Church & State: Proposed US Seal & Motto Help Prove Misinterpretation of 1st Amendment

“Rebellion to Tyrants is OBEDIENCE TO GOD.” ~Ben Franklin & T. Jefferson

by Tracey Nelson, M.Ed.

April 15, 2013 – Has the US Supreme Court misinterpreted the First Amendment? Many Christians and Jews think so. Due to the current interpretation of this amendment multiple Supreme Court decisions have removed God from the US government and banned Him from  America’s public schools. In the 1960′s prayer and Bible reading suddenly became illegal acts despite the fact that these practices had been carried out in our nation’s schools for over 300 years. Many believe this is one reason the nation has rapidly gone down hill.

Supreme Court Justices outlawed Jude0-Christian symbols and rituals from government buildings and staff as well. Is it possible that these decisions were made because they  misinterpreted the First Amendment? One would think so, especially since these practices had been in place for over 300 years. The only way to know for sure is to look at historical documents to see what our Founding Fathers’ intentions really were. By this I am primarily referring to the signers and framers of the US Constitution.

One simply cannot interpret the Constitution any old way he or she sees fit. One has to go back a ways to find out what the original intentions were of the framers of the US Constitution. Since we can’t talk to them, we must look at their actions and words in historical documents.

Founding Fathers’ Intentions

Had our Founding Fathers intended for Judeo-Christian practices, literature, teachings, and symbols to be kept out of the schools and government activities then Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin would NEVER have submitted the previous image (above, left) to the US Congress to be approved for the OFFICIAL SEAL of the United States. The motto of this seal says, “Rebellion to Tyrants is OBEDIENCE TO GOD.” What is on the picture? A BIBLE story of Israel fleeing Egypt! The first proposed image by Franklin was of

“Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his Hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharaoh who is sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his Head and a Sword in his Hand. Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses, to express that he acts by Command of the Deity.”[1]

Thomas Jefferson’s original idea was similar. For the front of the seal the children of Israel are in the wilderness (after having escaped Egypt with Moses), led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  For the back, Hengist and Horsa, the two brothers who were the legendary leaders of the first Anglo-Saxon settlers in Britain.[2]

They finally agreed on the following depiction after Jefferson made some editions of Franklin’s seal. The seal showed

“Pharaoh sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his head and a Sword in his hand, passing through the divided Waters of the Red Sea in Pursuit of the Israelites: Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Cloud, expressive of the divine Presence and Command, beaming on Moses who stands on the shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to overwhelm Pharaoh.”[3]

According to The Washington, Jefferson, and Madison Institute, “Jefferson FULLY agreed with Franklin’s motto”[4] (emphasis mine). This motto offers irrefutable evidence that this Bible story was not just a symbolic allegory for to represent the United States but a deeply held conviction by our Founding Fathers. This erases any doubt whatsoever as to their intentions. In other words, removing Biblical practices from government and schools is NOT in keeping with the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

A Mountain of Evidence Available

This is just one piece of evidence among a veritable mountain of proof presented to the American public by activists like David Barton at wallbuilders.com to prove this point.[5] The second draft of the proposed US Seal as well as other evidence available, demonstrate that the US Supreme Court has made a severe error in judgment with regard to the First Amendment.

Consider this. If the Supreme Court would quit making rulings that suppress vital historical facts from this nation’s students and would stop intimidating teachers and schools so that they are free to teach American History properly, our current Supreme Court Justices might not be so misinformed! They should have learned all of this knowledge in school, but they couldn’t! In other words, if they had all of the facts straight about our country’s founding, they might have made the right decisions!

Please tell me, when information is purposely being suppressed, what sort of governments do that? Tyrannical and oppressive ones do… the type our Founding Fathers fought to gain liberty from!

If you are a Christian or Jew, please share this vital information with as many as you can so this knowledge will no longer be suppressed. If you are not religious, it is still important for the sake of freedom and our national identity that you do because, “No one is free when others are oppressed.”  ~Author Unknown. If this issue is not attended to, we will likely lose all of our freedoms eventually. To share this on Facebook, email, or on your other social media sites while on residing on my blog, please use the buttons below the article (click on the title to reveal them if they are hidden).

Proposed US Seal Appropriate for Today’s US Government Suppression and Oppression

Considering this suppressive nature of these rulings by the US Supreme Court to remove vital historical information from US public schools, don’t you think that the seal proposed by Jefferson and Franklin is just as appropriate for us today as it was during the Revolution? Let me explain.

The Biblical story of the children of Israel’s escape from slavery in Egypt and the symbolic death of Pharaoh as he is swallowed up in the Red Sea was an important story which provided hope to those fighting tyranny during the Revolutionary War.

You see, our Forefathers’ grandparents had come to these shores to escape the oppression and persecution of European church-states… who, by the way, were ALSO suppressing information from the world. For example, at one point it was punishable by death to own a Bible. As a matter of fact, when the colonists and our Forefathers’ began fighting the Revolutionary War, they believed they were ushering in the 1,000 year rule of Christians in the Kingdom of God. I have seen a document from the close friend of one of our Founding Fathers speaking of his reason for fleeing America for England. He wanted to stay true to the Crown of England (he was a royalist). The reason he stated for leaving the colonies for England was because he noted how Benjamin Franklin believed this war would usher in the millennial Kingdom of God. At the moment, I can’t recall where I saw it but I will post the link ASAP. I believe I found it at Trinity Church’s website in New York City.

