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The following excerpts are from the Hillsdale College 2016 Commencement
Address delivered by Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States.
Justice Clarence Thomas is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of
the United States. Born in Pinpoint, Georgia, he is a graduate of the
College of the Holy Cross and Yale Law School. Prior to his nomination
to the Supreme Court in 1991, he served as an assistant attorney general
of Missouri - an attorney with the Monsanto Company - a legislative
assistant to U.S. Senator John Danforth - assistant secretary for civil
rights at the U.S. Department of Education - chairman of the U.S. Equal
Opportunity Commission - and a judge of the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2007, he published My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir.
This man is qualified to speak, on many levels, about the freedom
assured us as American citizens in the Constitution of the United
States. And, he is qualified to speak to us, on many levels, about our
responsibilities based upon that freedom.
The following are excerpts from his 2016 Commencement Address
at Hillsdale College and is certainly worthwhile reading for ALL
Americans. I received this speech reprint in my May/June 2016 issue of
Hillsdale College's publication "Imprimis." Imprimis is the
free monthly speech digest of Hillsdale College and is dedicated to
educating citizens and promoting civil and religious liberty by covering
cultural, economic, political, and educational issues. The content of
Imprimis is drawn from speeches delivered to Hillsdale College-hosted
events.
Freedom and Obligation–2016 Commencement Address
May/June 2016 • Volume 45, Number 5/6 •
Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/freedom-obligation-2016-commencement-address/
As the years since I attended college edge toward a half century, I feel
a bit out of place talking with college students or recent graduates.
So much has changed since I left college in 1971. Things that were
considered firm have long since lost their vitality, and much that
seemed inconceivable is now firmly or universally established.
Hallmarks of my youth, such as patriotism and religion, seem more like
outliers, if not afterthoughts. So in a sense, I feel woefully out of
place speaking at commencement ceremonies. My words will perhaps seem
somewhat vintage in character rather than current or up-to-date. In
that context, I admit to being unapologetically Catholic,
unapologetically patriotic, and unapologetically a constitutionalist.
. . .
In a broader context, we were obligated in our
neighborhood to be good neighbors so that the neighborhood would
thrive. Whether there was to be a clean, thriving neighborhood - was
directly connected to our efforts. So there was always, to our way of
thinking, a connection between the things we valued most and our
personal obligations or efforts.
There could be no freedom without each of us discharging our
responsibilities. When we heard the words duty, honor, and country, no
more needed to be said. But that is a bygone era. Today, we rarely
hear of our personal responsibilities in discussions of broad notions
such as freedom or liberty. It is as though freedom and liberty exist
wholly independent of anything we do, as if they are predestined.
Related to this, our era is one in which different
treatment or different outcomes are inherently suspect. It is all too
commonly thought that we all deserve the same reward or the same status -
notwithstanding the differences in our efforts or in our abilities.
This is why we hear so often about "what is deserved" or "who is
entitled." By this way of thinking, the student who treats spring break
like a seven-day bacchanalia is entitled to the same success as the
conscientious classmate who works and studies while he plays. And isn’t
this same sense of entitlement often applied today to freedom?
. . .
At the end of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was asked what the gathering had accomplished. “A republic,” he replied, “if you can keep it.”
Nearly a century later, in a two-minute speech at Gettysburg, President Lincoln spoke similarly. It is for the current generation, he said:
"to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
So many who have gone before us have done precisely
that, dedicating their lives to preserving and enhancing our nation both
in war and in peace, taking care that those who have given the last
full measure of devotion have not done so in vain.
. . .
Throughout my youth, even as the contradiction of
segregation persisted, we revered the ideals of our great nation. We
knew, of course, that our country was flawed, as are all human
institutions. But we also knew that our best hope lay in the ideal of
liberty. I watched with anguish as so many of the older people in my
life groped and stumbled through the darkness of near or total
illiteracy. Yet they desperately wanted to learn and gain knowledge,
and they understood implicitly how important it was to enjoy the
fullness of American citizenship. They had spent an aggregation of
lifetimes standing on the edge of the dual citizenship that is at the
heart of the 14th Amendment.
Bill Gray Note: The 14th Amendment to the
Constitution assures State and Federal citizenship for all persons
regardless of race, both born or naturalized, in the United States.
. . .
But this is Hillsdale College, which is like a shining city on a hill. This College, in the words of your mission statement, “considers
itself a trustee of a heritage finding its clearest expression in the
American experiment of self-government under law.” The very
existence of Hillsdale connotes independence, because Hillsdale, like
America, was founded on the idea that liberty is an antecedent of government, not a benefit from government.
. . .
After
this commencement ceremony ends, I implore you to take a few minutes to
thank those who made it possible for you to come this far - your
parents, your teachers, your pastor. These are the people who have
shown you how to sacrifice for those you love, even when that sacrifice
is not always appreciated.
As you go through life, try to be a person whose actions teach others
how to be better people and better citizens. Reach out to the shy
person who is not so popular. Stand up for others when they’re being
treated unfairly. Take the time to listen to the friend who’s having a
difficult time.
