One Man's Journey of Redemption

Foundations of America – Religion in American Schools

Posted on July 4, 2013 by George Crone

An Outline History of Religion in American Schools

“The Philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the Philosophy of Government in the next.” Abraham Lincoln

1620
Mayflower Compact signed “Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith . . . furtherance of the ends aforesaid.” The Pilgrims taught their children the Bible and the Christian faith.

1624
Virginia General Assembly rules that Indian children be rounded up and educated in religion and civilization.

1636
Harvard College is founded by John Harvard a Presbyterian minister primarily as a religious school to train clergy in the Christian faith.

1642
Compulsory School law passed in Massachusetts, called the “Old Deluder Satan Law”. This law was passed to assure that children could read their Bibles.

1670
Indian Christian Church founded on Martha’s Vineyard to educate Indians.

1690
Connecticut Law passed that children be taught to read so they can read Holy Scriptures.

1690
First New England Primer is published. The Alphabet is taught using Bible verses for each letter, and has questions on Bible moral teachings. The Primer contains children’s prayers, the Lords Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Shorter Catechism and questions on the Bible by Mr. Cotton. The New England Primer will be in wide use in American schools of all types public, private, home or parochial, for the next 200 years.

1693
Rev. James Blair establishes William and Mary college to prepare students for the ministry.

1699
Yale was founded by ten ministers in order to further the reformed Protestant religion. Students were required to read Scriptures morning and evening at times of prayer.

1717
Rev. Cotton Mather starts classes for Negroes and Indians to teach the 3 “R’s” plus religion.

1744
Anglican missionary Samuel Thomas opens school for Negroes in South Carolina.

1745
Yale applicants must recite Vigil, the Greek Testament, & bring sufficient testimony of his blameless and inoffensive life.

1746
Princeton was founded by the Presbyterians with the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson as its first president. Every student shall attend worship in the college hall morning and evening at the hours appointed and shall behave with gravity and reverence during the whole service.

1746
Moravian boarding school established for girls is not limited to believers.

1764
Brown University established by the Baptist to further the religious revival known as the “Great Awakening” in America.

1766
Dutch Reform Church forms Queens College (Rutgers University) teaching languages, liberal and useful arts, sciences and especially the divinity, preparing students for the ministry.

1769
Dartmouth-College is established for the education and instruction of youths in reading, writing and all parts of learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and Christianizing the children.

1770
California Missions established teaching Indians about God.

1770
Quakers open school for Negroes in Philadelphia which include religious training.

1779
Delaware Indians bring children to George Washington for education, and Washington says “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ.”

1781
Congress approves the purchase of Bibles to be used in schools.

1783
First Noah Webster (Blue Book) Speller is published, with its opening sentence declaring: “No man may put off the law of God.” This speller is widely used in American schools and is peppered throughout with Bible verses. Later versions stated, “Noah Webster who taught millions to read but not one to sin.”

1784
Jedediah Morse, father of American Geography, publishes the first Geography text book which contains references to Christianity.

1787
Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance which is outlines requirements for governments of new territories so they can qualify for statehood. Article 3 of the Northwest Ordinance directs the people of the territories to establish schools “to teach religion, morality, and knowledge.” Nearly every state admitted to the Union after this has written in their State Constitution wording that the schools are to teach morality and religion and they all use the Bible as the bases for their teachings.

1789
Georgetown becomes the first Catholic college in America to serve as a college and seminary to train Roman Catholic clergymen.

1796
In Washington’s Presidential farewell address to the nation he encourages America to learn Biblical teachings to sustain a moral and just country.

1802
Thomas Jefferson acting as President for Washington D.C. schools requires the Bible and the Watts Hymnal to be used in classrooms.

1808
Washington’s Farewell Address is published as a separate text book. Washington’s Address is looked upon as one of the most important political documents in American history. In the speech Washington emphases that for America to succeed it must have a moral society which can only come from roots in the Christian faith. This text book is used until 1960’s.

1828
Noah Webster publishes the American Dictionary.

1830
Dr. Benjamin Rush signer of the Declaration of Independence, letter is published in support of using the Bible as a school textbook.

1830
First Log school house opens in Keokuk, Iowa.

1836
First McGuffey reader is published which teaches the ABC’s along with Bible verses. This reader is looked at as an “eclectic reader” which combine instructive axioms and proverbs, fundamentals of grammar and selections of the finest English literature.

1844
Girard proposes to teach morals without the Bible. The Supreme Court rules that American schools are to teach Christianity using the Bible. The case is argued and won by Daniel Webster. (Videl v. Girard)

1860
First Kindergarten opens in Boston.

1867
Morehouse College and Howard University are founded. Both schools are to help ex-slaves become teachers and preachers.

1870
One room Public Schools begin to take hold in the U.S.

1890
Supreme Court rules that America “is a religious people. . . . this is a Christian nation” as such it is fitting that its people would teach their children the Christian faith. (The Trinity Case)

1892
Pledge of Allegiance is written for school children to recite at school.

1892
The American Teachers Union declare that schools should continue to teach morals from the Bible as schools are turned over to the various States from the Christian Churches. Prior to this many schools had been run by churches of various denominations. Many state Constitution’s mandate the teaching of morals, religion and knowledge. Of the first 108 colleges and universities founded in America, 106 where founded as Christian schools. Of the first 126 colleges, 123 were Christian.

1900
Virtually all school text books published to date have contained Biblical references or teachings.

1923
William Jennings Bryan argues to limit funds to Presbyterian schools that teach evolution.

1925
Tennessee governor signs law forbidding the teaching of evolution in public schools. ACLU Lawyers take a school district to court in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial in an effort to have evolution taught in Tennessee Public Schools.

1925
Florida State legislators pass law requiring daily Bible reading in public schools.

1946
Dallas schools publish textbook titled “Bible Studies Course for New Testament.” This book has many questions and answers about the life of Jesus Christ.

1948
Supreme Court rules that time set aside for prayer in public schools is unconstitutional. (McCollum v. Board of Education)

1954
The words “One Nation Under God” are add to the Pledge of Allegiance.

1961
There are about 1000 Christian Schools in America.

1962
Supreme Court rules that children may not recite a state written prayer in school (Engel v. Vitale).

1963
Supreme Court bans individual school prayer (Murry v. Curlett) and Bible reading in public schools (Abington Township School District v. Schempp).

1965
Supreme Court rules that a child may pray silently to himself if no one knows he is praying and his lips do not move.

1980
U.S. schools report the lowest S.A.T. scores ever, after 18 straight years of decline following the 1962 ban on school prayer.

1980
Supreme Court rules that the Ten Commandments can not be posted in classrooms, “for a child might read them, reflect upon them and then obey them.” (Stone vs. Graham)

1983
President Reagan proposes a Constitutional Amendment to allow school prayer.

1984
There are now 32,000 Christian Schools in America to counter the Supreme Courts secularizing of the public school system.

1985
Supreme Court strikes down Alabama law requiring schools to have a moment of silent meditation at the beginning of the day.