This little known historical fact plus the Biblical symbolism of the proposed US Seal AND the motto: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God” has CLEARLY demonstrated that our Founding Fathers’ intent was NOT to remove God from our government or schools by writing the First Amendment but to gain liberty from the oppression people had suffered under by the church-states in Europe and England. The issue was basically with which Christian denomination people chose to worship or not to worship in (i.e., Catholic vs. Protestant, Church of England vs. Puritanism). In other words, previously whatever religion the state advocated was the religion enforced on the people. This did not allow men and women to worship how their conscience dictate. But the First Amendment was also, in effect, about the suppression of information when one considers how the church-state suppressed ownership and translation of the Bible into the common tongue. The church-state knew if believers had a copy of the Bible, they would not be able to control them any longer. So being found with one in your possession might get you burned at the stake.

It is important to realize, without the freedom of soul sparked by the reading of the Bible, we might not have Democracy today. The Protestant Reformation was American’s first step of freedom. When the Puritans came out from under tyranny and oppression of the church-state, they were practicing for the American Revolution.

Can you now see why it was definitely not our Forefathers’ intent to completely remove Judeo-Christianity (i.e., God) out of US government and school practices? The First Amendment was written to address the issue of government not dictating to the people which flavor of church they chose to worship in (or not worship in) or whether we could own a Bible or not.

Funny how the exact same knowledge is being suppressed by the US Government today! Are you being oppressed? Is this tyranny? You decide.

Original Purpose for Public Education

Think about it for a moment. The WHOLE purpose for public school education was to teach the Bible so Americans would never be deceived and oppressed by a church or government system ever again!!! This was the number one mission and purpose for starting public schools. So don’t tell me the Forefathers wanted to keep that out of the schools when they wrote the US Constitution. NO WAY! Read some “untainted” history books and let the “Truth set you free!” Believe it or not, the truth IS out there! For example, did you know that the first law enacted by Massachusetts for public education was the Olde Deluder Satan Act of 1647 (for more about that see the 10 minute movie about US Education History below).

Bible Printing Approved by Congress for Public Schools and Approved by Washington for Soldiers

What was one of the first official acts the US Government accomplished just before we won the Revolutionary War? Congress approved the printing of a Bible FOR the schools!!![6] It was the version of the Aitken version of the Bible that the rebels secretly used during the war. The colonists preferred this Bible to the Bible that had been forced upon them by the Church of England (i.e., King James Bible). Yet ANOTHER fact proving that our Forefathers did not intend to take Christ or the Bible out of the schools or the government! General Washington called it “The Bible of the Revolution.”[7]

Ask yourself, what version of US History did you learn? Did you know any of this? What about our future US Supreme Court Judges & lawyers (i.e., your children)? Ask your kids. Do they have any idea about this? Apparently our US Supreme Court Justices did and do not. Isn’t that sad?

Be an Agent of Change: Use the Democratic Process to Take America Back

Do you want America to lose its identity and blessings from God? Then DO something about it!

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. ~Ronald Reagan

1. Share this article with as many people as you can!
2. Talk about it with others;
3. Share this very well researched and articulate article on your social networks and by email (use the buttons below if you are still on WordPress to share);
4. Sign petitions put out by organizations like the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). They go head-to-head with the American Civil Liberties Union in the Supreme Court and elsewhere to prove that America was, indeed, founded upon Judeo-Christian values.
5. Financially support the ACLJ (above) because they are very actively fighting for your freedoms and values. It is a amazingly worthy cause to support.
6. America cannot change without citizens keeping informed so they can  know what to vote, find petitions that will make a difference if they sign them, so they can actively share this knowledge by talking about it to others verbally and through the Internet; and
7. Last but not least, pray for the restoration of Judeo-Christian symbols, correct historical teaching, freedom to read or teach from the Bible, and pray in this nations’ schools and government.

Bonus Video: History of US Education

Harvard Motto: “For the Glory of Christ” “For Christ and the Church”

Harvard Directives to Students: “Read Scriptures twice per day”

About the Aitken Bible

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REFERENCES

1. The Washington, Jefferson, Madison Institute. (2012). “The Great Seal (1776). Blog. March 7, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2013 from http://wjmi.blogspot.com/2012/03/great-seal-1776.htmlhttp://logosresourcepages.org/Versions/1st.htm

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Barton, D. (2012). “The Aitken Bible and Congress.” Website Wallbuilders.com. March 30, 2012 Retrieved April, 15, 2013 from http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=112866

6. Hills, M. T.  (2013). “The First American Bible.” Website: Logos Resource Pages. Retrieved April 15, 2013 from http://logosresourcepages.org/Versions/1st.htm

7. Brake, D. L. (2011). “The Bible of the American Revolution.” Website: Washington Times. August 20, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2013 from http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/worlds-best-selling-book/2011/aug/20/bible-american-revolution

Permission to share this article is granted. Please include this statement, below. Thanks!

Copyright (c) April 15, 2013 by The Spotless Bride Blog and Tracey Nelson, M.Ed. This article was written by Tracey Nelson, M.Ed. author of Accelerated Transformation: Maturity, Intimacy, and Unity through Emotional Healing and was featured on her blog at http://thespotlessbride.wordpress.com

Forgiveness by Kamillo Millo Edwards

Please let this young Christian know you were blessed!

