. In January 1778, having recovered from his wound, Boone led a party to get salt from Licking River. They were captured by Chief Blackfish's warriors, some taken to Chilicothe, and others to near Detroit.

Boone and his men were made to run the gauntlet, as the Indian custom was to adopt prisoners into their tribe to replace fallen warriors. Daniel Boone was given the Shawnee name Sheltowee, meaning 'Big Turtle'.

On June 16, 1778, Boone learned that Chief Blackfish planned to attack Boonesboro, so he escaped and raced 160 miles in five days, on horseback then on foot, to warn the settlement. Beginning September 7, 1778, Boone successfully repelled the ten-day siege by Chief Blackfish's warriors.

In the autumn of 1779, Boone led another party of immigrants to Boonesboro, among whom, according to tradition, was the family of Abraham Lincoln's grandfather. Daniel Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of Ohio, fighting the Battle of Piqua on August 7, 1780. In October, 1780, Daniel Boone was hunting with his brother, Edward, when Shawnee Indians attacked. They killed Edward but Daniel escaped.

Boone was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the Fayette County militia, November 1780. In April 1781, Boone was elected as to Virginia's General Assembly, and as he traveled to Richmond to take his seat, British dragoons under Colonel Banastre Tarleton captured him near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole, and not long after Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781.

Boone returned to Kentucky, and though Cornwallis had surrendered, some British continued to fight. In one of the last battles of the Revolution, the Battle of Blue Licks, August 19, 1782, Daniel Boone was among those fighting hand-to-hand against 50 British Loyalists and 300 Indians. Daniel Boone's son Israel was shot in the neck and killed.

In November 1782, Boone was a part of the last major campaign of the war with Clark's expedition into Ohio. In 1782, Boone was elected sheriff of Fayette County. He bought land in Kentucky but lost it due to poorly prepared titles. Boone left Kentucky in 1799 and bought land in the Spanish Territory of Missouri, west of the Mississippi River.

When Spain transferred this land to France, and France sold it to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase, 1803, Boone lost his title to this land too. A special act of Congress gave him back his land just six years before his death.

When the War of 1812 started, Daniel Boone volunteered for duty but was turned down due to his age of 78. Daniel Boone was known to have a habit of taking the Bible with him on hunting expeditions, often reading it to others around the campfire. Daniel Boone and his wife Rebecca had all of their ten children baptized.
Prior to Daniel Webster's 1828 Dictionary, there was no standard spelling of words in America. This is seen in Daniel Boone's letter October 17, 1816, to Sarah (Day) Boone, wife of his older brother Samuel, who lived with their daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Leonard Bradley in Missouri (Reuben Gold Thwaites, Daniel Boone, NY: O. Appleton, 1902):

"Dear Sister, I wright to you to Latt you know I have not forgot you and to inform you of my own situation Sence the Death of your Sister Rabacah I Live with (Mr.) Flanders Calaway But am at present at my sun Nathans and in tolerable halth you can gass at my feilings by your own as we are So Near one age I Need Not write you of our Satuation as Samuel Bradley or James Grimes Can inform you of Every Surcomstance

“Relating to our family and how we live in this World and what Chance we shall have in the next we know Not for my part I am as ignerant as a Child all the Relegan (Religion) I have to Love and fear God beleve in Jeses Christ Dow all the good to my Nighbours and my Self that I can and Do as Little Harm as I can help and trust on God's marcy for the Rest and I Beleve god never made a man of my prinsepal to be Lost and I flatter myself Dear Sister that you are well on your way in Cristianaty “gave my Love to all your Children and all my frends fearwell my Dear Sister, Daniel Boone."

Daniel Boone died SEPTEMBER 26, 1820. He was buried in the Old Bryan Farm graveyard, but his remains were moved to Kentucky's Frankfort Cemetery, though some claim the wrong bones were moved. Hazel Atterbury Spraker wrote in The Boone Family (1982, page 578):

"Daniel was buried near the body of his wife, in a cemetery established in 1803 by David Bryan, upon the bank of a small stream called Teuque Creek about one and one-half miles southeast of the present site of the town of Marthasville in Warren County, Missouri, it being at that time the only Protestant cemetery North of the Missouri River."

In The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, Vol. IX-The Winning of the West-An account of the exploration and settlement of our country from the Alleghanies to the Pacific (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, National Edition, 1926, p. 43), Theodore Roosevelt wrote:

"Boone...occupied quite a prominent position, and served as a Representative in the Virginia legislature, while his fame as a hunter and explorer was now spread abroad in the United States, and even Europe. To travelers and newcomers generally, he was always pointed out as the first discoverer of Kentucky; and, being modest, self-contained, and self-reliant, he always impressed them favorably..."

"Boone's creed in matters of morality and religion was as simple and straightforward as his own character. Late in life he wrote to one of his kinsfolk (sister-in-law, Sarah Boone, October 17, 1816):

'The religion I have is to love and fear God, believe in Jesus Christ, do all the good to my neighbor, and myself that I can, do as little harm as I can help, and trust on God's mercy for the rest.'

The old pioneer always kept the respect of red men and white, of friend and foe, for he acted according to his belief."

Never Turn Back

October 26
Hebrews, Chapter 6

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.15 And after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.


Some of us delight in the fact that God has spoken to us—personally. Oh, yes, He speaks to all mankind through His Holy Word, the Bible and He speaks to us through nature, and He moves among believers, teaching them all things through His Holy Spirit (see John 14:26) but then there are those grand moments when He comes to one who is searching with a personal revelation of Himself, of His power, of His truth, of His presence, of His love. And those precious moments are bathed in His light.

It is perhaps of such moments that the writer of Hebrews is speaking in Chapter Six. It is those times when the Lord Himself determines to build upon the foundation of our faith in and knowledge of Jesus with a personal revelation of His intense caring about His individual child.

May we learn every lesson He has for us. May we never turn back from Him. May we grow beyond our foundational understanding of Jesus and may we be receptive to those precious times when He will show Himself present and strong in the behalf of His child.

His Glorious Truth Can Shine

October 25

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you,” John 15:13-15.

Parents go to great lengths to keep adult conversations out of the hearing of their young children. Sometimes hushed tones go silent when little ones appear within hearing range. The caring adults do not wish to distress their youngsters with weighty matters that are impossible for them to comprehend.

In the passage above Jesus illustrates much the same attitude on the part of masters toward their servants. Those subject to the master were presumed to have little knowledge of the weighty things in the mind of the master or little need to know them. Jesus tells His people that they are neither children nor servants but friends—adults with whom He willingly shares the truths of eternity.

In II Timothy 3:15-17, the Apostle Paul expands this need for knowledge by saying, “and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The precious truth that Jesus shared with His apostles and through early Church leaders are foundational to the equipping of the saints and must begin from an early age. It is imperative that believing parents gird their children with the truth of the ages that they might be enabled to profit in the things of eternity. A child who is schooled merely in the strategies for temporal success will be wanting on that great eternal day when all men’s works are tried by fire (see I Corinthians 3:13).

And we are commanded that we must not be mere “hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word,” James 1:22. It profits us little if we are mere repositories of the truth the Lord has entrusted to us. Rather, it behooves us to share the truth we have with those round about us, to be “living epistles, read of all men,” II Corinthians 3:2, as well as to be lampstands (see Matthew 5:15 and Luke 11:33) upon which the Light that is Jesus may set and from which His glorious truth can shine to all the world.

The Dying Ember

October 24

The Dying Ember by Gregg Braden

A member of the church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, “Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I will be back in church next Sunday.”