Do not hide your faith and your beliefs under a bushel basket,
especially in this world that seems to have gone mad with political
correctness. Treat others the way you would like to be treated if you
stood in their shoes.
These
small lessons become the unplanned syllabus for learning citizenship -
and your efforts to live them will help to form the fabric of a civil
society and a free and prosperous nation where inherent equality and
liberty are inviolable. You are men and women of Hillsdale College, a
school that has stood fast on its principles and its traditions at great
sacrifice. If you don’t lead by example, who will?
I have every faith that you will be a beacon of light for others to follow, like “a city on a hill [that] cannot be hidden.” May God bless each of you now and throughout your lives, and may God bless America.
To subscribe to Imprimis, visit this URL link: http://lp.hillsdale.edu/imprimis-print/?utm_source=imprimis_sidebar
Now that you have read the excerpts, it is my prayer that will lead you
to read Justice Clarence Thomas' full speech at:
https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/freedom-obligation-2016-commencement-address/
And, let us sincerely pray that our next president will appoint a new
Supreme Court Justice, to replace the deceased Antonin Scalia, with the
same character, strength, patriotism, and conservative moral values as
Justice Clarence Thomas. Pray that this will be the model for new Justices for many years to come.
God bless you and God bless America,
Bill
In 1999, as an elder in the Fil-Am Church of Corona (now the Corona International Christian Fellowship) one of my tasks was doing the Sunday Worship Service bulletin.
Viewing this task as an opportunity to edify and encourage folks in our fellowship, I usually included an insert in the bulletin sharing the Gospel or some other information which I felt would be helpful, edifying, and/or instructive to our members.
For the October 10, 1999, Sunday bulletin I included an insert titled "The Chains Of Eternity." Below is a slightly edited reprint of that 1999 bulletin insert:
THE CHAINS OF ETERNITY
Life is a continuous chain of events - cause and effect. If one
event in the chain is changed, the effects will be innumerable.
Fictional novels have been written about people who are able to
go back into their past and do something differently. I am sure
we all have such fantasies at time, i.e., if only I had taken this path
and not that one. Several years ago their was a
television show, "Quantum Leap," about a scientist who was able to time travel into
the past. But he was warned that no events were to be changed -
for the effects on the world could be catastrophic.
There was another television show
on the PAX network called “Twice In A Lifetime.” The
story line is about a person who has had, or is having, a
trauma in life, i.e., dying of cancer, suffering the
lingering effects of a youthful abortion, lost a child through
neglect, and many more traumatic events. The people are
divinely granted an opportunity to go back into their past
anonymously for an opportunity to convince their youthful self
to alter his/her lifestyle to prevent the troubling event from
occurring in their older life.
Why these thoughts on the chain of life’s events? Because we,
as born-again Christians, are links in a real, divinely designed
chain
of events. To illustrate, let’s follow a chain of events which
involves a man who is familiar to all of us, Billy Graham. Although this chain began in the Garden of Eden, we will jump into
it in the 1860s, and follow it through Billy Sunday, to Mordecai
Ham, to Billy Graham, to events which have influenced your life,
and to events happening in your life today.
In the late 1860s a young lady, Sarah Dunn, was decorating her family home in
Waterloo, Iowa, when she felt the Lord was calling her to a ministry. It seemed that she heard
an audible voice asking, “What are you doing to decorate your
heavenly home?” Thoughts of perishing souls marching into an
eternity without Christ began to flood Sarah’s mind.
Later she moved to Chicago, and in 1873 she met and married Colonel
George Clarke, a real estate business man. He shared her
spiritual desires and together, in 1877, they opened a Mission
Sunday School in a small storefront in Chicago, which would seat 40
people. There the homeless and downtrodden found warmth and the
love of God through George and Sarah Clarke.
In 1880, they moved to a larger facility in a building vacated by
the notorious Pacific Beer Garden. Dwight L. Moody, the great
evangelist of the 1800s, recently back from an evangelistic
crusade in England, suggested they change the name to Pacific
Garden Mission, which is the name of that mission to this day.
Here, as very frequently happens, several momentous eternal chains seem to overlap.
During that Dwight L. Moody crusade in England, Horatio G.
Spafford, a wealthy Chicago businessman and a friend of Moody, was
going to England to help him in the crusade and to give the
Spafford family a vacation to recover from the death of their
only son and the financial loss they had suffered in the
great Chicago fire of 1871. Due to last minute business problems Spafford
sent his wife and four daughters on the ship as scheduled, and he
would follow on the next ship.
The ship carrying his family sank and their four daughters were
lost at sea. Heartbroken, he immediately took the next ship to join his
wife. It was on this voyage, while reflecting on his great loss,
that God gave Horatio Spafford the peace of mind to write the
great hymn we all have sung so many times, “It Is Well With My
Soul.” How many of us have found peace and assurance from the
words of that hymn?
In the late 1800s Billy Sunday was a professional baseball player
for the Chicago White Stockings (now the White Sox). He was a
heavy drinker, a carouser, a fast-lane-liver. As the story is
told, in 1886, Billy Sunday was drinking in the seamier part of
Chicago when he first heard the Gospel from the Pacific Garden
Mission’s roving Gospel Wagon.
