September 7
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures,” James 4:1-3.
If we seek our desires, life will be filled with conflict because everybody who is not surrendered to the will of God for his life is doing the same thing. James seems to be indicating here that the desires of other individuals will conflict with ours, thereby producing arguments, struggle, strife, and war. Because few are willing to compromise, let alone relinquish their desires, conflict will arise as a natural course.
If the parties involved are also unwilling to submit to the central authority, conflicting desires will collide. When there is a central authority that establishes principles within which people can interact agreeably, whether that central authority is the family, the culture, or God’s law, there will be unity. When these unifying entities are rejected in favor of the goals of the individual, conflict. will inevitably arise.
Each of us who professes faith in Christ has an obligation to strive for unity—not just binding together with people whose interests are complimentary to our own but with people of like precious faith who love the Lord we love.
We may find our views on politics, on education, on world events to be 180 degrees apart from theirs, but if we mutually love Jesus, we should be able to interact amicably on mutually-agreeable Kingdom goals.
John 8:32 declares, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free,” and the only truth that has the power to achieve for us the freedom to unite with our brethren who may differ from us is the truth that is eternal—the Truth who says of Himself, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,” John 14:6.
The reality is that the truth cannot set us free if we don’t submit to it. Christ who is ultimate Truth cannot set us free unless we give our will over to His. We must love Truth, we must embrace Truth, we must walk in Truth or we will deny Truth and the only truth we will know will be a counterfeit truth that springs from our own will.
Only Jesus can cause unity to prevail in divergent individuals and He can achieve unity only as each believer surrenders his will to Christ’s. When believers have done that, nothing can cause them to battle among themselves or with those outside the realm of faith—unless the perfect law of the Holy One is the issue that separates them.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
What Will History Say?
September 6
“Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall,” I Corinthians 10:12.
Many people in America and in the West think our civilization will last forever. We think our military might and technological prowess assure the continuation of life as we know and enjoy it. We seem oblivious to the havoc that barbarians from the outside and our own indolence can wreak.
Perhaps the sobering experience of the Roman Empire may shake us from our slumber.
THE FALL OF ROME by Bill Federer
THE FALL OF ROME was a culmination of several external and internal factors:
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
By 220AD, the Later Eastern Han Dynasty had extended sections of the Great Wall of China along its Mongolian border. This resulted in the Northern Huns attacking west instead of east.This caused a domino effect of tribes migrating west across Central Asia, and overrunning the Western Roman Empire.
OPEN BORDERS
Illegal immigrants poured across the Roman borders: Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Anglos, Saxons, Alemanni, Thuringians, Rugians, Jutes, Picts, Burgundians, Lombards, Alans, Vandals, as well as African Berbers and Arab raiders. Will and Ariel Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization (Vol. 3 - Caesar and Christ, Simon & Schuster, 1944, p. 366): "If Rome had not engulfed so many men of alien blood in so brief a time, if she had passed all these newcomers through her schools instead of her slums, if she had treated them as men with a hundred potential excellences, if she had occasionally closed her gates to let assimilation catch up with infiltration, she might have gained new racial and literary vitality from the infusion, and might have remained a Roman Rome, the voice and citadel of the West."
LOSS OF COMMON LANGUAGE
At first immigrants assimilated and learned the Latin language. They worked as servants with many rising to leadership. But then they came so fast they did not learn Latin, but instead created a mix of Latin with their own Germanic, Frankish and Anglo tribal tongues. The unity of the Roman Empire began to dissolve.
THE WELFARE STATE
"Bread and the Circus!" Starting in 123 BC, the immensely powerful Roman politician, Gaius Gracchus began appeasing citizens with welfare, a monthly hand-out of a free dole (handout) of grain. Roman poet Juvenal (circa 100 AD) described how Roman emperors controlled the masses by keeping them ignorant and obsessed with self-indulgence, so that they would be distracted and not throw them out of office, which they might do if they realized the true condition of the Empire: "Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who ONCE UPON A TIME handed out military command, high civil office, legions - everything, NOW restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses." The Durants wrote in The Lessons of History (p. 92): "The concentration of population and poverty in great cities may compel a government to choose between ENFEEBLING THE ECONOMY WITH A DOLE or running the risk of riot and revolution." Welfare and government jobs exploded, as recorded in Great Ages of Man-Barbarian Europe (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 39), one Roman commented: "Those who live at the expense of the public funds are more numerous than those who provide them."
CLASS WARFARE
City centers were abandoned by the upper class, who bought up farms from rural landowners and transformed them into palatial estates. The Durants wrote in The Story of Civilization (Vol. 3-Caesar and Christ, Simon & Schuster, 1944, p.90): "The Roman landowner disappeared now that ownership was concentrated in a few families, and a proletariat without stake in the country filled the slums of Rome." Inner cities were destabilized, being also plagued with lead poisoning, as water was brought in through lead pipes. ("plumb" or "plumbing" is the Latin word for "lead.") The value of human life was low. Slavery and sex-trafficking abounded, especially of captured peoples from Eastern Europe. "Slavs," which meant "glorious" came to have the inglorious meaning of a permanent servant or "slave." (Great Ages, p. 18).