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

Entirely Christian

October 23
Entirely Christian by Bill Federer

"The American population is entirely Christian, and with us, Christianity and Religion are identified." -Chief Justice John Marshall

"The power to tax involves the power to destroy," wrote Chief Justice John Marshall, McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819. No one had a greater impact on Constitutional Law than John Marshall. He was born SEPTEMBER 24, 1755, and was homeschooled as a youth.

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, John Marshall served with the Culpeper Minutemen. He joined the Continental Army and served as a captain in the Virginia Regiment under General George Washington, enduring the freezing winter at Valley Forge.

John Marshall later described George Washington: "Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man."

John Marshall studied law at the College of William and Mary under Chancellor George Wythe. He was elected a U.S. Congressman from Virginia, and became Secretary of State under President John Adams. John Adams nominated John Marshall to the Supreme Court, where, on February 4, 1801, he swore in as the fourth Chief Justice. He served 34 years on the Supreme Court, which met in the basement of the U.S. Capitol Building.

John Marshall served as Chief Justice during the administrations of: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Every Supreme Court session opens with the invocation: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court."

John Marshall decided in favor of the Cherokee Indian nation, stating that the Indian Removal Act was unconstitutional and that Indians should be allowed to stay in Georgia. The Indian Removal Act had been hurriedly pushed through a Democrat controlled Congress in 1830. Protesting the Indian Removal Act were Christian missionaries, led by Jeremiah Evarts, being joined by New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen and Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett.

Despite deciding in favor of the Indians in the case of Worcester v. Georgia, 1832, the Supreme Court had to rely on the President to enforce its decision. Democrat President Andrew Jackson refused, as the popular apocryphal quote attributed to him was: "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!"

The Federal Government proceeded to send to its military to remove over 46,000 Native Americans from their homes and forcibly relocated them west. This left vacant 25 million acres open in the Democrat-controlled South to the expansion of slavery.

John Marshall helped write over 1,000 decisions. A Federalist, John Marshall was at the fulcrum of balancing the separate powers of government with the need to respond to immediate issues to keep the country united, often rendering decisions favoring a more powerful Federal Government.

Marshall was opposed by Anti-Federalists who favored reserving more power to the State Governments, such as: Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Sam Adams, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee, James Monroe, Mercy Otis Warren, George Clinton, and Luther Martin. These were concerned a trend was beginning of which Washington warned in his Farewell Address, September 19, 1796:

"If in the opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in any way particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield."

According to tradition, the Liberty Bell cracked while tolling at John Marshall's funeral, July 8, 1835. A hundred years after John Marshall's death, the Supreme Court moved in 1935 out of the basement of the Capitol and into its own building.

A statue of John Marshall is in the lower floor of the Supreme Court Building. Inside the Supreme Court chamber are Adolph A. Weinman's marble friezes depicting lawgivers throughout history, including John Marshall. Also depicted in the frieze is Moses holding the Ten Commandments. Moses is also in the center above the Supreme Court's east portico holding two stone tablets.

A story about John Marshall was originally published in “The Winchester Republican” newspaper, and recounted in Henry Howe's Historical Collections of Virginia: "There is a legend about an astonishing flash of eloquence from Marshall, 'a streak of vivid lightning,' at a tavern, on the subject of religion.

The impression said to have been made by Marshall on this occasion was heightened by his appearance when he arrived at the inn. The shafts of his ancient gig were broken and 'held together by switches formed from the bark of a hickory sapling'; he was negligently dressed, his knee buckles loosened.

In the tavern a discussion arose among some young men concerning 'the merits of the Christian religion.' The debate grew warm and lasted 'from six o'clock until eleven.' No one knew Marshall, who sat quietly listening. Finally one of the youthful combatants turned to him and said: 'Well, my old gentleman, what think you of these things?'

Marshall responded with a 'most eloquent and unanswerable appeal.' He talked for an hour, answering 'every argument urged against the teachings of Jesus.' 'In the whole lecture, there was so much simplicity and energy, pathos and sublimity, that not another word was uttered.' The listeners wondered who the old man could be. Some thought him a preacher; and great was their surprise when they learned afterwards that he was the Chief Justice of the United States."

Chief Justice John Marshall commented May 9, 1833, on the pamphlet The Relation of Christianity to Civil Government in the United States written by Rev. Jasper Adams, President of the College of Charleston, South Carolina (The Papers of John Marshall, ed. Charles Hobson, Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2006, p, 278): "Reverend Sir, I am much indebted to you for the copy of your valuable sermon on the relation of Christianity to civil government preached before the convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Charleston, on the 13th of February last.

I have read it with great attention and advantage. The documents annexed to the sermon certainly go far in sustaining the proposition which it is your purpose to establish. One great object of the colonial charters was avowedly the propagation of the Christian faith. Means have been employed to accomplish this object, and those means have been used by government.

No person, I believe, questions the importance of religion to the happiness of man even during his existence in this world. It has at all times employed his most serious meditation, and had a decided influence on his conduct. The American population is entirely Christian, and with us, Christianity and Religion are identified. It would be strange, indeed, if with such a people, our institutions did not presuppose Christianity, and did not often refer to it, and exhibit relations with it.

Legislation on the subject is admitted to require great delicacy, because freedom of conscience and respect for our religion both claim our most serious regard. You have allowed their full influence to both. With very great respect, I am Sir, your Obedt., J. Marshall."

John Marshall's daughter said her father read Alexander Keith's Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion derived from the Literal Fulfillment of Prophecy (Edinburgh: Waugh & Innes, 1826, 2nd edition.).

The Life of John Marshall by Albert J. Beveridge (Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919, Vol. IV, p. 70), stated: "John Marshall's daughter makes this statement regarding her father's religious views: 'He told me that he believed in the truth of the Christian Revelation. During the last months of his life he read Alexander Keith on Prophecy, where our Savior's divinity is incidentally treated, and was convinced by this work, and the fuller investigation to which it led, of the supreme divinity of our Savior.

He determined to apply to the communion of our Church, objecting to communion in private, because he thought it his duty to make a public confession of the Savior.'"

Albert J. Beveridge continued in The Life of John Marshall (referencing Bishop William Meade's Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia, 2 Vols., Richmond, 1910, Vol. 2, p. 221-222): "He attended (Episcopal) services. Bishop William Meade informs us, not only because 'he was a sincere friend of religion,' but also because he wished 'to set an example.' The Bishop bears this testimony: 'I can never forget how he would prostrate his tall form before the rude low benches, without backs, at Coolspring Meeting-House (Leeds Parish, near Oakhill, Fauquier County) in the midst of his children and grandchildren and his old neighbors. When in Richmond, John Marshall attended the Monumental Church where, says Bishop Meade, 'he was much incommoded by the narrowness of the pews... Not finding room enough for his whole body within the pew, he used to take his seat nearest the door of the pew, and, throwing it open, let his legs stretch a little into the aisle.'"

John F. Dillon wrote in John Marshall-Life, Character and Judicial Services-As Portrayed in the Centenary and Memorial Addresses and Proceedings Throughout the United States on John Marshall Day, 1901 (Chicago: Callaghan & Company, 1903) "John Marshall Day, February 4, 1901, was appropriately observed by exercises held in the hall of the House of Representatives, and attended by the President, the members of the Cabinet, the Justices of the Supreme and District courts, the Senate and House of Representatives, and the members of the Bar of the District of Columbia...The program, prepared by a Congressional committee acting in conjunction with committees of the American Bar Association and the Bar Association of this District, was characterized by a dignity and simplicity befitting the life of the great Chief Justice..."