1987
Supreme Court overturns a State Law requiring a balanced treatment of creation science and evolution. (Edwards vs. Aguillard)

1992
Supreme Court rules Clergy may not offer prayer at graduation ceremonies. (Lee vs. Weisman)

1999
Two Students at Littleton, Colorado High School shoot eleven students. None of the students have ever seen the Ten Commandments, “Thou shall not Kill” in a public school.

2000
Supreme Court rules student initiated or student led prayer at football games is unconstitutional. (Doe vs. Santa Fe Independent School District)

2004
Supreme Court upholds the words “One Nation Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

2008

Christian run schools and most home schooling programs continue to produce students with higher academic test results then secular public schools.

The Supreme Court has done more to turn this Nation away from God,
then any other branch of the Government.

reprint from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2201818/posts

Posted in wake up America | Tagged bible in school, human-rights, politics, religion, school prayer | Leave a comment

Foundations of America – President Lincoln and God

Posted on July 4, 2013 by George Crone

Partial List of Quotations Before the Presidency

That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrepect of religion in general, or of any denomination of Christians in particular.
Handbill Replying to Charges of Infidelity on July 31, 1846 (CWAL I:382)

Such a man the times have demanded, and such, in the providence of God was given us. But he is gone. Let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence, trusting that, in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security.
Eulogy on Henry Clay, July 6, 1852 (CWAL II:132)

Near eighty years ago we began by declaring that all men are created equal; but now from that beginning we have run down to the other declaration, that for SOME men to enslave OTHERS is a “sacred right of self-government.” These principles can not stand together. They are as opposite as God and mammon; and whoever holds to the one, must despise the other.
Speech at Peoria, Illinois, on October 16, 1854 (CWAL II: 275)

[regarding Stephen Douglas]: He says I have a proneness for quoting scripture. If I should do so now, it occurs that perhaps he places himself somewhat upon the ground of the parable of the lost sheep which went astray upon the mountains, and when the owner of the hundred sheep found the one that was lost, and threw it upon his shoulders, and came home rejoicing, it was said that there was more rejoicing over the one sheep that was lost and had been found, than over the ninety and nine in the fold. [Great cheering, renewed cheering.] The application is made by the Saviour in this parable, thus, “Verily I say unto you, there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentence. [Cheering.] And now, if the Judge claims the benefit of his parable, let him repent. [Vociferous applause.] Let him not come up here and say: I am the only just person; and you are the ninety-nine sinners! Repentence, before forgiveness is a provision of the Christian system, and on that condition alone will the Republicans grant his forgiveness. [Laughter and cheers.]
Speech at Springfield, Illinois, on July 17, 1858 (CWAL II:510)

[regarding the framers of the Declaration of Independence]: These communities, by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the whole world of men: “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.” This was their majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures. [Applause.] Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. They grasped not only the whole race of man then living, but they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. They erected a beacon to guide their children and their children’s children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other ages. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began — so that truth, and justice, and mercy, and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being built.
Speech at Lewistown, Illinois, on August 17, 1858 (CWAL II:546)

Certainly there is no contending against the Will of God; but still there is some difficulty in ascertaining, and applying it, to particular cases.
Fragment on Pro-Slavery Theology ca. October 1, 1858 (CWAL III:204)

The Bible says somewhere that we are desperately selfish. I think we would have discovered that fact without the Bible.
Debate at Alton, Illinois, on October 15, 1858 (CWAL III:310)

Judge Douglas ought to remember when he is endeavoring to force this policy upon the American people that while he is put up in that way a good many are not. He ought to remember that there was once in this country a man by the name of Thomas Jefferson, supposed to be a Democrat — a man whose principles and policy are not very prevalent amongst Democrats to-day, it is true; but that man did not take exactly this view of the insignificance of the element of slavery which our friend Judge Douglas does. In contemplation of this thing, we all know he was led to exclaim, “I tremble for my country when I remember that God is just!” We know how he looked upon it when he thus expressed himself. There was danger to this country — danger of the avenging justice of God in that little unimportant popular sovereignty question of Judge Douglas. He supposed there was a question of God’s eternal justice wrapped up in the enslaving of any race of men, or any man, and that those who did so braved the arm of Jehovah — that when a nation thus dared the Almighty every friend of that nation had cause to dread His wrath. Choose ye between Jefferson and Douglas as to what is the true view of this element among us.
Speech at Columbus, Ohio, on September 16, 1859 (CWAL III:410)

The good old maxims of the Bible are applicable, and truly applicable to human affairs, and in this as in other things, we may say here that he who is not for us is against us; he would gathereth not with us scattereth.
Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 17, 1859 (CWAL III:462)

I think that if anything can be proved by natural theology, it is that slavery is morally wrong. God gave man a mouth to receive bread, hands to feed it, and his hand has a right to carry bread to his mouth without controversy.
Speech at Hartford, Conn., on March 5, 1860 (CWAL IV: 3)

Remembering that Peter denied his Lord with an oath, after most solemnly protesting that he never would, I will not swear I will make no committals; but I do think I will not.
Letter to Lyman Trumbull on June 5, 1860 (CWAL IV:71)

Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you and be every where for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.
Farewell Address on February 11, 1861 (CWAL IV:190)

I turn, then, and look to the American people and to that God who has never forsaken them.
Address to the Ohio Legislature on February 13, 1861 (CWAL IV: 204)

Partial List of Quotations During the Presidency

Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty.
First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861 (CWAL IV:271)

We must remember that the people of all the States are entitled to all the privileges and immunities of the citizen of the several States. We should bear this in mind, and act in such a way as to say nothing insulting or irritating. I would inculcate this idea, so that we may not, like Pharisees, set ourselves up to be better than other people.
Reply to a Pennsylvania Delegation on March 5, 1861 (CWAL IV:274)

And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts.
Message to Congress in Special Session on July 4, 1861 (CWAL IV:441)

The President responded very impressively, saying that he was deeply sensible of his need of Divine assistance. He had sometime thought that perhaps he might be an instrument in God’s hands of accomplishing a great work and he certainly was not unwilling to be. Perhaps, however, God’s way of accomplishing the end which the memorialists have in view may be different from theirs.
Remarks to a Delegation of Progressive Friends on June 20, 1862 (CWAL V:279)

The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not be for and against the same thing at the same time.
Meditation on the Divine Will ca. September 2, 1862 (CWAL V:403)

The subject presented in the memorial is one upon which I have thought much for weeks past, and I may even say for months. I am approached with the most opposite opinions and advice, and that by religious men, who are equally certain that they represent the Divine will. I am sure that either the one or the other class is mistaken in the belief, and perhaps in some respects both. I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to others, on a point so connected with my duty, it might be supposed he would reveal it directly to me; for, unless I am more deceived in myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter. And if I can learn what it is I will do it! These are not, however, the days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible and learn what appears to be wise and right. The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree.
Reply to Chicago Christians on September 13, 1862 (CWAL V:420)

I am glad of this interview, and glad to know that I have your sympathy and prayers. We are indeed going through a great trial — a fiery trial. In the very responsible position in which I happen to be placed, being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father, as I am, and as we all are, to work out his great purposes, I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to his will, and that it might be so, I have sought his aid — but if after endeavoring to do my best in the light which he affords me, I find my efforts fail, I must believe that for some purpose unknown to me, He wills it otherwise. If I had had my way, this war would never have been commenced; If I had been allowed my way this war would have been ended before this, but we find it still continues; and we must believe that He permits it for some wise purpose of his own, mysterious and unknown to us; and though with our limited understandings we may not be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe, that he who made the world still governs it.
Reply to Eliza Gurney on October 26, 1862 (CWAL V:478)