That night Billy Sunday visited the Pacific
Garden Mission, liked what he heard, and finally, one Sunday
evening publicly invited Jesus into his heart. He continued to
visit the mission, became an eager Bible student, and frequently
gave his testimony at the mission. Later, he left professional
baseball and the lucrative income to work for the YMCA. In 1910,
he started his own full time evangelistic ministry.
In 1923, Billy Sunday held a Revival Meeting in Charlotte, North
Carolina, and one of the men saved at this revival meeting was
Thomas Wilson, father of Grady Wilson, a long time friend of Billy
Graham and a fixture in the Billy Graham evangelistic team.
Thomas Wilson and a group of other Charlotte businessmen, all of
whom had come to the Lord at Billy Sunday’s meeting, formed a
group called the Billy Sunday Laymen’s Evangelistic Club, later to
be renamed the Charlotte Business Men’s Committee which is still
active today.
In 1934, the depression was on and many people had little faith to
carry them through the hard times. The Charlotte Christian men’s
group, most of whom were saved at the Billy Sunday meeting in
1923, held an all-day prayer meeting to discuss inviting Dr.
Mordecai Ham to Charlotte for a Revival Meeting (they were not yet
called Crusades). Even though the local ministerial association
was not in favor of the revival meeting, these Christian laymen
made it happen. Vernon Patterson, leader of the laymen’s
group, later prayed that “out of Charlotte the Lord would raise up
someone to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.” That
prayer, most certainly, was answered in Billy Graham.
The Mordecai Ham Revival Meeting lasted eleven weeks and two of
the converts of this evangelistic outreach were Grady Wilson and
Billy Graham, who at the time even though both were teenagers in
Charlotte, did not know one another. Yet, they soon became strong
friends and through divine guidance their spiritual growth and
lives seem to run in the same path. Through college and early
pastoral endeavors their lives became entwined and a few years
after Billy started his crusades Grady Wilson joined his team and
is still very much a factor in the Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association Crusades.
In the late 1940s an organization called Christ For Greater Los
Angeles wanted to have a revival meeting in Los Angeles. They
invited Angel Martinez, a dynamic Baptist evangelist in Texas, to be their
speaker. He turned them down because his heart was more in church
revival rather than large mass meetings. In his place, they
invited Billy Graham.
During the early weeks of that revival
meeting William Randolph Hearst, a powerful newspaper tycoon and a
non-believer, was led, even though there is no evidence that he
ever attended any of the meetings, to instruct the editors of his many
newspapers to give Billy Graham full-blown, all-out coverage in
their newspapers. That crusade, publicized by the Hearst newspaper empire, catapulted Billy Graham into the national
and international spotlight. God was working.
In Los Angeles Suzy Hamblen, a Christian lady and the wife of Stuart
Hamblen, famous radio celebrity and songwriter in Hollywood,
came to the meetings. One night she went to the Prayer Tent and
asked them to pray for her husband to be converted. To make a
long story short, she finally got Stuart to attend one of the
meetings where God laid conviction on his soul.
But, instead of coming to the Lord,
Hamblen bolted and
headed to the mountains to hunt. Halfway to the mountain retreat,
a blizzard forced him to return to Los Angeles. He felt God’s hand in
all this and went back. Hamblen and his wife went to visit Billy Graham
and some
of the crusade team at their hotel. That night Stuart Hamblen
invited
Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior. After that he did nothing
but
Christian music. One of his songs I’m sure you will recognize,
“It Is No Secret What God Can Do.” How many times have you sung
that song?
Billy Graham calls the people who come forward at his altar calls
“inquirers.” He explains this with the story of Sam Jones, a
Methodist evangelist. At one of Sam Jones’ meetings a drunk
staggered up to him and belched, “Mr. Jones, I am one of your
converts!” Jones looked him over and answered, “You look like one
of my converts. But, it’s plain to see that you are not one of the
Lord’s.” In Billy’s thinking, after you have been established in
your Christian walk for a year or so, and involved in a local Christian fellowship, THEN you can be called
a convert.
Point of interest, Greg Laurie in his Harvest Crusades does the same for those who come forward at their
crusades. Many counselors and an extensive follow-up effort works to
link those coming forward with a local Christian fellowship where they
can become active believers.
At the 1952 Washington DC Crusade, Billy met Senator Willis
Robertson, father of Pat Robertson of the “700 Club.” Senator
Robertson was the one who introduced Billy into the Washington
political community. This led to his one-on-one personal
friendship with many congressmen, senators, cabinet members, and
presidents. Even though we most often see evidence of influence
from the other side, the Prince of Darkness, in Washington - I
know that God, through Billy Graham, has greatly influenced many
decisions in our federal legislative bodies.
Tom Phillips, president of Raytheon Corporation, was saved at a
crusade. He later was prominent in leading Chuck Colson, one-time
top aide to President Nixon, to Christ. We all know of the
wonderful work Chuck has done for the Lord through his Prison
Ministries. God’s chains have many links and many intertwined
connections.