After an invocation delivered by John Marshall's great-grandson, Rev. Dr. William Strother Jones of Trenton, N.J., Chief Justice Fuller made introductory remarks: "The August Term of the year of our Lord eighteen hundred of the Supreme Court of the United States had adjourned at Philadelphia... However, it was not until Wednesday, February 4th, when John Marshall...took his seat upon the Bench..."

U.S. Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh then stated February 4, 1901: "The centennial anniversary of the entrance by John Marshall into the office of Chief Justice of the United States...Under his forming hand, instead of becoming a dissoluble confederacy of discordant States, became a great and indissoluble nation, endowed with...the divine purpose for the education of the world...securing to the whole American continent 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people...Venerating the Constitution...as 'a sacred instrument'...we have lived to see...such generous measures of political equality, of social freedom, and of physical comfort and well-being as were never dreamed of on the earth before..."

U.S. Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh continued: "Let us, on this day of all days...acknowledge that nations cannot live by bread alone... We have heretofore cherished, the Christian ideal of true national greatness; and our fidelity to that ideal, however imperfect it has been, entitled us in some measure to the divine blessing, for having offered an example to the world for more than an entire generation of how a nation could marvelously increase in wealth and strength and all material prosperity while living in peace with all mankind...We all believe that the true glory of America and her true mission in the new century...is what a great prelate of the Catholic Church has recently declared it to be: to stand fast by Christ and his Gospel; to cultivate NOT the Moslem virtues of war, of slaughter, of rapine, and of conquest, but the Christian virtues of self-denial and kindness and brotherly love...

Then we may some day hear the benediction: 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me'...The true mission of nations as of men is to promote righteousness on earth...and taking abundant care that every human creature beneath her starry flag, of every color and condition, is as secure of liberty, of justice and of peace as in the Republic of God. In cherishing these aspirations...we are wholly in the spirit of the great Chief Justice; and...so effectually honor his memory." (Dillon, Vol. 1, p. 7-42)

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray gave an address February 4, 1901, in Virginia: "Gentlemen of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and of the City of Richmond: One hundred years ago today, the Supreme Court of the United States, after sitting for a few years in Philadelphia, met for the first time in Washington, the permanent capital of the Nation; and John Marshall, a citizen of Virginia, having his home in Richmond, and a member of this bar, took his seat as Chief Justice of the United States...Chief Justice Marshall was a steadfast believer in the truth of Christianity as revealed in the Bible. He was brought up in the Episcopal Church; and Bishop Meade, who knew him well, tells us that he was a constant and reverent worshiper in that church, and contributed liberally to its support, although he never became a communicant."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray continued: "All else that we know of his personal religion is derived from the statements (as handed down by the good bishop) of a daughter of the Chief Justice, who was much with him during the last months of his life. She said that her father told her he never went to bed without concluding his prayer by repeating the Lord's Prayer and the verse beginning, 'Now I lay me down to sleep,' which his mother had taught him when he was a child; and that the reason why he had never been a communicant was that it was but recently that he had become fully convinced of the divinity of Christ, and he then 'determined to apply for admission to the communion of our church objected to commune in private, because he thought it his duty to make a public confession of the Savior and, while waiting for improved health to enable him to go to the church for that purpose, he grew worse and died, without ever communing.'" (Dillon, Vol. 1, p. 42, 47, 88)

New Hampshire Supreme Court Judge Jeremiah Smith gave an address: "And this brings us to what is...the great distinguishing feature in Marshall s life; the real secret of his extraordinary success...that is his high personal character...John Marshall was pre-eminently single minded. His whole life was pervaded by an overpowering sense of duty and by strong religious principle. A firm believer in the Christian religion, his life was in accord with his belief." (Dillon, Vol. 1, p. 162)

Charles E. Perkins, nephew of Harriet Beecher Stowe and President of the Connecticut Bar Association stated: "As a man, Marshall appears to have been as near perfection in disposition, habits, and conduct as it is possible for a mortal man to be...He had no vices and, I may almost say, no weaknesses. In spite of his eminent talents, his high positions, and his great reputation, there was no tinge of conceit...His charities were constant and great. He bore no malice toward those who offended or injured him.

He was a sincere Christian and believed in and obeyed the commands of the Bible." (Dillon, Vol. 1, p. 330)

U.S. Rep. William Bourke Cockran spoke of John Marshall to the Erie County Bar Association in Buffalo, New York: "Aside from the establishment of Christianity, the foundation of this republic was the most memorable event in the history of man...And if the foundation of this government be the most momentous human achievement of all the centuries, then clearly the appointment of John Marshall to the Chief Justiceship of the United States was the first event of the last century no less in the magnitude of its importance than in the order of its occurrence." (Dillon, Vol. 1, p. 404-405)

U.S. Senator and former Maryland Governor William Pinkney Whyte said of John Marshall: "Would you not call a man religious who said the Lord's Prayer every day? And the prayer he learned at his mother's knee went down with him to the grave. He was a constant and liberal contributor to the support of the Episcopal Church. He never doubted the fact of the Christian revelation, but he was not convinced of the fact of the divinity of Christ till late in life.

Then, after refusing privately to commune, he expressed a desire to do so publicly, and was ready and willing to do so when opportunity should be had. The circumstances of his death only forbade it...He was never professedly Unitarian, and he had no place in his heart for either an ancient or a modern agnosticism." (Dillon, Vol. 2, p. 2-3)

Commissioner of Customs Nathan Sargent wrote in Public Men and Events from 1817 to 1853 (Philadelphia, 1875, Vol. 1, p. 299), that John Marshall's "name has become a household word with the American people implying greatness, purity, honesty, and all the Christian virtues."

U.S. Rep. Horace Binney of Pennsylvania stated that John Marshall (Dillon, Vol. 3, p. 325):"...was a Christian, believed in the Gospel, and practiced its tenets."

Wear Our Frailty As a Badge

October 22

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong,” II Corinthians 12:7-10.

One of the most-often-expressed criticisms of the belief maintained by many Christians that Jesus still heals today, as the words, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” Hebrews 13:8, suggest is that if He is changeless, if He still heals, why do people remain sick when they’re prayed for? Why do people die when the prayer of faith is lifted in their behalf?

Although it is presumptuous to speak for God or to answer those questions in His behalf, and although the reasons why some individuals are delivered from sickness and trial while others remain afflicted are certainly as varied as the numbers of people who seek the power of Christ to be manifested in their lives, we certainly can glean some insight from the experience of Paul as he expresses it in the above passage.

And we know that it isn’t just in the matter of healing from disease that the seeming discrepancy occurs. We think of Stephen, the first Christian martyr (see Acts 6:1-8, 7:54 to 8:2) who was stoned to death because of his faith in Jesus, as well as countless others who have perished because they would not deny their faith in the Savior. As recently as the news in 2014, we have been made aware of the horrific fate of believers in the Lord who were slain for no reason but their Christianity.

Yet we also know that had He done so, God could have delivered all of them, from Stephen through the most recent believer in Jesus to suffer martyrdom. So, why didn’t He? In the example given to us of Stephen, we discover that a glorious fate awaited him upon his arrival to the Throne Room of Heaven. We are told that Jesus was standing to welcome him upon his entrance into glory.

We can speculate that the same reception was given to every martyr subsequent to the first one. We can venture a guess that none of them would have exchanged a few more years of life for the wonders of Heaven that have been theirs since they took their final breath while in this land of strife among men.