TAXES
Taxes became unbearable, as "collectors became greedy functionaries in a bureaucracy so huge and corrupt." Tax collectors were described by the historian Salvian as "more terrible than the enemy." (Great Ages, p.20). Arther Ferrill wrote in The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation (New York: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1986): "The chief cause of the agricultural decline was high taxation on the marginal land, driving it out of cultivation." There was a loss of patriotism, wealth began to flee the Empire, and with it, the spirit of liberty. President William Henry Harrison warned in his Inaugural Address, 1841: "It was the beautiful remark of a distinguished English writer that 'in the Roman senate Octavius had a party and Antony a party, but the Commonwealth had none'...The spirit of liberty had fled, and, avoiding the abodes of civilized man, had sought protection in the wilds of Scythia or Scandinavia; and so under the operation of the same causes and influences it will fly from our Capitol and our forums." More recently, John F. Kennedy observed, January 6, 1961: "Present tax laws may be stimulating in undue amounts the flow of American capital to industrial countries abroad."
OUTSOURCING
Rome's economy stagnated from a large trade deficit, as grain production was outsourced to North Africa. Gerald Simons wrote in Great Ages of Man-Barbarian Europe (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 39): "As conquerors of North Africa, the Vandals cut off the Empire's grain supply at will. This created critical food shortages, which in turn curtailed Roman counterattacks."
DEBT PRECEDED FALL
Rome was crippled by huge government bureaucracies and enormous public debt. The Durants wrote in The Lessons of History (p. 92): "Huge bureaucratic machinery was unable to govern the empire effectively with the enormous, out-of-control debt." In Great Ages of Man-Barbarian Europe (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 20), Gerald Simons wrote: "The Western Roman economy, already undermined by falling production of the great Roman estates and an unfavorable balance of trade that siphoned off gold to the East, had now run out of money."
SELF-PROMOTING & CORRUPT POLITICIANS
The Durants wrote in The Lessons of History (p. 92): "The educated and skilled pursued business and financial success to the neglect of their involvement in politics." Richard A. Todd wrote in "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (Eerdmans' Handbook to the History of Christianity, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Co., 1977, p. 184): "The church, while preaching against abuses, contributed to the decline by discouraging good Christians from holding public office."
VIOLENT ENTERTAINMENT
The Circus Maximus and Coliseum were packed with crowds of Romans engrossed with violent entertainment, games, chariot races, and until 404 AD, gladiators fighting to the death. Gerald Simons wrote in Great Ages of Man-Barbarian Europe (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 20): "In the causal brutality of its public spectacles, in a rampant immorality that even Christianity could not check."
EXPOSURE OF UNWANTED INFANTS
Roman demographics changed as families had fewer children. Some would sell unwanted children into slavery or leave them outside exposed to the weather to die, as was the practice till 374AD. The Durants wrote in The Story of Civilization, Vol. 3-Caesar and Christ (Simon & Schuster, 1944, p. 134): "Children were now luxuries which only the poor could afford."
IMMORALITY
Rome was corrupted with court favoritism, the patronage system, injustice in the legal system, infidelity, perverted bathhouses, sexual immorality, gluttony, and gymnasiums ("gym" being the Greek word for naked). 5th-Century historian Salvian wrote: "For all the lurid Roman tales of their atrocities...the barbarians displayed...a good deal more fidelity to their wives." (Great Ages, p. 13.) Salvian continued: "O Roman people be ashamed; be ashamed of your lives. Almost no cities are free of evil dens, are altogether free of impurities, except the cities in which the barbarians have begun to live...Let nobody think otherwise, the vices of our bad lives have alone conquered us...The Goths lie, but are chaste, the Franks lie, but are generous, the Saxons are savage in cruelty...but are admirable in chastity...What hope can there be for the Romans when the barbarians are more pure than they? Samuel Adams wrote to John Scollay of Boston, April 30, 1776: "The diminution of public virtue is usually attended with that of public happiness, and the public liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals. 'The Roman Empire,' says the historian, 'must have sunk, though the Goths had not invaded it. Why? Because the Roman virtue was sunk.'"
MILITARY CUTS
Though militarily superior and marching on advanced road systems, the highly trained Roman Legions were strained fighting conflicts from the Rhine River to the Sassanid Persian Empire. Roman borders were over-extended and the military defending them was cut back to dangerously low ranks. The Durants wrote in The Story of Civilization (Vol. 3-Caesar and Christ, Simon & Schuster, 1944, p.90): "The new generation, having inherited world mastery, had no time or inclination to defend it; that readiness for war which had characterized the Roman landowner disappeared."
TERRORIST ATTACKS
Called the "Scourge of God," Attila the Hun was thought to be the anti-christ as he devastated Europe with his half-million warriors. Aquileia, one of the largest cities in the world at the time, was so completely destroyed that inhabitants ran into the ocean, hammered down logs and lived on platforms which grew into the city of Venice. Saint Genevieve called Paris to pray in 451 AD and for some reason Attila turned aside sparing the city. Pope Leo rode out to meet Attila in 452AD, and persuaded him not to sack Rome, delaying the the city's fall 24 more years. Finally the barbarian Chieftain Odoacer attacked. Rome is considered to have officially fallen on SEPTEMBER 4, 476 AD.
