An example of the passages that abound in Deuteronomy, where God commands instructing the next generation in the wonders and works God has done for us is in chapter 4, verses 7-10:
For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;
Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security...”
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Thomas Jefferson on the Constitution:
“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
C.S. Lewis on the dangers of a ‘benevolent’ government (read ‘health care’):
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
“Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things?”
Let’s not be discouraged by the overwhelming destruction plaguing our nation, and the relatively small amount of change we see happening. As God told Zerubbabel, His ways usually begin with “small things.”
]]>Concerning Mayhew’s sermon on Romans 13, John Adams wrote “It was read by everybody; celebrated by friends, and abused by enemies… It spread an universal alarm against the authority of Parliament. It excited a general and just apprehension, that bishops, and dioceses, and churches, and priests, and tithes, were to be imposed on us by Parliament.”
It was often said that Mayhew’s sermon was the spark which ignited the American Revolution.
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Thomas Paine-
“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
“That government is best which governs least.”
George Washington-
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence- it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
Valeerie Jarrett’s comments on those who are anti-government can be seen and heard at:
http://www.breitbart.tv/obamas-bff-likes-idea-of-simple-booklets-to-educate-typical-tea-partiers/
Below is the same quote with some modern day interpretation:
“The Utopian schemes of leveling (re-distribution of the wealth) and a community of goods (government controlled/central ownership of the means of production and distribution), are as visionary and impractical as those which vest all property in the Crown. [These ideas] are arbitrary (choices and actions which are done not by means of any underlying principle or logic), despotic (ruling with absolute political power), and, in our government, unconstitutional.”
The first two verses from Isaiah 51 referred to in Today’s Minute: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.”
The above painting for Today’s Minute depicts Chaplain Jacob Duche leading the first prayer in the First Continental Congress at Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia… whose prayer we revisited and remembered and thanked God for today.
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