Like them, many of us have been called upon to bear grievous burdens. As He said to Paul, Jesus reiterates to us that He is glorified in our infirmities. As Paul accepted his weaknesses with the words, “I boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses.”

May we also wear our frailty as a badge of honor that evidences the power of Christ in us to overcome every trial, to break every chain, to lift every weight we bear—all to the honor of His holy name.

Threat

October 21
Police stop ISIS attack in Australia: Who's next? By Dr. Jim Denison

Imagine walking down the street in Sydney, Australia when an Islamic State terrorist attacks you, not because you are a threat to him or ISIS, but because he wants to behead you in a random "demonstration killing" he will put on YouTube for the world to see. Last week, Australian police thwarted just such a plot, raiding more than a dozen properties and detaining 15 people.

Is this an isolated threat? According to New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, ISIS is targeting his city by calling on American Muslims to perpetrate "lone wolf" attacks in Times Square. Last month, a Muslim American admitted that he killed teenager Brendan Tevlin in New Jersey as an act of vengeance for America's attacks on jihadists.

ISIS is not our only threat. The Khorasan group was unknown to most of us until America's national intelligence director cited them as a greater threat to the West than ISIS. Led by one of Osama bin Laden's closest advisers, they are an offshoot of al-Qaeda and are actively recruiting American and European Muslim militants to attack civilians in their homeland. They are also working on hard-to-detect bombs that their jihadists can smuggle onto airplanes as they return home from the Middle East.

As American air strikes on ISIS and Khorasan positions continue, we can expect such jihadist attempts at retribution to escalate. Monday's air strikes will degrade terrorists' ability to mount offensive operations, but they will not destroy their organizations. For that, local Sunni forces will need to join the fight, dismantling the terrorists' resupply networks and reclaiming territory from them. There is a long conflict ahead, one that may come to our shores and streets more than any foreign war we have ever fought before.

What does God's word say to this news?

First, he wants us to defend ourselves. Moses taught the people, "If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed" (Exodus 22:2). Those who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem did so with their swords at their sides (Nehemiah 4:18).

Second, he wants us to pray for the salvation of our enemies. The Lord asked his prophet, "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23). Have you prayed today for Jesus to reveal himself to jihadists in the Middle East and around the world?

Third, he wants us to be ready for eternity, whenever and however it begins for us. James warned us, "you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes" (James 4:14). The safest way to live every day is to be ready to meet God, obeying his word and fulfilling his will.

You're one day closer to eternity than ever before. Is that fact good news for you today?

Pray for Asia Bibi

Pray for Asia Bibi

Draconian laws are on the books in places like Pakistan and in the Middle East and in parts of Africa. They are laws that are shariah compliant. In Pakistan, Asia Bibi was falsely accused of "blasphemy," of speaking against the prophet Muhammad, several years ago. She has been in jail ever since. Efforts to gain her release have thus far proven futile, so this wife and mother of five has been sentenced to hang for her Christian faith.

She would be the first woman executed under Pakistan's shariah blasphemy law. This is nothing less than a grievous human rights violation. Believers in Christ must not allow Asia Bibi to die for her faith.

We must pray for her, surround her circumstances in believing faith as we did for another young Christian woman, Meriam Ibrahim, who is now free from a death sentence in Sudan because we cried out to Jesus in her behalf.

Let us allow our prayers to ring out again! Let all God’s people cry out to Him so Asia Bibi can be saved from execution.

Words for Perilous Times

October 20

In perilous times, there is little that can bring comfort to the troubled heart as can the Word of God itself. With that realization in mind, today’s posting is simply these few powerful verses that afford hope and peace in a day that is fraught with anxiety.

"Through You shall we push down our enemies; through Your name shall we tread them under who rise up against us. Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes. I put no trust in my bow; my sword does not bring me victory, but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever," Psalm 44:5-8.

"He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out into light the shadow of death,” Job 12:22.

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, says the LORD," Isaiah 54:17.

"Get up, you officers, oil the shields! This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert," Isaiah 21:5,6,7.

"…The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it," John 1:5.".

“…to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me,” Acts 26:18,

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose," Romans 8:28.

"I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me," Psalm 13:4.

"O Lord, rescue me from evil people. Protect me from those who are violent," Psalm 140:1.

"Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake," Psalms 79:9.

"He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction," Psalm 107:20.

"Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men," Psalm 59:1,2.

May we pray these words and claim these words so the comfort and peace and truth of them may pervade our spirits and impact the culture around us.

May we see great revival come to this nation and to every country where the “name that is above all names” (see Philippians 2:8-11) has once been extolled.

May we see a great awakening in those lands that have not known Him.

May every knee bow before Him in time so we may bow before Him together in Heaven.

Patterns and Motivations by David C. Grabbe

October 19

“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon,” Revelation 13:11.

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet,” Revelation 16:13.

“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone,” Revelation 19:20.

“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever,” Revelation 20:10.

The book of Revelation foretells that at the time of the end, in the last few years of Satan's dominion over the earth, a religious personality will arise and deceive the whole world by means of miraculous signs. This individual is referred to as "another beast" (Revelation 13:11), as well as "the false prophet" (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10).

The False Prophet is given supernatural power to do things like calling fire down from heaven (Revelation 13:13), and the signs he performs, combined with the demonic words he speaks (Revelation 16:13-14), will cause people to give their allegiance to - and even worship - the Beast (Revelation 13:14). This man will wield tremendous religious influence, and inspired by the Dragon, he will successfully convince most of the world to commit idolatry (Revelation 13:12).

The Bible does not reveal the False Prophet's name or even the number of his name, as it does for the Beast. Instead, we will have to recognize him by his fruits - by what he says and does (Matthew 7:15-20). Yet, even this is a tricky proposition. For instance, the False Prophet will be able to call down fire from heaven, and yet Elijah, a true prophet of God, did the same (I Kings 18:36-38). If we see a man calling fire down from heaven, how do we know whether he is true or false?

The end time is prophesied to be full of deceptions (Matthew 24:11), and the elect will not be totally immune to having the wool pulled over their eyes (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22). It will take careful evaluation to see through the façade and to recognize Satan's servants for what they are, rather than what they appear to be (II Corinthians 11:14-15).

The details given about the False Prophet are few. However, if we understand the patterns and motivations that the Bible reveals about the class of people called "false prophets," we will be better equipped to recognize the general mold that the end-time False Prophet will fit.

The More Things Change…

William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of King Charles I of England sent spies into churches to see if their pastors said anything contradictory to the king’s policies. If he found any dissent in their sermons, the pastors were arrested and their ears were cut off. This occurred in the 1600s.

Now, in the city of Houston, TX, subpoenas have been issued to a group of pastors requesting any sermons they've written that cover the subject of homosexuality, gender identity, or mention of Annise Parker, the city's first openly lesbian mayor, be handed over for scrutiny (“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr.)

Ms. Parker has since rescinded the order due to a national outcry against this infringement of religious liberty.

Those of us who believe in the rights guaranteed in our Constitution must be ready to defend those rights for all of us—even the rights of those who disagree with us. And Ms. Parker has come to recognize this truth.

Although we must be willing to defend truth and honor and righteousness, we must recognize that real truth and honor and righteousness are their own best defense.
As Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free,” John 8:32.

God's Covenant with You

October 18

Excerpt from: God's Covenant with You for Deliverance & Freedom by John Eckhardt,

Being bound by demonic strongholds and oppressive spirits has a way of keeping you in a place of lack and failure. You may have a few high points here and there, but there is no lasting victory and success.

