No Other Foundation
America is built on the principles of the gospel
of Christ Jesus, the innocent Man who was murdered by corrupt political leaders
who violated their own laws to silence Him. The soul of America is and has
always been to protect such persons through a system of justice that recognizes
the rights of every soul according to the Rule of Law ... not subjecting them to
the power of an elite few who act outside the law but protecting them by the
Will of the People themselves. This nation was born to uphold the noble and
eternal principles of Love and Mercy for all mankind.
America is built upon those principles. It is not
the principles themselves. It is an edifice, a structure, a mechanism, if you
will. It is built on the principles of Christ just as a ship is built on
principles of naval architecture and design. But a ship is more than naval
architecture and design. A ship is rivets, bolts, plates, steel, wood, and
canvas. All things are fitted together in a whole to function according to
principles of naval architecture and design. It is the manner in which builders
apply principles to the task of building a vessel that determines whether the
ship they build is seaworthy.
Understanding principles, therefore, is critical
to the outcome.
Applying those principles, however, is even more
critical, for the proper fitting of rivets, the proper making of sails and
spars, the proper obedience to principles of building is essential to the
construction of a vessel suitable to entrust the safety of souls at sea.
The principles of Christ are given to us by God.
The application of those principles is taught to
us by those who have built upon them in the past and know we must also build in
accordance with the same principles.
Just knowing the principles of Christ is not
enough to build a nation of laws any more than knowing the principles of naval
architecture and design is enough to build a ship fit for the rigors of a
storm-tossed sea. Experience plays a part. Wisdom obeys the principles of Christ
but also sees how to use those principles in practical applications.
If someone offers to take you to sea in a vessel
he claims he built by revelation received directly from God, without regard to
the wisdom of men who have experience building and sailing ships at sea, perhaps
prudence will caution you to let him venture out on the briny deep alone until
his creation has been thoroughly tested.
Knowing the love of God in Christ, therefore, is
not enough to build a nation of loving laws. Knowing the sacrifice Jesus paid at
Calvary is not enough to write into law the rules and regulations that alone can
wisely govern the lives of many millions of souls. Knowing the peace that passes
understanding is not enough to give you power to pen the principles of
government whereby peace can be secured for future generations.
You need to know the principles of government,
just as shipwrights need to know the relative strengths of bolts, welds, and
rivets and where to use each in the structure of their seagoing creations.
Wanting to safely cross the sea is not enough!
Simply knowing, for example, that a sailing hull
must keep the ocean’s water out is not enough to build a hull that can carry
towering spars pressed by acres of spreading canvas. Knowing a hull must keep
out water does not give the further insight of knowing how to shape the hull to
move forward with less effort than it takes to move it sideways. Knowing a hull
must keep out water does not give the further insight that ballast must be
placed down low in the bottom of the keel to counter the force of the sails high
above.
When church leaders proclaim themselves patriots,
waving the stars and stripes in one hand and the Bible in another, yet refuse to
teach their congregations the fundamental mechanisms by which liberty is secured
through the practices of justice, we all lose – and the principles of Christ
are actually ignored and trampled under foot by ignorance!
Good intentions, even when guided by the
miraculous love of Christ, cannot build ships safe enough to take women and
children to sea. Shipbuilding, like the management of governments, requires more
than desire to build, however noble and lofty the intent. It requires special
skills, understanding of materials, experience, and willingness to give no room
for compromise.
We wish to teach the leaders of God’s churches
to understand the discipline of good government, to enhance their understanding
of the gospel with a further understanding of the principles of law that should
be taught to each succeeding generation so future leaders can guard wisely
against the untamed exercise of good intentions.
I've worked more than 30 years to piece together the
principles of government that are obedient to the principles of Christ and
have found those principles in the Rule of Law and due process protections that
are the principles of Christ at work in America’s courts where the hope of
liberty remains secure for those who will obey. I've learned the hard way much
of what we wish to teach, yet through it all I've learned and received a
vision others seem to miss entirely. I love the Spirit of America, because she
is kind, she is good, she is loving, she is willing to sacrifice for others, and
so long as she is kept alive for future generations she will be blessed by
Almighty God, secured by her allegiance to Christ’s principles and by her
people’s willingness to build her walls and gates wisely in the light of
reason and experience (and not on good intentions alone).
I wish to see and hear the leaders of God’s
churches proclaim the truth by which peace is preserved and promoted to future
generations. I wish to see and hear the leaders of God’s churches repent for
their refusal to give hope to our children that obedience to the principles of
government guided by the principles of Christ can preserve to posterity. I wish
to see and hear the leaders of God’s churches offer children the promises of
peace that we in this present generation have enjoyed, promises secured by
faithful obedience to those mechanisms of communication and cooperation by which
alone public liberty can be established and preserved. I wish to see and hear
leaders of God’s churches confess the sin of negative attitudes about the
future and begin to encourage the flocks to take up the cause of liberty while
the tools for building and maintaining justice are still available for us to use
in these United States … while there is yet time to save our nation from the
encroaching lies of foreign governments that deny the principles of Christ!
This work can be accomplished easily. The most
critical necessity is willingness of church leadership to be submitted to the
truth that doing nothing is sin, that waiting for destruction is wrong, that
refusing to share what’s good about our government is wrong, and that denying
God’s power to make things better in this present generation and to ensure
things get worse by preventing the truth to be proclaimed from God’s pulpits
is WRONG!
Let those who praise America’s heritage in
Christ repent for their refusal to teach the principles of government by which
alone that heritage can be secured and guaranteed for future generations … and
let repentance in Christ’s church begin today.
You want a better vessel. You see the problems we
are facing in the world today.
Roll up your sleeves and press on for the mark of
the high calling in Christ Jesus.
If you want peace, work for justice. Learn how to
build. Reach beyond your good intentions. Rise above your eagerness to condemn
what you refuse to repair. Confess the ignorance you perpetuate by refusing to
teach those principles by which alone the broken parts can be restored to their
proper function.
Teach the children.
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