At a 1957 crusade Ethel Waters, world-renowned singer of movie and
Broadway fame, came to the meeting. After experiencing the crusade, she asked if
she could be a member of the choir. For the rest of her life she
was considered an honorary member of the Billy Graham Crusade
family, singing at many meetings. If you are younger, you might
not recognize Ethel Waters’ name. But, even if not - I bet you
will remember a song she introduced in the Broadway play "A Member
Of The Wedding." That song is “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.”
In the late 1950s my wife, Dory, attended the Billy Graham Crusade in her
native Philippines. At that crusade, Billy Graham touched her life and through her he has
touched me. Now, I am a link in that chain.
One of the early workers in the
Billy Graham Crusades was Dawson Trotman who set up their
first system for following-up the people who came forward at
the crusades. Dawson Trotman founded the Navigators and
through the Navigators my friend, Pastor Ed Dacio, became a
born-again Christian during his college years in the Philippines. Through that chain, everyone at the
Corona International Christian Fellowship, where Ed is pastor,
is a link in the Billy Graham spiritual chain of events.
You have your own chain of life’s events. Everything you do, day
to day, affects many other people as you travel through life.
Each event, or connection, is a link in God’s divinely planned
chain of life. Make sure that you are prepared for that task. Be
in the Word of God, the Bible, daily - be in communication with
God, through prayer, daily - and then you will know that you are
in the will of God, daily. If you do this, you will never be a
weak link in His eternal chain.
In The Guideposts Treasury of Faith Ralph L. Woods wrote
the perfect description of “A Genuine Christian.”
One evening during the
latter part of his life in the late 1800s, John Ruskin, artist,
scientist, poet, and philosopher - sat at a window in his home
watching a lamplighter, with torch in hand, ignite the street
lamps on a distant hill. Since it was dark the lamplighter
himself could not be seen, but his progress up the hill could be
observed as successive lamps were lit.
After a few minutes Ruskin turned to a friend and said, "That
illustrates what I mean by a genuine Christian. You may not
know him or ever see him, but his way has been marked by
the lights he leaves burning."
“Let your light shine before men in
such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Have you taken a serious look at your
eternal chain of events? You may be surprised who has influenced you -
and who YOU have influenced and pointed toward the cross.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
You may wonder why I am using the words from a 1970s sitcom
theme song as my title. Basically it boils down to this: Two
Billys, Two Revival Preachers, Two totally different outcomes.
In 1934, Mordacai Ham, revival preacher, did a revival
meeting in Billy Graham's hometown in Charlotte, North
Carolina. At that
time Billy was a teenager and not yet a believer. At the
revival meeting he met another teen, Grady Wilson, and they became
lifelong personal and spiritual friends. Result of that revival
meeting: both Billy and Grady
became believers that week - and both went on to do great work
for
the Lord through the Billy Graham Crusades.
In the 1940s, a different flavor revival preacher came to Billy Gray's
hometown in Alabama. Looking back on that time, it is obvious
that, while he may have been sincere in sharing the Word of God
- his main goal seems to have been putting numbers of converts
on the tally sheet to show that his revival meetings were
successful. That would assure him more bookings.
You may tell me, "Bill, that sounds cruel. Why do you say
that?"
A fair question. Let me explain. At that time I was about
twelve years old. My mom wanted to go to church, but because
she could not read nor write she was embarrassed. She was
afraid they would ask her to read the Bible or something else.
So, the only time she felt comfortable going to church was at an
event such as the revival meeting where she could be one hidden in a crowd.
Yet, when I was about ten, she wanted my brother, Bob, and me to
go to church - and since she could not go with us, she sent us
to the closest church. That church was the Nazarene church
which was about two blocks from our home. Bob and I would go to
Sunday School, but most often would skip out after that.
Fast forward a couple of years, she had married my step-dad, and
they were going to a revival meeting at the Nazarene
church. Mom really wanted me to go with them. Bob was about
fifteen then, so he was off with his friends - and not wanting
to hurt mom's feelings, I agreed to go with her to the revival
meeting. Keep in mind that I was only twelve years old, not
really a church goer, and definitely not a believer even though
I had heard all about Jesus Christ in Sunday School.
The revival meeting began and the traveling revival preacher got
up a full head of steam. Then, he paused and told us, "Everyone
please stand up."
Everyone stood. Then, he told us, "Those who are saved believers, sit down."
That left a handful of us still standing. At that point, numbers
must have begun to ring in his mind, for he told us, "After you
decide to come forward and let us pray over you, then you can
sit down." In other words, let's add another conversion to my tally sheet.
Thinking back on it later, as an adult, if a preacher had pulled that stunt - I would
have turned and walked out of that church. But, as a twelve year
old boy who did not want to lie about such an apparently important
issue - I could not sit down. So, I saw only one alternative - go forward and let them pray over me.