And while it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with a return of peace, we can but press on, guided by the best light He gives, trusting that in His own good time, and wise way, all will yet be well.
Annual Message to Congress on December 1, 1862 (CWAL V:518)

But I must add that the U.S. government must not, as by this order, undertake to run the churches. When an individual, in a church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest, he must be checked; but let the churches, as such take care of themselves. It will not do for the U.S. to appoint Trustees, Supervisors, or other agents for the churches.
Letter to Samuel Curtis on January 2, 1863 (CWAL VI:34)

Relying, as I do, upon the Almighty Power, and encouraged as I am by these resolutions which you have just read, with the support which I receive from Christian men, I shall not hesitate to use all the means at my control to secure the termination of this rebellion, and will hope for success.
Reply to Members of the Presbyterian General Assembly on June 2, 1863 (CWAL VI:245)

I am very glad indeed to see you to-night, and yet I will not say I thank you for this call, but I do most sincerely thank Almighty God for the occasion on which you have called.
Response to a Serenade on July 7, 1863 (CWAL VI:319)

Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a just God, in his own good time, will give us the rightful result.
Letter to James Conkling on August 26, 1863 (CWAL VI:410)

Nevertheless, amid the greatest difficulties of my Administration, when I could not see any other resort, I would place my whole reliance on God, knowing that all would go well, and that He would decide for the right.
Remarks to Baltimore Presbyterian Synod on October 24, 1863 (CWAL VI:536)

Submitted to the Sec. of War. On principle I dislike an oath which requires a man to swear he has not done wrong. It rejects the Christian principle of forgiveness on terms of repentance. I think it is enough if the man does no wronghereafter.
Note to Edwin Stanton on February 5, 1864 (CWAL VII:169)

I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of three years struggle the nation’s condition is not what either party, or any man devised, or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.
Letter to Albert G. Hodges on April 4, 1864 (CWAL VII:282)

The petition of persons under eighteen, praying that I would free all slave children, and the heading of which petition it appears you wrote, was handed me a few days since by Senator Sumner. Please tell these little people I am very glad their young hearts are so full of just and generous sympathy, and that, while I have not the power to grant all they ask, I trust they will remember that God has, and that, as it seems, He wills to do it.
Letter to Mrs. Horace Mann on April 5, 1864 (CWAL VII:287)

At the beginning of the war, and for some time, the use of colored troops was not contemplated; and how the change of purpose was wrought, I will not now take time to explain. Upon a clear conviction of duty I resolved to turn that element of strength to account; and I am responsible for it to the American people, to the christian world, to history, and on my final account to God.
Address at Baltimore Sanitary Fair on April 18, 1864 (CWAL VII:302)

While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for the events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to Almighty God, who gives us victory.
Response to a Serenade on May 9, 1864 (CWAL VII:334)

God bless the Methodist Church — bless all the churches — and blessed be God, Who, in this our great trial, giveth us the churches.
Response to Methodists on May 18, 1864 (CWAL VII:351)

To read in the Bible, as the word of God himself, that “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, [“] and to preach there-from that, “In the sweat of other mans faces shalt thou eat bread,” to my mind can scarcely be reconciled with honest sincerity.
Reply to Delegation of Baptists on May 30, 1864 (CWAL VII:368)

We accepted this war for an object, a worthy object, and the war will end when that object is attained. Under God, I hope it never will until that time.
Speech at Philadelphia Sanitary Fair on June 16, 1864 (CWAL VII:395)

I am much indebted to the good christian people of the country for their constant prayers and consolations; and to no one of them, more than to yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this; but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own error therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best light He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He ordains. Surely He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay.
Letter to Eliza Gurney on September 4, 1864 (CWAL VII:535)

In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.
Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible on September 7, 1864 (CWAL VII:542)

God bless the soldiers and seamen, with all their brave commanders.
Response to a Serenade on October 19, 1864 (CWAL VIII:53)

While I am deeply sensible to the high compliment of a re-election; and duly grateful, as I trust, to Almighty God for having directed my countrymen to a right conclusion, as I think, for their own good, it adds nothing to my satisfaction that any other man may be disappointed or pained by the result.
Response to a Serenade on November 10, 1864 (CWAL VIII:101)

On thursday of last week, two ladies from Tennessee came before the President asking the release of their husbands held as prisoners of war at Johnson’s Island. They were put off till friday, when they came again; and were again put off to saturday. At each of the interviews one of the ladies urged that her husband was a religious man. On saturday the President ordered the release of the prisoners, and then said to this lady “You say your husband is a religious man; tell him when you meet him, that I say I am not much of a judge of religion, but that, in my opinion, the religion that sets men to rebel and fight against their government, because, as they think, that government does not sufficiently help some men to eat their bread on the sweat of other men’s faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people can get to heaven!”
Story Written for Noah Brooks ca. December 6, 1864 (CWAL VIII:154)

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”
Second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865 (CWAL VIII:333)

Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. To deny it, however, in this case, is to deny that there is a God governing the world. It is a truth which I thought needed to be told; and as whatever of humilation there is in it, falls most directly on myself, I thought others might afford for me to tell it.
Letter to Thurlow Weed on March 15, 1865 (CWAL VIII:356)

The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace whose joyous expression can not be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He, from Whom all blessings flow, must not be forgotten. A call for a national thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated.
Last Public Address on April 11, 1865 (CWAL VIII:399)

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Foundations of America – Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Call for July 4th Religious Services 1876

Posted on July 4, 2013 by George Crone

Proclamation 229 – Recommending Religious Services on July 4, 1876

June 26, 1876

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation
The centennial anniversary of the day on which the people of the United States declared their right to a separate and equal station among the powers of the earth seems to demand an exceptional observance.

The founders of the Government, at its birth and in its feebleness, invoked the blessings and the protection of a Divine Providence, and the thirteen colonies and three millions of people have expanded into a nation of strength and numbers commanding the position which then was asserted and for which fervent prayers were then offered.

It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation a grateful acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country.

I therefore invite the good people of the United States, on the approaching 4th day of July, in addition to the usual observances with which they are accustomed to greet the return of the day, further, in such manner and at such time as in their respective localities and religious associations may be most convenient, to mark its recurrence by some public religious and devout thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings which have been bestowed upon us as a nation during the century of our existence, and humbly to invoke a continuance of His favor and of His protection.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 26th day of June, A. D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundredth.

U. S. GRANT.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,

Secretary of State.

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Isaiah 48:17-19 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. 18 Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; 19 your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.

I was introduced to God as a young child, but my faith was not encouraged or embraced and in that I missed God’s calling early in life.

Instead I chose to medicate the pain and confusion of abuse through partying and chasing what the worlds definition of success is. A life of holding on to resentments and being filled with the feelings of entitlement led to drugs, alcohol and promiscuity far outside of God’s commandments; and pursuit of career, recognition and the idolatry of materialism.