All of this has happened, is happening, or threatens to happen here soon. Will we awake to the imminent danger before us or will we sleep our way into oblivion? Had the Romans not destroyed themselves from within, they would have been invincible to an outside enemy. Will history say the same thing about the United States?
“Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall,” I Corinthians 10:12.
Many people in America and in the West think our civilization will last forever. We think our military might and technological prowess assure the continuation of life as we know and enjoy it. We seem oblivious to the havoc that barbarians from the outside and our own indolence can wreak.
Perhaps the sobering experience of the Roman Empire may shake us from our slumber.
THE FALL OF ROME by Bill Federer
THE FALL OF ROME was a culmination of several external and internal factors:
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
By 220AD, the Later Eastern Han Dynasty had extended sections of the Great Wall of China along its Mongolian border. This resulted in the Northern Huns attacking west instead of east.This caused a domino effect of tribes migrating west across Central Asia, and overrunning the Western Roman Empire.
OPEN BORDERS
Illegal immigrants poured across the Roman borders: Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Anglos, Saxons, Alemanni, Thuringians, Rugians, Jutes, Picts, Burgundians, Lombards, Alans, Vandals, as well as African Berbers and Arab raiders. Will and Ariel Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization (Vol. 3 - Caesar and Christ, Simon & Schuster, 1944, p. 366): "If Rome had not engulfed so many men of alien blood in so brief a time, if she had passed all these newcomers through her schools instead of her slums, if she had treated them as men with a hundred potential excellences, if she had occasionally closed her gates to let assimilation catch up with infiltration, she might have gained new racial and literary vitality from the infusion, and might have remained a Roman Rome, the voice and citadel of the West."
LOSS OF COMMON LANGUAGE
At first immigrants assimilated and learned the Latin language. They worked as servants with many rising to leadership. But then they came so fast they did not learn Latin, but instead created a mix of Latin with their own Germanic, Frankish and Anglo tribal tongues. The unity of the Roman Empire began to dissolve.
THE WELFARE STATE
"Bread and the Circus!" Starting in 123 BC, the immensely powerful Roman politician, Gaius Gracchus began appeasing citizens with welfare, a monthly hand-out of a free dole (handout) of grain. Roman poet Juvenal (circa 100 AD) described how Roman emperors controlled the masses by keeping them ignorant and obsessed with self-indulgence, so that they would be distracted and not throw them out of office, which they might do if they realized the true condition of the Empire: "Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who ONCE UPON A TIME handed out military command, high civil office, legions - everything, NOW restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses." The Durants wrote in The Lessons of History (p. 92): "The concentration of population and poverty in great cities may compel a government to choose between ENFEEBLING THE ECONOMY WITH A DOLE or running the risk of riot and revolution." Welfare and government jobs exploded, as recorded in Great Ages of Man-Barbarian Europe (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 39), one Roman commented: "Those who live at the expense of the public funds are more numerous than those who provide them."
CLASS WARFARE
City centers were abandoned by the upper class, who bought up farms from rural landowners and transformed them into palatial estates. The Durants wrote in The Story of Civilization (Vol. 3-Caesar and Christ, Simon & Schuster, 1944, p.90): "The Roman landowner disappeared now that ownership was concentrated in a few families, and a proletariat without stake in the country filled the slums of Rome." Inner cities were destabilized, being also plagued with lead poisoning, as water was brought in through lead pipes. ("plumb" or "plumbing" is the Latin word for "lead.") The value of human life was low. Slavery and sex-trafficking abounded, especially of captured peoples from Eastern Europe. "Slavs," which meant "glorious" came to have the inglorious meaning of a permanent servant or "slave." (Great Ages, p. 18).
TAXES
Taxes became unbearable, as "collectors became greedy functionaries in a bureaucracy so huge and corrupt." Tax collectors were described by the historian Salvian as "more terrible than the enemy." (Great Ages, p.20). Arther Ferrill wrote in The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation (New York: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1986): "The chief cause of the agricultural decline was high taxation on the marginal land, driving it out of cultivation." There was a loss of patriotism, wealth began to flee the Empire, and with it, the spirit of liberty. President William Henry Harrison warned in his Inaugural Address, 1841: "It was the beautiful remark of a distinguished English writer that 'in the Roman senate Octavius had a party and Antony a party, but the Commonwealth had none'...The spirit of liberty had fled, and, avoiding the abodes of civilized man, had sought protection in the wilds of Scythia or Scandinavia; and so under the operation of the same causes and influences it will fly from our Capitol and our forums." More recently, John F. Kennedy observed, January 6, 1961: "Present tax laws may be stimulating in undue amounts the flow of American capital to industrial countries abroad."
OUTSOURCING
Rome's economy stagnated from a large trade deficit, as grain production was outsourced to North Africa. Gerald Simons wrote in Great Ages of Man-Barbarian Europe (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 39): "As conquerors of North Africa, the Vandals cut off the Empire's grain supply at will. This created critical food shortages, which in turn curtailed Roman counterattacks."