 

You see the rain, it’s in the sky.

You see the pain, it’s in the eyes.

Like a grown man to minimize.

At midnight you can hear the bitter cries.

 

Love & hate, each has a thin line.

I see you swallowing all the pain & pride to pretend its fine.

At times you wish if only you could have seen this ahead of time,

You would avoid all the pain that you feel inside.

You can’t sleep, all the memories, crying out to God like “Would they ever leave?”

 

Lord remember me, I need the remedy,

Lord I don’t wanna feel like I’m sleeping with the enemy.

This whole thing is bitter sweet;

I should forgive since Christ has forgiven me.

Well at least I know that in my head,

But it’s so much easier [done than] said.

It takes time, minutes pass;

Erase the lines, you finished last.

Because you keep submitting to what’s in the past.

Now you’re going through this cycle like a plastic glass.

I know it’s a process, healing takes time while you’re still trying to get pas[t] what that person did.

Now you’re feeling like a monster explaining to the one above  everything your mind said.

It cut you & hurt you;

God knows everything you been through.

How you’ve been bruised, yes he’s in tune;

He says forgiveness is the healing [of those] wounds.

 

So you have to let it go,”let it go!”

It’ll kill you if you let it grow.

Un-forgiveness is a poison the choice is yours,

I’m just a voice here to let you know.

 

Your flesh says; I can’t forgive, can’t forget.

They apologized, you can’t accept.

You demand respect, imagine that;

When every time you sinned God canceled that.

And every time Christ has forgiven you, every time you’ve eaten a piece of that bitter fruit.

 

I know you’ve been used, been abused;

I’m not in your shoes,

But I know if you dig up the bitter root,

Show em love to overcome,

God says ‘Love your enemies’, it’s part of growing up.

Don’t hold a grudge, I know it’s tough,

But if Christ forgives, died for our sins to give life though we [don't] have the right to live.

 

Then we should know how to wave our rights to win.

Whether a family or a friend, you gotta show em love.

But then again forgiveness is your choice.

But if i were you i would choose Love.

 

Please let this young Christian know you were blessed!

*Also, please forgive the words in brackets… they are mine… in order to make the transition from the local “West Indian” dialect to American English.

 

Listening to the Heart

Each one of us yearns to be heard and understood.

All too often, though, we forget to listen to one another’s hearts.

To listen, really listen, means to risk being changed by what we hear.

And that is often the problem, isn’t it? Particularly within families or marriages… or as John Bradshaw likes to refer to these relationships as “environments of shame.”

When I am asked to minister to troubled couples, the biggest problem they usually face arises from this area of communication. They rarely listen to one another’s hearts.

Why is this typical? People are basically focused on themselves. In many cases, they are often listening to any evidence of challenges to (or affirmations of) their worth.

You see, most people have not yet disengaged from using other people as their mirrors. People once served as our mirrors during childhood. They helped us gauge the rightness or wrongness of our actions. However, our interactions with others taught us a lot more than how to treat others or what was and was not socially acceptable.

We formed our identities based on these interactions!

Our beliefs about who we are and what we are worth were formed by how well we believed that were received by others. Our own appraisal of ourselves determined what the truth was. This is referred to as the “reflected appraisal process.” Unfortunately, children often misinterpret the truth of a situation and make poor judgments about their worth or identity as a result.

But if the criticism from “our mirrors” was harsh  or if it came to us with the threat of abandonment, humiliation, or loss, our perception of our worth was challenged and our hearts often wounded in the process. So what does this have to do with becoming a better listener?

Well, when people are in conversation with others and they hear anything which touches on an old wound or resembles a blow they received to their self-esteem or identity, they will perceive a threat to their worth. This will frequently invoke a defensive reaction and their ability to listen to others with maturity and with an open heart will be completely lost. Often what ensues is a wounded reaction or a cycle of blaming and accusing will commence.

When you listen are you waiting to judge, dismiss, or find some point of contention? Do you have a habit of subconsciously gathering evidence to prove that you are right and others are wrong? Do people’s discussions tend to get turned around and end up being about you? Then it is possible that you are still allowing others to be your mirror. You likely have a wound in your heart that needs to be healed and you are not truly convinced of your worth.

Sadly, most people suffer from one or more painful wounds and doubts about their worth. This is the biggest detractor from maturity, inner peace, and relational harmony or Christian unity than any other thing. Unfortunately, we cannot convince ourselves of our true worth without first being healed and transformed. That is the crux of my ministry’s message. But Jesus Christ can help! Jesus wants to be your mirror. He will:

• Heal your wounds:
  • Because He is God, He can heal them instantly, without decades spent on a counselor’s couch.
• Erase your shame;
• Help you to become more vulnerable by allowing you lean on His strength rather than your own;
• Freely give you a sense of your priceless value, a value He gave you  without needing to earn it;
• Teach you how His adoption of you gave you a royal heritage and identity.