World’s Success

In many ways I became successful; money, cars, friends, career, esteem, respect, vacations, good times for all. But it became a rabbit hole, and in the middle of all that was emptiness, confusion, no direction, no self-worth.

Sure I had stuff, but without Christ, stuff is just stuff.

I don’t share that with a sense of remorse, but more-so as I read the word of God through Isaiah I’m drawn to a bout of pondering what could have been.

With Christ there is such a desire to be more than we are, to strive for greater outreach in sharing the Good News, to set healthy boundaries, remove the log from our own eye, be the light on the hill. What if those desires sparked in me 40 years ago?

Late Start to the Journey

I lived my whole life as a selfish bastard (without realizing it) and I feel like I’m getting such a late start in sanctification. There is so much extra work to be done in transforming my mind because I’ve spent so many decades living for myself, for my joy, all the time in full view of the gates of hell through my many addictions.

The journey home seems so far off.

The great news is though, for the ones who turns their lives over to Christ, we are already home! And God The Redeemer has great plans. He can and does take the “could have been’s” and turn them in to the “what is” and “what will be’s”.

Nothing Missed

Without my journey unfolding exactly as it has, I would not have my beautiful son Tanner. I don’t believe I would have come to know or desire God’s beautiful Son Jesus the way I do. And I would not have a testimony that offers hope to the most broken. I would not have a heartfelt desire to remain close to Celebrate Recovery and my church to help those who are struggling to learn how their own faith can set them free from the bondage of sin and heartache.

Omnipotence

God knows when He sets us off in a direction how our stubbornness and blindness to His works in our lives will lead us astray through all the distractions of the world and flesh. But for those who continue to pick up their cross each day and seek God, He will lovingly provide course corrections that always lead to His glory and our best future.

Unconditional Love

I did a 6 month informal study on unconditional love. Using concordances and online resources I dug deep into what God’s unconditional love for us, the sinner, looks like. It is a love that goes beyond ration or reason. That He could love the most wretched of sinner and continue to hold his hand out and offer salvation through His Son Jesus goes against so much of our world today.

We love to play judge and jury, but that is not our role. We are to love, unconditionally love. That does not mean we let people walk on us, but we are always willing to offer a helping hand to those who haven’t earned it, offer love and grace to those who don’t deserve it, offer encouragement and hope to those who don’t want to hear it. We are to consider ourselves less and others more.

Jesus went into the worse parts of town, spoke and healed the worst kind of people. It is us, the wretched, the sick, the broken, the hurting, the alone, the afraid, the hopeless, the sinner that Christ came for.

There are really no such things as lost opportunities. God does seem to lament in this verse about “what could have been”, but oh the joy that still awaited Israel, and which still does and what awaits us all.

The Book of Life

His promises are real, and you can count on them at the soul level. He is the Creator of the universe, the creator of us and all those around us. His purposes and plans are to glorify His name, and for those that are considered son’s of God through faith, our name is written in the book of life, and his plans for our future are beyond comprehension.

No Regrets

We should not look back to what could have been with disdain or regret, but with great joy in knowing that it is all of our yesterdays, combined with the great blessings of God today that are building toward the amazing opportunities of tomorrow.

Today is a day to rejoice, for He is risen, and we have the free will this very day to choose life or death; to be a light or live in darkness.

Since I came to Christ I love sharing that what used to be tears of sorrow are now tears of joy. My life may not look different on the outside, the same ex-wife, the same job, the same car, the same bills… but the inside is being transformed by the graces and mercy of Christ.

When we focus on the solution, the problem disappears!

My prayers that we all continue to recognize the amazing mercies God shines upon all those who call Him Lord, even in our suffering there can be great hope, for what on this earth can hurt us.

If we don’t want to be faced with the thought of “what could have been”, then lets be bold in our faith and walk with God this day and live for the “what will be”.

Prayers and blessing to all

Posted on July 3, 2013 by George Crone | Leave a comment

Because of Him

Posted on July 2, 2013 by George Crone

Matthew 18:21-34

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,[k] until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Resentments Poison Us, Not Them

Most of us have heard at great length the power in forgiving others. I have learned first hand that forgiveness of others is the key to my own freedom.

The seemingly endless list of childhood traumas that fight to overcome my soul continues to press on me decades later to hate the people who did those things to me. It’s an easy place to go, the path of least resistence is hate, anger, to remain a victim filled with mistrust and isolation.

When we release others from the resentments of those past injustices however, the bitterness that has hardened our hearts begins to crumble. We start to experience a real peace as our sometimes painful “history” is transformed into “HIS story”.

So much of that resentment and pain that I felt toward my childhood experienced turned inward and became self-hatred, a sense that I deserved the things that happened to my, that I’m unworthy, unlovable, unforgiven for my role in the abuses.

Which brings me to the other side of forgiveness, one that I’m now beginning to realize is even more important in the healing process; one that I have known at the intellectual level but as of late is one that I have seemed to overlook at the heart level.

God wants us to be in relationship with Him, He designed us to long for that. Our sin makes it impossible to be in relationship with Him, and for me, I stopped there.

For so much of my recovery, when faced with who I was, and struggling to overcome my old ways I have felt less than worthy. And that is true, we are not worthy, will never be worthy, can never become good enough to be considered worthy.

I’ve known for a long time that God loves me but I seemed to have skipped over the cross and got stuck on my sin separates me from God. I’ve been fighting with my very soul to become sinless so I can be in relationship, to earn back what I’ve given away through my perversions of lust, pride, and addictions.

False Humility

That victim mentality is the catalyst that feeds my selfish entitlement to remain broken at the heart level and look to the world for pity and compassion (hard stuff to admit here). It is a false humility which actually manifests as an arrogant continuation of selfish pride; that I’m going to earn relationship by being good enough.

Denial and blindness to our own efforts to be in in control, to do things our way is such a deadly combination.

God Forgives

God’s forgiveness however is very real and personal. It is the work that He has done on the cross that creates new life in us. Jesus became our atonement, our whole and complete source of forgiveness through a price that was way too high, His very life.

In His sacrifice alone we are made right with God the Father. God the Father cannot look upon us, but His Son purchased us with His own blood, and in that we RECEIVE forgiveness for our sins.

We are set free and can look upon the face of God, not because we deserve it, but because He did the work, we just need to believe and gratefully accept the gift.

I am sure there are many like myself who have spent years working on the forgiveness of others, and devoted their life to service in God’s glorious kingdom here on earth, but have overlooked the incredible grace of forgiveness over our own iniquities and trespasses.

I am just coming to realize that after 2 years of personally seeking a deeper, more perfect union with Christ that forgiveness is a multi-faceted process.

3 Stages of Forgiveness

Stage One is to release resentments towards others, come to realize that others are just different variations of the same broken that we all are. Once we find the courage to look at the log in our own eye, it becomes much easier to have compassion towards the broken, even the ones in our past who may have inflicted great amounts of pain.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean we stay in the line of fire, but it does mean we no longer are afforded the luxury of blaming them for our feelings and behaviors, we no longer use our past as a crutch to continue in poor choices and rebellious behavior, we no longer require sin to numb the pain or escape reality but instead become filled with understanding of others hurts and an overwhelming gratitude to our Savior for the grace of insight.

