By: Dr. Douglas F. Levesque, Founder of the Levesque Institute
Three Michigan pastors launched a Federal lawsuit challenging recent ‘hate crime’ legislation as unconstitutional. If any references denouncing homosexuality or condemning it as ‘deadly’ behavior fall under this so-called crime definition, then reading certain portions of the Bible would make criminals out of preachers and Sunday school teachers. These courageous pastors have decided to take the lead in fighting this foolishness in the courts. One well known pastor is Bridgeport preacher, Renee Oullette. We applaud and support men and women, churches and institutions that are striving to keep this nation a Bible nation! Below are related artlicles.
By: Dr. Douglas F. Levesque, Founder of The Levesque Institute
The Continental Congress 2009 has convened in Chicagoland, Illinois. It is meeting to articulate grievances regarding the U.S. government’s abuse of power and disregard for Constitutional law. It will then determine what to do if the government decides to ignore the grievances. A public petition will be circulated to raise awareness and garner support. It is an historic occasion – no doubt. It’s effectiveness is yet to be seen. It’s legitimacy is the subject of this treatise.
Three delegates from each state have been elected to represent Americans in these delegations. The diversity is great. White, black, hispanic, and immigrant-citizens are here. Blue collar, white collar, college degrees, and self educated experts are here. Men, women, young, and old are here. Most are patriots, many are veterans, some are skeptics, and not a few seem anti-establishment, but all are come together as Americans. Some are God fearing, some are atheistic, but all are tolerant of the many prayers, hymns, chapels, and religious historical stories alluded to here. The level of Constitutional knowledge and legal understanding is as rich as any meeting in America. The hope for peaceful progress is seen in the smiling eyes and heard in the lively discussions at every break time or meal table. The determination to see this Continental Congress is high in most delegations. On the surface it is very real, and very serious. At the core it is noble, and for the Constitutional purist. But is it legitimate?
What makes anything legitimate? Does legitimate mean legal? This congress is legal. Does legitimate mean mature or meaningful? This congress is both of those things. Does legitimate mean popular or marketable? This congress has the potential to be explosive at the grass roots level and in the pop media. Does legitimate mean “as powerful” or more potent than the current government? That remains to be seen. Our forefathers certainly did not seem legitimate under any of these definitions, but today nobody questions their legitimacy. It is their universal acceptance and even their universal esteem that actually maximizes this Continental Congress 2009. Constitutionally, nothing could be more legitimate.
Biblically speaking, only an adherence to the sound national advice and wisdom within the sacred pages of Scripture will move the hand of heaven towards a lasting and effective legitimacy. Let us pray for both our current authorities and our Continental Congress 2009 delegates to reach for the examples set by our first representatives.
“But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bear rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.” -Nehemiah 5:15
Join 16 year old Joshua Levesque as he covers the 2009 Continental Congress in St. Charles, IL
View live video from the Congress at http://www.biblenation.org/resources/event-live-streaming/
By: Jason Georges, Executive Director, Bible Nation Society
On September 5, 1774, the likes of George Washington, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Jay, John Adams, and fifty other delegates representing twelve of the thirteen colonies met in Philadelphia to begin the formal discussions that would eventually lead to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. These men, who today are considered patriots and founders, risked wealth, liberty, and even life to appeal to a higher authority (the God of the Bible) to separate from a repressive government. In an attempt to form a better government, they created documents birthed from a view of a world whose ultimate judge was the God who revealed himself in the Bible.
Today, again, Americans find themselves unwilling subjects of yet another repressive government. And, like our founders, citizens today have begun discussions of a return to the original intents of the Constitution. In St. Charles, Illinois from November 11-22, 2009 a new Continental Congress of selected delegates from all fifty states will meet “to determine a legal and peaceful means to stop the violations of The Constitution of The United States of America and to restore Constitutional governance.” (More information about this meeting can be found at http://www.cc2009.us.) Many today speak of reform, but to abandon one godless philosophy only to replace it with another godless philosophy regardless of how “conservative” will only lead to repression once again. The founders appealed to the freedoms bestowed by “Nature’s God” and the “Creator” as justification to revolt. Talk of change outside of the influence of the “Creator’s” revelation, the Bible, brings as much hope as the change promised by the current administration. The Bible advocate understands that the only hope for meaningful reform is not simply a return to founding documents, but a return to original reliance on the Word of God. Will these modern day dissenters recognize that the not so secret reason for our national success has been a reliance on the Scriptures?