God made human beings in His Image, so He made everyone of us with the need to look to Him as our mirror. We are transformed in His loving and approving gaze, as follows.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory… (2 Corinthians 2:18a)

If you are a Christian, you may be agreeing with me right now. You already realize that all of this can be obtained by being born again and then reading the Bible. Unfortunately, this, alone, does not always bring about the quick healing or maturity that one needs to walk in total peace, harmony, and wholeness. If it did, then the churches would not be full of people who have been Christians for decades who can still be heard in their neighborhoods screaming obscenities at their family members, getting divorces, or taking medication for depression.

[For those of you who are not born again, to be born again, we merely have to open our hearts to Jesus in that all-important first step of faith or trust. That is simple to understand, isn't it? Trust is required for any new relationship to begin!]

The subsequent learning that is required for full transformation to take place is much quicker to be obtained by attending a non-shaming Church and engaging in Bible studies with people who are there to affirm and build others up rather than tear them down in judgment.

It also helps to find a church that believes healing the heart rather than one that invariably ends up shaming others into submission. (Although some people respond well to shame, shaming does very little to help people and actually does more harm in the long run).

But tragically, even many of your more loving, “grace” churches fail to have programs that bring healing to the heart. They often believe in the strategy of suppressing and denying their pain with Scriptural truths rather than dealing with the pain honestly, openly, and compassionately. Of course, God’s word never returns to him void, but there is a faster way to be transformed.

Unfortunately, knowledge to heal the heart is not readily available to every pastor or church organization. Consequently, those that want to help are frequently not always sure of how to help. That is why many people inadvertently end up getting hurt even in the best of churches. Sadly, in most churches very little attention is being paid to this area of emotional healing. That is where I would like to help.

If you need help healing from your wounds and understanding the Bible better so that you can quickly be healed and transformed, I recommend that you read ACCELERATED TRANSFORMATION: MATURITY, INTIMACY, AND UNITY THROUGH EMOTIONAL HEALING by me, Tracey Nelson, M.Ed. You can find it here: http://thespotlessbride.com.

I will also come to your organization or church to train people such as your pastoral staff or whomever is interested in setting up a healing and transformation program. You may contact me at songsofdeliverace@yahoo.com. Currently, I have a limited number of openings to coach/mentor people individually into wholeness. But if I am not available, I can connect you to someone who is.

In the meantime, try to become a better listener. Try not to listen with your wounds. Put yourself on the shelf while you listen to your loved ones and those with whom you interact. Assess your conversations to see if you turned the subject around to be about you or if you really listened. Then determine what it was about that conversation that made you need to do that. If you react to something said, analyze the interaction and maybe you can find out where that wound originated from in the past or how the words spoken to you seemingly challenged your worth or value. Take that discovery to the Lord and ask Him to heal you.

I pray that this information has been of assistance to you and will make you a better listener.

If it has, will please let me know in the comments, below? Feel free to share this helpful article with others by using the buttons below. Don’t forget, you can sign up for email reminders when I post new articles on this blog by using the subscribe button in one of the columns to the right.

Thank you for reading and God bless!

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© Tracey Nelson

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute my words in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document is required. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by The Spotless Bride Ministries. Not everything in this article is owned by the author, so please give credit where credit is due to those quoted or other elements shared and seek proper permission from those authors, artists, and composers when necessary. Thank you.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Tracey Nelson, M.Ed., author Accelerated Transformation , © February 20, 2013. Website: The Spotless Bride Blog; (Some images, songs, & videos not owned by author)

Laminin: Cross-shaped adhesive Holds Cells together

Proof that Christ’s goal is to see the members of His Body united. There is something called Laminin that holds every human cell together. It is an adhesive in the shape of a cross!

Laminin in Body

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact GOD HAS PLACED THE PARTS IN THE BODY, every one of them, JUST AS HE WANTED THEM TO BE. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:17,12, 18-20

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things HOLD TOGETHER. ~ Colossians 1:15-17

Just like each individual Christian has different talents, gifts, and functions to contribute to their local Christian church, each church has differences that help serve humanity in a variety of ways suited to a particular demographic group. For example, the more liturgical churches appeal to a certain type of person whereas a Baptist Church may be a little more “seeker friendly” serving the newcomer where he is without frightening him off. On the other hand, those that are curious about the supernatural aspects of the Bible and wonder if God is the same today as He was yesterday, can usually find those things in operation in Pentecostal or Charismatic Churches. While those who want to go even deeper still with their Bridegroom into the more mature mystical union of the Bride of Christ will often delight in dining at the table of an International House of Prayer location or soaking session. Each of those stages correspond with a different level of knowledge of God’s person depicting even higher levels of maturity and more intimate relationship; i.e.,

• The babes in Christ do well in seeker sensitive churches whereas…
• The older children of God often find themselves desiring more to eat than milk, at which point they may find a church that teaches theology, apologetics, and deals with the weighter issues of the faith (such as a Presbyterian Church for example);
• The manifest sons of God walk out the manifestations of the glory of God by executing the laws of the Kingdom of God here on earth (just as Jesus said we were to pray, “Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” This happens in churches that believe Christians are to do the greater works of Jesus. You may see them working in a Healing Room or going to an Assemblies of God or other Pentecostal Church.
• The mature sons of God know the heart of the Father. They tend to favor churches where grace is taught if not blatantly flaunted against the old paradigm of religious pride and control. One might see these mature sons attracted to the likes of The New Mystics or Graham Cooke;
• Finally, the brides of Christ know the heart of their Bridegroom, Jesus. They “get” the bridal relationship depicted in the Song of Solomon. They are forever ruined for the ordinary impassioned with burning desire to connect tangibly with their Lord. It is out of this overflow of love that new children are born to them (new converts). Again, these Christians are mystical. They prefer going to IHOP 24/7 locations or who prefer soaking over any other of their former spiritual activities.