Stage Two is to accepts God’s work on the cross as payment for our own sins. What I have been missing is that I have to accept God’s free gift of atonement. I am forgiven and free not because once I came in to relationship with Christ I suddenly became a good person, it is the mere fact of being in relationship that gets our name written in the book of life.

Stage Three is to know that Jesus came to us while we were still sinners. God does not recognize our sin from the point of justification forward, not because of us, because of Him.

It is an incredibly fine line in that we are not given a free pass to continue on our old path to death, but we can take great joy in knowing that we are truly free already, by what Christ did and not by trying to make up for or undo what we or others have done.

We are not going to “earn” salvation by the output of the rest of our lives, but instead the rest of our lives becomes the output of Jesus atoning work on the cross for us, the broken and humble sinner who cries out to our Savior.

Freedom in Christ means we are free to live out a life that is good and pleasing and holy. But to try and force a life that is good and pleasing an holy in hopes of gaining relationship is to remain in prison, a hell that looks good on the outside but is empty, unfullfilling and useless to God.

It is those whose prideful service, much like the older Prodigal brother, will be left bitter and resentful while living in the presence and freedom of the Lord without even realizing it.

If we truly know Christ, love Christ, rely on Christ, seek Christ we can be assured that He is with us through the Holy Spirit and us with Him. It is that relationship that sets us free to serve and love fully, not the other way around.

I know that sounds so simple, but I at times feel so ignorant because there is so much pain in my heart over my sinful nature. Yes God desires strongholds to be cut out of our lives, for us to live holy and pleasing as our spiritual act of worship, but not so we can come into relationship, but that we can freely recognize that we already are in relationship.

We must never forget the Cross, forgiving others is only 1/2 the battle, truly accepting God’s forgiveness over our daily transgressions is equally important.

We are forgiven and loved and we are called to give freely what has been so graciously given to us. We do not deserve it, and others may not either, but unconditional love is what Our Father pours upon us, and it’s a gift we are called to freely give to others.

My prayers that we may all experience the healing atonement of the cross deep in our souls, and in that freedom choose to live free, and not mistakenly long for a future freedom that we’ve already been granted today.

Thank you Lord Jesus for my life

Posted in Addiction, encouragement, faith, Jesus, my story, Recovery, Salvation, The Cross | Tagged addictions, atonement, forgiveness, God, jesus, recovery, resentments, salvation, sin, The Cross | Leave a comment

Shine Brightly for Christ

Posted on June 30, 2013 by George Crone

Philippians 2:12-18 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

There are days, sometimes weeks when I struggle with purpose & value. The pressures of work, the daily routines, the commitments seem like too much and the point of it all gets blurred in my mind. God, through the Apostle Paul, is a master at reminding me what its’ all about, or more importantly, WHO it is all about.

“…For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

So powerful! The mere fact that I’m frustrated with a behavior or action that is left lingering from my old ways of coping with life; a little frustration that boils over into outright anger, a glance at a woman that lingers toward lust, the desire to hide from my responsibilities through computer games or zoning on the TV instead of tackling them head on; it is God who is pressing on my heart to do better, do right, to live righteously for His pleasure and remain fully present in the moment.

The Gift of Conscience

We are blessed with knowing when we are doing wrong. God is loving us through our conscience contact with Him, and by the loving rebukes of trusted friends who call us out when we are blowin’ it. In the old days we partied like there was no tomorrow, the Spirit was not alive and thriving within us.

Embrace the Holy Spirit

It is that relationship with Christ deep within that speaks to our hearts at every turn which we must nurture. We must spend those quiet moments tuning our conscious mind to receive the quiet whisper of God’s loving direction and purpose, for it is Him who gives us value, not anything we do.

And as Paul so wonderfully states, we are to “do all without grumbling or disputing” (ouch). I can’t begin to describe the number of people that I run into during the day who complain about everything. I pray that I don’t sound that bad, but I truly identify that when feeling overwhelmed, complaining is the easiest thing to do.

Beware the Flickering Light

If we find ourselves in a place of grumbling, losing hope, feeling frustrated or wanting to disconnect on a regular basis, it is clear that our light has grown dim. And from my experience I can say with confidence that that only happens when I lose sight of God; when I forgot Who I’m living for and why.

The Creator of the universe chose in His mercy to rescue me from my self induced agony of constantly medicating my fears, insecurity, pain, resentments, disappointments and loneliness with alcohol, marijuana and lust and now instead offers me a path of learning how to become light for His glory.

But why does He care about the broken, why would He choose me?

Judges 6 14 And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

It is not the strong, powerful, wise, successful or self assured that God calls to glory, but the weak, broken, doubting, unfit. As we come to grips with our own brokenness and can openly admit to God and others that we have fallen short, have messed things up; when our pride and ego are no longer running the show, God sees that humility and smiles, for now He can use us.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

What side of the fence do we find ourselves this morning?

This last few months has opened my eyes to how I was using my walk with God as a form of pride, looking to God and myself and saying “look how good I’ve become, I’m doing all the right stuff now”… but lovingly God revealed how I was using all of that to continue to mask the pain under the surface as a striving for grace.

Rebuke Fear

I became like those who beat me down throughout my life, condemning the child within. The are fears that have followed me into my adult life; often afraid of failure, afraid of hurting others, afraid of making a wrong choice, feeling as if I have no value unless I’m performing for others.

That child within doesn’t trust easily, but God says to trust Him and He will make all things right if we surrender to His will. (The Serenity Prayer comes to mind)

God wants us to rejoice in Him! It is easy however to loose sight of that and serve for our own glory. True love for others comes when we serve because we are overwhelmingly grateful to God for His immense mercy, grace, compassion and strength upon our own lives.

Burning off the Dross

When we think about what He’s done for us, we realize we bring nothing to the table that will affect eternity, but if we will surrender our pride, our need to be in control (ouch), and let go of our fears, our insecurities, and accept our weaknesses then God can get busy molding us into the character He designed and fill us with the purpose He ordained before time began.

This is not an easy journey, but it is one filled richly with the rewards of relationship. When once we were filled with selfish desires, only seeking to fill our own coffers, we now find ourselves learning to live to the betterment of those around us.

This is not something we ourselves are capable of doing; the migration from selfish to selfless is Spirit driven. And it is not something that once started maintains its own momentum.

Pick Up Our Cross Daily

To shine brightly for Christ we must desire to know more of Him, be more like Him; to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

If we will start each day on our knees and in His word, take a mandatory moment of quietness and in that still place truly feel God enveloping us, placing His shield of protection and purpose throughout our entire being; only then will we have the presence of mind to capture each moment for Christ; to see each chance encounter with another person as a Divine Appointment to love them for Him.

My prayers that we all recognize and experience the incredible undeserved grace that God continually pours into our lives, and that for this day we choose to embrace our calling and shine brightly for Christ.

God Bless

Posted in Addiction, alcohol, conviction, drugs, encouragement, faith, God's story, love | Tagged Christianity, dross, fear, God's will, hope, love | Leave a comment

The Price of Disobedience

Posted on June 28, 2013 by George Crone

Leviticus 26:3-6 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid.

