Weekly Articles

At the close of the 1700’s, two democracies had emerged from the turbulent chaos of the 18^th century:  the United States of America and the French Republic.  From the start, these two “great experiments” were compared with each other; often the comparison was neither fair nor flattering to the USA.  Both had their beginnings in the abuse of power by a monarch and the yearnings of the people to be free, as expressed by a select group of men.  Both transformed the economic and political stage for future generations.  Both reaped the harvest of consequences they had sown in the manner of their revolution.  But to say that they were the same but for which side of the ocean they occurred is to err grievously:  they were as different as night and day.

The beginnings of the American revolution in the abuse of power by a monarch (King George III) and the yearnings of the people to be free were, from the start, rooted in the rights enjoyed by all subjects of the British crown.  The phrase “taxation without representation” had meaning precisely because all British citizens were taxed by Parliament, wherein they had representatives they had elected; since the colonies had no such representatives, they rightly viewed Parliament had no right to levy taxes on them.  The American revolution did not start out as an independence movement, but became one because they felt the Crown had forfeited its God-given authority when it abandoned its God-given responsibility.  The nature of the American revolution was shaped by Christian beliefs and traditions.

The beginnings of the French revolution in the abuse of power by a monarch (King Louis XVI) and the yearnings of the people to be free were, unlike the Americans, rooted in financial crises, widespread famine and starvation, and the eruption of resentment among the lower classes of the privileges of the upper classes.  All of the social classes among the French had special privileges in theory, such as the nobility’s tax exemptions or the commoners’ right to operate business ventures (something denied to aristocrats); in reality, most of the commoners realized very little benefit and were universally exploited by nobles, clergy, and merchants.  The French revolution is rightly named the “Reign of Terror,” because the national emotions boiled up and led to the use of murderous show trials to “right the wrongs” and to restore “social justice.”  What was seen in the French revolution was described by Alexander Hamilton:

“… when I find the doctrine of atheism openly advanced in the convention, and heard with loud applause; when I see the sword of fanaticism extended to force a political creed upon citizens who were invited to submit to the arms of France as the harbingers of liberty; when I behold the hand of rapacity outstretched to prostrate and ravish the monuments of religious worship, erected by those citizens and their ancestors … I acknowledge that I am glad to believe there is no real resemblance between what is the cause of America and what is the cause of France; that the difference is no less great than that between liberty and licentiousness.”  (quoted in George Washington, William Roscoe Taylor, 1922)

There is absolute difference between the fathers of the American revolution (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, etc.) and the bloodthirsty leaders of the French Reign of Terror (Robespierre, Marat, Carrier, Roux, Hébert, etc.):  the former were guided predominately by their sense of divine providence – that God was in control and the best they could do was trust his guidance; the latter chose instead to place faith in man and in fact even did their best to extinguish Christian beliefs in France.  As a direct result of this difference, America had developed into a lawful nation guided by Christian beliefs, while France has suffered despots and terrors ever since.

This is exactly as the Bible says it will always be with the affairs of man:  man prospers only as he follows God, and nations prosper only as they serve to facilitate man’s following of God.

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.  “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.”  The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.  Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.”  (Psalm 2:1-6 NIV)

Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.  Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?”  Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.  But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.  (Psalm 115:1-4 NIV)

The trend in America today is for American citizens to look to politicians to look after the “will of the people,” and for Presidents to look at polls as proof of a “mandate by the people” to do whatever pleases them.  This will lead us to ruin, just as it did France; our mandate is to look to divine providence for our guide, and to trust in the will of the Lord.  The American spirit has long been known for strength, courage, generosity, and compassion; but it has only gotten this reputation because it was empowered by the people trusting in the Holy Spirit.  It will only regain its reputation by again, trusting in the Holy Spirit.  Let’s make every effort to bring Americans back to their true identity, as the shining city on the hill, shining with Christ’s light.

-Charles Peterson

One of my dearest friends is a Captain in the US Army, and he related a story to me of something that happened to him while deployed to Afghanistan.  My friend was in a position with his men and was engaged in a firefight with enemy forces.  While he was in the prone position firing his weapon he felt someone grasp his ankle.  When he looked, he saw his battalion’s chaplain looking back at him; the chaplain simply said “it’s Easter morning, would you mind if I prayed with you?”  My friend answered with an emphatic “yes!” and this chaplain, who had exposed himself to mortal danger from enemy fire to give spiritual comfort to my friend and his soldiers, prayed in the middle of a battle. 