Webster Medical Dictionary says that Laminin is a “glycoprotein that is a component of connective tissue basement membrane and that promotes cell adhesion.”

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© Tracey Nelson

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute my words in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by The Spotless Bride Ministries. Not everything in this article is owned by the author, so please give credit where credit is due to those quoted or other elements shared and seek proper permission from those authors, artists, and composers when necessary. Thank you.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Tracey Nelson, M.Ed., author Accelerated Transformation , © February 14, 2013. Website: The Spotless Bride Blog; (Some images, songs, & videos not owned by author).

Praying for the Third Great Awakening

Do you want to see this country return to its Christian roots with fervor and passion for the Lord? Are you willing to commit yourself to pray?

I am a strong proponent for any effort that unites Christians in prayer for a common purpose. The world has witnessed numerous cases where miraculous things happened after Christians and churches from all denominations decided to agree in prayer for the sake of the city or state where they lived. Entire cities were completely turned around for Christ as a result of the united prayer of God’s children (for example, as documented in George Otis, Jr.’s TRANSFORMATION video series). In most cases, cities would see a permanent drastic drop in crime rates, corruption would be rooted out of the government, citizen would suddenly become more vocal about their faith boldly and proudly displaying signs on their storefronts to indicate they were a Christian business, and many new converts were added to the Body of Christ.

Why does Christ honor united prayer in such a significant manner? Christ promised that the world would finally believe that the Father sent Him to love them once Christians united together as one Body under Christ our Head (see John 17:21-23).

The following call to prayer is focused on bringing a Third Great Awakening to the United States. You can learn more about it here: http://www.voiceofawakening.us/

You can also become a part of praying at one of the “Torch of Awakening” sites. This torch is being passed on from state to state where prayer is ideally being scheduled by volunteers willing to take an hour each day (24/7) for one week. This happens at the location where the torch is being hosted. Maybe your group would even host the torch! To learn about it, check it out here: http://www.voiceofawakening.us/aboutthetorch.html Go to the site to find out when the torch will be in your state.

Here are the prayer points:

Awakening Prayer Points

• 1.    Pray for Awakening to saturate every segment of society:  Church-Family-Business-Government-Education-Arts & Entertainment-Media
   
  2.    Pray for a book of Acts and beyond awakening.
   
  3.    Pray for signs, wonders, mighty deeds, and healing.
   
  4.    Pray for unity of purpose in Christ’s body. (Psalm 133:1-3)
   
  5.    Pray for a harvest of souls and laborers for the harvest. (John 4:34-38)
   
  6.    Pray for righteous leaders in government and righteous laws.
   
  7.     Pray for overthrow of abortion in your state and nation.
   
  8.    Pray for church leaders to be filled with passion for Christ and His kingdom.

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© Tracey Nelson

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute my words in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by The Spotless Bride Ministries. Not everything in this article is owned by the author, so please give credit where credit is due to those quoted or other elements shared and seek proper permission from those authors, artists, and composers when necessary. Thank you.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Tracey Nelson, M.Ed., author Accelerated Transformation , © February 14, 2013. Website: The Spotless Bride Blog; (Some images, songs, & videos not owned by author).

Dropping out of Church

December 21, 2012

Empty Church

Charisma magazine put out an interesting article this week entitled, “Why are so many quitting the church?”[1] In it author Matthew Green justified the house church or organic church movement. In the end he cautioned readers to not come against the Church or to forsake the gathering together of the saints. His treatment of the topic was informative enough to inspire this commentary.

Green provided the usual list of reasons people usually quit church (e.g., wounded or disappointed by leaders, bored with irrelevant church programs or petty conflicts) but at the heart was the feeling of being “relationally disconnected” and asking “whether their Sunday morning ritual of sitting in a pew, singing songs and listening to a sermon is what it means to obey the Scriptures’ command to be the church.”

Green also spoke of the damage the seeker-sensitive and church-growth movements had upon attendance. Rather than becoming a place for discipleship and accountability, the church turned into another “optional consumer product.” For the young, Green said, “this option is just as easily ignored.” They cited a 2007 study by LifeWay Research which revealed that “70 percent of young adults ages 23 to 30 stopped attending church regularly… between ages 18 and 22.”

The Deeper Problem

Green quoted LifeWay President Ed Stetzer who lamented that, “Parents and churches are not passing on a robust Christian faith” or an accompanying commitment to the church. As Green said, part of the problem is that the church does not foster active discipleship. He referred to this problem as an epidemic.

Green introduced readers to United Methodist pastor, James Bradshaw, who resigned his position after 22 years. Green said Bradshaw left to seek an “authentic understanding of the kingdom of God.” Bradshaw explained,

The organized church today has been infiltrated over the centuries by religious things that have watered down the gospel… It started in A.D. 300 with Constantine. The church sold its birthright when the apostles and prophets said to the king, “You govern, and we’ll do the spiritual stuff.”