When I got to the altar, the revival preacher and three or four
of his accomplices began to really build up a head of steam,
praying and pronouncing, "Hallelujah!' over me. And, I will
admit that with such a thing happening to a twelve year old boy - I
got caught up in the excitement and went home believing I was
saved - whatever that meant.
What happened after that? Well, being a twelve year old boy and
being full of testosterone I found that I still got funny
feelings around pretty young girls. How could this be happening?
Didn't that revival preacher tell me that I was saved and not a sinner
anymore? So, how could I still have these sinful thoughts? You can see
what was happening, with no one to explain to me what it meant to be
saved, with no one to explain to this twelve year old boy that he was
still only a supposedly "saved sinner" - my self image went into the basement.
And, because I was obviously a fallen saved person with no hope, I did not want anything more to do with anyone called a "preacher" or any "revival meetings."
The secular world seemed much more accepting and warm to me, a fallen
ex-supposedly saved person - so I jumped into the secular pool with all
my being. And, for the next thirty-eight years, until I was fifty years
old, I swam in the secular society pond - until one day, as an answer
to Dory's ten years of praying for me - God led me to a pastor who would
love me to the cross of salvation. In 1987, Pastor Sam Lacanienta led
me, through love, to Jesus Christ - and I have been a believer, a "forgiven sinner" since then.
But, even though I have been a Christian believer for twenty-nine years
and counting, even though I intellectually understand what that early
revival preacher did to me and that, in his heart, he believed what he
was doing was right - to this day I will not address anyone as "preacher." I will address them as pastor, pastor/teacher, or maybe brother - but never "preacher"
for that brings back memories I would just as soon forget. In the
early 1990s, my brother and his wife were visiting from Alabama and we
took them to our church, Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA), for Sunday worship.
After the service, my brother told Pastor Vince, "Preacher, that was really a good sermon." I literally had to bite my tongue to keep from telling Bobby, "Don't call him 'preacher' - he is our Pastor."
So, why am I sharing these thoughts? Because, in His Great Commission Jesus Christ told us, "Go, Make disciples, Baptize them, TEACH them. . . Be My witnesses in all the world" (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15).
Let's break that down: First, we are told to "Go and make disciples." That is our marching orders, to be sharing His Gospel and the Word of God, with all who do not yet believe - in all the world.
After we "Go and make disciples" we are told to "Baptize them."
But, in my mind, baptism into Christ is a very special event and should
be done by the pastor of the local church this new believer is now
attending. Why? Because this pastor is now his/her spiritual leader
and this local fellowship is now his/her spiritual family. Such happy
events should be shared with your family - biological and spiritual.
On the other hand, if the person, upon believing, wants to be baptized
right away - there is no reason that we, as believers, cannot do that.
That is following the example we see with Philip and the Ethiopian
eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). The eunuch was traveling back to his home in
Ethiopia where there was most likely no local fellowships to join and he
was setting out on a long and arduous journey. So, Philip baptized
him.
Now comes the very important point, my reason for writing this blog - we are told to "Teach them!"
When that revival preacher supposedly saved me - no one took the time
to explain to me what that meant. Yes, I had heard about Jesus Christ
in Sunday School - but no one ever explained what it really meant to be saved, to be a Christian believer.
To all my Christian brothers and sisters, that is one of the most
important parts of our Great Commission - TEACH THEM! Don't just
sprinkle holy water on their heads, shout "Hallelujah!"
and leave. We have to teach them what it means to be saved and have
eternal life in Christ. And, we believers need to be teaching one
another, helping one another grow more mature in our knowledge of God's
Word. We should all be continually learning more from God's Word,
daily.
In closing, let me share a great blessing that most of us have most
likely not considered. This thought came to mind during our worship
service yesterday at International Bible Baptist Church in Riverside,
California. Pastor Paul was sharing with us about what life would be
like in heaven. And, because I, like most believers, love to be
learning more about God and His Word - this blessing came to mind: "In eternal heaven, in the eternal presence of God, we will always be learning, eternally."
Think about that. For eternity - we will be learning. And, we will have the absolute Greatest Teacher of all time, Jesus Christ.
"But, Bill," you may ask, "what can we be learning for eternity?"
Let's turn your question around. "Will there ever be a time, throughout eternity, when we, as glorified, immortal believers, come to know everything?"
There are several Scripture verses which may lead some to wonder:
1 John 3:2 (nasb), "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is."
Yes, when He appears at the Rapture and at His Second Coming, we believers will be "like Him."
Yes, we will be like Him in that we will be in our glorified, immortal
bodies - just as He ascended into heaven in his glorified, immortal
body. But, He is deity - and we will not, never, be deity like Him.
In heaven will we know fully, everything? This verse seems to say that:
1 Corinthians 13:12 (nasb), "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
One of God more commonly referenced attributes is Omniscience, i.e.,
all knowing. God knows everything, large and small - for He is eternal
God who created everything, large and small. If you and I ever got to a
time in our eternal existence where we will know everything, where
there is nothing more we can learn - then we would be Gods. And, we all
know that is never going to happen.
So, the obvious conclusion is that we will never know everything, that
we will always have something to learn - and what better place to be
learning than in the presence of the Great Teacher?