When you are delivered by way of God's grace and mercy you will find breakthrough from the cycles that keep you from lasting success and victory. When you are delivered and set free, you may even find that you will see success in many other areas that on the surface seem to be unrelated to what you were delivered from. Success, victory and breakthrough become a way of life when you see true deliverance and learn to maintain that deliverance.

This is the covenant of God with you—that you will have the full measure of salvation so that you can walk free, have victory, take over the land that God swore to you fathers, and have good success in this life and the life to come. You cannot have good success when you are bound. By way of covenant you can be set free and walk in an abundance of prosperity and success.

Prosperity is not just about riches and fame. Prosperity covers everything that concerns you. When you are prosperous you will not lack in health, relationships, supernatural power to serve and help others, wisdom, insight, knowledge, all the fruit of the Spirit, creativity, strategy for everyday life, as well as all of your needs being met. Do not get caught up into thinking that prosperity means that you will be a famous celebrity mega church pastor or TV evangelist. Prosperity means that you will not lack any good thing the Lord has designed for you.

Joshua 1:8 gives insight on how we can make our way prosperous and have good success—which is essentially how to maintain our freedom and deliverance. The verse says that we must meditate in the Word day and night. This takes discipline, but it will pay off greatly if done consistently. Prosperity is the key benefit to being in covenant with God.

Muttering and meditating upon the Word of God, until it becomes alive in our spirits, is the key to actualizing the promises of God. Muttering (Hebrew hagah, "mutter") upon the Word of God day and night is likened to a tree planted by the rivers of water absorbing and drawing water into its system through its roots (Ps. 1:3).

Meditation is the process of chewing on the Word. We take a scripture, speak it, think on it, and then we do it again. This is the biblical way to get the Word into your system and to receive revelation and understanding. To meditate means "to ponder, regurgitate, think aloud, consider continuously and utter something over and over again." This is exactly what we need to do with the Word of God.

"Meditate" or "muse"—Hebrew word siyach—means to put forth, meditate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing, study, and talk. Your meditation is also what you are speaking, muttering, singing, complaining about, or pondering (see Psalm 5:1).

My meditation is connected to the words of my mouth (Psalm 19:14; Ps. 49:3).
My meditation should cause gladness (Psalm 104:34).
My meditation is on what I love (Psalm 119.97).
My meditation gives understanding (Psalm 119.99).
My meditation brings success (Joshua 1:9).
My meditation is what I delight in (Psalm 1:2).
My meditation is at night (Psalm 63:6)

Joshua 1:8 is the only place the word success is found in the King James translation. Success is the Hebrew word sakal, meaning to be prudent, be circumspect, to act wisely, to understand, to prosper, to give attention to, consider, ponder, to have insight, have comprehension, to act circumspectly, act prudently.

Meditation is connected to wisdom. Meditation will help you access the wisdom of God, and the key to success is wisdom.

Adapted from God's Covenant with You for Deliverance & Freedom by John Eckhardt, copyright 2014, published by Charisma House. Covenant is the foundation of all of God's interactions with us. In fact, success for every part of your life depends on how you respond to God's promises and divine plans for you.

His Judgment Is Righteous by John W. Ritenbaugh

October 17

“Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed,” Amos 2:4.

Law in Amos 2:4 refers to instruction, not legislation and its enforcement. From a verb that means "to throw," its root describes casting lots or throwing dice. When lots or dice were cast, God revealed His will in the way they landed (Proverbs 16:33; see Leviticus 16:8-10; Acts 1:26). At times lots were used in making judgments in criminal cases in which God's will needed to be ascertained (Joshua 7:13-25). Thus, by setting a legal precedent, the casting of lots served to give instruction in other cases in which the same basic principles of behavior were involved. God's will—His law—was taught to His people through the casting of lots.

This instruction process implies a teacher-student relationship. When the Israelites rejected God's instruction contained in His law, they rejected the Instructor as well. Their relationship with Him quickly deteriorated.

Commandment means "to engrave or cut into stone," suggesting its permanence and immutability in contrast to temporary and changeable lies. The law comes from an unchangeable, righteous, and pure God in contrast to fickle and iniquitous men.

Judah's despising of God's law and revelation of Himself was internal—from the heart (Psalm 78:37; 81:11-12; Jeremiah 5:23). The personal and social failures Amos records are evidence that the people had rejected the truth. So it is with us: God wants to change our hearts so He can change our actions and turn around our lives.

In every area of life, Israel perverted the truth of God to accommodate the ideas of men. In the final tally, they loved lies rather than the revelation of God (II Thessalonians 2:11-12). Thus Amos says that God's people despised His law. They made the mistake of devaluing their calling and considered it common. Believing they were God's elect, they thought they were irrevocably saved. With this attitude it was only a matter of time before spiritual and moral complacency set in. As the church of God, we cannot allow ourselves to slip into this attitude because we, too, would fall into immorality.

If that occurs, God must pass judgment because His justice is the same for everybody (Colossians 3:25; I Peter 1:17). God's laws govern the people on the outside as well as the people on the inside. No matter what makes Israel or the church distinctly different, His judgment is always righteous. When God could not change Israel's immorality through His prophets, He had to punish them. So will He punish an apostate church.

It is easy to see why this book is written to the end-time church. The people of America and the British Commonwealth are already in the moral and spiritual condition of the people of Israel and Judah in the time of Amos. Members of God's church come out of such a world. Just as Israel's privileged position became a curse, so will it be for the Christian who ultimately rejects his calling (Hebrews 6:4).

Pronouns and Verbs

October 16

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth," Genesis 1:26.

Seeds of the fact of the triune nature of our God are scattered throughout the scripture and this one in Genesis 1:26 is subtle, yet profound. God is speaking of Himself but He uses the plural nouns ‘us’ and ‘our’ to do so.

Verse 27 goes on to use the singular in reference to God that He, “…created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them;” so there is a certain amount of confusion regarding the number of His person. We who believe God cannot lie and is not in any way duplicitous are sure there is perfect logic behind His choice of words.

In Genesis 1:2, when the earth is formless and void, God spoke and “the Spirit of God moved over the face of the deep,” causing night and day to exist. On the first day of creation, He transformed absolute darkness into the most basic and observable division of time.

In John 1:1 the beloved Apostle says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

In John’s reference to Jesus, the Living Word of God, the same differentiation between darkness and light are used, suggesting that Jesus’ presence at creation accomplished the entry of light into the blackness of night.

Psalm 119:130 says, “The entrance of Your Word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” The psalmist is conveying again the reality that apart from Jesus, the Word of God, there is no real source of illumination. Whether the light He brought to the first day of creation or the light He brings to our first moment of recognition of Him as our Savior and Lord, He is the only One who transforms darkness to light.

And the threads of truth that are woven into these and other passages of scripture affirm that God worked in concert with Himself at creation and has worked in concert with Himself throughout human history to bring errant man to a saving knowledge of the “only name given under Heaven whereby men might be saved,” Acts 4:12. This passage makes it quite clear that there is no salvation in any other name.

As we ponder the complexity of the amazing Lord of Life who spoke and the worlds came to be, may we not allow the intricacy of His person-hood blind us to the essence of WHO HE IS FOR US! Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the salvation that comes to us through Christ at Calvary because His presence at Creation is veiled by the pronouns and verbs of grammar.

