First Gold Nugget Discovered at Sutter's Mill - January 24, 1848
Today in History, in the year 1848, a man named James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California. This discovery led to the Gold Rush of '49 (California Gold Rush). Source: Tribune Newspapers
"The discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 sparked the Gold Rush, arguably one of the most significant events to shape American history during the first half of the 19th century. As news spread of the discovery, thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by sea or over land to San Francisco and the surrounding area; by the end of 1849, the non-native population of the California territory was some 100,000 (compared with the pre-1848 figure of less than 1,000). A total of $2 billion worth of precious metal was extracted from the area during the Gold Rush, which peaked in 1852." History.com- Gold Rush of 1849
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
Today in History - January 7, 1789 - The First U.S. Presidential Election Takes Place
The First U.S. Presidential Election Takes Place - January 7, 1789
This day, in the History of the United States, the first presidential election took place in 1789. The only people who were allowed to vote though, were white males who owned property. The voters cast their ballots for the first time, in order to choose state electors. The electors are the actual ones who vote for the president.
We know who won the election, of course. It was George Washington. Did you know that George Washington was a direct descendant of Norman duke William? This article explains God's providential care for His people throughout History. Christmas, Vikings, and the Providence of God
Source: History.com-First US Presidential Election
This day, in the History of the United States, the first presidential election took place in 1789. The only people who were allowed to vote though, were white males who owned property. The voters cast their ballots for the first time, in order to choose state electors. The electors are the actual ones who vote for the president.
We know who won the election, of course. It was George Washington. Did you know that George Washington was a direct descendant of Norman duke William? This article explains God's providential care for His people throughout History. Christmas, Vikings, and the Providence of God
Source: History.com-First US Presidential Election
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Today in History - November 29, 1898 - Birth of C.S. Lewis
Birth of C.S. Lewis - November 29, 1898
Today in History, C.S. Lewis made his entry into the world. He was a Christian writer of his day, and wrote the books, 'The Screwtape Letters', 'Mere Christianity', and 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.
Born in Belfast, Ireland, C.S. Lewis lost his mother, to cancer, when he was 9, became and atheist at age 15, and was converted to Christ at the age of 31, under the teachings of G.K. Chesterton. He married late in life at the age of 59, and widowed 4 years later due to his wife's suffering from bone cancer. He died on November 22, 1963, at his home known as 'The Kilns'. He is buried in the grave yard of the Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry in Oxford.
Source: http://www.cslewis.com/about.aspx
"He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it, hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart."
Today in History, C.S. Lewis made his entry into the world. He was a Christian writer of his day, and wrote the books, 'The Screwtape Letters', 'Mere Christianity', and 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.
Born in Belfast, Ireland, C.S. Lewis lost his mother, to cancer, when he was 9, became and atheist at age 15, and was converted to Christ at the age of 31, under the teachings of G.K. Chesterton. He married late in life at the age of 59, and widowed 4 years later due to his wife's suffering from bone cancer. He died on November 22, 1963, at his home known as 'The Kilns'. He is buried in the grave yard of the Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry in Oxford.
Source: http://www.cslewis.com/about.aspx
"He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it, hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart."
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. "
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal...."
Happy Birthday, C.S.!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
History, Government, and Voting Part 4
Today is the last day for voting in America. The results will show who will be president the next four years. As we have looked at the History of the human race and civilization, we see that there have always been political problems. We have these problems because human beings are sinful. Ever since the time of Adam and Eve, people have indulged their sinful hearts and have come close to destroying civilization. And we know the answer for that is the Gospel. When Jesus came, He did not overthrow the kingdoms of the world. They will continue until Jesus returns to literally set up His kingdom, for He says that His kingdom is not of this world.
So what do we do in the meantime? Should we try to create a device to take us to another planet to live? This is where I think a lot of Christians struggle. I have seen/heard people say that they are going to vote for Jesus in this election. That sounds honoring to God, at first, but is that what God wants us to do? I wouldn't be surprised if the results of the polls show Jesus name written in on many ballots! But the Bible is very clear that Jesus isn't running for president and we do have to take this voting seriously and prayerfully.