God is such a benevolent God, filled with perfect and unconditional love for all His creation, both those who love Him and those who reject Him.

For those who follow Him, He will heap mercy, blessings, forgiveness and grace richly upon their lives.

But for those who reject Him, who hear the truth of love, forgiveness, kindness, selflessness and instead go against the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and continue to live in selfish, prideful, idolatrous, lustful, jealous ways there will be a price to pay.

Leviticus 26:14-20 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

For me, as I continue to draw closer to God and root out more of my many footholds the devil has had for decades and combat the hurts, hangups and habits of the past, the pain mentioned in Leviticus strikes quickly when old ways surface. Anxiety, worry, physical discomfort like headaches, depression, self loathing, and worst of all a disconnection or a muting of the Holy Spirit which leads to heartache, loneliness and fear.

A cycle of despair that feeds upon itself

Desires to escape the growing uncomfortable feelings and stress over seemingly overwhelming responsibilities and hopelessness begin to emerge. As the rebellion grows the desire to run from God increases and it becomes harder to pray, to meet Him back at the foot of the cross and repent.

All of that pain and confusion is actually a blessing from God which comes from becoming acutely aware of the obedience God declares over His children. When we disobediently do what “we want” by believing there is something in our old life that would make us feel better or add excitement to the routineness of daily living we find we were very mistaken.

Peace and joy are rewards for those who remain obedient

Rejoicing in the heart and freedom of the spirit are rewards for the those who keep their eyes upon the Lord and earnestly seek His will for their lives, which yes includes being obedient to the commandments which is rooted in love towards God, ourselves and others.

One can choose to profess belief but live their old way, God does allow that to happen. It is the greatest waste of the human condition though, for with the power of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins through His Son on the cross and the teachings of God’s word we have all the armor we need to combat our old ways and desires and the free will to make the good choices that we so want.

We are not captives of sin unless we choose to be.

We have the power to forgive those who hurt us while it is happening, we are not forced to create and hold on to resentments.

We can trust that God is working things out in our lives for the greater good and not get stressed out when things don’t go our way as the events are unfolding, we don’t have to fall into a state of panic, sorrow, anger or rail against events.

We are given real-time power and strength, not just “after the fact” understanding.

There is of course Good News; God is always ready to forgive, extend grace and blessings and continually offers us His path of righteousness through all situations.

Leviticus 26: 40-42 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Return to Jesus

To recover from our times of disobedience, whether brief or over a lifetime we simply need to return to Him that created us. We need to return to our part of the covenant and worship the Father and remain obedient in all our ways. We need to rejoice in the Lord for He is mighty to save. He will remember us, not forsake us, and continually offer us the path of salvation, through continual renewal of our vows to follow our God at any price for the rest of our lives, starting with today.

A Warning

As in Leviticus, the restoration may not be to the fullness of blessings we had before. He may heap great blessings upon us but in perfect love, in response to our disobedience, He can take those blessings away. Upon our humble and broken return to the cross He will no longer condemn us thanks only to His unfathomable mercy, but He may not return us to the land we were in!

Leviticus 26:43-44 But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.

We are not to test God, we are not to spend time doing what we know we are not to do. God is almost too grace filled for in His incredible patience for us to repent we can find ourselves living complacent lives, doing as we wish with little regard for His desires and will for our lives and with little regard for His commandments.

His love will endure forever, but His patience may not.

Are we going to trust Him today? Will we desire nothing more than to follow His will for our life and glorify His name with our words and actions?

Or are we still focused on the plans we have for ourselves?

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

My prayers for a day filled with gladness in the Lord, that His renewal of mercies and grace fill our vision on our shared journey redemption.

God Bless

Posted in Addiction, Celebrate Recovery, conviction, encouragement, faith, God's story, hope, Recovery, trials | Tagged Christianity, conviction, despair, footholds, God, grace, indwelling of the holy spirit, jesus, mercy, obedience, The Law | Leave a comment

Sanctification Simplified

Posted on June 28, 2013 by George Crone

2 Peter 1:3-8

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When breaking down this passage, the one thing that stood out for me is the succession of one level to the next; I believe the order is very specific.

Without Faith none of it works which is why it is listed first. Then without a virtuous mind, a desire for holiness and a realization we are not holy, only then can we truly and humbly desire or even digest true knowledge.

Once we start having the “oh wow” moments of awareness and knowledge comes upon us (I was blind but now I see), then comes the battle (or for life-long addicts like me, I do mean battle) to be steadfast in our self control to follow God’s loving rebukes and graces… each layer building upon the previous.

We can dabble in all of these areas separately, out of order, at random times throughout our lives without Christ and even in journey of sanctification in Christ, but without a purpose-driven focus on becoming more ‘Christ-like’ there will likely only be fleeting moments of growth as a Christian.

If however we are intentional, filled with a driving purpose to follow Christ and yearn to become more Christ-like (the final stage, unconditional love towards all of God’s creation and the wisdom to know how to carry that love out); then each level must build upon a strong foundation of obedience to the previous condition of the heart.

This is a pursuit we can never perfect, but lest we give up the race, give up working out our own salvation, we must spend the rest of our lives reaching towards this goal.

Also take notice my favorite power word toward the end of this passage… “IF”. The success or failure of Sanctification in our Christian walk, the effectiveness of our individual fruitful (or fruitless) lives is dependent upon our response to His grace and mercy.

To be born again means we are to live actively in this process and thrive while doing it, not remain in bondage to our old dead ways of living in and for ourselves.

So what does this look like

In Order…
(taken from Dictionary.com)

Faith
noun

confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another’s ability.
belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
a system of religious belief
the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one’s promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
Christian Theology . the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

Synonyms: acceptance, allegiance, assent, assurance, belief, certainty, certitude, confidence,constancy, conviction, credence, credit,
credulity, dependence, faithfulness, fealty,fidelity, hope, loyalty, reliance, stock, store, sureness, surety, troth, truth, truthfulness. understanding, discernment, comprehension; erudition, scholarship

Virtue
noun

moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.
conformity of one’s life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.
chastity; virginity: to lose one’s virtue.

Synonyms: goodness, probity, integrity.

Knowledge
noun
1. acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition
2. familiarity or conversance, as with a particular subject or branch of learning:
3. acquaintance or familiarity gained by sight, experience, or report

Synonyms: understanding, discernment, comprehension

Self-control
noun

control or restraint of oneself or one’s actions, feelings, etc.

Steadfastness
adjective

fixed in direction; steadily directed: a steadfast gaze.
firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment, etc., as a person: a steadfast friend.
unwavering, as resolution, faith, adherence, etc.

Synonyms: sure, dependable, reliable, constant, unwavering. Steadfast, staunch, steady imply a sureness and continuousness that may be depended upon.
Steadfast literally means fixed in place, but is chiefly used figuratively to indicate undeviating constancy or resolution: steadfast in one’s faith.

godliness
adjective

conforming to the laws and wishes of God; devout; pious.
coming from God; divine.

Synonyms: religious, saintly, holy, righteous, good.

