We have forgotten the gracious hand

By: Steve Huston

“… But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us …”
President Abraham Lincoln
An elder from our church told me this past Sunday that though he realized there was a need for our work due to the corruption and confusion in the world that in his opinion the need was even greater in the church for restoration, renewal and repentance!

I affirm his words.

If not for the faltering in the church that has been taking place for generations, we would not find ourselves in the place where we are today. [A sidenote: Listen to Focus on the Family today as Dr. Dobson discusses with others the expanding pornography plague in America and within the church]

How thankful I am for God’s grace and working in my life that led me far away from pornography and ungodliness a long time ago now. By His grace, I continually see my need to be in His word and to stay in it. The following words struck me this morning in devotions regarding the need for being grounded and built up not to fall for the lies that are ever before us.

“It is not always easy to recognize false teaching because those who teach error often mix it in with some legitimate truth. That is why we must be well grounded in the doctrines of Scripture, for if our grasp of the truth is becoming ever more comprehensive, we will be able to distinguish it from error. How grounded are you in the teachings of the Bible and the historic Christian faith? …”

Last evening Jan and I watched the 10th DVD(entitled Stepping Stones) in the 12 part series of “The Truth Project” DVDs – produced by Focus on the Family. Dr. Del Tackett, President of the Focus on the Family, Family Institute delivers the most clear explanation of our nations founding and documents very compellingly of our decline.

Numerous quotes from varieties of founders make it unmistakable that our founding fathers saw religion as our needed undergirding – that morality, liberty and freedom flow out of that vital undergirding.

After years of Biblical undergirding where all of America’s initial colleges were Christian based, Tackett develops the following in his 60 minute presentation.

In short, Darwin’s book on evolution came out in 1859 “On the Origin of Species” – evolution. Ten years later (1869) a new President at Harvard University was named – Charles Eliot who immediately named Christopher Columbus Langdell as head of Harvard Law School over the protests of the law professors there. Why? Because Langdell did not have the qualifications for that position but as far as Eliot was concerned he was qualified for one reason. He agreed with Eliot that evolution was true. Eliot believed that evolution was the overriding principle and should be perpetuated through every area of academia. And so Langdell came in because he believed in evolution and he began to change law at Harvard and eventually around the country.

The Blackstone text book (law wedded with and under the Word of God) was thrown out and Langdell’s new case study came in. And this is what it means:

“Law, considered as a science, consists of certain principles or doctrines … Each of these doctrines has arrived at its present state by slow degrees; in other words, it is a growth, extending in many cases through centuries. This growth is to be traced in the main through a series of cases; …”
[Preface to Langdell’s 1879, Cases on Contracts, cited in H.W. Titus, God, Man and Law]

What is he saying? We approach law the same way we approach evolution in biology. What did this lead to?

No longer is law good law when it is in conformance to God’s nature, to His creative works, to the law of nature and to the law of revelation but now it’s tied to this idea that it is evolving.

Quoting from H.W. Titus, God, Man and Law. “Langdell .. believed that man, led by the ablest judges, could discover and determine the laws governing human affairs. Because he believed that man did not need the aid of God and of the Holy Scriptures…”

… Langdell sought to eliminate both from legal education — not by default, but by design. He along, with president Eliot, had embraced the new faith that swept the academic world in the later 1800’s — that Darwin’s theory of evolution was the key to all of life, including the law.”

This as Dr. Tackett states leads to what is called “Legal Positivism.”
The claim that the state is the ultimate authority for creating, interpreting and enforcing law. All legal truth is based on the decision of the state.

You and I need the reinforcement and strengthening of such timely historical perspective and “the light”!

I urge you, then, to sign up for “The Truth Project.” It is a simulcast presentation airing at host sites all across America on Saturday, September 27. See:
www.thetruthproject.org
You may call us at 888-733-2326 as we are a host site.

Dr. Tackett points to other powerful quotes from former presidents of the United States pointing to the fact that we have forgotten God and the tragic circumstances that have befallen nation after nation when they do. We are seeing such circumstances – who can deny it.

Tackett makes clear we have forgotten God as he unfolds quote after quote including one from President Abraham Lincoln:

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us … and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. … Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”
[Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation adn Prayer, April 30, 1863]

America is in serious trouble. Count the ways. One of the outcomes is the almost non-existent ability of Americans to discern the times – to understand the times due to self-centeredness, pride, a lack of humility before a Holy God. There is also a lack of ability to be discerning regarding political decisions – recognizing better from awful.

A Day of Prayer and Fasting – Fourth of July

A friend of this ministry expressed grave concern regarding the darkness that surrounds us. She urged this ministry to call for a day of prayer and fasting. It is time, dear friends. What better day to call out for a day of prayer and fasting then the Fourth of July. Radical? Yes. Fourth of July is a family day but it is far more than that. You know it is. Draw your family into a discussion of the contents of this newsletter and then pray together with them around a picnic table, in the backyard. Call out to them in the name of the Lord to make sure they understand what’s at stake for America, our spiritual heritage, and urge them to live rightly and fulfill their civic duty by voting — in a way that will please and honor the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our most recent newsletter:
https://americandecency.org/resources/newsletters/2008/nwjuly08.pdf

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The Truth Project:
See:
http://www.thetruthproject.org/
[This is no fundraiser thing. This is about sharpening iron. You owe it to yourself to check it out and attend the event nearest you – scheduled for Saturday, September 27.]
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A pornographic environment helps create an atmosphere of tolerance, amorality, godlessness, sexual irresponsibility, decadence, societal reprobation ….

Is fighting pornography at your local mall irrelevant? Is speaking up against indecency at the checkout counters trivial? Is writing letters to advertisers unworthy of your attention? Is perfecting holiness in the fear of God old-fashioned?

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“…It is light: if it exists, it will show itself. It is salt: if it exists, its savour will be perceived. It is a precious ointment: if it exists, its presence cannot be hid. …”

Thank you for helping us stay in the battle for Truth and decency.
https://americandecency.org/folder.php?f=donate

Bill Johnson, president

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American Decency Association
Bill Johnson, President
P.O. Box 202
Fremont, MI 49412
ph: 231-924-4050
www.americandecency.org

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