Hurricane

There is a hurricane in the Atlantic, nowhere near the coastal town where we are, but the ocean is reacting to the turmoil in its distant reaches. It makes me think of us--people of faith in the Living Christ--who may not be enduring a particularly tumultuous experience in our individual lives but who empathize with our brothers and sisters who are suffering as well as with those outside the faith who are lost in trespasses and sin.

We pray for those who are lost in sin, Ephesians 2:1, 5, because they do not know Jesus. We pray that the Holy Spirit will move upon them and deliver them from the mortal wound of their unbelief.

We pray for those who are sick, Mark 16:18; we implore the Lord in the behalf of those who are wounded in body, mind, or spirit because of the ravages of war; we cry out for God's mercy upon those who are in the cross-hairs of the haters and terrorists of the world; we "pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Psalm 122:6," for we know that when "the least of these,” Matthew 25:40, the brethren of Christ suffer, we are privileged to call their needs before the Throne of Mercy and Grace.

Let us be faithful to supplicate in their behalf faithfully. Let us be confident that the God of all mercy and grace will be merciful and gracious to all who call His name in faith believing (see James 1:6).

Confess Him As Savior and Lord

October 15

At a time when all confidence in 'the American dream' seems nothing more than a fading memory, when a vitriolic enemy desires the destruction of our culture and our traditional religion, when some of our worst enemies are those within, when "wars and rumors of wars," Matthew 24:6, pervade the earth, it is a source of hope to those who pray II Chronicles 7:14 for their nation that there are men of faith who are sharing their conviction that God is not done with America and that this once-godly nation shall be revived and restored.

May each of us add our faith to that of those to whom God has spoken of a coming revival and restoration for America that indeed, this people will bow before Jesus again and confess Him as Savior and Lord.

AMERICA WILL BE SAVED By Troy Anderson

At a time when pollsters say the United States is fast becoming a “post-Christian” nation, international evangelist Reinhard Bonnke believes God has a different vision for the future of America.

Bonnke – whose ministry, Christ for all Nations, has recorded 72 million people responding to the call of salvation in Africa and elsewhere – claims God spoke to him in a dream last year saying, “America will be saved!”

“I’m moving on in years, but I tell you I still want to kick the devil before I kick the bucket,” Bonnke, 73, told thousands of people, mostly youth, gathered recently on the first day of the Jesus Culture Conference in Universal City, Calif. “America will be saved! America will be saved! That’s what the Holy Spirit told me.”

The prediction is similar to one Bonnke made in 1972 when he claimed God told him in a dream, “All Africa shall be saved!”

At the time, like now, many people thought “this was impossible,” Bonnke told the 6,000 people gathered at the event sponsored by Jesus Culture, an international Christian revivalist youth outreach ministry based out of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif.

The ministry – which also operates a popular record label, Jesus Culture Music – is known for its lively spirit-filled conferences, youth dancing during Jesus Culture songs and by its moniker, “A New Breed of Emerging Revivalists.”

Ask God for His divine help in rescuing America.

“Well, you know, after having seen what I’ve seen in Africa, I’m an incurable believer,” Bonnke said. “I believe America will be saved, and we will march toward it, and the Lord will do what only He can do. We will go from stadium to stadium, from city to city, from state to state and from coast to coast in the name of Jesus. Amen!”

Bonnke’s enthusiastic prediction comes as he and a number of major evangelists and ministries –Franklin Graham, Greg Laurie, Chuck Smith, Banning Liebscher and Jesus Culture – are turning their attention toward America in the hope of helping ignite what Graham describes as an end-times “great spiritual awakening.”

“If ever there was a time this country needed the intervention of God, it is now,” Graham wrote in a recent letter to supporters of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. “We can and should pray for America as a whole, but remember that when God sets out to change a nation, He begins by changing people. It starts with individuals. The more I pray, the more deeply I feel that My Hope America is the right outreach for this country today.”

The renewed push for evangelism in America is occurring as a variety of polls show religious affiliation in the U.S. is at its lowest point since it began to be tracked in the 1930s, according to an analysis of newly released survey data by the University of California at Berkeley and Duke University. Last year, one in five Americans claimed they had no religious preference, more than double the number reported in 1990, the researchers found.

The “nones,” as they are being called, are people who claim no faith or say they are unaffiliated with any belief system, according to the Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based evangelical Christian polling firm. Those most likely to be in this apparently growing group include Asians, young people, residents of the Pacific Coast and New England regions, political independents and men.

One common thread in every survey has been the significant number of millennials – those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s – among the “nones.” A Pew Research poll found one-in-three millennials, 32 percent, have no religious affiliation.

Despite these numbers, a recent Barna survey of 18-29 year old Americans with a Christian background found 42 percent are very concerned about their generation leaving the church, and 30 percent say they are “more excited about church than at any time in my life.”

At the recent Jesus Culture Conference, Matagwos Gatbrekristos, 19, of South Pasadena, Calif., said he believes “100 percent with all my heart that America will be saved and we will be here to witness it.”

“I believe every civilization destroys itself, or something from the outside destroys it, and America is a civilization that is on the verge of destroying itself with destructive laws and ungodly entertainment, among other negative encroachments into our society,” said Gatbrekristos, who plans to become an evangelist.

“It’s a nation in decline, but really what I believe now is exactly the opposite – that God wants to work in us, and God wants to work through us, and nothing is impossible as long as it’s all done with a purpose to glorify God and with a purpose to bring people to salvation.”

Others have also expressed similar confidence in Bonnke’s optimistic vision of faith in America. One interviewed said, “I completely agree. I think as long as we are all in complete unity it’s definitely possible. If we all come together it will happen. I mean the awakening is happening now. It’s happening now, and in no time stadiums are going to be definitely filled.”

On the last day of the three-day conference, Jesus Culture Director Banning Liebscher opened the evening at the Gibson Amphitheater by praying that “from coast to coast, from Los Angeles all the way to New York City, God would awaken the hearts of a generation.”

“I believe that is what He wants to release,” Liebscher prayed. “I believe He wants to release faith in your heart for your city. I want you to lift up your voice believing God intends to pour out His Spirit from Los Angeles to New York City, from the West Coast to the East Coast, and He intends to awaken an entire generation.”

Liebscher continued, asking God to “light our hearts on fire for this; I ask that you would consume us with this one message – that Jesus would be made famous in this nation,” he prayed.

After the prayer, an American Bible Society video was shown. In the video, the narrator said that sometimes it seems “our generation is taking a nosedive, that we’re destroying ourselves.”

“Sometimes it feels like we are sinking in the quicksand of our own decisions and our uncertainty. Sometimes it seems like we don’t care, but we do. We are a generation that cares deeply and feels passionately. We are a generation of change-makers and we love and protect and we unite and restore. Our world is not an easy place, but nestled in this place that seems dark and hopeless there is a light and where there is light there is hope.”

After the video, Arthur Satterwhite, a senior program manager at the American Bible Society, told the crowd that the American Bible Society is partnering with Jesus Culture because it wants “to be a part of this movement.”

“This is what prompts us to partner with groups like Jesus Culture – ministries that God has raised up for such a time as this to train you and to send you revivalists back out into the world to be the hands and feet, the power of God, on this earth,” Satterwhite said.

Then, after Satterwhite spoke, Liebscher preached a sermon, saying his goal for the conference was not that people would attend, but rather they would go home and “see revival in your city, revival on your campus and revival in your neighborhood.”

“Look, Liebscher told the crowd. “You are called to change an entire generation. You are called to shape the course of world history.”

