Thursday, March 31, 2011

Liberty Day History Display from 2010--pt. 5


Deism: The Driving Religion of the French Revolution


Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:21, KJV)


The prevailing worldview held by those involved in the French Revolution was that of deism. While deists acknowledge that a supreme being created the universe, they typically reject the existence of miracles and God’s governance in the affairs of men. A deist holds to man’s reason and observation as the highest authority, while failing to acknowledge that it is the God of the Bible who makes that reason and observation possible. This philosophy fits well with the French Revolution of glorifying man and his achievements.


The French people were highly influenced by the principles of deism and the Enlightenment, including the writings of American Thomas Paine. While not being well-liked within the American colonies, the works of Paine were widely accepted among the French. Paine became well known for his book The Age of Reason, which promoted gaining truth apart from God’s divine revelation. We know from Holy Scripture that God opposes the proud (James 4:6). In looking at the French Revolution, we see that man was placing his own ideas above those of the Lord. The result was that this war garnered the opposition of God Almighty. May we not fall into the trap of believing that man’s reason is the supreme court of appeal, but rather let us humbly admit our need for God’s grace to open our eyes to truth.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Happy 21st Anniversary to My Beloved Husband!

Today celebrates 21 years of blessed marriage! I am so thankful to God for giving me the husband he did. I am reposting a video made last year by my son Jordan and me as a 20th anniversary surprise to David. It never fails to bring tears to his eyes on the first couple notes of the song.

Please click on the above link as I can't figure out how to get the video on here again! The link will take you to the original post with the video.


Liberty Day History Display from 2010--pt. 4

Christianity: The Driving Religion of the American

War for Independence


Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalm 33:12, KJV)


Biblical Christianity dominated the American colonies from their very inception. The emphasis on a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ can be seen in the initial Virginia Charter of 1606. This document indicated that the primary purpose for the English colonization of the New World was the “... propagating of Christian Religion...”. The influence of Christianity in the American fabric of society can be further illustrated by the following examples:


  • The Mayflower Compact, which stated that the Pilgrims were organizing for “the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith”
  • Early colonial laws, which were enacted based on Biblical principles, such as private property ownership, innocence until proven guilty, and religious freedom
  • Requirements for civil offices, which included profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
  • Individual state constitutions which consistently invoked the importance of morality, piety, and the Christian religion


The One True God is always faithful to His Holy Word, which, as we are vividly taught in Deuteronomy 28, includes blessing those who are obedient to Him. God Almighty shed His grace on America in its early days and to be restored to greatness, we must be committed to taking every thought captive to the obedience of the Blessed Redeemer.


Monday, March 28, 2011

Liberty Day History Display from 2010--pt. 2

Timeline from 1000 A.D. to 2010 featuring the split between the Renaissance and the Reformation.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Liberty Day History Display from 2010

We have attended Liberty Day since 2008. It is an event where we enjoyed great fellowship, and have learned much about God's providence through history.

Last year, we entered their brand new history display contest. We were thrilled and humbled that our display won the contest! We worked together as a family, and we learned so much in the process. Since this year's Liberty Day is only a week away, we are working diligently on a new display.

Our display last year was about The American War for Independence contrasted with The French Revolution. I will post our articles from the display board a few at a time so that you can learn what we discovered about God's hand of providence at this time in history.

The blog photo is of us with our display board.

God bless you as you marvel at God's working through all of time.




The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand. (Proverbs 12:7, KJV)


Sunday, March 13, 2011

Family Newsletter--Love the Church (Part 4)

Amara made some drawings inspired by the Love the Church conference.


Saturday, March 12, 2011

Family Newsletter--Love the Church (Part 3)

The Bride of Christ and Her Competitors

by Jordan Jachim


Loving your local church is critical for you. The Church is the most important of the three jurisdictions (family, church, state) because only the Church universal (that is, all believers) will remain throughout eternity. The Family structure is gone when one reaches heaven, and the State is burned when the earth is destroyed, but the Church is in Heaven for ever and ever. However, the Church universal and local today is downplayed, downgraded and forgotten. Often, it seems now to be nothing more than a club. How different this is to Christ’s view of the Church as His Bride. Think of that! The Bride of Christ!


There is a challenger to gain and keep the loyalties and affections of her members. Enter the bad guy: man. Man’s selfish sinful nature wants nothing to do with the Bride of Christ. Even once a person is saved by Christ, his old nature is still present, not being completely overcome here, but in heaven. I wish to touch on just a few ways than man endeavors to steal the time, dollars, energy, prayer, tears, sweat, and blood from Christ’s Church.


