Tag Archive | "Bible"

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2009 Continental Congress Opening Proceedings Report


Day 1 Report
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Day 2 Report
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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/

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The Gates Are Over Run! (A Bible perspective on American freedom)

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The Gates Are Over Run! (A Bible perspective on American freedom)


By Dr. Douglas F. Levesque, Founder of the Levesque Institute

 

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.

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These Are Not Negotiable by Chuck Baldwin (A Bible perspective of American freedoms)

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These Are Not Negotiable by Chuck Baldwin (A Bible perspective of American freedoms)


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

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Bible Nation Society Founder interviewed by Christian Science Monitor concerning Pouillon Murder

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Bible Nation Society Founder interviewed by Christian Science Monitor concerning Pouillon Murder


The following take from the Christian Science Monitor website which interviewed Dr. Levesque on Saturday, September 12th concerning the murder of James Pouillion.

Killing of anti-abortion protester has both sides questioning violence

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/

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The Voodoo Economics of Both Left and Right

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The Voodoo Economics of Both Left and Right


By Dr. Douglas F. Levesque, Founder of The Levesque Institute

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD;” -Psalm 33:12
“I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:” -Genesis 12:3

An MIT or Harvard degree in Macroeconomics does not necessarily make one a good advisor of financial policy or a qualified predictor of national growth and decline. In fact, most recently, “enlightened” economists have gotten it wrong time and time again! A recent New York Times article entitled How did Economists get it so Wrong? (September 2, 2009) exhausts the same old rhetoric as to our economic woes and seeks to explain the downfall of a formerly revered profession. Nobel recognized economist, Paul Krugman reviews the recent woes and opines the calamitous counsel of such sage advisors as Olivier Blanchard (IMF Chief), Robert Lucas (Former President of the American Economists Association), and Ben Bernanke (Chairman of the Federal Reserve), as well-meaning, but at the whim of sinister forces of greed. Such damage control on the part of yet another economist on behalf of said species is all part of the voodoo rhetoric meant to soothe the masses into believing the nation’s economy is in good hands.

After another elitist lecture on the history of economic theory, Krugman falls back into a defense of Keynesian economics which basically states that the government is justified, yea, must be involved in even more regulation and manipulation (a.k.a. soft socialism). The salvation of American markets is ‘more of the same?’

What both right and left alike have in common today is that they believe with religious fervor their philosophies as to the flow of money can ‘manage’ inflation and depression. “Trust the markets” is countered by “remember 1929!” Neither side looks to the creator of money and manager of wealth – Jehovah God, as an economic factor of any consequence. Neither would allow the Bible or it’s principles into the discussion. Yet, both sides practice their own “voodoo” doctrines with far less substantiated proofs, citing only “consumer confidence” and “market trends” and “successful European models”. Are we mesmerized by such shamanism?

Adam Smith’s treatise “Wealth of Nations” in 1776 claimed there is an “unseen hand” in free market economies that equates to a miraculous ‘X factor’, a veritable missing link, making ‘capitalism’ the better ideology. The Apostle Paul would have responded to that notion something like this, “The economic ‘unseen hand’ you ignorantly worship, declare I unto you.” [See Acts 17:23 for allusion].

God almighty controls oil deposits and gold discoveries, crop successes and weather catastrophes, winners in war and losers in politics. He is the one rock of economic sureness that Americans have counted on. Does not our national anthem plead in prayer, “may God thy gold refine”? We must continue to trust and obey the not so secret hand that feeds us. Righteousness and morality, generosity and hard work, responsibility and friendship toward Israel are as keen of economic indicators as are interest rates and trade tariffs. Forming NAFTA or EU like trading blocks will just bring larger cycles of flash and then bang! Let’s quit listening so intently to the Economist and start looking to the Book of Books for our personal and national policies. The Creator of wealth and nations has much to say about it. (See Dr. Levesque’s “The Design and Destiny of Nations” online at www.biblenation.org)

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Domestic Enemies

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Domestic Enemies


By Dr. Douglas F. Levesque, Founder of The Levesque Institute

Every soldier and public servant covenants by solemn oath to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, “foreign and domestic.”  We sing, “land of the free and the home of the brave”, thousands of times a day across this country.  We pledge allegiance, “to the republic”, in countless venues, and a myriad of times in our life.  Are such commitments poppycock?  Is our rhetoric without understanding or truth?  I have personally preached a score of sermons related to the commitment of good citizenship and the uniqueness of our heritage, charging good Christians to be good Americans.  I have weighed the times and the seasons, the costs and the ramifications.  It is time to stand up and be counted for right, and align clearly against wrong in our National life.