I was quite impressed with this story.  It seems all too often we hear stories in the news about religious people who fail to live as they preach; as the above story illustrates, there are people who care more about their faith than even their own safety.  Those stories should be the reputation of Christians, as that is what we see in the Bible.  Here are two examples:

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”  Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”  But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth.  When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.  Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.  The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”  Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”  (1 Samuel 17:32-37 NIV)

Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?  Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good.  But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace.  Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  (Daniel 3:13-18 NIV)

In the first example, we see that David was not afraid to enter a dangerous situation because he new that God would deliver him from the hand of Goliath just as he had delivered David from the lion and the bear.  Do we shy away from situations that might lead to embarrassment or danger if we were called to make a stand for God?In the second example, we see that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not only fully trusting in God to save them, but they wanted it known that they were more than willing to die rather than to betray God.  Are we willing to make it known that we believe in God?

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”  “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.  (2 Kings 2:9 NIV)

This verse is from when Elijah is taken up into heaven; all Elisha wanted was to receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.  This Elisha later makes a spring of toxic water pure, raises from the dead the Shunammite’s son, heals Naaman the Aramean of leprosy, and traps the Aramean army.  This demonstrates that God grants his Spirit to those who call on him and truly seek him.  Call out to God through your prayers, seek him in his word, and trust him to give to you his Spirit.  Then look for opportunities to show others what God has done for you.

-Charles Peterson

There is a common belief among secular Americans that there are two ways to look at the origin of the universe issue:  religious and scientific.  This belief is held by many in the academic and scientific communities, and by not a few who self-identify as Christian.  This belief is used in our courtrooms and classrooms to declare the teaching of evolution as scientific and the teaching of creation as religious.  This belief also happens to be wrong.  It is wrong not because the teaching of creation is not religious, because it is; the belief is wrong because the teaching of evolution is not scientific, but is rather religious as well.

The National Center for Science Education (http://ncse.com) is dedicated to “defending the teaching of evolution in schools” and to “keeping evolution in the science classroom and creationism out.”  A recent article on their website described the dangers of a proposed bill before the State of Mississippi’s House Education Committee: 

A bill in Mississippi is apparently the first antievolution bill of 2010. House Bill 586, introduced on January 12, 2010, and referred to the House Education Committee, would, if enacted, require local school boards to include a lesson on human evolution at the beginning of their high school biology classes. The catch: “The lesson provided to students … shall have proportionately equal instruction from educational materials that present scientifically sound arguments by protagonists and antagonists of the theory of evolution.”The legislative history of [Section 1] of state law suggests that it was intended to allow or encourage the presentation of antievolution material in science classes, as NCSE previously reported.  (http://ncse.com/news/2010/01/antievolution-legislation-mississippi-005283)

Notice in this article that they are not worried about the dangers of teaching religion in the classroom, but rather they are worried about “proportionately equal” teachings from “scientifically sound arguments” that offer views antagonistic to evolution.  They cannot allow students to be taught that evolution is anything but scientific fact.  They do not promote it as a theory (as many Christians mistakenly believe they are supporting), but rather they insist it is the only allowable viewpoint.

In the biological sciences, evolution is a scientific theory that explains the emergence of new varieties of living things in the past and in the present; it is not a “theory of origins” about how life began. Evolution accounts for the striking patterns of similarities and differences among living things over time and across habitats through the action of biological processes such as natural selection, mutation, symbiosis, gene transfer, and genetic drift. Evolution has been subjected to scientific testing for over a century and has been (and continues to be) consistently confirmed by evidence from a wide range of fields.  (http://ncse.com/evolution)

Here they claim it is “not a ‘theory of origins’ about how life began,” but then on another page they claim:

In the biological sciences, evolution is a theory of change that accounts for the pattern of similarities and differences among living things on earth throughout the earth’s history and across all the habitats and biomes that exist or have existed in that history. Evolution is a theory of emergence of new varieties of life forms, not a “theory of origins” that accounts for how life began. There are currently a number of proposed models and hypotheses for the beginning of life as we know it, but evolution begins after life is established on earth.  (http://ncse.com/evolution/why-teach-evolution)

So, evolution doesn’t explain how “life” began, but it explains how all variation of that life happened, in “all the habitats and biomes (an ecological type such as a rainforest) that exist or have existed” in history.  That’s all it does.