The High Priest: A Go-Between to God

This author remembers how it felt going into a liturgical church service recently; i.e., one with  long-standing priestly rituals. One could plainly see, at this particular church anyway, the priests did exactly that. They took care of all the “spiritual stuff.” That was when the Lord suddenly made me painfully aware of the loneliness He had for His people. They were there to connect to Him but were being prevented from doing so by the traditional thinking of the clergy’s role. This was not done intentionally, of course. But the average person’s perception of their own role in spiritual matters when compared to the role of their go-between, the priest, was seriously limited.

Suddenly and quite unexpectedly, I began to grieve deeply for this loss; their’s and God’s. Many who attend such churches have no idea what joys they are missing! In the thinking of many within these walls, it appeared to me that those who really wanted to get close to God believed they needed to become priests, monks, or nuns. However, the restrictions of their lifestyle of celibacy is not usually something most people are willing to sacrifice. Consequently, it is at this point that they frequently stop pursuing greater intimacy with Christ altogether, relegating their lives to the secular world. Tragically, they come to believe that those committed to the religious life of a priest, monk, or a nun qualify to have fun with Jesus!

The truth is, that outdated thinking came from the Old Covenant priesthood where the priest was, indeed, a go-between. As a matter of fact, the veil in the Temple represented the separation of sin that existed between us and God. Only the high priest was allowed behind the veil once per year to connect with God. However, once Jesus died, God ripped that veil in two and we were granted direct access to Him (see Matthew 27:51)!

This type of thinking doesn’t just exist in the more traditional or liturgical churches. Many people who go to nondenominational or mainline churches often see those in “full-time ministry” as more spiritually connected to God than they get to be. That is because there is a disconnection that occurs when people sit in pews. It is too easy to disengage and become passive, sort of like we did when we were kids in school.

Dennis Reanier from Revival Cry shared the following on TBN,

Many times we say we want revival in the churches today, and yet there’s this structure that we have created over time. Constantine  put us in buildings in order to contain us and keep us in the walls of the church. When we say we want to “get back to the book of Acts,” there’s another structure God has in mind. I believe He is rearranging structure today.

Roman Emperor Constantine

It’s not that church is good or bad but God wants us to get outside of the walls of the church because Constantine was trying to keep us controlled, trying to keep… the message [from being spread]. I believe today the Holy Spirit wants a group of people gone viral, gone rogue like Sarah Palin with the creativity of Holy Spirit; as individuals just going out rather than… being contained by an institution. But everywhere the people of God go that there would be signs, miracles, and wonders…[2]

What Reanier is speaking of is part of the Great Commission Jesus gave to all believers. Jesus said, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:7-8, New International Version) Many people don’t have a single clue that Jesus was referring to every believer when He said that. But how many churches today teach Christians to heal the sick and raise the dead? Not many! Why is that? Could it be that they fear their jobs will be put at risk when the hierarchy finds out about it? Are they afraid talking of taking God at His Word? What if their donors get nervous and leave the church? How will they sustain their jobs?

Reanier, for one, is taking this message outside the walls of the church, organizing public venues with like minded ministers such as Jason Upton, Sean Smith, and Steve Thompson, who have their thumb on the pulse of this generation to teach ordinary Christians how to be the church.

Sean Smith, Dennis Reanier, Jason Upton (image taken from Revival Cry’s Facebook Page)

Since Bradshaw’s departure from his pastorate, Green said, that  Bradshaw has been…

 “detoxing” from organized church and has connected with an apostolic network in Atlanta that shares his views. Although he admits to being tempted to start a nondenominational church, he notes, “It would have been the same thing all over again—the house of Saul.”

Instead, he envisions himself tent making in the secular workplace so that he can pursue relational discipleship among a smaller group of people in hopes of raising up “spiritual sons”—sons he believes are much less likely to be dropouts from the body of Christ.

Grassroots Response

As Green pointed out, the Lord is moving upon many at the grassroots level to bring about reform to the Church. Heeding this call to raise spiritual sons and daughters, people are forming home groups or planting organic churches that are completely disassociated with any larger governing church body. Their hope is to make the Church what Jesus intended it to be; personal, relational, healing, and equipping. In other words, relevant to people’s individual lives. In the process they are also changing the world.

Interestingly, just as many pastors are stepping down from their pulpits, I encounter many Christians out there like myself who knew they were called by the Lord for some purpose but were placed on the back burner for many years. They have been equipped to arise at “such a time as this.” Far from being inactive in the ministry, they were trained in the school of the Holy Spirit to become spiritual fathers and mothers to those individuals that the Lord has brought their way over the years.

Like them, I spent years in the church wondering what relevance a large congregation could have on a dying and hurting world. While busy reaching out to people in the street I was aware that evangelism and the institutionalized church had very little in common. Sadly, many of those I ministered to could not even walk into a church without feeling a great deal of discomfort. Once they were able to manage that, unless they knew how to negotiate the “system,” it was all too easy for them to fall through the cracks. There were just too many people in the church who took up the pastor’s attention for him to notice when his people were in trouble.