Wrong War

The examples in Scripture are there for our wisdom.  Consider Judges chapter twelve.

Jephthah and the Gileadites had no difficulty of conscience in fighting against the Ammonites and Amorites when invaded.  The decision to war against such enemies was clear cut, and to fight a defensive war, dependent upon Almighty God was just, even right.  But when confronted by their own countrymen, the Ephraimites, a plea and dialogue was put forth by Jepthah as to his rightness, but to no avail.  Ultimately, the men of Gilead responded to the threats of Ephraim in order to keep themselves from enslavement by their own kin.  A battle ensued.  The tragic deaths of war bloodied the Jordan river.  Jephthah emerges victorious.  We do not want to rally against our own country men, but their incessant threats of enslavement are becoming real chains and rapidly.

Brother Against Brother

With the death of national sovereignty will no doubt come an attack upon personal liberties.  Bible preachers will become “hate mongers”, Christian educators will be labeled “child abusers”, and Christians will be pushed into a deepening silence.  What will we do about it?  What can we do?  I return to the Biblical account for help.

Ephraim, by pride and jealousy, initiated a war of enslavement and conquest.  It was the wrong war to fight.  They should have joined Jephthah against Ammon, but missed out for unknown reasons.  Why did Gilead seem like more of a threat to Ephraim than the Ammonites?  And so it is in America today.  Liberals count Bible advocates as a greater threat than Taliban terrorists, and conservatives do nothing to stop the bashing because their eye is upon the waxing and waning of their ever precious stock reports.  Christians are fighting moral corruption but will not be joined by Democrats or Republicans.  Instead, both parties struggle to free themselves of the “fundamentalist” Christians in their ranks like a leper seeks to be free of his spots.  Do we have a principled or historical leg to stand on?  Who are the real keepers of the Constitution?

A Dark Decision

The men of Gilead were forced to fight, and some day so might we.  Let us refrain from foolish bravado or untaunted saber rattling.  However, let us pledge the flag and the republic with truth.  Let us sing about our land bravely.  Quote the Constitution, herald the Declaration.  Repent of wrong.  Commit to right.  Humbly pray and seek God’s face and miraculous reform, but . . .prepare for the dark decision that faces every Bible believer.  What will you do when your child’s education is no longer your choice, or Biblical truth is considered criminal, or faithful churches are litigated against for “treason” when all thy really do is declare the Scriptures, and hold to the founding fathers own sentiments? The fight is being brought to us.  May God help us and the dark decisions we face as he aided Jephthah and the men of Gilead.

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Important phone call made to 500 Michigan pastors

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Important phone call made to 500 Michigan pastors


*****Below you will read the transcript of an important phone call made to over 500 Michigan pastors from Bible Nation Society founder Dr. Douglas Levesque.

Hello Pastor!

This is an important phone call for independent Baptist pastors and churches in Michigan.
If you are taking a message for the pastor please be sure he gets it.  Thank you.

Pastor, nearly 500 phone calls are being made to men of your caliber in our state in order to make some urgent requests.

This is Pastor Doug Levesque from Immanuel Baptist Church in Corunna near Owosso.  I am having the same concerns and challenges that you are having in your local church ministry.  Despite current downtrends in Michigan we continue to press on by faith and with the joy of the Lord as the Bible commands.  I praise God that new folks are visiting the church, getting saved and surrendering to ministry.   I trust you too are fighting the good fight of faith. After all, the just shall live by faith.

Several years ago, I started a mission endeavor out of our church called the Bible Nation Society.  You almost certainly have received our mailings, magazines and promotions.  Many months we have mailed materials to over 10,000 like minded Baptists across the country.  We have had our display, materials and representatives at many independent Baptist venues across the country including Lancaster Baptist Church’s Leadership Conference and The National Sword of the Lord events.  Our media production arm has provided free services to colleges, schools, camps, church planters, mission organizations and special evangelistic events around the country.  Many cash grants have been awarded to good men and ministries around the world.  Trips to Washington DC and Israel have yielded both the salvation of souls and the infusion of Biblical thought into influential realms.  I could go on regarding the activities and fruits of this outreach, but I want to speak to two in particular.

The first is the National Bible Museum.  The government funded Smithsonian Institute which oversees the American History Museum in the capitol has now removed the Bible from its interpretation of our founding and past.  Whereas there used to be 400 plus Bibles in the displays and archives, there are now None -that’s Zero on display.  It is up to us to infuse the Bible, it’s meaning, it’ influence, and it’s importance into our culture.  What the Creation Museum has done for Genesis 1-11, we need to do for the rest of the Book! And from an Independent Baptist perspective.