DEBT PRECEDED FALL
Rome was crippled by huge government bureaucracies and enormous public debt. The Durants wrote in The Lessons of History (p. 92): "Huge bureaucratic machinery was unable to govern the empire effectively with the enormous, out-of-control debt." In Great Ages of Man-Barbarian Europe (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 20), Gerald Simons wrote: "The Western Roman economy, already undermined by falling production of the great Roman estates and an unfavorable balance of trade that siphoned off gold to the East, had now run out of money."
SELF-PROMOTING & CORRUPT POLITICIANS
The Durants wrote in The Lessons of History (p. 92): "The educated and skilled pursued business and financial success to the neglect of their involvement in politics." Richard A. Todd wrote in "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (Eerdmans' Handbook to the History of Christianity, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Co., 1977, p. 184): "The church, while preaching against abuses, contributed to the decline by discouraging good Christians from holding public office."
VIOLENT ENTERTAINMENT
The Circus Maximus and Coliseum were packed with crowds of Romans engrossed with violent entertainment, games, chariot races, and until 404 AD, gladiators fighting to the death. Gerald Simons wrote in Great Ages of Man-Barbarian Europe (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 20): "In the causal brutality of its public spectacles, in a rampant immorality that even Christianity could not check."
EXPOSURE OF UNWANTED INFANTS
Roman demographics changed as families had fewer children. Some would sell unwanted children into slavery or leave them outside exposed to the weather to die, as was the practice till 374AD. The Durants wrote in The Story of Civilization, Vol. 3-Caesar and Christ (Simon & Schuster, 1944, p. 134): "Children were now luxuries which only the poor could afford."
IMMORALITY
Rome was corrupted with court favoritism, the patronage system, injustice in the legal system, infidelity, perverted bathhouses, sexual immorality, gluttony, and gymnasiums ("gym" being the Greek word for naked). 5th-Century historian Salvian wrote: "For all the lurid Roman tales of their atrocities...the barbarians displayed...a good deal more fidelity to their wives." (Great Ages, p. 13.) Salvian continued: "O Roman people be ashamed; be ashamed of your lives. Almost no cities are free of evil dens, are altogether free of impurities, except the cities in which the barbarians have begun to live...Let nobody think otherwise, the vices of our bad lives have alone conquered us...The Goths lie, but are chaste, the Franks lie, but are generous, the Saxons are savage in cruelty...but are admirable in chastity...What hope can there be for the Romans when the barbarians are more pure than they? Samuel Adams wrote to John Scollay of Boston, April 30, 1776: "The diminution of public virtue is usually attended with that of public happiness, and the public liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals. 'The Roman Empire,' says the historian, 'must have sunk, though the Goths had not invaded it. Why? Because the Roman virtue was sunk.'"
MILITARY CUTS
Though militarily superior and marching on advanced road systems, the highly trained Roman Legions were strained fighting conflicts from the Rhine River to the Sassanid Persian Empire. Roman borders were over-extended and the military defending them was cut back to dangerously low ranks. The Durants wrote in The Story of Civilization (Vol. 3-Caesar and Christ, Simon & Schuster, 1944, p.90): "The new generation, having inherited world mastery, had no time or inclination to defend it; that readiness for war which had characterized the Roman landowner disappeared."
TERRORIST ATTACKS
Called the "Scourge of God," Attila the Hun was thought to be the anti-christ as he devastated Europe with his half-million warriors. Aquileia, one of the largest cities in the world at the time, was so completely destroyed that inhabitants ran into the ocean, hammered down logs and lived on platforms which grew into the city of Venice. Saint Genevieve called Paris to pray in 451 AD and for some reason Attila turned aside sparing the city. Pope Leo rode out to meet Attila in 452AD, and persuaded him not to sack Rome, delaying the the city's fall 24 more years. Finally the barbarian Chieftain Odoacer attacked. Rome is considered to have officially fallen on SEPTEMBER 4, 476 AD.
All of this has happened, is happening, or threatens to happen here soon. Will we awake to the imminent danger before us or will we sleep our way into oblivion? Had the Romans not destroyed themselves from within, they would have been invincible to an outside enemy. Will history say the same thing about the United States?
Friday, September 5, 2014
Society without Religion Is a Ship without a Compass
September 5
Here is a brief reflection upon the life of Napoleon and upon his views of Christ and Christianity. The following is authored by Bill Federer.
'There is between Christianity and whatever other religions the distance of infinity' -Napoleon
After the French Revolution, a slave revolt resulted in France's loss of Haiti (Saint-Domingue), one of the world's main producers of sugar. Desiring to replace it with another tropical colony in order to compete with Britain's India, the French General Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798.
Napoleon defeated the Egyptian Mamluk slave cavalry in just a few weeks. Napoleon then attempted to introduce democracy, equality and liberty but found there were no words in the Arabic language to convey such concepts, as the people had been ruled by the sword for centuries.
Napoleon uncovered the Pyramid treasures, the Rosetta Stone and conquered into Palestine. After losing the Battle of the Nile to Britain, Napoleon eventually had to return to France.