“Creation” is a philosophical concept: it is the belief that the universe depends for its existence upon something or some being outside itself … (A contrary and equally untestable philosophical assertion would be that the universe is uncreated, or self-subsistent.)  By contrast, “evolution” is in the scientific category … In biology, evolution is the principle that all life is related through descent with modification from common ancestors.  Science is the process of explaining phenomena by testing explanations against the natural world … Science also restricts itself to explaining things through natural, rather than supernatural, mechanisms.  (http://ncse.com/religion/god-evolution)

Let’s understand this:  “creation” is a philosophical concept because it says the universe depends on something or some being outside itself (God), and evolution would be equally a philosophical concept if it says the universe is “uncreated or self-subsistent.”  Evolution is scientific because it says the universe can only be explained through “natural, rather than supernatural, mechanisms.”  Doesn’t that mean “self-subsistent”?  When they say “natural mechanisms,” don’t they mean through means that we can observe scientifically – meaning things within the universe itself (self-subsistent)?

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  (Romans 1:18-20 NIV)

Understand that the evolutionists are just as religious about denying God as we are about proclaiming him!  They may claim otherwise, but their own words and deeds confirm that they view “science” (guesswork done by men) as being authoritative, while they view the Bible as philosophical at best and primitive foolishness at worst.  But theirs are the foolish hearts that have been darkened and theirs is the thinking that has become futile (see Romans 1:21).  Christians that yearn to be accepted by men, and so fall into the evolution trap had better wake up:  you can only serve one master.  The establishment religion of evolution cannot coexist with Christ.

-Charles  Peterson

There was a recent news article in the NY Post titled Stern sidekick in suicide try.  “Troubled comic Artie Lange landed in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt, sources told The Post.”*  The article detailed numerous problems including ongoing battles with substance abuse and addiction.  Mr. Lange is not alone in this world, as addictions of all sorts enslave millions of Americans.  The recovery website www.myaddiction.com lists the following statistics**:

Americans with a Substance abuse or dependence problem:  Over 22 Million

Americans with alcohol use disorders:  14 million

Americans (12 and older) who have tried cocaine:  33.7 million

Americans (12 and older) who have tried methamphetamine:  10.4 million

Americans (12 and older) who have tried heroin:  3.5 million

Americans abusing prescription drugs:  4.7 million

Americans with gambling problems:  6-9 million (3 million are “pathological gamblers)

American sexual addiction:

·         sex addicts - 18 million - 24 million (200,000 are addicted to E-porn)

·         25 million visit cyber-sex sites between 1-10 hours per week

·         4.7 million visit cyber-sex sites in excess of 11 hours per week

·         One out of every 6 women struggles with an addiction to pornography

American eating disorders:

·         One percent (1%) of female adolescents have anorexia, and four percent (4%) college-aged women have bulimia.

·         That means that about one out of every one hundred young women between ten and twenty are starving themselves, sometimes to death

·         More than half of teenaged girls are, or think they should be, on diets. They want to lose all or some of the forty pounds that females naturally gain between 8 and 14. About three percent of these teens go too far, becoming anorexic or bulimic.

In looking at these statistics, it would be easy to become depressed with the tragedy.  Look at how many have lost control of some important part of their life!  Think about the pain and suffering, not only of these people but also of their families and friends.  Think of the cost in resources spent, lost productivity, and damaged values that our society must bear.  But I am also reminded of the hymn “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”:

Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.  But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.  And quarreling arose between Abram’s herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot.  The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.  So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.  Is not the whole land before you?  Let’s part company.  If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”  (Genesis 13:5-9 NIV)

Lot chose to go to the urban and comfortable areas around Sodom and Gomorrah; Abram chose to remain in the lands God picked for him.  As Lot sought after earthly wealth and delights, he lost everything.  As Abram sought after God’s promises, God changed his name to Abraham and blessed him and everything he touched.Through the prophet Malachi, God promised that if we would just trust in him and walk after him in faith he would “throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it,” (Malachi 3:10 NIV).  If you are tired of seeing the world’s promises of happiness lead you to misery, then seek the end of your wanting by filling your life with God’s promises.

-Charles Peterson

___________________________

* http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/stern_sidekick_in_suicide_try_5m9Hwhn1OvpONlzbsiW3oJ#ixzz0cAiYLxj9

**http://www.myaddiction.com/education/articles/alcohol_statistics.html, /cocaine_statistics.html, /meth_statistics.html,

 /heroin_statistics.html, /prescription_drug_statistics.html, /gambling_statistics.html, /sex_statistics.html, /eating_disorder_statistics.html

Have you ever wondered about the original meaning behind the symbols we see everyday?  For example, the twisted-loop shape of a pretzel comes from an intent to symbolize arms crossed in prayer for children.  Although they are no longer exclusively given as a reward for having learned prayers, the shape remains.  There are many such symbols around us; two that I want to focus on are linked to the medical profession.