Day 1 Report
Day 2 Report
Join 16 year old Joshua Levesque as he covers the 2009 Continental Congress in St. Charles, IL
View future BNS reports and watch a live video feed of the proceedings by clicking http://www.biblenation.org/resources/event-live-streaming/
The American citizenry is being battered from multiple attacks and from multiple directions. It is overwhelming. The rapid fire onslaught of domestic and foreign crises seems to be pressing our national capacities and resolve. Our country’s lungs are burning from exertions and it’s muscles are aching from last efforts. Our existence is in the balance. Citizens are frozen with inability and fear. Some are blind with apathy and indulgence. The gates are being overrun by the barbarians of globalism and self interest. The national gatekeepers of every branch of government have and continue to fail us. Is there a hope of renewal and national survival?
The answer is an astounding “YES!”. Bible advocates, though much maligned are and will continue to be the reason for such optimism. While most Americans ‘twitter’ away their thoughts on who is ‘dancing with the stars’, or ‘facebook’ their picks for Sunday’s ‘NFL’ match ups, a real chasm of destruction widens. This week alone, congress will vote to control Americans, cradle to grave, with “healthcare reform.” Afghanistan “flare ups” threaten to critically “break” our military. The dollar is dying, the deficit is raging, and the banks continue to go unaccountable for any of it. The Supreme Court takes on the gun rights issue yet again. The Federal government is consolidating power, loosening immigration policy, and supporting homosexual rights. These domestic issues pale in comparison to the increasing threat of nuclear proliferation and foreign conflicts.
World War Three is having it’s opening salvos as we pen these words as North and South Korea, China and Taiwan, India and Pakistan all “test” fire missiles on a daily basis. Of course, the rhetoric and scope of calamity between Israel and Iran is truly apocalyptic. Certain media figures cast blame and expose error, but where is the fix? What are the answers? Can anything be done? Does Obama hold our salvation is his hands?
The Scriptures reveal the source of our hope. “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” -Isaiah 59:19. It is now His battle and in His hands. Our rest is in the calm assurance that God is right, fights for the right and therefore that the right prevails . . . always! It then behooves us to be right and do right. The analogy is this, we put up our resistance, we stand up for the right. When the gates are overrun, and the enemies are on top of us . . . listen for the trumpet of the cavalry. Yes, God uses human instruments, but sometimes He Himself does a divine coup d’ tat for His own people, His own will, and in accordance with His own Word. Let us stand, let us fight, but above all, let us be right! Claim Isaiah 59:19, and be willing to be His standard.
By: Chuck Baldwin, former Presidential Candidate
This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/cbarchive_20091013.html
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Prudence,
indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed
for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn,
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than
to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the
same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, is
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide
new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance
of these Colonies.”
I would argue that we, like our patriot forebears, have also endured
“patient sufferance.” For at least a half-century, we have patiently endured
the erosion and abridgment of our freedoms and liberties. We have watched
the federal government become an overbearing and meddlesome Nanny State that
pokes its nose and sticks its fingers in virtually everything we do. We
cannot drive a car, buy a gun, or even flush a toilet without Big Brother’s
permission. We are taxed, regulated, and snooped-on from the time we are
born to the day we die. And then after we are dead, we are taxed again.
In the same way that Jefferson and Company patiently suffered up until that
shot was fired that was heard around the world, we who love freedom today
are likewise patiently suffering “a long train of abuses and usurpations.”
In fact, I would even dare say that these States United have become a
boiling caldron of justifiable frustration and even anger.
Accordingly, it is incumbent upon us to very seriously and thoughtfully
examine those principles that we absolutely will never cede or surrender. We
have already surrendered much of the freedom that was bequeathed to us by
our forefathers. We are now to the point that we must define those
principles that form our “line in the sand” and that we will not surrender
under any circumstance. Either that, or we must admit to ourselves that
there is nothing–no principle, no freedom, no matter how sacred–that we
will not surrender to Big Government.