(Brotherly) Affection
noun

fond attachment, devotion, or love: the affection of a parent for an only child.
Often, affections
1. emotion; feeling; sentiment: over and above our reason and affections.
2. the emotional realm of love: a place in his affections.

love
noun

a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

verb (used with object)

to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.

Synonyms
1. tenderness, fondness, predilection, warmth, passion, adoration. 1, 2. Love, affection, devotion all mean a deep and enduring emotional regard, usually for another person. Love may apply to various kinds of regard: the charity of the Creator, reverent adoration toward God or toward a person, the relation of parent and child, the regard of friends for each other, romantic feelings for another person, etc. Affection is a fondness for others that is enduring and tender, but calm. Devotion is an intense love and steadfast, enduring loyalty to a person; it may also imply consecration to a cause. 2. liking, inclination, regard, friendliness. 15. like. 16. adore, adulate, worship

If we truly desire to stand apart, to not be conformed to the world, to make ourselves holy and pleasing in the site of God, then we must press on, always realizing we are less than others and with that we need to work on lessening ourselves so that we may increase others.

Jesus modeled that with His very life, both as He lived and as He died. Up to the bitter end, washing the feet of Judas and asking God to forgive those who placed Him on the cross as they gambled for His clothes while he suffered for us.

Our sacrifice is not what is important, it is the glorifying of our Father who gave us everything, life, salvation and a purpose to serve Him fully with our entire lives.

Are we going to go all in today, or just give God our leftovers?

My prayer today is that God continue to bless us and show mercy on our shared journey of redemption.

Posted in Addiction, conviction, encouragement, faith, God's story, hope, love, Recovery | Tagged Christianity, love, sanctification | Leave a comment

False Prophets

Posted on June 25, 2013 by George Crone

Jeremiah 23:16-17

16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

The dream I had yesterday continues to haunt me some 24 hours later (Evil). Evil is very real and it is impossible to counter without first recognizing it in all it’s form.

As I prayed for direction into God’s word this morning I was led again to the words of Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet who was charged by God to spread the word that God’s judgment was coming to those who rejected God in exchange for other idols.

And in verse 23, we encounter evil in the form of false prophets; those who encourage people that happiness can be found in a thousand different places other than following God.

Has not our society become overflowing with the false prophets of health, fame, beauty, self-seeking pursuits, idolotrous pleasure of flesh and fancy.

“You will be happy if…” is the cry of the materialistic profiteers who try and sell us their products in-between the paganistic pages of prime time television. And we sit like drones in front of these boxes pumping immorality and commercialism into our minds and wonder why our children end up hooked on video games and get bad grades in school and have become desensitized to morals and impersonalized down to relationships lived out on a 3×3 hand held texting box.

Jeremiah 23:10-11 For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right. 11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the Lord.

I believe this passage is speaking to an even more dangerous false prophet, the ones found not only in the churches of old, but right here today.

Churches where complacency and watered down messages of good news, prosperity, and joy that await all those who simply “pray the sinners prayer”. Pews packed with people there for the music and fellowship but have little concern or awareness of the true sin nature prospering in their own hearts.

Preachers that imply by their omissions of the complete word of God that how we live our lives is no longer relevant; we simply need to proclaim faith and God does the rest, we have no part. Simply showing up to church once-a-week or maybe once a month, dropping a couple coins in the coffer and lifting ones hands is all that is needed for the supernatural vending machine to open its money purse and start pouring out blessings.

The very real warnings found all throughout God’s word is a message of repentance, we must turn from our evil ways, not just before we come into authentic relationship with Christ, but even more-so afterwards, for we can no longer claim the veil of ignorance.

For the true follow of Christ we are elevated to the status of saints and disciples; we are to become the hands, feet, voices and very heart of God, to share His Gospel for His glory alone.

Repent or face judgement was not a pleasant message back then, and it’s no less distasteful to the masses now.

One of the most perverse and dangerous forms of evil I see is the subtle voice that says, “it’s ok, you can keep on smoking pot on the weekend, screaming at your children, viewing pornography when the wife is out of town, watch those “funny” TV shows & movies every night, (add your immorality here)… God is a god of forgiveness and love, if you “say” you believe in Him, you are forgiven and can do what you want, he understands”.

Carnal Christianity is not biblical.

The message of passivity towards immorality comes in the form of Christian churches who are led by “feel good” preachers, who only preach Good News but no conviction, no wrath, no condemnation.

The world will be judged, the day is drawing near. The time is now to have our own house in order. Not pleasant words for those in Sin, but joyous words for those who are in Christ.

If we find the words of judgment fearful and offensive, then we need to test our own hearts and examine our own deeds, for God too will judge our ways.

Yes, the Good News is very real. The New Covenant through Christ is the very catalyst that offers forgiveness and rest for the sinner, but only for the repentant sinner.

Redemption is not for the one who claims faith but makes no effort to change their ways, it is not for the one who listens to God’s word but whose heart remains so hardened that he does not hear, for the one who stands in judgment of God’s work as a spectator but makes no effort to participate in it.

We are called to a new life in Christ for the good works He has prepared for us.

God came to us so that we would be transformed by the renewing of our mind, to call us to be set apart from the evil that exists in the world, the idolatry of selfish pursuits and placing money, power, fame, materialism, lustful pleasures and the like before Him, our Creator, our Sovereign Lord.

This topic of evil presses on my heart, not so much as a warning to others, but in testing the condition of my own heart. When I came to Christ at 45 years old I thought the work was done, but more than 2 years later I am in full awareness that the work is just beginning.

The work of sanctification is a participatory relationship of unconditional love where the Father leads and we follow.

It is scary, it is difficult, at times it is painful, but what a glorious joy it is to realize that we are prisoners of most high God, set apart with a plan and purpose that goes far beyond anything we could have imagined. But we must willingly choose to pick up our cross and follow.

Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. “

My prayers today brothers and sisters in Christ is that we recognize the evil of complacency, first and foremost in our own hearts. May we not let the slippery slope of acceptable immorality prevalent in our society affect our walk with Christ. Let us hold ourselves accountable to God’s word, and in that shine the light of example for those around us.

May we all be encouraged to have our walk speak louder than our words.

Posted in alcohol, conviction, drugs, encouragement, faith, God's story, love, pornagraphy, Recovery, sex | Tagged complacency, evil, false prophets, Jeremiah, New Covenant | Leave a comment

Evil

Posted on June 24, 2013 by George Crone

1 John 5:19 (NIV) We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

I awoke this morning to the screams of my own voice.

The nightmare was vivid, I was in an old house with a few family and friends and was ghost hunting. I had a meter like the ones you see in the TV ghost hunting shows and the needle was pegged.

I was excited and following the readings, going towards the source. The higher the needle went, the more eager I became to locate it’s source. At one point the needle in the meter bent, moved behind the plastic window almost like liquid, the thrill was intense.

Then I came to a cracked-open basement door, and the door creeked slowly back and forth on its hinges as if something was moving it. With the needle seemingly trying to jump out of the meter itself I approached the door; there was an odor that was unmistakingly putrid and not welcoming, but closer I continued to move.

As I drew nearer, fear began to well up, but at this point I was too close, I was all in. It was now too late to turn back, I had to see what it was.