Christian people are still in the world, but not of the world. People tend to go to one side of this or the other. I have heard that A.W. Pink, in his older years, was so dissatisfied with the church, and never found one to suit him because there was something wrong with each of them he attended, that he ended up living his last days with his wife, on a remote Scottish island. I see a lot of people today doing this same thing. I observe people trying out church after church, but never finding that one that matches the criteria set out. I see people doing this, and they finally end up starting their own church and meeting in their own homes. This is interesting, because I still don't think that followers of Jesus Christ really understand the depravity of man, and somehow are thinking that there would be a church that would be perfect and measure up to God's standards, but the sad reality is, that there is no perfect church while people are living on earth. Are there churches with people who love God and are growing spiritually? Yes, there are. God is working in many ways in the church. But if you are a person looking for a perfect church, and you attend one of these churches, you will end up being disappointed because people are still working through sanctification and haven't arrived yet! It will happen, one day, when the Perfect comes!
So where does that leave us today? It leaves us in a fallen world, but with the privilege of voting for the person who we think will do the best job as president of the U.S. We have a choice of two men. The one who is our current president has made decisions and implemented laws to lead us into socialism. Some people think that is good, but I have to ask,what was it that they actually learned in History classes? When I was a kid, we learned about Communism, however I believe all that changed when I was in high school. We don't study Communism anymore because the public school system doesn't see a danger in it. Since the Berlin Wall fell, we don't need to focus on it anymore. But what is happening in our school system, is happening because those who decide what will be taught, have a socialistic mindset. This mindset is in every school system in America now, and our colleges and universities are overflowing with the socialistic philosophy.
For more information on Communism, Fascism, and Socialism, please go to the tab that will take you to that page. I would imagine that our young people don't really even know what Communism is. I would recommend everyone take it to heart to study this subject, for if we don't understand it, it will take over.
So, basically, your vote will count today. You will either vote for a man who has a socialistic mindset, or you will vote for someone else. The opposing candidate does not have a socialistic mindset, and has good work ethics. However, both men are sinful men in God's sight, just as the rest of us are. We all need God's help. We need His help to see our sin as ugly and we need to want to be free from our sin. So, whoever we vote for will be a candidate who has a sinful nature. Should that cause us to not vote? Of course not! The Bible doesn't indicate that we have to vote for the holiest Christian. We vote for the man who will make the best and wisest decisions for the safety and progress of our country.
We need to pray for the elected candidate, as well as pray for our nation. Our nation used to be a safe place of those who were suffering in other nations. The church in America could successfully minister to other far away believers in Jesus Christ. Will the church in America be able to continue to do that though, after tonight. If we elect people into office with a socialistic mindset, we risk our freedom of religion (not that Christianity is a 'religion') and if we lose that right, we could face the true church having to go underground.
So let's take our responsibility seriously, and realistically. We are not voting for a church pastor. We are voting for a president, who should be able to provide peace and safety for our nation. So, my recommendations are; Use wisdom, pray, and vote. Be a responsible, wise, citizen. And let's pray our our nation and not give up the fight. Our great grandchildren will be grateful for what we invested.
So what do we do in the meantime? Should we try to create a device to take us to another planet to live? This is where I think a lot of Christians struggle. I have seen/heard people say that they are going to vote for Jesus in this election. That sounds honoring to God, at first, but is that what God wants us to do? I wouldn't be surprised if the results of the polls show Jesus name written in on many ballots! But the Bible is very clear that Jesus isn't running for president and we do have to take this voting seriously and prayerfully.