Here, then, are those principles that, to me, must never be surrendered. To
surrender these liberties to Big Government would mean to commit idolatry.
It would be sacrilege. It would reduce us to slavery. It would destroy our
humanity. To surrender these freedoms would mean “absolute Despotism” and
would provide moral justification to the proposition that such tyranny be
“thrown off.”
*The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Men without guns are not free men; they are slaves. Men without guns are not
citizens; they are subjects. Men without guns have lost the right of
self-defense. They have lost the power to defend their families and protect
their properties. Men without guns are reduced to the animal kingdom,
becoming prey to the Machiavellians among them who would kill them for sport
or for their own personal pursuits. As King Jesus plainly ordered, “He that
hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.” (Luke 22:36) This we
will do–at all costs.
*The Right to Own Private Property
Like the right of self-defense, the private ownership of property is a
God-given right that is rooted in the Sacred Text. As God told Moses, “Thou
shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set
in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy
God giveth thee to possess it.” (Deut. 19:14)
In fact, the history of Western Civilization is replete with the examples of
free men who were determined (even at the cost of their very lives) to
defend the right to own property. Without private property rights, men are
reduced to serfs and servants. Like chattel, they feed themselves by
another’s leave. This we will not do.
*The Right to Train and Educate Our Children
Education has never been the responsibility of the State. From time
immemorial, education has been the right and responsibility of the family.
This, too, has its foundation in the Sacred Volume. “And, ye fathers,
provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord.” (Eph. 6:4)
Therefore, the absolute right of homeshooling or private/parochial/Christian
schooling must never be surrendered. Homeschooling, especially, is
fundamental to freedom. It is not a coincidence that throughout history,
most totalitarian governments forbade parents homeschooling their children.
Any government–federal, State, or local–that forbids, or even restricts,
the right of parents to homeschool their children has taken upon itself the
uniform of a tyrant.
*The Freedom of Speech and Worship
Speech and worship are matters of the heart and conscience (Luke 6:45;
John 4:24). Only tyrants seek authority over matters of the heart. But, of
course, that is what tyrants do: they seek to control men’s thoughts and
beliefs.
Hence, the alternative media is essential to liberty: the Internet, short
wave radio, as well as independent magazines and periodicals. It is almost
superfluous to say that there is no such thing as a free and independent
press among the mainstream news media today. In fact, the major media more
resembles a propaganda machine than it does a free press.
The same can be said for most of the mainstream churches in America today.
They more resemble havens for politically correct, Big-Government ideology
than they do bastions of Bible truth. Therefore, home-churches and
non-establishment churches are increasingly requisite to a free people.
*The Right to Determine One’s Own Healthcare
The marriage of Big Government and Big Medicine has created a healthcare
monster. Already, the dispensing of medical treatment is micromanaged by Big
Brother in a way that has resulted in skyrocketing costs and inferior care
(and in some cases, even death). President Obama’s universal health care
initiatives that are sure to come (in one form or another) will only
exacerbate an already untenable situation.
Free men and women absolutely have the right to refuse vaccinations for
themselves and their children. Forced vaccinations (of any kind) are an
assault against the very foundation of freedom. Free men have the right to
choose their own physicians, their own hospitals, their own insurance
programs, etc. They also have the right to refuse any and all of the above.
God is Creator. He is also Healer (Exodus 15:26). Therefore, how men choose
to seek God’s healing is a private matter between them and God. Alternative
medicine is a right. Already, our military personnel are used as human
guinea pigs to test a variety of drugs and chemicals. Public schools also
require forced vaccinations. And now the push is on to force the general
population to take the Swine Flu vaccine. At the current pace, it won’t be
long until all alternative medicines and treatments will be illegal and the
federal government will be America’s doctor. This is not acceptable.
*The Right to Life
2000 years of Western Civilization have perpetually reconfirmed that life is
a gift of God. Both Biblical and American history repeatedly honor God as
the Source and Sustainer of man’s existence. Therefore, evils such as
abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia must be vehemently resisted. It is bad
enough that any government (especially one such as ours) would legalize
abortion, but the concept of FORCED abortion, infanticide, or euthanasia
could only be regarded as a despotic attack on life and liberty of the
gravest proportion. In fact, under Natural Law, such an attack would remove
said government from the protection of Heaven and would place it in a state
of war.