Napoleon, who was born AUGUST 15, 1769, conquered across Europe, including the countries of Italy, Austria, Poland, German States, Holland, Denmark and Norway. Napoleon's use of mobile artillery and the military tactic of 'envelopment' resulted in him being considered one of the greatest military commanders of all time.
Napoleon spread the metric system where all measurements were divisible by ten. He instituted a civil-legal system called the Napoleonic Code, which emancipated Catholics in Protestant countries and Protestants in Catholic countries, as well as Jews across Europe.
Fearing Haiti's slave rebellion would spread to the French Louisiana Territory, and badly needing money for his Army, Napoleon sold a million square miles of land to the United States in 1803 - the "Louisiana Purchase."
Napoleon hired Muslim Mamluk cavalry to invade Spain, but the draining Pennisular War resulted in Mexico declaring Independence.
Napoleon invaded Russia in June of 1812 with 400,000 men, six months later he retreated with only 40,000. The loss of French troops and his defeat at Leipzig led to Napoleon's abdication and exile on the Island of Elba in 1813.
After a year, he escaped and again took control of France for another 100 days, but lost the Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815. During the 17 years of Napoleonic Wars, an estimated 6 million Europeans died.
In October 1815, Napoleon was banished to the South Atlantic Island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821 at the age of 52.
Prior to his death, he reflected upon his life. Napoleon dictated his "Mémoires" to General de Montholon, Baron Gourgaud and General Bertrand. His conversations were written down by Emmanuel de Las Cases in Memorial de Sainte Hélène (published 1823).
Napoleon had complained to Montholon of not having a chaplain, resulting in Pope Pius VII petitioning England to allow Abbé Vignali to be sent. Napoleon read out loud the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
Affirming his belief in God, Napoleon told Montholon:
"I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man."
He went on: “Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires, and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and whatever other religions the distance of infinity...
“His religion is a revelation from an intelligence which certainly is not that of man"
Napoleon continued telling Montholon:
"The religion of Christ is a mystery which subsists by its own force, and proceeds from a mind which is not a human mind. We find in it a marked individuality, which originated a train of words and actions unknown before..."
Napoleon added:
"Jesus is not a philosopher, for His proofs are miracles, and from the first His disciples adored Him. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but upon what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force! But Jesus Christ founded His upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."
Napoleon stated: "The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."
Napoleon once told a Milan parish priest in 1797: "Society without religion is like a ship without a compass."
Here is a brief reflection upon the life of Napoleon and upon his views of Christ and Christianity. The following is authored by Bill Federer.
'There is between Christianity and whatever other religions the distance of infinity' -Napoleon
After the French Revolution, a slave revolt resulted in France's loss of Haiti (Saint-Domingue), one of the world's main producers of sugar. Desiring to replace it with another tropical colony in order to compete with Britain's India, the French General Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798.
Napoleon defeated the Egyptian Mamluk slave cavalry in just a few weeks. Napoleon then attempted to introduce democracy, equality and liberty but found there were no words in the Arabic language to convey such concepts, as the people had been ruled by the sword for centuries.
Napoleon uncovered the Pyramid treasures, the Rosetta Stone and conquered into Palestine. After losing the Battle of the Nile to Britain, Napoleon eventually had to return to France.
Napoleon, who was born AUGUST 15, 1769, conquered across Europe, including the countries of Italy, Austria, Poland, German States, Holland, Denmark and Norway. Napoleon's use of mobile artillery and the military tactic of 'envelopment' resulted in him being considered one of the greatest military commanders of all time.
Napoleon spread the metric system where all measurements were divisible by ten. He instituted a civil-legal system called the Napoleonic Code, which emancipated Catholics in Protestant countries and Protestants in Catholic countries, as well as Jews across Europe.
Fearing Haiti's slave rebellion would spread to the French Louisiana Territory, and badly needing money for his Army, Napoleon sold a million square miles of land to the United States in 1803 - the "Louisiana Purchase."
Napoleon hired Muslim Mamluk cavalry to invade Spain, but the draining Pennisular War resulted in Mexico declaring Independence.
Napoleon invaded Russia in June of 1812 with 400,000 men, six months later he retreated with only 40,000. The loss of French troops and his defeat at Leipzig led to Napoleon's abdication and exile on the Island of Elba in 1813.
After a year, he escaped and again took control of France for another 100 days, but lost the Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815. During the 17 years of Napoleonic Wars, an estimated 6 million Europeans died.
In October 1815, Napoleon was banished to the South Atlantic Island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821 at the age of 52.
Prior to his death, he reflected upon his life. Napoleon dictated his "Mémoires" to General de Montholon, Baron Gourgaud and General Bertrand. His conversations were written down by Emmanuel de Las Cases in Memorial de Sainte Hélène (published 1823).
Napoleon had complained to Montholon of not having a chaplain, resulting in Pope Pius VII petitioning England to allow Abbé Vignali to be sent. Napoleon read out loud the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
Affirming his belief in God, Napoleon told Montholon:
"I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man."
He went on: “Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires, and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and whatever other religions the distance of infinity...