Christian people are still in the world, but not of the world. People tend to go to one side of this or the other. I have heard that A.W. Pink, in his older years, was so dissatisfied with the church, and never found one to suit him because there was something wrong with each of them he attended, that he ended up living his last days with his wife, on a remote Scottish island. I see a lot of people today doing this same thing. I observe people trying out church after church, but never finding that one that matches the criteria set out. I see people doing this, and they finally end up starting their own church and meeting in their own homes. This is interesting, because I still don't think that followers of Jesus Christ really understand the depravity of man, and somehow are thinking that there would be a church that would be perfect and measure up to God's standards, but the sad reality is, that there is no perfect church while people are living on earth. Are there churches with people who love God and are growing spiritually? Yes, there are. God is working in many ways in the church. But if you are a person looking for a perfect church, and you attend one of these churches, you will end up being disappointed because people are still working through sanctification and haven't arrived yet! It will happen, one day, when the Perfect comes!
So where does that leave us today? It leaves us in a fallen world, but with the privilege of voting for the person who we think will do the best job as president of the U.S. We have a choice of two men. The one who is our current president has made decisions and implemented laws to lead us into socialism. Some people think that is good, but I have to ask,what was it that they actually learned in History classes? When I was a kid, we learned about Communism, however I believe all that changed when I was in high school. We don't study Communism anymore because the public school system doesn't see a danger in it. Since the Berlin Wall fell, we don't need to focus on it anymore. But what is happening in our school system, is happening because those who decide what will be taught, have a socialistic mindset. This mindset is in every school system in America now, and our colleges and universities are overflowing with the socialistic philosophy.
For more information on Communism, Fascism, and Socialism, please go to the tab that will take you to that page. I would imagine that our young people don't really even know what Communism is. I would recommend everyone take it to heart to study this subject, for if we don't understand it, it will take over.
So, basically, your vote will count today. You will either vote for a man who has a socialistic mindset, or you will vote for someone else. The opposing candidate does not have a socialistic mindset, and has good work ethics. However, both men are sinful men in God's sight, just as the rest of us are. We all need God's help. We need His help to see our sin as ugly and we need to want to be free from our sin. So, whoever we vote for will be a candidate who has a sinful nature. Should that cause us to not vote? Of course not! The Bible doesn't indicate that we have to vote for the holiest Christian. We vote for the man who will make the best and wisest decisions for the safety and progress of our country.
We need to pray for the elected candidate, as well as pray for our nation. Our nation used to be a safe place of those who were suffering in other nations. The church in America could successfully minister to other far away believers in Jesus Christ. Will the church in America be able to continue to do that though, after tonight. If we elect people into office with a socialistic mindset, we risk our freedom of religion (not that Christianity is a 'religion') and if we lose that right, we could face the true church having to go underground.
So let's take our responsibility seriously, and realistically. We are not voting for a church pastor. We are voting for a president, who should be able to provide peace and safety for our nation. So, my recommendations are; Use wisdom, pray, and vote. Be a responsible, wise, citizen. And let's pray our our nation and not give up the fight. Our great grandchildren will be grateful for what we invested.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
History, Government, and Voting Part 3
There is a battle that has
been going on since the beginning of time. It is a battle between good and
evil. The battle was in favor of evil winning when Eve obeyed the voice of the
snake (the devil) and led Adam to participate also. Ever since that time, the
beautiful earth that God created started to experience ugliness, suffering,
pain, and many difficulties that God did not intend for mankind to have. People
became perverted. People wanted to rule kingdoms, even if it were just the
people around them.
Perhaps you are thinking, I wouldn’t have done what Adam and
Eve did. I wouldn’t have listened to the voice of the snake. That voice is
still speaking to people today, and people are believing the lies from the
voice of the snake every day. The words that came out of the snake’s mouth were
from the devil. He still lies to people today, and he has specific lies
designed for each person he wants to take captive. He will keep you captive to his lies if you don't protect yourself from them.
As the population grew, more and more people were now living
on earth, wanting to control everyone else. When people didn’t get what they
wanted, they killed the person or people who got in the way of what they
wanted. It started with the first murder of Cain killing Abel. Abel understood
what sin was, and provided the right kind of atonement offering for his sin,
while Cain missed the boat altogether. Cain was angry that Abel got it right
and he didn’t, so he killed his brother. This trait continued on, and has continued
throughout all of human History. This trait has characterized men and women for
the past 5,000+ years, and can be seen more clearly expressing itself in realms
of governments, in any city, state, country or province.