So one of our wonderful blessings is that we will always be learning,
always at the foot of the Great Teacher, Jesus Christ. Personally, I
look forward to attending God's Eternal University of Knowledge.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
A few days ago I had a Facebook Message chat with a long time Friend
whom I am not sure has made a decision to follow Christ yet. Her husband is an atheist. He and I began a dialogue and she voiced concern that we do not become hostile toward one another.
This is my response to her:
My Friend, it is an honor to be
able to dialogue with your husband. I am sure we can have meaningful discussions
without any animosity.
And, like you, I have always been one to
question - and I suppose that is why I was not a Christian
believer until I was fifty years old. Dory was a Christian when
we married, and many times I have told her that the biggest
mistake she ever made was to marry me, a non-believer. Yet, I
was a believer in a sense - and not a believer. All my life I have believed
that God and Jesus Christ are real. But, I always kept them at
a distance, never really allowing them into my life.
Because I did believed that God was real, in my younger years I visited a lot of churches ~ Baptist, Methodist, Nazarene, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, etc., you name it, I tried it ~ searching for one which would
tell me that hell is not real.
Why? Because I wanted my
worldly secular fun - and God, too. But having to choose, at that time
I chose the world. Lo and behold, I did find a Chaplain in the
Air Force from a large Protestant denomination (later found that it was a
liberal denomination which has now accepted and performs same-sex marriages) who told me that hell is not real, only a
myth.
Wow! Praise God! Now I could party all week and go to church
on Sundays (well, at least some Sundays, when not hung over) -
and not have to worry about going to hell. Sounds great! But,
the problem is - that Chaplain was very wrong.
And, I believe Dory was wrong for marrying me. But,
praise God, He took this old sow's ear and made a silk purse! He made a Christian out
of me. It took Dory ten years of praying for me - but
eventually God led us to a pastor, Sam Lacanienta, and to a church, Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA), which was so full
of love that I wanted to attend. After attending their worship
services, Sunday School classes, and Bible studies for six month - I became a believer.
I guess I was like the person Pastor Greg Laurie (Harvest
Crusades) was thinking of when he said, "I would rather a person
come into our church, sit in the back, listen to and think about the
messages from the Bible for six months ~ and then come forward
to receive Jesus Christ - rather than hearing the message once
and coming forward on emotion instead of true understanding."
He was alluding to the fact that he and Billy Graham do not call
a person who comes forward at a Crusade a believer, a convert.
Instead they call that person an "inquirer." And, at the Crusades they counsel each Inquirer and try to connect him/her with a local church fellowship. Too often, folks
come forward on emotion only - and the next week, they are back
in sync with the world and the secular society.
When that person who comes forward has been connected with and
involved in a local church fellowship for a year or so, and come to
truly understand why he/she came forward at the altar call -
then that person can be called a convert, a Christian believer.
That works for me, for that is basically what I did. I
attended church, Sunday School, and Bible study for six months - and then
realized that I truly did believe and wanted to be a Christ
Follower.
My Friend, please forgive me for getting carried away and rambling
on and on. But, my faith is my passion - and it truly is
important to me that you understand. For, one day I want to meet
and fellowship with YOU and your husband in heaven.
Nothing is more important than
sharing God's Word, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with those who do not
yet believe. Imagine one day when you are in heaven and another saint
approaches you and tells you, "Thank you for telling me about Jesus Christ." Can there be a greater blessing than that?
I will close with a story I read some years ago. A pastor was visiting
patients in a hospital when a lady approached him and said, "Thank you for leading me to the Lord."
The pastor was embarrassed and told the lady, "I am sorry, but I do not remember you."
She smiled and said, "We never met. But several years ago you were
visiting your mother in the hospital and I was a patient on the other
side of the privacy curtain. As you read the Bible, shared with your mom,
and prayed with her - I could hear you. That day, as you prayed, I
prayed to ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and be my Lord and
Savior. That may never have happened if I had not been in that patient bed, behind the privacy curtain, and heard your words and your prayers that day. Thank you."
We never know which word, action, prayer we share will be the one which brings another soul to Jesus Christ. So, keep sharing!
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
Often, over the years, I have compared a strong Christian church
fellowship with a three legged stool. Sound like a strange comparison?
Not really, let's look at what they have in common. Because the stool
has three legs, it is stable when you sit on it. Remove one leg, and it
becomes less stable, needing help to not fall. Remove a second leg,
and it become a very precarious perch.
A Christian fellowship should also stand on three legs: (1) Worship service, fellowship,
and sermon ~ (2) Sunday School ~ (3) Bible study. Together the three
form a strong Christian fellowship where believers will grow in their
knowledge of God's Word, will become more grounded in their Christian
faith, and can learn to share His Word with a fallen world.
Remove one of those Spiritual Legs and that fellowship becomes less
stable. Remove a second leg - and that fellowship is standing on a
very precarious ledge.
For a long time Dory and I have been praying that God would guide us to
such a Filipino-American fellowship in our area. And, praise God, He
has answered that prayer.