Some of the Church’s rivals are found in the other two jurisdictions (see above). Many see their family, sleep, or work, as more important than their local church. When properly working, no jurisdiction should steal from another. But in so many cases, the jurisdictions are not properly working. Many in the church are looking, not to the Lord of Heaven, their Bridegroom, but to a rival sovereign, the State, to solve their problems. They believe that if only we can just pack enough seats in the Congress with “good guys” or elect a particular face to sit in the White House, all problems will be solved, or most of them, anyway.


What is the problem here? Has the author inferred that politics is worthless or dirty? Far be it from me. I believe Christians working in politics (whether voting or holding an office) is vital. And I firmly believe that if Christians don’t work in politics, others will fill the slack. For too many Christians, though, working for a political party or candidate has all but eclipsed working for one’s local church. Rather than working for “Our Father” that “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven” many Christians appear to be working for “Our favorite candidate” that “Thy election to the White House come, thy will be done in Congress”.

So, on which side of the fence are you? Analyze the questions. These questions are not good vs. bad, but good vs. best.


Do you know more about a particular candidate than about your pastor?


Do you know a particular party’s platform better than your church’s creed?


Are American laws more important to you than Biblical laws (from which English laws are derived, and after them, American laws)?


Is a speech by your favorite politician during election time worth more to you than a sermon?

Trying to fix the State exclusive of the Church or Family is like putting the cart before the horse: it won’t go anywhere permanently. If the Church is reformed, her members can influence the State, and reforming the family makes reforming the church a whole lot easier. But none of these can be reformed unless every family member, church member, and citizen reads and applies the Bible. And reading and applying the Bible is the best way to show your love for both the Church and Her Lord.


“May Christ be praised, pre-eminent, adored;

I love the Church because I love Her Lord.”

(I Love the Church by Chris Anderson)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Family Newsletter--Love the Church (Part 2)


Love the Church Like the "Birkenhead Drill"

By Jordan Jachim


“Where, then, does this rule which prevailed in the sinking Titanic come from? It comes from God, through the faith of Jesus of Nazareth. “It is the ideal of self- sacrifice. It is the rule that ‘the strong ought to bear the infirmities of those that are weak.’ It is the divine revelation which is summed up in the words: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’”—Dr. Henry Van Dyke



On February 26, 1852, a British troopship named H. M. S. Birkenhead struck a reef, and all knew she was doomed to sink. The water was filled with sharks and the lifeboats were too few. But the brave British soldiers filled the lifeboats with the women and children, as they themselves stood on deck, ready to die. One of the few survivors of the soldiers, Corporal W. Smith, 12th Foot, who swam through the shark-infested sea to land, wrote:


“Yes, that all-conquering discipline—for of all the women and children not one is lost. Because of that, and because we obeyed—I and the rest of us are satisfied.”



Fifty years later, an ocean liner named Titanic was taking her maiden voyage across the North Atlantic. She struck an iceberg, and her lifeboats were inadequate for the number of passengers aboard. Again the men stood on deck as women and children filled the lifeboats. Benjamin Guggenheim, a businessman who had $95,000,000 to his name, said to a member of the crew as the ship sank, “I am willing to remain and play the man’s game, if there are not enough boats for more than the women and children. ... No woman shall be left aboard this ship because Ben Guggenheim was a coward.” And Ben Guggenheim was no blusterer. He went down with the ship. His words speak for many of the men on board the Titanic.



In 1942, a secret commando force of British troops under Major Hugh Seagrim was operating in Burma against the Japanese. The locals aided him in sabotage on the Japanese. The Japanese arrested and tortured the locals, hoping they would betray Seagrim. Not one of them did, but Major Seagrim and eight of his men surrendered to spare the people from further torture. Seagrim said that he should be executed and his men spared, because they had only been following his orders. The eight men demanded to die with their Major, and all nine were executed.


(picture from King & Country Toy Soldiers)



I was not a witness to these deeds of heroism, but I did see men act in the spirit of chivalry as set forth by the men of the Birkenhead and Titanic. At a conference we attended last December, one of the sessions was jam-packed and more people kept coming. All the seats were filled, so entire families—men, women, and children—were standing to hear the upcoming important lecture. Quietly, some men arose and stood or sat by the wall, leaving the seats for a few women, but there were not enough for all. An announcement came from the podium that some women were standing, and, as though an unseen signal had been relayed through the auditorium, most of the men— old men, young men, and men with seated families—got out of their seats without a murmur or a complaint.


Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13, KJV) This is how Christ loved the Church. He bled and died for Her.


Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2, KJV)


In loving sacrificially, we have the example first of Christ, but also of the soldiers aboard the Birkenhead, the gentlemen on the Titanic, Major Seagrim and his commandos, the men at the conference, and “so great a cloud of witnesses”. May we love and sacrifice as they loved and sacrificed.