“His religion is a revelation from an intelligence which certainly is not that of man"
Napoleon continued telling Montholon:
"The religion of Christ is a mystery which subsists by its own force, and proceeds from a mind which is not a human mind. We find in it a marked individuality, which originated a train of words and actions unknown before..."
Napoleon added:
"Jesus is not a philosopher, for His proofs are miracles, and from the first His disciples adored Him. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but upon what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force! But Jesus Christ founded His upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."
Napoleon stated: "The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."
Napoleon once told a Milan parish priest in 1797: "Society without religion is like a ship without a compass."
Thursday, September 4, 2014
To Whom Shall We Bow?
September 4
“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men,’” Acts 5:29.
Peter’s words to the High Priest followed a remarkable demonstration of the power of Christ through His disciples. It came after His resurrection and after He told them that the signs and miracles He had done would be replicated by them (see John 14:12).
In Acts 5:12-28 we see another early fulfillment of that promise:
“The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
“As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.
“Then the High Priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
"‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ;and tell the people all about this new life.’
“At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 'We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.'
“On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.
“Then someone came and said, ‘Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.’
“At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the High Priest.
"‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’”
Peter’s response as stated above, may be required of us at some point in the not-too-distant future. It doesn’t take a Constitutional scholar to recognize that our rights are being abrogated by an over-reaching government. It doesn’t take an intense study of the nightly news to recognize that our country, once brave and free, our government, once “of the people, by the people, for the people,” is, to paraphrase Lincoln, “perishing from the earth.”
When the jack-booted thugs come for us because we are steadfast in our allegiance to a Heavenly Kingdom rather than to the inglorious potentates of earth, what shall we do? Shall we bow and scrape before them to preserve our lives?
What shall we do when required to support the inane banality of traitorous law-makers? Will we be like the crowd of people in the children’s story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” who ooohed and aaahhed over the 'fine attire' of the emperor who was in fact naked?
Or shall we stand to boldly proclaim that our rights are being swept away and that the police forces whose job is to protect the citizenry have become a military force to subjugate us to tyranny!
Unless we stand in truth as Peter did, unless we are willing to lay down our “lives, our fortune and our sacred honor,” as our founding fathers did when this country was established, we shall be the last generation of free people to occupy this land; our progeny shall be enslaved by the wicked chains of godless oppressors.
“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men,’” Acts 5:29.
Peter’s words to the High Priest followed a remarkable demonstration of the power of Christ through His disciples. It came after His resurrection and after He told them that the signs and miracles He had done would be replicated by them (see John 14:12).
In Acts 5:12-28 we see another early fulfillment of that promise:
“The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
“As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.
“Then the High Priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
"‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ;and tell the people all about this new life.’
“At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 'We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.'
“On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.
“Then someone came and said, ‘Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.’
“At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the High Priest.
"‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’”
Peter’s response as stated above, may be required of us at some point in the not-too-distant future. It doesn’t take a Constitutional scholar to recognize that our rights are being abrogated by an over-reaching government. It doesn’t take an intense study of the nightly news to recognize that our country, once brave and free, our government, once “of the people, by the people, for the people,” is, to paraphrase Lincoln, “perishing from the earth.”
When the jack-booted thugs come for us because we are steadfast in our allegiance to a Heavenly Kingdom rather than to the inglorious potentates of earth, what shall we do? Shall we bow and scrape before them to preserve our lives?
What shall we do when required to support the inane banality of traitorous law-makers? Will we be like the crowd of people in the children’s story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” who ooohed and aaahhed over the 'fine attire' of the emperor who was in fact naked?
Or shall we stand to boldly proclaim that our rights are being swept away and that the police forces whose job is to protect the citizenry have become a military force to subjugate us to tyranny!
Unless we stand in truth as Peter did, unless we are willing to lay down our “lives, our fortune and our sacred honor,” as our founding fathers did when this country was established, we shall be the last generation of free people to occupy this land; our progeny shall be enslaved by the wicked chains of godless oppressors.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
That Terrible Cost
September 3
"The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land,” Ezekiel 8:12.
"I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," Revelation 3:17.
The above verses convey a sense of smug confidence that the Lord neither sees nor cares about the behavior or the attitude of men. The individuals represented by this line of thought evidence a security rooted in their complacency, a security that is not troubled by sin because God seems not to notice it.
But the Word does address this kind of indifference to the law and the heart of the Holy One in I Corinthians 10:12 where Paul conveys the sobering admonition, “Let Him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
There is a day coming when each person who has ever dwelt in a tabernacle of flesh will be held accountable for not only his actions but also for his words and his thoughts. There is a day coming when each nation will be judged by how it has surrendered to the tenets of the Lord.
Those who think their wealth will keep them secure from accountability will discover--contrary to their self-assurance that they needed nothing--they were instead “poor and wretched and blind and naked,” Revelation 3:17. Those who are citizens of wealthy nations will feel the earth shake under their feet just as will those who are impoverished when that day comes when “everything that can be shaken will be shaken,” Hebrews 12:27, “and only what cannot be shaken will remain.”