This Weekend (Independence Day) I will join over 100 walkers in our MuseumWalk fundraiser.  We will walk on the 5 mile route, garnering media attention, and passing out a specialized tract.  All proceeds will go to this particular project.  I am asking you and your church to help, by sponsoring me for any amount in this walk, taking up a special offering, or maybe even hosting your own walk this year.  Go towww.museumwalkonline.com for more information or to donate electronically.  Please, Pastor, support me in this fundraising walk.  I do appreciate your sacrifices.

The second issue is our Second annual Bible in Culture conference on Saturday, November 7th.  Prophecy expert, Jimmy DeYoung will be the keynote speaker. The all day cost is only $10, and Pastors go free if they bring three others.  As important as prophecy is a special Independent Baptist Pastors referendum on the state of our nation and of our state, may be the most important hour of the day.  We will be giving you materials and discussing strategies for surviving and even thriving in post Christian America.  Pastor, we need to stand together for Biblical Christianity.  There are actions we can and should take together without compromising church autonomy.  Please put this date on your calendar.

The stated mission of this organization is to renew Biblical literacy in our culture, and to put Biblical thought regarding a host of modern issues in the circles of power where discussions are taking place and decisions are being made.  Despite many independent Baptist personalities, papers, camps and colleges – no such organizations or missions currently exist in our ranks.  I humbly believe this society is an important one for our people today!  Please go to our website www.biblenation.org and sign up for a free digital subscription to Bible Nation magazine, and our weekly email blasts communicating pertinent issues regarding the Bible and it’s role in our current national life.  Forwarding these articles to your church family and personal friends will multiply our effectiveness.

You can hear this message again on the website www.biblenation.org.  Also feel free to call me personally on my cell at 989.277.3667. or at church 989.743.6700.  I request again, please sponsor me for any amount and pray for a great fundraiser this weekend.  Thank you.

I am always yours for His service.


Dr. Douglas F. Levesque
Founder of The Bible Nation Society

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Independence Now And Forever by Chuck Baldwin

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Independence Now And Forever by Chuck Baldwin


By Chuck Baldwin, former Presidential Candidate

As we approach Independence Day, it behooves us to recall the principles of
America’s founding, especially in light of the ongoing attempt by today’s
political and commercial leaders to merge the United States into a
hemispheric government. In fact, the clarion call for independence is just
as fundamental, just as revolutionary as it was 233 years ago.

Regarding the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams said,
“[Independence Day] will be the most memorable epoch in the history of
America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding
generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated
as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It
ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports,
guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to
the other, from this time forward forevermore.”

Adams went on to say, “You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I
am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost
us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet
through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory; I can
see that the end is more than worth all the means, that posterity will
triumph in that day’s transaction, even though we should rue it, which I
trust in God we shall not.”

Indeed, the signers of America’s Declaration of Independence endured the
sacrifice of both toil and blood. Pertaining to the lives of the signers,
David Limbaugh writes, “Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of
Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were
captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost
wives, sons or entire families. One lost his thirteen children. Two wives
were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of
manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes
completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned.”

Yes, America’s Declaration of Independence, which is our nation’s birth
certificate, was purchased at a very high price. Rightly did its primary
author, Thomas Jefferson, invoke God’s name no less than four times in the
Declaration. Without God, our struggle for independence and freedom would
surely have failed.

Jefferson, along with the vast majority of America’s founders, knew that
freedom was, first, the gift of God, not the accomplishment of men. He
further understood that man’s law must be subordinate to the natural laws of
God.

Therefore, with an appeal to Heaven for the “rectitude of [their]
intentions,” America’s Founding Fathers courageously forged a document that
would put their own lives at risk, but would also change the course of
history.

The question now is, “How long can we maintain our nation’s independence?”
The forces of global government seem to dominate both major parties in
Washington, D.C., most corporate boardrooms, and most newsrooms.

In fact, hemispheric or regional government never had more powerful and
committed allies than former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton,
George W. Bush and now President Barack Obama. Mark my words: if and when
America loses its independence, it will have been these Presidents that led
the way in making it happen.

If the United States is going to maintain its independence and freedom much
beyond the year 2010, it will only be because millions of freedom-loving
Americans (and the governments of the States in which they reside) are
willing to fight for it.

Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. Daniel Webster
gave the eulogy for both men on August 2 of that year. Included in his
remarks on that notable day were these words: “It [the Declaration of
Independence] is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it shall
be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and independence forever.”

To Webster’s words, I say a hearty AMEN! I promise no loyalty to the North
American Union, the United Nations, or any other brand of global government.
When the day comes that I am required to submit to any form of global
authority, I will be an outlaw. There is no freedom without independence,
and there is no independence without eternal vigilance. To my dying breath I
will say with Daniel Webster, “Independence now, and independence forever!”