If asked what the symbol for the medical profession is, most Americans would respond with the answer of “the caduceus” (the winged rod entwined by two snakes); this answer is both right and wrong.  The correct symbol for the medical profession is the rod of Asclepius, which is a stick with one snake wrapped around it.  This symbolizes the medical profession because:  it represents the religion Hippocrates belonged to; it is reminiscent of the Bronze snake lifted on a pole in the desert by the Israelites (see Numbers 21); and it brings to mind the Apostle Paul surviving the bite of a viper on the island of Malta (after which he healed all the sick of the island).  This is the symbol used on the EMS star of life logo - a blue “heavy asterisk” (*) with the rod and snake in white at its heart.

The popular caduceus has come to be associated in America with the medical profession because it was adopted by the US Army Medical Corps.  It is the symbol of Hermes (Roman: Mercury) and is thus associated with thievery, dishonesty, and death.  While this may be appropriate in light of the current debates about healthcare (such as abortion), what is interesting to me is that this symbol, too, has links to the Apostle Paul.

In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.  He listened to Paul as he was speaking.  Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!”  At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.  When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”  Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.  The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.  But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:  “Men, why are you doing this?  We too are only men, human like you.  We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.  In the past, he let all nations go their own way.  Yet he has not left himself without testimony:  He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”  Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.  (Acts 14:8-18 NIV)

With all that is going wrong with the medical profession in America today, it would be wise to look at the symbols we use.  The caduceus is a symbol of dishonesty and death, but it was briefly assigned to Paul because he healed through the power of God.  Over the past several decades the medical profession has been linked to the killing of babies (abortion), the killing of the elderly (euthanasia), and the killing of the depressed and infirmed (assisted suicide).  But when linked to God through Christian faith, the medical profession can return to its proper role of treating the sick and preventing illness, to mending the broken and repairing the damaged.

When you see an ambulance, the blue cross of life (the rod of Asclepius) is like the Bronze snake in the wilderness – look to it to save the life of the critically injured.  When you see a doctor with the caduceus on his lapel, think of the Apostle Paul healing the sick through the power of God and pray for the doctor’s skill.  But always remember what symbol brings real healing to your life:  the cross of Christ.

-Charles Peterson

This has been an odd Christmastime for me.  The Christmas music started later this year, as well as starting with an odd assortment as compared to other years; the popular songs didn’t get played until the week before Christmas.  The temperatures were colder, as well as a considerable amount of snow appearing (a white Christmas is great – until you have to drive in it).  It also seemed that people were far more stressed out this year than last, with retailers worried about how the country’s economic woes will affect their rather thin profits and the drivers on the road demonstrating their less charitable side.  I know this is all anecdotal, but this is what has been going on for me.So, in the midst of all of this, I have been retreating into the Christmas spirit.  No, not into the fat guy in a red suit, but into the hymns and story to which the season is dedicated:  the birth of Christ.  One of the best known, and most illustrative of the true Christmas spirit is Charles Wesley’s “Hark! The herald angels sing”; its first verse is:

Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”  Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With th’angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

In opening this way, the song is proclaiming the true meaning of Christmas:  celebrating the birth of Jesus, the true king and reconciler of God and man.  I have, in the past, written about this identification of the “peace on earth” with “God and sinners reconciled”, but this year what stands out to me the most is the “join the triumph of the skies” line.  With this I am reminded of the Bible stories concerning Christ’s birth.I am reminded of the Magi, who saw a star in the sky and followed it to where Jesus lay:

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”  After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.  And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.  (Matthew 2:7-12 NIV)

I am reminded of the Shepherds, who heard of the birth from an angel and went to see for themselves:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  (Luke 2:8-15 NIV)

But then I think a little more and I realize what this line really means:

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.  They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:9-11 NIV)

For this year it has become painfully clear that America is reaping what it has sown.  Americans are obsessed with material gain, so we are eviscerating our economic security for our immediate convenience and comfort.  Americans are afraid of getting cheated, so we are fighting over toys and putting others at risk on the roads simply out of fear of losing.  But Christmas is about the triumph of Jesus over this world, and over death itself, and the fact that his triumph is our triumph if we believe in him and trust in his word.  And that is something our nation should definitely rise in joyful celebration of.

-Charles Peterson