THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
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-- here's another spin on using John 3:16. But ya gotta read all the way to the bottom to get it.
In 1961, Mrs. Helen LeFevre taught me American History at WMHS. She actually taught ALL the information below.
Many years later, I invited teams from FBC/West Monroe, to come and conduct revival services at Center Point Baptist where I was pastor. And guess who showed up to play the piano -- yup -- Mrs. LeFevre.
Next week she called me and asked me to speak to a convention of The Daughters Of The American Revolution." I was honored, but felt very inept.
I said, "Mrs. LeFevre, you taught me American History, and you know I wouldn't have made that "C" if it hadn't been for your grace."
She said, "Bruce McGee, I KNOW YOU, and I KNOW you know your history. You just come and be your funny self -- they'll all love you."
I did and they did. It was FUN! I met so MANY fine Christian women!
One of the jokes I told:
"On one of the fill-in-the-blank tests Mrs. LeFevre gave, there was a question. It read, 'The Constitution was written chiefly by ________.' Well, my mind drew a blank. I KNEW that man's name, but it just WOULD NOT come to my mind. So I put down lamplight. Mrs. LeFevre gave me 1/2 credit!!"
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HISTORY FORGOTTEN
This is worth remembering, because it is true. It's familiar
territory, but..... Those of you that graduated from school after the early 60's
were probably never taught this. Our courts have seen to that!
Did you know that 52 of the 55 signers of "The Declaration of Independence" were orthodox, deeply committed, Christians? The other three all believed in the Bible as the divine truth, the God of Scripture, and His personal intervention.
The same Congress that created the Declaration of Independence formed the American Bible Society. Immediately after that, the Continental Congress voted to
purchase and import 20,000 copies of Scripture for the people of this nation.
Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution,
is still remembered for his words, "Give me liberty or give me death;"
but in current textbooks, the context of these words is omitted. Here is what
he actually said: "An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that
is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God
that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle, sir, is not to
the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased
at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God. I know not
what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me
death."
These sentences have been erased from our textbooks. Was Patrick Henry
a Christian? The following year, 1776, he wrote this: "It cannot be
emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was
founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths
have been afforded freedom of worship here."
Consider these words that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the front of his
well-worn Bible: "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of
the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country
will soon be rallied to the unity of our creator." He was also the chairman of
The American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and most
important role.
On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, "The highest glory of the
American Revolution was this: "It connected in one indissoluble bond the
principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."
Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States reaffirmed
this truth when he wrote, "The foundations of our society and our
government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult
to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically
universal in our country."
In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The
Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools."
William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which
was used for over 100 years in our public schools with over 125 million
copies sold until it was stopped in 1963. President Lincoln called him
the "Schoolmaster of the Nation." Listen to these words of Mr.
McGuffey: "The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are
derived our nation, on the character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free Institutions. From no source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. From all these extracts from the Bible, I make no apology."
Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly
Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in 1636.
In the original Harvard Student Handbook, rule number 1 was that students
seeking entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they could study
the Scriptures: "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly
pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies, is, to
know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3; and
therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only foundation for our children
to follow the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United
States, said this: "We have staked the whole future of all our
political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern
ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeyh in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!"
God's love, displayed perfectly in Christ and the cross, was believed and shared by the forefathers and founders of our nation. It is because they believed that they shared.
I pray that you too will share the love of Christ with others and call our nation to once again believe in the "Governor of the Universe," the Eternal and Holy God, and our Lord, Jesus Christ in Whom He is perfectly displayed.
Love ya,
Bruce McGee
mcge3582@bellsouth.net
http://www.linktojesus.org
To say that America was not founded upon Christian beliefs is to deny history and His Story.