Then in his sermon on the first day of the conference, Bonnke told the audience that God is a “God of miracles,” and he witnessed it firsthand – watching as more than 72 million people made decisions for Christ at his crusades in Africa and elsewhere.

“Everything in the Bible is miraculous,” Bonnke said. “Someone said to me, ‘Reinhard, you’re preaching sensation.’ I said, ‘Well, it cannot be avoided. It cannot be avoided because this book is a miracle book. From the beginning to end, it’s all miracles. It cannot be avoided. I don’t believe in sensationalism, but I do believe in the sensational.”

Another time, Bonnke said, a reporter asked him if he had doubts about his faith.

“I said, ‘I do have doubts, sometimes.’ The reporter was amazed. He said, ‘You have doubts?’ ‘Oh yes,’ I said. ‘That cannot be,’ he said. ‘Oh, I have doubts about doubts,’ I said. ‘Why have you always to doubt the truth? Why can’t we doubt the lies of the devil? I have decided to doubt my doubts and I have decided to trust my Jesus.’ Away with doubt and here we are: America will be saved! America will be saved, and you will see it, and you will have a part in it.”

An award-winning reporter, bureau chief, editorial writer and editor at the Los Angeles Daily News, The Press-Enterprise and other newspapers for two decades, Troy Anderson writes for Reuters, WND, Charisma and many other media outlets. He’s also the CEO and editor-in-chief of the World Prophecy Network and HopeRev.org – Online Newsmagazines and Multimedia Ministries Spreading the Hope of Jesus in the End Times. He lives in Irvine, Calif.

Proverbs 22:6

October 14
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it," Proverbs 22:6.

Congressional Prayer Caucus Co-Chairman Randy Forbes:
My Dad Taught Me These Three Valuable Things

Sometimes the best advice doesn't come from a book, from a microphone, from behind a desk in Washington, or even from people who are leaders in their field. Sometimes the best life lessons are found deep in the roots of where we came from. My dad passed away years ago, but I carry with me the lessons he taught me. Three in particular shape my perspective day after day:

Little things make big things happen. Back when I was young, I remember we needed to build a new shed. Those were the days before stores like Home Depot or Lowes existed. Brand new lumber was expensive, so folks often reused materials that others in the community didn't need. That summer, Dad and I used the boards from an old abandoned barn – pulling them down one by one, ripping out the nails, and taking off the tin and straightening it to reuse. We hauled our supplies back to the house and got to work. I don’t know how much of a help I really was, but I chose to stay beside Dad the entire time working alongside him.

The sun was hot that day, and sweat beads formed on our faces. I stood there and handed him every nail that went into that shed – one by one. Dad made me feel proud of my work. Even though I just handed him nails, he always emphasized how we built the new shed “together.” He taught me that when you’re willing to do hard work, even in the little things, big things come together.

Honor your commitments. As a young man, my father carried a pocket-sized Bible in his chest pocket. Shortly before the Normandy invasion in 1944, he prayed for God’s protection and promised God that if he made it home, he would make sure his family attended church every Sunday. Well, he made it home and he kept that promise. I cannot remember a Sunday that Dad did not take my mother, my siblings, and me to church – even when we were away on vacation. I now have my Dad’s pocket Bible. It is one of my most treasured possessions, and it serves as a strong reminder of my dad’s service to his country. But it also serves as a visual representation of my dad's unwavering resolve to keep his commitments.

Today, I place great value on my family and my faith, undoubtedly because of my dad’s example. Those lessons of commitment bleed into all areas of my life, driving my daily defense of faith, family, and freedom.

Listening is a way towards wisdom. My dad and I kept busy doing a lot of things together. But on late summer nights, after dinner, often the whole family would gather on our small screened-in-porch to talk as the sun went down. Sometimes an aunt or uncle would drop by; other times my grandparents would be there. They would talk about neighborhood news, church going-ons, politics -- mostly ordinary things, but it was good to sit there listening and to be together. Part of the family. And, sitting there on the porch as the dusk faded into night, I learned the value of listening and observing. Sometimes taking a moment to pause gives us the best perspective and sometimes we find the best answers simply by listening.

As life in America becomes more elaborate and complex, I like to think back to the simple lessons I learned from my dad. They were the building blocks of my character – the values that still guide me today. Perhaps someone influential in your life taught you life lessons that helped form your character. I’m convinced that our nation could gain a lot by applying these lessons today.

If we did, I think we would be reminded that the reason our nation became great is not merely because we had visionary leaders or eloquent elected officials. Our nation became great because of everyday Americans like my dad -- Americans who have pride in their work, place value on honesty, character, commitment and faith, and who pass those lessons on to their children.

Hold Fast to the Profession of Our Faith

October 13


Godly people must ever be on guard for there is a move among us that would remove our freedom from us. It is not merely our political liberty that is at stake in this 'shell game' that is being played out before us but also our religious liberty, for those who are enemy of one are surely the enemy of the other.


May we stand fast in our precious faith, according to Galatians 5:1, and may we give glory to our Living God who in Christ has set us free. NOTHING is worth the loss of our salvation. Let us not be swept away by deception but let us hold fast to the profession of our faith.

How Tyrants Arise, explained by Plato, 380 BC - a fascinating, in-depth explanation by Plato retold by Bill Federer

Plato was a Greek philosopher who lived in the city-state of Athens. In 380 AD, Plato wrote The Republic, where he described in Books 8 and 9: "States are as the men are; they grow out of human characters. Like State, like man."

The Republic is written as a collection of conversations of Plato's teacher Socrates. It gives insights into human behavior which is amazingly similar to today.

Plato described government going through FIVE STAGES:

(The constitutions of States are five. We count as one Royal and Aristocratical, followed by: Timocratical, Oligarchical, Democratical, Tyrannical.)

Plato's FIRST stage was called Royal or Aristocracy...whom we rightly call just and good. This is government by hard-working, virtuous LOVERS OF TRUTH and WISDOM. These responsible individuals know how to run farms and businesses, and they know how to run city government. A ruler considers...always what is for the interest of his subject...and that alone he considers in everything which he says and does.

The SECOND stage Plato called Timocracy. This was a government run by LOVERS OF HONOR and FAME. Plato wrote: "Now what man answers to this form of government...He is a...lover of honor; claiming to be a ruler...Busy-bodies are honored and applauded..." These may include a popular actor from the Greek theater, or a famous Greek Olympic athlete, or a courageous military hero, or just a political busy-body craving attention. Their desire for honor and fame leaves them susceptible to being swayed by flattery or ridicule. They enter politics with the best of intentions, but having no experience running anything, they yield to AVARICE or covetousness and begin to vote themselves favors out of the city treasury. Such an one will despise riches only when he is young; but as he gets older he will be more and more attracted to them, because he has a piece of the avaricious nature in him, and is not single-minded toward virtue...Not originally of a bad nature, but having kept bad company, is at last brought ...to... contentiousness and passion, and becomes arrogant and ambitious...Is not the passionate element wholly set on ruling...and getting fame? True. Suppose we call it the contentious or ambitious...The love of honor turns to love of money; the conversion is instantaneous. Because they have no means of openly acquiring the money which they prize; they will spend that which is another man's."

