“The conclusion of the Spanish-American War left the United States with an overseas empire. The nations of Europe watched to see if the United States would exploit her newly acquired possessions for her own economic benefit, without regard for the good of the peoples in the possessed lands. Instead, the American Republic began a program of building, developing, and benefiting her her newly aquired regions of the world. America bestowed upon her possessions new health and sanitation programs, new standards of education, new financial opportunities, and a generally higher level of civilization. In a series of steps, each new possession came to enjoy new levels of self-government. Most important of all, wherever the American flag went, it was followed by Christian missionaries who took the gospel to the native people. “

-United States History: Heritage of Freedom p.436

A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness.
A lawn about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction;
An erring lace, which here and there
Enthrals the crimson stomacher;
A cuff neglectful, and thereby
Ribbands to flow confusedly;
A winning wave, deserving note,
In the tempestuous petticoat;
A careless shoestring, in whose tie
I see a wild civility;–
Do more bewitch me, than when art
Is too precise in every part.

-Robert Herrick

Remember, sinner, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you–it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you–it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that is the instrument–it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not to your hope, but to Christ the source of hope; look not to your faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of your faith; and if you do that, ten thousand devils cannot throw you down. There is one thing which we all too much confuse in our preaching, namely the great truthy that it is not prayer, it is not faith, it is not our doings, it is not our feelingsupon which we must trust–butupon Christ, and on Christ alone. We are apt to think that we are not in a right state, that we do not feel enough, instead of remembering that our business is not with self, but with Christ. Let me beseech you, look only to Christ; never expect deliverance from yourself, from ministers, or from any means of any kind apart from Christ; keep your eye simply on Him; let His death, His agonies, His groans, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon your mind; when you wake in the morning look to Him; when you lie down at night look for Him.

-Charles Spurgeon
from one of his early sermons

Murderer: Where is your husband?
Lady Macduff: I hope, in no place so unsanctified
Where such as thou mayst find him.
Murderer: He’s a traitor
Son: Thou liest, thou shag-ear’d villain.
Murderer: What, you egg?

A man rarely stands taller than when he stands for a lady.

– Doug Wilson

As we speak, by order of the court, Terry Schiavo is being starved to death in Florida. But there are other victims, among them the godly use of words. When men want to obscure their lusts, or hide their greed, they always create a fog of words. Obscure, deny, lie, evade, change, slice, spin, and counterattack.

All this to say something that should be obvious — food is not medical treatment. We are not talking about a genuinely difficult ethical dilemma created by some marvel of medical technology. There are times when some artificial means of keeping a body alive are a form of doctors trying to play God. But giving someone food does not fall into that category. The standard here is not life, or death. The standard is always found in answer to the question, “Who do we think we are? God? Or men answerable to God?”

The court is not “letting Terry die,” and this is what I meant when I said these scoundrels are doing more than just killing her. They are murdering words so that they may do as they please with men and women. Withholding food is not “letting someone die.” Smothering Terry with a pillow would not be “letting her body take its natural course when oxygen is not present.” And inability to follow an argument of this nature is a profound moral failing.

-Douglas Wilson (3/22/05)

True compassion and love for people is doing good to them in a personal way whenever possible. False humanitareanism promises love that is done at a distance in an impersonal way. This false humanitarianism has created a system of wealth redistribution that steals from several classes of citizens to create another class of citizens that becomes dependent upon constant bureaucratic handouts. The Bible places the responsibility to care for the poor in the hands of God’s people at the local level where the potential for an uncontrolled bureaucracy can be alleviated.

-I foud this in “draft,” for some reason I never posted it. I also forget where I got it, but I think it’s from God and Governement, by Gary DeMar.

“But liberty always implies a standard, and this standard always brings with it an antithesis. This means that he who says ‘free from’ must also assert a specified ‘free to.’ A man cannot turn away from something without simultaneously turning to something. Liberty always assumes an appeal to law”

Douglas Wilson – Future Men

“The more profoundly we study this wonderful book [the Bible], and the more closely we observe its divine precepts, the better citizens we will become and the higher will be our destiny as a nation. “

-William McKinley
25^th President

President McKinley, not wanting to leave his invalid wife to do the traditional campaigning around the country, conducted his whole campaign from the front porch of his home in Canton, Ohio. People from around the country would come to his home to hear him speak. McKinley won that election!

Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed, to consider well that 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 Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.

And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion ; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
– Isaiah 35:10

for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again,
but the wicked are brought down by calamity.
-Provers 24:16

The early church was able to grow and have influence because it was decentralized. When the Christians were persecuted in Jerusalem, they moved on to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1-6). Even Rome, the center of apostate political power, was populated with Christians. Spain was next in Paul’s missionary plans (Romans 15:28). The decentralized church was the growing and elusive church. No political power on earth could curtail its efforts. Christians, because ultimately they serve God, take their religion with them wherever they go. Families no longer look to the state for care. Education is seen as a parental responsibility. Statist education is opposed. Alternative educational establishments are constructed. Care for the needy is seen as a Christian responsibility and not the obligation or right of the state. There was little need for “fair” business laws because Christian employers treated their employees with dignity, as individuals created in the image of God. These early Christians were persecuted for their “individualistic” beliefs, but with the Roman Empire crumbling around them, in time, Christians found themselves in positions of power and authority.

Gary DeMar – God and Government Vol II, page 70

The created order is to be studied and cultivated to bring forth its God-ordained potentialities, all for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom. This includes agriculture, astronomy, engineering, architecture, navigation, medicine, biology, science, aviation, physics, music, industry, education, horticulture, athletics, economics, politics, health, law, and every conceivable creational endeavor.

-Gary DeMar – God and Government Vol. II, p. 63-64

“Capitalism and Communism stand at opposite poles. Their essential difference is this: The Communist, seeing the rich man and his fine home, says: ‘No Man should have so much.’ the capitalist, seeing the same thing, says: ‘All men should have as much.'”

-Phelps Adams

“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.”

-Abraham Lincoln

“The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidze it.”

-Ronald Reagan

As we labor in our various callings and businesses, we have to remember that there is no such thing as luck. Neither good luck nor bad luck exists. The fortune that one man experiences and another man misses are not the result of a giant lottery in the sky. This is just another way of saying that the universe, all of it, is personal. We live and move and have our being in the triune God of Scripture, who governs everything, and He does this on a personal basis. He does not operate through the impersonal machinery of “natural law.”

Not all those who believe in chance are willing to say that they believe in chance. It is easy to pay lip service to the catechism truth that the personal and triune God governs all things. But a very carnal desire lies deep within many hearts, and this is the desire to have blessings come to us in a way that is detached from personal obedience or disobedience. If the world is governed by chance, then it is “just possible” that the ball might bounce my way even if I am being disobedient. This is why men and women who will not let go of certain sins are such tenacious believers in luck. It is their only shot.

That this demeanor is thriving very well in modern America can be seen in the growth industry of casinos. These institutionalized houses of worship are dedicated to obtaining the favor of Fortuna, a goddess who really doesn’t care how you have been behaving lately. And this is why gambling is not a sin of excess (like drinking or eating too much). In its sinful form, it is actually a species of false worship.

But in the biblical worldview, God either blesses the work of our hands, or He does not, and whichever He does, He is always personal with it. For those who love Him, blessings and setbacks are alike long-term blessings. For those who do not, And nothing about it is governed in the slightest degree by chance.

-Douglas Wilson

“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose yours.”

-Harry S. Truman

“Money is a good servant but a bad master.”

-Francis Bacon