It is sobering to contemplate the ramifications of the clear warnings of scripture that a time of accountability is coming for everyone. Whether each individual confronts that day individually upon his demise or whether they are caught up in that “great and terrible day of the Lord,” Malachi 4:5, before which our God will endeavor to restore the hearts of His people to the truths learned from our fathers, those who turn away from His truth will be judged and found wanting.
As stated in Ecclesiastes 8:11: "Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil," man has become entrenched in his folly because it appears there is no accountability for wrongdoing; but in this presumption, man is sorely in error.
Habakkuk 2:3 states quite clearly, “The promise is for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come.” God’s word is steadfast and true. “His promises are yea and amen,” II Corinthians 1:20. When man turns his back on the Lord, there is a price to pay and man shall be held accountable for all his transgressions if he has not bowed before the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and placed every wicked thing he has ever done under the blood of the Lamb.
God does see—He sees beyond wealth and power, He sees beyond poverty and impotence--and He has not forsaken His law. If a man hasn’t received Jesus’ payment for the law in his behalf, that man will be required to pay the penalty for it on his own, and no one is wealthy enough to afford that terrible cost.
"The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land,” Ezekiel 8:12.
"I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," Revelation 3:17.
The above verses convey a sense of smug confidence that the Lord neither sees nor cares about the behavior or the attitude of men. The individuals represented by this line of thought evidence a security rooted in their complacency, a security that is not troubled by sin because God seems not to notice it.
But the Word does address this kind of indifference to the law and the heart of the Holy One in I Corinthians 10:12 where Paul conveys the sobering admonition, “Let Him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
There is a day coming when each person who has ever dwelt in a tabernacle of flesh will be held accountable for not only his actions but also for his words and his thoughts. There is a day coming when each nation will be judged by how it has surrendered to the tenets of the Lord.
Those who think their wealth will keep them secure from accountability will discover--contrary to their self-assurance that they needed nothing--they were instead “poor and wretched and blind and naked,” Revelation 3:17. Those who are citizens of wealthy nations will feel the earth shake under their feet just as will those who are impoverished when that day comes when “everything that can be shaken will be shaken,” Hebrews 12:27, “and only what cannot be shaken will remain.”
It is sobering to contemplate the ramifications of the clear warnings of scripture that a time of accountability is coming for everyone. Whether each individual confronts that day individually upon his demise or whether they are caught up in that “great and terrible day of the Lord,” Malachi 4:5, before which our God will endeavor to restore the hearts of His people to the truths learned from our fathers, those who turn away from His truth will be judged and found wanting.
As stated in Ecclesiastes 8:11: "Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil," man has become entrenched in his folly because it appears there is no accountability for wrongdoing; but in this presumption, man is sorely in error.
Habakkuk 2:3 states quite clearly, “The promise is for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come.” God’s word is steadfast and true. “His promises are yea and amen,” II Corinthians 1:20. When man turns his back on the Lord, there is a price to pay and man shall be held accountable for all his transgressions if he has not bowed before the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and placed every wicked thing he has ever done under the blood of the Lamb.
God does see—He sees beyond wealth and power, He sees beyond poverty and impotence--and He has not forsaken His law. If a man hasn’t received Jesus’ payment for the law in his behalf, that man will be required to pay the penalty for it on his own, and no one is wealthy enough to afford that terrible cost.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Take Heed
September 2
"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man," Luke 21:34-36.
This is a reiteration of the Lord’s warning in Matthew 24:44 and in Luke 12:40, “At an hour when you think not, the Son of Man shall come.” We are put on our guard about the promise that, after over 2000 years is yet unfulfilled. We are given notice that the human mindset that immediately precedes His return will be one of doubt.
And perhaps ‘doubt’ is too mild a word. Perhaps it should be stated, ‘The human mindset that immediately precedes His return will be one of disbelief.” Indeed, we in the Christian world have allowed ourselves to become aloof from our heritage of faith. We have allowed ourselves to become complacent, even indifferent, to the truth our forefathers were willing to die to espouse.
The founding fathers of the United States of America were willing to pledge their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor in order to establish a country free of governmental tyranny, and we, their spiritual sons, are oblivious to the sacrifices they were willing to make because our history books have been so ‘dumbed down’ that we don’t even read about them anymore.
The exploits of our fathers in the faith are also relegated to the ash heap of history. We no longer study church history to be aware of the resolute and steadfast bravery with which the Apostles and those who followed them proclaimed the gospel. We hardly ponder the violent deaths they were willing to die in order that we might “know the truth that sets us free,” John 8:32.
We are too busy with the nothingness of our daily lives to ponder long upon the sacrifices of a group of men who were willing to lay everything upon the Altar of Freedom and Salvation. If we don’t investigate the truth that sets us free from oppression, how can we teach it to our children?
Deuteronomy 11:19-20 makes God’s command in the matter quite clear: “You shall therefore impress these words of Mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the door-posts of your house and on your gates, so your days and the days of your children shall be many in the land the Lord your God shall give you.”
We must begin again to “take heed” of ourselves. We must not be unchallenged by the admonitions of the Lord. Rather, we must take seriously His commands and drink in His truth and consume His words. If we want to live as a people, if we hope to survive as a culture, it behooves us to partake of the Word that sets us free and to share of the gospel of Christ’s good news among all our fellow sojourners through life.