Family Newsletter--Love the Church (Part 1)

We attended NCFIC Conference "Love the Church" this past December. We were inspired to make our next family newsletter from Valentines Day about loving the church.

Loving the Church by Being Faithful Servants of Christ


by David Jachim


In Holy Scripture, God provides us with many beautiful illustrations for the Church of Jesus Christ. These illustrations can be classified according to various themes including national metaphors (for example, a holy nation in 1 Peter 2:9 and God’s people in Revelation 21:3), religious metaphors (for example, a royal priesthood in 1 Peter 2:9 and a living sacrifice in Romans 12:2), and family metaphors (for example, the household of God in Ephesians 2:19 and sons of God in 1 John 3:2). One of the most beautiful and vivid pictures of the Church is given in Ephesians 5 where the relationship between Christ and His followers is analogized to that of the marriage union between a husband and wife.


The love that is shared between a husband and his dear wife is the closest and most intimate of any human relationship. God uses the picture of that relationship to depict not only the beauty and sacredness of the roles of the marriage partners, but also to communicate deep truths about His love and commitment to His people. As we see God’s love and His relationship to the church, we will see our responsibilities to Him and how we can be loving His church.


In Ephesians 5:25-33, there is much that we can learn in how we as born-again believers should live in relation to our loving spiritual head, the Lord Jesus Christ. From this passage, consider the following ways that you can be loving the body of Christ:


  • Love the church by willingly, lovingly, and joyfully serving Christ out of your gratitude for His sacrifice for you. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it (Ephesians 5:25, KJV) Christ’s love for the Church is expressed through His willingness to give himself up for it - particularly as evidenced by His sacrificial death on the Cross. This supreme act of love should result in us responding to Him with gratitude by being a radiant servant for the furthering of His Kingdom. As we learn to serve Him, we will be showing a love for the church.


  • Love the church by committing yourself to being a diligent student of God’s Word through knowing and applying what God teaches you through the Bible. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:26-27, KJV) Not only did Christ yield His life for His bride the Church, but He also progressively works in the lives of His people to conform them into His image. This work is accomplished through the power of the perfect, inerrant (without error), and entirely sufficient Word of God. Since God uses the Bible in sanctifying us into godly, holy character, we need to know His Word. Commit yourself to reading, studying, meditating on, and memorizing Holy Scripture. As you do so, allow the Lord to wash you through His truth so that you can be a holy follower of Christ without spot or blemish. As you are changed, also look for opportunities to testify of the work that God Almighty is doing within you so that you can bring honor and glory to the Name of your blessed Redeemer.


  • Love the church by carrying out the specific works that God has planned for you to advance the cause of Christ. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Ephesians 5:29-30, KJV) All who are born-again believers by the grace of God are a part of His body. By being members of Christ’s body, we should be seeking to fulfill the role for which God has equipped us. Just as the human body is made up of many members and each member needs to be performing its function well in order to have a healthy physical body, so the body of Christ contains many members that need to be fulfilling the specific works that God has prepared in advance for us to do (see Ephesians 2:10) in order to have a healthy and vibrant spiritual body. If you do not know the gift(s) and how to use them in carrying out specific good works, pray to the Lord for His wisdom. Be assured that you will be furnished by your loving Heavenly Father what you need to accomplish the particular tasks that He has planned for you.


  • Love the church by intimately abiding in Christ through a holy pursuit to know the Lord Jesus deeply and by submitting to His loving headship. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32, KJV) The intimacy that is shared within the context of marriage is likened to Christ’s relationship with the church. In order to have such intimacy, we need to abide in Him recognizing that He is the life-giving vine (John 15). This connection that we have with Christ necessitates that we have a heart of love for Him, a conviction to order our lives in a manner consistent with the Bible, a commitment to be obedient to His leading, and the discipline to spend time with Him to develop a closeness to Him that will cause the us to live all of life radiantly and joyfully.


God has a love for the church that is shown in many various manifestations, including the promises that He has given of the ultimate victory that awaits His people. Are we being a faithful bride by serving the Lord Jesus, knowing and applying God’s Word, carrying out the specific works that God has prepared for you, and abiding in Christ by seeking to know Him and submit to Him? Or are you guilty of having forsaken your love for your blessed Redeemer by seeking to fulfill your own selfish desires, planning to build your own kingdom rather than advancing His, neglecting your time with Him, and using your own reason rather than God’s revelation to make decisions? Love the church and may the world around us see this love as a testimony of the power of Christ, as indicated in John 13:35: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (KJV)


November Family Newsletter - Thanksgiving (Part 3)