I believe that was why Christ’s model for discipleship took place in a small group. In other words, those called to evangelize the world should probably limit their reach to about twelve disciples. Many churches have recognized this and integrated the care group concept into the structure of their church. (As Reanier stated, the structure of the church is changing). However, care groups often function like mini modesl of the larger church; rarely reconnecting with people when they suddenly disappear from the group, limiting all the ministry that goes on to the weekly lesson. Conversely, the people of the house church movement tend to invest themselves in the lives of their people beyond the structure of the meeting. This alleviates the disconnection people often experience within the larger churches and care groups. As such, each person in the group gets to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Does this mean there is no place for larger church congregations? No! There is something really special about coming together within a larger group to worship. It is a great place to catch up on what is happening in the community and the larger body of Christ. And God definitely called us to live out our faith in community. This just means the larger church needs to be looking into ways to foster relationships and bring together programs for effective discipleship which will equip ordinary believers to go outside the walls of the church to be Christ to the world; helping them disciple the babes in Christ so they, too, can turn around and do exactly the same thing. In the process, however, they can’t foster a conveyor belt mentality and get lost in the numbers of people they bring in thereby depersonalizing the program. If ministry is not done from a place of love and concern for individuals, it is not authentic Christianity.

Green gets the last word on this matter, as he said it all so beautifully:

In this season of uncertainty about what a genuine church looks like, it is essential that we hold on to the historic, biblical concept of the family of God and our membership in it. Although it is crucial for us to reject old, tired models of church that don’t inspire vibrant faith, we must be careful that we aren’t attempting to tear down what God intends to build.

After all, it was Jesus who said in Matthew 16:18: “‘On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.’ ” In the end, regardless of the opinions of men, the church will stand.

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1. Green, M. (2012). Why are so many Christians quitting the church? [Online article Charisma Magazine]. Retrieved on December 21, 2012 from http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/church-ministry/7279-the-church-dropout

2. Reanier, D. (2012). TBN Interview – Dennis Reanier. [YouTube video]. Retrieved on December 21, 2012 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25H2qn0Qonc

© Tracey Nelson, 2012

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute my words in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by The Spotless Bride Ministries. Not everything in this article is owned by the author, so please give credit where credit is due to those quoted or other elements shared and seek proper permission from those authors, artists, and composers when necessary. Thank you.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Tracey Nelson, M.Ed., author Accelerated Transformation , © Dec 21, 2012 Website: The Spotless Bride Blog; (Some images, songs, and/or videos may not owned by author. Credit is given when names are provided.).

Defending our Faith: Drop-Out Challenges West Point on Establishment Clause

Black Page says West Point Discriminated

West Point drop out, Blake Page is challenging the open practice Christianity at West Point. He accused West Point of being in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (i.e., the Establishment Clause) because he was discriminated against. However, apparently prayer was completely voluntary and Page was afforded every early promotion.[1]

In reality, Page was a depressed young man who could not hack his studies after his father died.[ibid 1] He is now blaming the institution for his failure. Sadly, that is human nature and not atypical for a person of his young age.  So what this ends up looking like is just His attempt to salvage some dignity after dropping out of school while simultaneously securing 15 minutes of fame. Nevertheless, this brings up a very good discussion point. If you were a judge being challenged on the constitutionality of Christian practices, would you know the original intent of America’s Founding Fathers? You may say, “That’s irrelevant, I am not a judge, so why do I have to know this?” What if one of your kids becomes a judge? Will he or she be prepared if you are not? Sadly, not likely. America has written its very reason for being out of its history (more on that in a moment).

Intimidated by Lies & Destroyed by Ignorance

All it took to remove hundreds of years of established Christian tradition from the public schools was one misguided atheist, Madelyn Murray O’Hair, to challenge the schools on the premise that they were violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. But she would never have been successful if the true intent of America’s Forefathers had been taught to those judges who decided the case. So, who was at fault? The US public education system? US law schools and colleges? American parents? Or was it the Church? All of the above.

Who is to know whether something is true or untrue unless they are taught? Ultimately it is our own responsibility to make sure we are not caught unprepared. Unfortunately, most Christians do not usually concern themselves with such knowledge, therefore they are totally intimidated by such challenges once they are presented. Being prepared is the key. The apostles, Paul and Peter respectively, said that we, Christians, are to be ready to give an account for the hope that is within us [2], and to study to show ourselves approved workmen[3].

The Truth

Historically we know that it was never our Founding Fathers’ intent to separate Christianity from state affairs. This case and others like it have been proven many times over by organizations like Wall Builders and the American Center for Law and Justice and brilliant investigative reporters like  Lee Strobel or Bill O’Reilly. They have good resources in print or online to visit regularly to help you learn how to defend USA’s Judeo-Christian roots. There is a plethora of historical proof out there upon which to build a strong case. So I am not here to duplicate those efforts. I am here to help you know, in a nutshell, why this clause of the US Constitution is so frequently misinterpreted.

The original intent of the Establishment Clause was to avoid what happened during the Protestant Reformation from ever happening in the USA. For centuries in Europe, state governments mandated which of the Christian denominations to follow. Severe religious persecution, including being burned at the stake, was the punishment if you did not convert to the same denomination (either Catholic or Protestant) that the king was currently serving at the time. This was primary motivation behind the English-Protestant migration to these shores. They were fleeing persecution. (Later this would include Catholics fleeing persecution from the Protestants).