This turns into Plato's THIRD stage - an insider clique, a ruling class, called an OLIGARCHY. These are LOVERS OF 'MONEY' and 'GAIN'. They seek money to get into office, then once elected they funnel money and favors to family, friends, constituents and supporters who in turn help them stay in power. The insider ruling class raises taxes on everyone except themselves. They pass laws, but exempt themselves. Plato wrote: They invent illegal modes of expenditure; for what do they or their wives care about the law?...Their fondness for money makes them unwilling to pay taxes...And so they grow richer and richer... the less they think of virtue... and the virtuous are dishonored...Insatiable avarice is the ruling passion of an oligarchy... Oligarchical leaders do not value virtue and are not educated in how to run responsible businesses, as Plato explained: He has had no education, or he would never have allowed the blind god of riches to lead the dance within him...And being uneducated he will have many slavish desires, some beggarly, some knavish, breeding in his soul...If he...has the power to defraud, he will soon prove that he is not without the will, and that his passions are only restrained by fear and not by reason...When he is contending for prizes and other distinctions, he is afraid to incur a loss which is to be repaid only by barren honor...And what are the defects?...Inevitable division... two States, the one of poor, the other of rich men; and they are...always conspiring against one another...The rulers, being aware that their power rests upon their wealth, refuse to curtail...the extravagance of the spendthrift youth because they gain by their ruin...by the ruin of extravagant youth...The ruling class do not want remedies; they care only for money, and are as careless of virtue as the poorest of the citizens...Families have often been reduced to beggary... some of them owe money, some have forfeited their citizenship... Thus men of family often lose their property or rights of citizenship; but they remain in the city, full of hatred against the new owners of their estates and ripe for revolution... They hate and conspire against those who have got their property, and against everybody else, and are eager for revolution.

As frustration grows, the people finally throw out the oligarchs and set up the FOURTH stage - DEMOCRACY. Plato wrote: "Next comes democracy and the democratic man, out of...the oligarchical man...From the least cause, or with none at all, the city falls ill and fights a battle for life or death. And democracy comes into power when the poor are the victors, killing some and exiling some, and giving equal shares in the government to all the rest...The manner of life in such a State is that of democrats; there is freedom and plainness of speech, and every man does what is right in his own eyes, and has his own way of life. Is not the city full of freedom...a man may say and do what he likes?...The great charm is, that you may do as you like; you may govern if you like, let it alone if you like; go to war and make peace if you feel disposed, and all quite irrespective of anybody else. When you condemn men to death they remain alive all the same; a gentleman is desired to go into exile, and he stalks about the streets like a hero; and nobody sees him or cares for him. The State is not one but many, like a bazaar at which you can buy anything. Hence arise the most various developments of character; the State is like a piece of embroidery of which the colors and figures are the manners of men...There will be the greatest variety of human natures...being an embroidered robe which is spangled with every sort of flower...Observe, too, how grandly Democracy sets her foot upon all our fine theories of education,--how little she cares for the training of her statesmen!...DEMOCRACY'S key feature is that everyone becomes a LOVER OF TOLERANCE. Everything and everyone is tolerated equally. Such is democracy; --a pleasing, lawless, various sort of government, distributing equality to equals and unequals alike...Freedom...as they tell you in a democracy, is the glory of the State...”

Plato's student Aristotle stated: "Tolerance is the last virtue of a dying society." Plato warned that unrestrained freedom would eventually lead to licentiousness: "And so the young man passes...into the freedom and libertinism of useless and unnecessary pleasures...In all of us, even in good men, there is a lawless wild-beast nature… Unnecessary pleasures and appetites I conceive to be unlawful...Everyone appears to have them, but in some persons they are controlled... while in...others they are stronger...and there is no conceivable folly or crime --not excepting incest or any other unnatural union... which... when he has parted company with all shame and sense, a man may not be ready to commit...He was supposed from his youth upwards to have been trained under a miserly parent, who encouraged the saving appetites in him... and then he got into the company of a...licentious sort of people, and taking to all their wanton ways rushed into the opposite extreme from an abhorrence of his father's meanness...Neither does he receive...advice; if any one says to him that some pleasures are...of evil desires...he shakes his head...He lives from day to day indulging the appetite of the hour...His life has neither law nor order...he is all liberty and equality...After this manner the democrat was generated out of the oligarch...Can liberty have any limit? Certainly not...By degrees the anarchy finds a way into private houses. The son is on a level with his father, he having no respect or reverence for either of his parents; and this is his freedom...Citizens...chafe impatiently at the least touch of authority... they will have no one over them...Such...is the fair and glorious beginning out of which springs tyranny...Liberty overmasters democracy...the excessive increase of anything often causes a reaction in the opposite direction...The excess of liberty, whether in States or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery...So tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme form of liberty...since the people have no experience running a government, they will follow the example of preceding leaders and yield to AVARICE. They will vote to spread the city's wealth around till the treasury is empty. Then they will vote to take money from the rich: Democracy...of which the insatiable desire brings her to dissolution...Their leaders deprive the rich of their estates and distribute them among the people; at the same time taking care to reserve the larger part for themselves...And the persons whose property is taken from them are compelled to defend themselves before the people as they best can..."Insatiable desire... and... neglect... introduces the change in democracy, which occasions a demand for tyranny...Does not tyranny spring from democracy...Plato described how unrestrained passions lead to financial irresponsibility. With not enough money to go around, bickering and fighting result, leading to chaos and anarchy.

Then people will begin to look for someone to come along and fix this mess. And that is the FIFTH stage - TYRANNY. The TYRANT is a LOVER OF POWER. Plato wrote: Last of all comes...the tyrant...In the early days of his power, he is full of smiles, and he salutes every one whom he meets...making promises in public and also in private, liberating debtors, and distributing land to the people and his followers, and wanting to be so kind and good to every one...This...is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears above ground he is a protector...Hinting at the abolition of debts and partition of lands... he...begins to make a party against the rich...that they may be impoverished by payment of taxes, and thus compelled to devote themselves to their daily wants and therefore less likely to conspire against him...And when a man who is wealthy and is also accused of being an enemy of the people sees...he flees...and is not ashamed to be a coward...the protector then yields to AVARICE and uses his newly acquired power to target his political opponents: And the protector of the people...having a mob entirely at his disposal, he is not restrained from shedding the blood of kinsmen; by the favorite method of false accusation he brings them into court and murders them, making the life of man to disappear, and with unholy tongue and lips tasting the blood of his fellow citizen...And if any of them are suspected by him of having notions of freedom, and of resistance to his authority, he will have a good pretext for destroying them...How then does a protector begin to change into a tyrant?...He begins to grow unpopular...Then comes the famous request for a bodyguard, which is the device of all those who have got thus far in their tyrannical career -Let not the people's friend as they say, be lost to them....The people readily assent; all their fears are for him --they have none for themselves...And...the protector of whom we spoke, is to be seen...the over-thrower of many, standing up in the chariot of State with the reins in his hand, no longer protector, but tyrant absolute...The lion and serpent element in them disproportionately grows and gains strength...The tyrant must be always getting up a war...He is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader...Let us ...inquire how the tyrant will maintain that... ever-changing army of his. If, he said, there are sacred treasures in the city, he will confiscate and spend them...By heaven...the parent will discover what a monster he has been fostering in his bosom; and, when he wants to drive him out, he will find that he is weak and his son strong. Why, you do not mean to say that the tyrant will use violence? What! beat his father if he opposes him? Yes, he will, having first disarmed him. Then he is a parricide, and a cruel guardian of an aged parent; and this is real tyranny...as the saying is, the people who would escape the smoke which is the slavery of freemen, has fallen into the fire which is the tyranny of slaves. Thus liberty, getting out of all order and reason, passes into the harshest and bitterest form of slavery...tyranny is the wretchedest form of government...the longer he lives the more of a tyrant he becomes..."