I moved toward the door and hot air was pouring out, it enveloped me and I felt a power, a force far beyond what I could resist begin to pull me toward the floor, dropping me to my knees.

I could sense the others in the room watching what I was doing and as I began to lose consciousness and all physical control of my body was draining away all I could muster was the same words over and over….

“EVIL… EVIL…EVIL…..”

I awoke horrified at the sound of my own voice yelling out those same words at exactly 5am, the time I normally got up.

Needless to say getting out of bed was easy this morning, there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going back to sleep after that!

But as I went downstairs to make coffee this presence followed me into my waking moments. Pouring a bowl a cereal I continued to feel something watching me, following me.

The hair on my arms was literally standing on end and the goose-bumps covered my body. Every dark corner in the kitchen, living room, hallway, seemed filled with an unwanted presence. This was truly an eerie and uncomfortable experience.

I literally began to pray out-loud, claiming the protection and power of Christ into my house, the room, over my body.

As I returned back upstairs (at a quick pace) with cereal and coffee in hand I immediately prayed as I do before every blog.

“Father God, lead me into Your word, show me what You want me to find, put in my heart and hands what You will this morning. Let what I type be what You would have me type….”

So I chose to open an NLT Study Bible that I have and it opened to Matthew 3, pg 1541 with a nearly full page study inset about the Pharisees and Sadducees.

“Really Lord” I thought to myself. Here I am, faced with what felt like a terrifying brush with evil in my sleep which followed me into reality and you want me to draw a comparison between evil and religious leaders in Jesus’ day.

So I decided to use BibleGateway.com and search the term evil in the ESV translation.

Take a wild guess how many times God warns us or talks about evil; 539 times.

We have a very real enemy, and as I believe God has led me to this morning, it is not always an obvious outright enemy.

I recently saw the movie Boy in the Striped Pajamas. A chilling story of an 8yr old German boy who befriends an 8yr old Jewish boy through the fence of a concentration camp. It’s a not a movie for the feint of heart, but I highly recommend the educational experience of this horrific time in history.

Then just last week I watched Act of Valor, another real and heart-wrenching snapshot of the real life war on terror and the heroic efforts and actions of the Navy Seals that is taking place right now today in every corner of the world. Evil is present.

These movies are chilling to say the least, and they bring the physical battle of evil into the forefront of consciousnesses. This is not just the movies, this is real life. Satan is real, and the battle for our soul is a matter of life and death.

As an adult who grew up as a product of child abuse (physical, emotional and sexual) I have struggled to resolve the difference between evil acts and evil people. “Hate the sin, not the sinner” I’ve been told my whole life.

But for many of us who are products of broken homes, there is only black-and-white thinking. I loved my parents. They provided food, shelter, clothing, education, toys… everything I needed.

As I move through recovery I came to see my own poor behaviors, bad choices, wicked ways and think to myself, I wasn’t evil… just broken.

So I applied that thinking to my parents and the people today who do bad things, selfish things; they aren’t evil, they just do the things broken people do.

But if the world knew what was going on behind the closed doors of my house, my parents would have been arrested, as they should have. And I would have been removed from their custody, they would have been brought in front of a judge and deemed “guilty as charged”.

No different than Hitler himself, who thought he was doing a good thing but in fact was under the influence of pure evil.

Or to bring this back to where God led me in Matthew, the Pharisees and Sadduccees in Jesus’ time.

They were the religious leaders, the most theologically sound and practiced people on the earth. A passionate heart for God and a complete life sacrifice in the name of God. They were respected as teachers, leaders, and men of God.

And they are the ones that crucified Christ.

When Jesus first entered Jerusalem the masses lined the streets with palm leaves and praised Him as king, The Christ. But the religious leader of the day turned their hearts against Him, and in the end, like sheep to slaughter, they followed and cheered for His crucifixion.

We ourselves cannot serve two masters. Any idol (money, pride, ego, fame, power, materialism) if placed in priority above the pursuit of Christ is in itself chasing after evil.

Anything that takes our hearts, our time, our God-given resources away from our family, our community, our neighbors is evil.

If we are doing what we know to be wrong, we are doing evil acts, and have every right to be judged and held accountable. Yes as Christian’s the Good News is we are forgiven and redeemed by Christ alone, but judgment for our sin is no different than the judgment of non-believers, if God chooses to judge our sins instead of forgive them, we will be found guilty.

In my life that is great motivation to stop sinning!

So, I may have loved my parents, but I can no longer ignore the fact that they did evil things, as have I and as we all have. Sin is evil, and we must hate sin as Jesus hates sin.

I have never been able to set boundaries in my life. I believe that is because I have never set any boundaries on myself. I have felt entitled to do anything I want, whenever I want.

“If it feels good do it”

That is not OK.

God’s highest commandment is to love one-another. When we are serving ourselves, or others are hurting us in pursuit of their own beliefs or pleasure, we have not only the right to defend and protect our values, but the duty and calling.

Much like in my dream, the devil holds counsel over this world, and the siren song of sin is always present. But if we listen to the allure of fun, fame and pleasure that the Liar uses through temptations and complacency, at some point we will draw too close to the flame and not be able to resist, and we will get burned.

Avoid evil, call out evil, run from evil; first in our own hearts, then help the ones we love to rebuke it in their own life.

Time is drawing near, Satan’s power in this world is clear and evident. The night time TV shows, the destructions of the family throughout the global court systems, the use of lust, money and power to draw our children towards evil pursuits…

There has never been a greater time in history when our Christian brothers and sisters need to take a stand in our sphere of influences and make a difference. Every person we meet today is a divine opportunity to touch a life.

Will we bring joy, peace, light and love into the life of all we encounter today or find an excuse, to be too busy or in a hurry or feel too self-important to stop for a moment and offer an ear, a kind word, a helping hand.

Evil is not always the outward act of hatred, but often times can be as subtle as the absence of love.

My prayer today is that we recognize God’s divine appointment in our lives and reach out to those around us, to leave the world a little better today out of immense gratitude for a gracious savior who died for everyone when none of us deserve it.

Love is not something earned or demanded from others, it is a gift to be given away.

God Bless,

George

Posted in Addiction, conviction, faith, God's story, love, Recovery | Tagged evil, family dysfunction, love, Satan | Leave a comment

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One Man's Journey of Redemption

Foundations of America – Religion in American Schools

Foundations of America – President Lincoln and God

Partial List of Quotations Before the Presidency

Partial List of Quotations During the Presidency

Foundations of America – Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Call for July 4th Religious Services 1876

Because of Him

Shine Brightly for Christ

The Price of Disobedience

Sanctification Simplified

False Prophets

Evil

1 John 5:19 (NIV) We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

I awoke this morning to the screams of my own voice.

The nightmare was vivid, I was in an old house with a few family and friends and was ghost hunting. I had a meter like the ones you see in the TV ghost hunting shows and the needle was pegged.

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1 John 5:19 (NIV) We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. I awoke this morning to the screams of my own voice.

The nightmare was vivid, I was in an old house with a few family and friends and was ghost hunting. I had a meter like the ones you see in the TV ghost hunting shows and the needle was pegged.

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1 John 5:19 (NIV) We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

I awoke this morning to the screams of my own voice.