Two weeks ago, we visited a new ( to us) Filipino-American local church
fellowship, IBBC-Riverside (International Bible Baptist Church),
and were very excited about the welcome we received there. When we
arrived I had an immediate flashback to 1987 - and the first
Sunday we visited the Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA). In 1987, at
FACI, we were greeted with such love and warmth - that, even
though I was not yet a believer - this made me want to keep
returning to that fellowship. And, six months later, through
their weekly home Bible study I became a Christian believer.
That is the same kind of loving welcome we received at
IBBC-Riverside on our first Sunday. The following Friday
evening, July 1st, we attended their home Bible study, and the following
Sunday we came early so that we could attend their Sunday School
Class. That was followed by a truly inspiring worship service.
Dory and I are also very excited about their Youth and Young Adult
ministries. This is a Christian fellowship where everyone is involved
and where everyone shares their Christian love and fellowship.
Yes, God has brought us to our Three Legged Church Fellowship,
IBBC-Riverside. Praise God. And, we found a wonderful fourth
dimension at IBBC-Riverside - their music! The first thing we noticed
was the abundance of musical talent in this fellowship. Last Sunday,
it seemed that every time I looked toward the piano - there was a
different person playing, and playing well.
Their music (now, our
music) is a mixture of contemporary and hymnal Christian music. When
the choir sings, or there is a special number, I am blown away by the
quality of their voices and the harmonious blending of those voices.
Their songs cause water to leak from my eyes.
With all this said, let me share with you three videos that Dory and I
made during our July 3rd Worship Service. I know you will agree with me
that God has truly blessed this fellowship with abundant musical
talent.
For our local Friends, IBBC-Riverside is located at: 10094 Cypress
Avenue, Riverside, CA 92503. Sunday School is at 1:30 PM, Worship
Service is at 3:00 PM. Come and see if what I have told you is true
(sort of like Acts 17:11).
International Bible Baptist Church (IBBC) Choir (Three videos)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5lfS7mBNMY&list=PL_YT3RttutriwLqUMJWdA6BREEBLHsmok
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
Today, Facebook reminded me that I had posted the article below one year
ago today. I was going to "Share" it again in honor of Independence
Day that we are celebrating. But, now that link has too many pop-up
adds giving us really relevant information such as "Well known actor's wife divorces him again!" Well, duh, as if that is what is really important to us today, the Fourth of July.
So, I decided to copy/paste the article, but giving the URL link - so
that you might verify what what I have posted is accurate to the
original article. And, also for anyone who is really interested in
which "famous actor's" wife has divorced him again.
Every day we have non-believers, atheists, humanists, secularists, and even some Liberal Christian brethren telling us, "America is not a Christian nation!" and "The founding fathers were not all Christians!" and "God and the Bible have nothing to do with the Constitution!" and on and on, ad infinitum. Well, they are wrong! There was indeed reference to God in our founding documents:
The Mayflower Compact, 1620, begins: "IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, . . .
. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the
Christian Faith. . ."
The Declaration of Independence, 1776, tells us: "We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. . ."
"Okay, Bill, we agree that those two documents mention God. But, how do you find God in the Constitution?"
Glad you asked! Read the article below and I believe this lady will
help correct your misunderstanding of God, America, and our
Constitution.
How Did The Bible Influence The U.S. Constitution?
By Tamara Christine Van Hooser, eHow Contributor
http://www.ehow.com/info_11384841_did-bible-influence-us-constitution.html
Christians and critics hotly debate
how the Bible influenced the U.S. Constitution. Secularists argue that
contrary to popular opinion, the Founding Fathers were "deists"
at best and never intended any religious influence in matters of
government.
Many Christians counter that, while there were certainly
theological differences and variations in the level of Christian
commitment between the men who framed the Constitution, the principles
upon which it is founded reveal foundational assumptions of a Christian
worldview, even though the document does not explicitly refer to God nor
the Bible.
A look at the words of the Constitutional Convention
delegates themselves provides insight into how their thinking was
influenced by the Bible and Christian principles when framing the laws
of the new nation.
The laws set forth in the U.S.
Constitution did not emerge out of a moral vacuum unrelated to the
writers' own beliefs, but rather are the product of the reasoning of
those who created it. By their own words, the Founding Fathers were not
neutral on the question of religion as the basis of government and
society.
For example, in a letter to the
Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of
Massachusetts, John Adams writes, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Noah Webster stated, "The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures
ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All
the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition,
injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or
neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."
Delegate Governor Morris of Pennsylvania forthrightly professed, "I
believe that religion is the only solid base of morals, and that morals
are the only possible support of free governments. Therefore education
should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards
God."
Origins of Constitutional Law:
While the Constitution does not
explicitly refer to God, the concepts of law which it contains stem from
the cultural assumptions of basic Biblical truths widely held by the
people of that time, regardless of their actual piety towards God. In
other words, it is an inarguable fact that not all Americans of that era
actually held to the Christian faith, yet they held to the commonly
accepted morals, ethics, and standards of behavior derived from English
Common Law, which drew from Biblical law given to the Hebrews by God.