By writing the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution, our forefathers were not outlawing Christianity from being practiced within the government or in schools. It was very much the desire of our forefathers to promote Christianity and morality (more on that in another article). In fact, the evidence shows that most of our forefathers were of strong Christian faith and openly practiced their faith together during governmental meetings. They were simply restricting the government from forcing its citizens to practice one form of Christianity over the other… to the great relief of many who had escaped persecution. Up until the American Revolution, the Church of England had levied fines to its citizens for not attending church. It also mandated which version of the Bible one could read. It would help to remember that the Protestant Reformation had a lot to do with allowing people to freely read the purest version of the Holy Bible (translated from the original Hebrew and Greek texts, not Latin).

You can see why U.S. Congress was proud to recommend the printing of the translation of Bible often used during the Revolutionary War.[4] One purpose for the printing of this Bible was for its use in schools!!! Congress would never do that if the current (mis)interpretation of the Establishment Clause was the true original intention of our Founding Fathers!

Take a look at this short video submitted by a reader. He put together a few quotes from our forefather’s themselves (see his website at http://christian76.com):

Did you know that there is a chapel for prayer in the U.S. Capitol? Within this chapel there is a stained-glass altar piece of President George Washington kneeling in prayer with Psalm 16 inscribed, see below.

At the U.S. Capitol Prayer Room

How we Lost Touch with Our Historical Roots

If America was always a Christian country, then how did we lose touch with our historical roots? During the time of these initial challenges, our country was very prosperous and Christian faith was taken for granted by (or was lukewarm in) many. Therefore, this shaking caused many Christians to wake up and reexamine these questions with greater scrutiny than ever before. Not only had America lost touch with her first love, but her education system and the Church had lost touch with its all important history, as Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” For example, forgetting our past has effectively wiped out centuries worth of religious freedom in this school by removing moral training in the Bible and prayer from the schools.

Apathy may have done it to us the first time around, leaving our walls unprotected from attack, but we can thank Ms. O’Hair’s destructive influences for further eroding any knowledge of our forefather’s intentions. Soon, teachers and school administrators would begin to fear every angry, ex-Christian-turned-atheist who decided to take out their disappointments with Christianity on them. In an era of great sin, “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” sinners could now wave this misinterpretation of the Establishment Clause like a railway ticket to take them to a land free of guilt while simultaneously getting even with their parents, the church, or Grandpa (maybe justifiably so) for using the threat of shame, rejection, and hell fire as a form of harsh control over them (an issue this author addresses regularly in this blog). Lawyers itching to make a name for themselves were usually easy to secure without cost in these cases, too, posing a great threat to all school systems.

Grace Abounds

Remember… where darkness abounds, God promises that His Grace will also abound![5] Christian awareness would quickly shift towards apologetics, which was further accelerated by the media. The Holy Spirit would soon bring forth a mass revival among the young almost as if to make a bold statement against those who tried to hide God’s Word from His little ones. [6]

Yes… now there was an effective weapon in the hands of those who knew that something just wasn’t quite right about this religious attitude being lorded over them. They now had something to fight off religious control and oppression. Of course, shaking off oppression of any kind is always a good thing…. and God would use that for His purposes, too… because those young people who at first rebelled against “the establishment” would soon become the ones to be captured by the awesome love of God during the Jesus People and Vineyard revivals (as well as others). As a result, they would arise to answer hard questions being presented by the atheists and law makers of that time. Consequently, we now have organizations like the American Center for Law and Justice, Reagent University Law School, Fox News, Wall Builders, and many others to help ameliorate these injustices and educate our citizenry. Religious oppression and lukewarm, apathetic Christianity hallmarks of many traditional churches were being shaken and challenged by this new breed who had the fire of the Holy Spirit burning within them.

But because Christians did not catch on to what was going on soon enough, this desire to attack Christianity within government caused a great deal of damage, further perpetuating the lie that a government without Christianity was the original intention of our nation’s Founding Fathers. Our country is still suffering from those effects today with things spiraling ever deeper into moral decay.[7] Since teachers run for cover every time an enraged atheist came around to object to anything remotely Christian from entering into the curriculum, very little about America’s Christian roots ever gets mentioned in US History classes any longer. As a result, even judges and other government officials who were educated in our schools haven’t a clue how to properly interpret the Establishment Clause according to how our Founding Fathers’ intent.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is not to get discouraged by all of this because at one time the battle seemed all but lost then the Holy Spirit poured out and grace brought us revival.

Never give up! Keep your eyes on Jesus and not on the storm ahead. Make yourself ready to answer these challenges and teach your children, church, and disciples to do the same.

Here is a good article to get you started with regarding the Faith of our Founding Fathers. http://www.str.org/site/News2?id=5243 

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[1] http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/06/west-point-cadet-quits-over-religion/?hpt=us_c1

[2] 2 Timothy 2:15

[3] 1 Peter 3:15

[4] http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=46

[5] Romans 5:20

[6] http://www.holytrinitynewrochelle.org/yourti18132.html

[7] http://www.whatyouknowmightnotbeso.com/graphs.html

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© Tracey Nelson, 2012

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute my words in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by The Spotless Bride Ministries. Not everything in this article is owned by the author, so please give credit where credit is due to those quoted or other elements shared and seek proper permission from those authors, artists, and composers when necessary. Thank you.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Tracey Nelson, M.Ed., author Accelerated Transformation , © April 12, 2012 Website: The Spotless Bride Blog; (Some images, songs, & videos not owned by author).