*The Right to Live as a Free and Independent People
God separated the Nations (Genesis 11). Therefore, it is absolutely
necessary that we Americans maintain our independence and national
sovereignty. We simply cannot (and will not) allow ourselves to become part
of any hemispheric or global union.
There they are: seven freedom-principles that are not negotiable. As
Jefferson said, we are “disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable.” But
cross these lines and free men must do what free men must do: “throw off
such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these
editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by
credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/donate.php
(c) Chuck Baldwin
The following take from the Christian Science Monitor website which interviewed Dr. Levesque on Saturday, September 12th concerning the murder of James Pouillion.
Already, there are small signs that common ground is being found regarding the use of violence, no matter where it’s directed.
By Mark Guarino
CHICAGO
The murder of an anti-abortion protester outside Detroit Friday is forcing both sides of the abortion issue to address their traditional roles in the long-standing debate.
James Pouillon, a local man known in the community for his 20-year street protests aimed at ending abortion, was shot and killed outside a high school in suburban Owosso early Friday morning while staging his usual protest involving large photos of mutilated fetuses.
Within hours police named a suspect: Harlan James Drake. Mr. Drake killed two people that day, but the death of Mr. Pouillon is drawing attention because it is the first abortion-related murder since the May shooting death of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita, Kan. physician who performed abortions, in the foyer of a Catholic church. A staunch anti-abortion advocate was charged.
Since news of the shootings broke Friday, national organizations representing both the anti-abortion and abortion rights movements released statements to frame the murder against data — either aborted fetuses or assassinated medical personnel — they say is essential in understanding how their side deals with violence or the threat of violence every day.
Shaun Kenney, executive director of the American Life League in Washington, one of the nation’s largest pro-life organizations, called Pouillon a “true pro-life hero” and said his murder on Sept. 11 was “a terrible irony” for bringing “to mind the 50 million innocent lives lost to abortion.”
On Saturday, Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, condemned the murder and said the pro-choice side knows “all too well the chilling effect that shootings and other forms of violent intimidation have on people who have strongly held beliefs about this most personal issue.” The organization reports that eight abortion clinic workers in the US have been murdered since 1993.
Because the majority of violence surrounding the abortion issue usually involves threats or acts against clinics, resulting in federal and state protection laws, the murder of an anti-abortion advocate is reversing the traditional roles of both sides and, in that process, perhaps even forcing both to look at it with a new perspective.
Already, there are small signs that common ground is being found regarding the use of violence, no matter where it’s directed.
Keenan called Pouillon’s murder “senseless violence” and offered condolences to the families involved. Kenney said it wanted to “renew” its “call for peace and prayer as the only remedies for the culture of violence.”
Doug Levesque, the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church outside Owosso, says he is already sensing “a solidarity of spirit” among people in the city, population 15,000, who share different points of view on abortion.
“I think people are [saying] ‘this is just craziness’. There are so many other things we can do. We can argue, we can rally. It’s not worth shooting each other over,” he says.
Mr. Levesque says Pouillon attended his church “numerous times” over the past few years and was known as a “caustic” abortion protester who “would have been thrilled” to learn that his murder was considered the antithesis of the Tiller case.
After the Tiller case, Levesque says he wrote op-ed pieces to the local newspaper condemning the use of violence in the abortion debate, even though he personally agreed that Tiller’s efforts resulted in “cold-blooded murder.” He said Pouillon felt the same.
“Jim would say Dr. Tiller killed 60,000 babies but Jim would never say, ‘let’s kill somebody’,” says Levesque. “I think the pro-choicers are the same way when they say ‘we support women’s right but it’s not worth senseless violence’. Even Jim didn’t deserve that.”
Since the shootings, he says he is sensing people around Owosso are making efforts to “look into each others eyes” and find “a connection” rather than decamp. It can only happen “by living together.”
Article can be seen at http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/09/12/killing-of-anti-abortion-protester-has-both-sides-questioning-violence/
Also see Dr. Levesque’s article concerning the Tiller murder. http://biblenation.org/2009/06/“tiller-murder”-a-sad-saga-of-abortion-in-america/