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SOTOMAYOR: It’s okay for Government to ridicule Holy Bible

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SOTOMAYOR: It’s okay for Government to ridicule Holy Bible


In 2003, Judge Sonia Sotomayor joined a Second Circuit order that excused government hostility toward religion. In 2000, Rev. Kristopher Okwedy and Keyword Ministries, Inc. – a Christian Church – put up a billboard sign quoting a verse of the Holy Bible, Leviticus 18:22, that says, “Thou shall not lie with a male as with a female – it is an abomination.” The sign included the postscript, “I AM YOUR CREATOR.” After three days and much public outcry, Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari called the display “mean spirited” and said the Bible verse “conveys an atmosphere of intolerance which is not welcome in our Borough.” He then attempted to have the sign removed or covered up.

Okwedy and Keyword Ministries sued in federal court, contending that Molinari’s statements violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, i.e., that the government must remain neutral in matters of religion. The district court dismissed the case and Okwedy appealed. A Second Circuit panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals that included Judge Sotomayor found no Establishment Clause violation because Molinari’s statement did not target a particular religious denomination or disapprove of religion.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has stated unequivocally that government must remain neutral in matters of religion,” said AFA General Counsel Patrick J. Vaughn. “Judge Sotomayor joined a summary order that said it’s okay for government to condemn the Bible,” he added. Don Wildmon, Chairman of American Family Association, observed that Sotomayor’s opinion “places a judicial stamp of approval on the comment of renowned communist Karl Marx that ‘religion is the opiate of the masses’ and further would permit a government official to say that the Bible is akin to Aesop’s Fables.” Wildmon added that Sotomayor’s appointment to the Supreme Court would have “grave consequences for religious freedom.”

The case is Okwedy v. Molinari, 01-7941 (2d Cir. 2003) (unpublished summary order).

American Family Association is a pro-family advocacy organization with over 2.5 million online supporters.

http://action.afa.net/

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“Tiller Murder” a Sad Saga of Abortion in America

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“Tiller Murder” a Sad Saga of Abortion in America


Commentary by Dr. Douglas F. Levesque, Founder of The Levesque Institute

I am often dismayed at the lack of public outcry and denouncement of evil by common folk. Such lamenting should not be reserved for courts and media alone. While liberals scream, “Save the whales!”, they often remain strangely silent on the useless and cold-blooded murder of yet to be born children. Conservatives are often the first to shout, “Off with his head!” before a fair hearing is complete. I am staunchly conservative and against abortion in any form, yet I am also against pre-meditated vengeful murder in any form. Murder is wrong! Killing of our fellow man should make us shudder. I will not be hypocritical in my silence or in my public denunciations. Abortion is murder! Also . . .

The murder of Dr. Tiller was wrong.

It is hard for most of America to “feel bad” for such a character. I admit my heart does not ache for Dr. Tiller the way it breaks for the victims of abortion. (In fact, I have had to actually work up any sorrow for him at all.) However, our sense of right and wrong must remain in tact. We must not become the monsters we oppose by delineating between the murder of a middle aged doctor, and an unseen infant. And yet, we must remain confident in the ways and means of God to dispense judgment.

The judgment of Dr. Tiller was complete.

While murder and judgment seem to go together, they are two different things. The ‘Tiller Killer’ will receive justice through courts and laws. Such enforcement is ordained in Scripture. But what of justice for the countless humans killed at the point of their own birth? Such a cold blooded killer for hire cannot and will not escape the just hand of God – in this life or the next. Allowing a long cruel bout with a debilitating disease, frustrating and sickening treatments, and dying a thousand painful deaths while losing all fortune and family would have been my choice for such a man. Then again, I am not God, and he did not die that way.

The repentance and reformation of Dr. Tiller would have been more desirable.

Dr. Tiller died in a few horror filled moments, after a reasonably long and experienced life – something he denied his own victims. What if he would have practiced a different form of medicine? Would his end have been different? We will never know. God reformed certain killers, like Moses or Paul, but the grace of God seemed absent from Dr. Tiller’s life. And now I imagine an eternity of torment in the hottest flames of hell for such a tyrant. Like Pharaoh, Nero, and Hitler, Tiller will forever be a bad guy, numbered among baby killers. His opportunity to change, to do right, to be saved, is over. Cold blooded, premeditated murder is wrong and will always be judged.

The legacy of Dr. Tiller will forever be bloody and despicable.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” -Prophet Isaiah (5:20)

Posted in Morality & Ethics, National Issues, ReligionComments (2)