"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man," Luke 21:34-36.
This is a reiteration of the Lord’s warning in Matthew 24:44 and in Luke 12:40, “At an hour when you think not, the Son of Man shall come.” We are put on our guard about the promise that, after over 2000 years is yet unfulfilled. We are given notice that the human mindset that immediately precedes His return will be one of doubt.
And perhaps ‘doubt’ is too mild a word. Perhaps it should be stated, ‘The human mindset that immediately precedes His return will be one of disbelief.” Indeed, we in the Christian world have allowed ourselves to become aloof from our heritage of faith. We have allowed ourselves to become complacent, even indifferent, to the truth our forefathers were willing to die to espouse.
The founding fathers of the United States of America were willing to pledge their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor in order to establish a country free of governmental tyranny, and we, their spiritual sons, are oblivious to the sacrifices they were willing to make because our history books have been so ‘dumbed down’ that we don’t even read about them anymore.
The exploits of our fathers in the faith are also relegated to the ash heap of history. We no longer study church history to be aware of the resolute and steadfast bravery with which the Apostles and those who followed them proclaimed the gospel. We hardly ponder the violent deaths they were willing to die in order that we might “know the truth that sets us free,” John 8:32.
We are too busy with the nothingness of our daily lives to ponder long upon the sacrifices of a group of men who were willing to lay everything upon the Altar of Freedom and Salvation. If we don’t investigate the truth that sets us free from oppression, how can we teach it to our children?
Deuteronomy 11:19-20 makes God’s command in the matter quite clear: “You shall therefore impress these words of Mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the door-posts of your house and on your gates, so your days and the days of your children shall be many in the land the Lord your God shall give you.”
We must begin again to “take heed” of ourselves. We must not be unchallenged by the admonitions of the Lord. Rather, we must take seriously His commands and drink in His truth and consume His words. If we want to live as a people, if we hope to survive as a culture, it behooves us to partake of the Word that sets us free and to share of the gospel of Christ’s good news among all our fellow sojourners through life.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Psalm of Protection
September 1
Our world is fraught with danger. There are wars and rumors of wars. There are terrorist hordes whose intent is to brutally annihilate everyone who does not subscribe to their concept of god and his purposes. Plagues are devastating whole populations. There are natural disasters on an intensified level.
The suffering of mankind is unabated in spite of great medical strides and technological advancements. According to the Biblical prophecy, “They shall cry, ‘Peace! Peace!’ but there is no peace,” Jeremiah 6:14, Jeremiah 8:11.
It seems the dire prophetic word, “When they are crying, ‘Peace and safety,’ then shall sudden destruction come upon them,” I Thessalonians 5:3, is even at the threshold of life as we know it. According to Luke 21:26, “Men's hearts are failing them for fear, because they are looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”
Yet, we who believe in the power and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ stand on His assurance that, “When these things come to pass, look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draws near,” Luke 21:28. We believe in the God who promises to hide His own people who love Him “under the shadow of His wing,” Psalm 17:8; that we shall be “kept as the apple of His eye.”
Psalm 91 delineates His assurances that His people shall be safe in Him but even if overtaken by the devastation wreaked by the forces of the evil one, still there is a promise that the life of His people transcends time and embraces eternity.
Psalm 91:
He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand shall fall at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you behold the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 12 They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under your feet. 14 Because you have set your love upon Me, therefore will I deliver you: I will set you on high, because you have known My name.
15 You shall call upon Me, and I will answer you; I will be with you in trouble; I will deliver you, and honor you.
16 With long life will I satisfy you, and shew you My salvation.
Our world is fraught with danger. There are wars and rumors of wars. There are terrorist hordes whose intent is to brutally annihilate everyone who does not subscribe to their concept of god and his purposes. Plagues are devastating whole populations. There are natural disasters on an intensified level.
The suffering of mankind is unabated in spite of great medical strides and technological advancements. According to the Biblical prophecy, “They shall cry, ‘Peace! Peace!’ but there is no peace,” Jeremiah 6:14, Jeremiah 8:11.
It seems the dire prophetic word, “When they are crying, ‘Peace and safety,’ then shall sudden destruction come upon them,” I Thessalonians 5:3, is even at the threshold of life as we know it. According to Luke 21:26, “Men's hearts are failing them for fear, because they are looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”
Yet, we who believe in the power and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ stand on His assurance that, “When these things come to pass, look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draws near,” Luke 21:28. We believe in the God who promises to hide His own people who love Him “under the shadow of His wing,” Psalm 17:8; that we shall be “kept as the apple of His eye.”
Psalm 91 delineates His assurances that His people shall be safe in Him but even if overtaken by the devastation wreaked by the forces of the evil one, still there is a promise that the life of His people transcends time and embraces eternity.
Psalm 91:
He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand shall fall at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you behold the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 12 They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under your feet. 14 Because you have set your love upon Me, therefore will I deliver you: I will set you on high, because you have known My name.
15 You shall call upon Me, and I will answer you; I will be with you in trouble; I will deliver you, and honor you.
16 With long life will I satisfy you, and shew you My salvation.
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