There were kings in the Bible who killed people
because they didn’t get what they wanted. During the Middle Ages we see people
in authority taking advantage of others. We see the deception of rulers and the
cruelty of tyrants. Yet, God ordains governments and sets people in places to
rule. So, what is wrong, and what can we do about it?
Stay tuned as we continue on with our saga….
History, Government, and Voting-Part 2
I will have to make this article in several parts because it will end up being too long to read in one sitting!
The reason why people like a government that gives handouts, is because many of them are lazy. But that is not the initial problem. The root problem of this is our whole educational system. It caters to people’s laziness and does not have the capacity to know how to stimulate people to thinking. The whole educational philosophy has put people to sleep. It does their thinking for them. Ultimately, that is the goal of this educational system, for if they can put us to sleep and keep us entertained, we will forget how to think. Then they will do the thinking for us. Bingo! Do you see the problem here? If we are never trained to be functional in life, we will have to depend on someone or something else to take care of us. And if the government is successful in accomplishing its goal, then socialism will easily slip in and be welcomed. The next step is Communism. If you don’t think that is the goal of people who get into government, then you need to think again. There are many ways to get people to forget about Communism and not even be aware of what it is or how harmful and dangerous it would be for any society to be under. It goes back to the heart of wicked men and women, which the Bible is clear that we all are. We all have the capacity to be very wicked, whether we want to believe that or not. We are self-centered people, and left to our own desires, we will end up destroying ourselves and other people (for a Historical recording of this happening, see Genesis chapter 6). If you don’t think you are a bad person, I recommend that you take the Good Person Test and find out whether or not you are. (The Good Person Test , Test 4 Good Person) . We all have a little Hitler inside of us. The issue we struggle with is love of control. We want to call the shots in life. We don’t want to submit to God and let Him rule our lives. It is a struggle that God can help us to overcome by giving us a new heart.
To be continued....
The reason why people like a government that gives handouts, is because many of them are lazy. But that is not the initial problem. The root problem of this is our whole educational system. It caters to people’s laziness and does not have the capacity to know how to stimulate people to thinking. The whole educational philosophy has put people to sleep. It does their thinking for them. Ultimately, that is the goal of this educational system, for if they can put us to sleep and keep us entertained, we will forget how to think. Then they will do the thinking for us. Bingo! Do you see the problem here? If we are never trained to be functional in life, we will have to depend on someone or something else to take care of us. And if the government is successful in accomplishing its goal, then socialism will easily slip in and be welcomed. The next step is Communism. If you don’t think that is the goal of people who get into government, then you need to think again. There are many ways to get people to forget about Communism and not even be aware of what it is or how harmful and dangerous it would be for any society to be under. It goes back to the heart of wicked men and women, which the Bible is clear that we all are. We all have the capacity to be very wicked, whether we want to believe that or not. We are self-centered people, and left to our own desires, we will end up destroying ourselves and other people (for a Historical recording of this happening, see Genesis chapter 6). If you don’t think you are a bad person, I recommend that you take the Good Person Test and find out whether or not you are. (The Good Person Test , Test 4 Good Person) . We all have a little Hitler inside of us. The issue we struggle with is love of control. We want to call the shots in life. We don’t want to submit to God and let Him rule our lives. It is a struggle that God can help us to overcome by giving us a new heart.
To be continued....
History, Government, and Voting Part 1
We have less than 2 weeks
to cast our votes. Many have already decided on whom they are voting for. In
our voting, we have to take some things into consideration. For those of us who
want to look at our voting Biblically, we have to realize that the Bible does
not actually have a pattern available for how to vote in a society in which voting for a
president is an option, nevertheless, there are principles that we can still go
by and use in our decision making. Romans 13:1-7 says ‘Let every person be
subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from
God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever
resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist
will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good,
and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But
if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is
the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore
one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake
of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are
ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to
them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to
whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.’ (ESV)
To be continued.
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