Churches all over the world are often accustomed to proclaiming on the day we call “Easter”, “The Lord is Risen… followed by the refrain, “The Lord (or He) is risen INDEED!” This is the message of Resurrection Sunday. In the Bible, it was the celebrated ‘feast day’ of First Fruits, following the Feast Day of Passover and the Feast Day of Unleavened Bread. The people of Yahweh – the Israelites from the time of Moses, down through 15 centuries, to the time of Jesus and His disciples 2000 years ago – celebrated these appointed, HOLY, Feast days… HOLY Days… Holidays. That’s where we get the word – Holiday.
There is no doubt in the mind of any true believer that Jesus the Messiah – the Anointed LORD sent by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) – is the central theme of the whole Bible.
Psalm 40:7 “Then I said, ‘Behold I come; in the scroll of the book, it is written of me.’”
Genesis 1:14 “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:”
The word used in Genesis 1:14 – seasons – is wrongly translated. It’s the Hebrew word “MOEDIM”… What does that mean? Appointedtimes of the Lord. It has nothing to do with seasons like we think of spring, summer, autumn and winter. God put the lights in the firmament of the heaven so we could know when these appointed times – these MOEDIM – are to be celebrated.
Did you count all five of the purposes that the Creator designed for the luminaries of the firmament?
November every year in America is historically a time of remembrance and Thanksgiving. What other culture in the world has a tradition like that?
To better appreciate the roots of this special season for us as a people, let’s unravel the chain of events that helps us understand the implications of what led to the divinely innovative beginning of a whole new national identity.
Nobody I know does that better than my friend Bill Federer – Listen as he describes parallels between the treacherous 16th century time of the Pilgrims and our time 400 years later.
Kings typically killed some of their own country’s population that they didn’t like
The St Bartholemew’s Day Massacre described.
John Calvin wrestled with Romans 13. What do you do when the authorities have a mandate to kill your wife and kids?
Eph 6 .. children obey your parents… is he required to obey an ungodly parent’s demand to do something against God’s expressed will.
Martin Luther King comments on unjust laws… obey government as long as it lines up with God’s word.
If you remove a king… chaos results. Another king comes in to change things… followed by more chaos. how do you remove a king to restore order without another chaos?
The Pilgrims, following Bible concepts, began a “Covenant” form of government, where everyone follows a covenant with God and with each other. Everyone is taught the “law.” What motivates them is that they are personally accountable to God. Second, everyone is in a covenant with each other and with God.
05:35 The Pilgrims looked to ancient Israel as their model – particularly the first 400 years after Israel’s exodus from Egypt, before King Saul.
After Joshua’s time, there was no king in Israel for 400 years.
The kings of England adopted the ‘divine right of kings’ paradigm from the Biblical time of kings Saul and David and afterward.
06:35 The Calvinist puritans of New England looked to the pre-King Saul Bible period.
Kings of England were a theocracy. The king was head of the church. From 1535 onward people were required to take the “oath of supremacy” which forced all English subjects to obey the King in all matters, even of a religious or spiritual nature.
King James had several attempts on his life because of the discontent fomented by royal heavy-handedness.
Guy Faux assassination attempt.
King James was paranoid of dissenting groups whom he feared might assassinate him. This included the Pilgrims.
America’s founders came to get away from a “theocracy.”
09:36 Book of Common Prayer… The government raided those who prayed without this book being used to pray. Dissenters were officially condemned as ‘heretics’ and branded without fair trial because they dared to defy the king’s regulations of even their thoughts and prayers.
10:54 Conventical Act became The Riot Act in England because the government feared the “covenanters” could be planning a riot in their secret meetings as Christians wanting to gather in their homes to worship God.
John Bunyan was subjected to arrest and imprisonment for 12 years because of his boldness to meet privately in his home church.
Jesus clearly made following his teaching completely voluntary
Covenant churches were made of those who had no bishops and no requirement to bow to government authorized priests. They decided to not meet in church buildings but in the open fields.
17:18 The idea of having to believe the way the government believes prompted one group to buy passage from England to the Netherlands (the Pilgrims).
Federal is Latin for ‘covenant.’
The constitution is a way to prevent a president from ruling through mandates.
Thanks to Bill Federer, we can better see the powerful influence that rulers have over an oppressed people.
Do you think Jeremiah’s prophetic words speak to our generation today?
“Thus says the LORD, ‘Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you shall find rest for our souls…’” Jeremiah 6:16
Does it seem sometimes that the challenges and pressures of the confusing world around us crowd out the really important things that we can do to eternally influence the lives of the people in our lives?
I’ve got an invitation for you to share with your friends today that I think you’ll want to make special note of, so you might want to be ready to write down some details that I’ll share more coming up in our program today.
Does it seem sometimes that the challenges and pressures of the confusing world around us crowd out the really important things that we can do to eternally affect the lives of the people in our lives?
I’ve got an invitation for you to share with your friends today that I think you’ll want to make special note of, so you might want to be ready to write down some details that I’ll share more than once in our program today.
I have often had well-meaning Christians ask me how some unbelievers can hold on so stubbornly to their evolutionist theories in support of their unbelief. When they are faced with the challenges that there really are no genuine evidences to validate evolutionism, why do so many intelligent people stick to it? That’s a good question. (more…)
** This personal letter by Dennis Petersen is intended to provide some background for understanding the times we are living in now. In light of the Lord’s providential guidance in his own life and the opportunities and challenges that lay before us, the question is really: “what adventurous journey awaits as we walk in the works that God has prepared for us to accomplish (as noted in Ephesians 2:10)?”
Dear Friend, If you have not yet read the brief letter I recently sent by email to invite you to join my personal team of prayer supporters, you can see it at the end of this background letter (below).
Why am I continuing the mission of creation teaching?
Do you remember that scripture, “to whom much is given, much is required?”
When I began to realize back in the 1970s that the Lord was supernaturally guiding my steps to accomplish things that I would never have attempted in my own plans, He jolted me with the scripture in Proverbs 16:9, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”
I planned to continue a thoroughly enjoyable career in the museum profession as a trained history museum curator and administrator. When the Holy Spirit sovereignly opened the opportunity for me to detour for a year to study the Bible full time in Canada, I had no idea that would begin a whole new life to influence many people for Christ through apologetics teaching, writing, and preaching ministry.