Underlying Biblical Principles:
The rule of law laid out in the
Constitution descends from the Ten Commandments. As they suffered at
the hands of corrupt human authorities, the Constitutional delegates
were aware of the flawed nature of human beings as shown in Genesis 3
and Jeremiah 17:9. Thus, they designed a system of checks and balances
and separation of powers to prevent one individual or group from abusing
the citizens through self-serving power ploys.
The three branches of government
are reminiscent of the roles of God as described in Isaiah 33:22. The
exception for Sundays in the time limit for the president to sign a bill
into law in Article VII, Section 2, hints at the assumption that Sunday
was a day of rest as set forth in Exodus 20.
Exodus 18 reveals that before
Israel demanded that God give them a king, the Hebrews had a
representative form of republican government, not unlike the system
created in the Constitution.
Both Leviticus 19:34 and Article 1,
Section 8, of the Constitution require uniform treatment of
immigrants. Deuteronomy 17:15 warns the Hebrews not to let a foreigner
rule over them just as the Constitution requires the president to be a
natural born citizen of the U.S.
The requirement in Article III,
Section 3, to establish guilt in cases of treason by the testimony of at
least two witnesses recalls the Biblical instruction in Deuteronomy 17:6 to have the testimony of two or three witnesses before putting a man to death.
Separation of Church and State:
Contrary to the popular conception of many, the words "separation of church and state" do not actually appear in the U.S. Constitution. The sole reference to religion in the Constitution is Article VI, Section 3, "...no religious Test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
The Bill of Rights was added later to include First Amendment protections, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Critics argue that these words indicate the Founding Fathers wanted to
establish an entirely secular form of government, wholly uninfluenced by
religion of any stripe.
Christians point out, however, that
the many writings of the early Americans in the era of the birth of the
Constitution contain numerous quotations and ideas which can be traced
back to a Biblical source. They assert that the Constitutional
delegates so took for granted the necessity of a Biblical foundation for
government - that they would not have conceived of conducting
government completely removed from any influence of religion.
Rather,
they wanted to make sure that government could never again interfere
with or oppress religious freedoms or establish one Christian
denomination over another as the religion of state to the detriment of
all others.
References:
Library of Congress: Religion and the Founding of the American Republic"
"The Influence of the Bible on America" - David Barton; January 2008
American Heritage Alliance, "God and You and Government" - Murray Hornsby
"Grace, Christianity, and the American Constitution" - Rev. Robert Benn Vincent
National Center for Constitutional Studies: "Judeo-Christian Roots of America's Founding Ideals and Documents"
History 2 U, "Birth of the Independent Nation" - Brian Hardesty; 2005
I
pray that all my Friends and Brethren are having a blessed and safe
Independence Day. And, I pray that our God is continuing to bless and
protect you and your families.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
IN 1991, DURING THE DESERT STORM WAR IN KUWAIT, as the oil fields
were burning and the smoke blackened the skies, our Friday Night
Bible Study leader, Tom Fletcher, chose to talk about End Time
prophecies. Since I was a relatively new Christian believer, when
he started talking about the Rapture, the Tribulation, the
Millennium, etc. - I had no idea what any of this was, nor how it
applied to me. I had no idea what the Rapture was - but, I sure
was not going to let all my Christian Friends in that Bible study
know that I was clueless. So, I just smiled and listened. Truth
be known, in hindsight, I am sure that I was not the only one that night who
was smiling in polite ignorance.
But, that is one of the key purposes of Bible study: First, to
learn more about God's Word. And, second, to show us where we
are lacking, and challenge us to dig deeper in our own personal
Bible studies to become more knowledgeable of the treasures found in
His Bible.
Shortly after that 1991 Bible study, I began my own study of End
Time prophecies. And, I have been studying it since then - and
every day I learn something new. God has a way of doing that; He
will give us just enough to keep us fed - but, not too much that
we become spiritually bloated. For a long time, I wondered what
happens to those believers who survive the Tribulation.
Then, one
afternoon as I was driving home from work, I was stopped at an
intersection in Tustin, thinking only of getting home and relaxing - when the thought popped into my head, "At the end of the
Tribulation, those who are believers will go into Christ's
Millennial Kingdom in their mortal bodies." Wow, where did
that come from? Of course, we know that it was the Holy Spirit
giving me another spoonful.
Being a technically oriented computer sales/marketing type for
many decades, I like to see things laid out and organized for my
consumption. So, about ten years ago, I decided to do my own End
Time Charts. After four years of work, I felt that I had charts
good enough to share in Bible studies. Yet, over the intervening
years as I discovered errors, or places which needed more
clarity - I have made changes. Today, I feel that I have have a set
of charts which are Biblically accurate. However, if you find a
mistake or any area you question - let me know so that we can
talk about it.
With that said, let me offer my charts for your consideration.
The first chart is an overview. Then, the next three charts go
into more detail.
As I said, if you find a mistake or an area you question, let's
talk. You can e-mail me at billdory@pacbell.net -
or add a comment here.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
