Is It Happening Again?

Preacher01704's Weblog

Feb 3, 2015 By Rev Paul N. Papas II

I am sure you have heard the statement by Edmund Burke that “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” You have probably heard the United States being compared to the Roman Empire.

“Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the ‘new, wonderful good society’ which shall now be Rome, interpreted to mean money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious. ‘” – Marcus Tullius Cicero.

The Roman Empire was split in two by Constantine with two capitals. Over time, the east thrived, while the west declined. In fact, after the western part…

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George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Redbird's Roost

[New York, 3 October 1789]

By the President of the United States; a Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor — and whereas both houses of congress have by their joint committee requested to me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the people of these United States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of…

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President Prayed At Inauguration

During Dwight D. Eisenhower’s swearing in ceremony on January 20, 1953, the Bible was opened to Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” (NASB), and Second Chronicles 7:14, “And my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, the I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” (NASB).
After the swearing in was completed, instead of kissing the Bible (which was customary) President Eisenhower prayed his own, personal prayer.

After asking those gathered for the inaugural event to bow their heads, the new President prayed…
“Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment my future associates in the Executive branch of Government join me in beseeching that Thou will make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in this throng, and their fellow citizens everywhere. Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws of this land. Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all people regardless of station, race or calling. May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths; so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen.”

[To my knowledge, Dwight Eisenhower is the only president to offer prayer at an inauguration ceremony.
He had written the words on hotel stationary during the evening of January 19, 1953.]

Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human council hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them while offering up the ascriptions justly due Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union.

In testimony thereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

[New York, 3 October 1789]

By the President of the United States; a Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor — and whereas both houses of congress have by their joint committee requested to me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the people of these United States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be — that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks — for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation — for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of His providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war — for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed — for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted — for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which He hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions — to enable us all, whether in private or public stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually — to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed — to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord — To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among us — and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the city of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
Geo. Washington

John Q. Adams Pro-God Anti-Slavery

If you have an opportunity to read any books written about (or written by) John Quincy Adams, please take time to do so. Adams, 6th President of the United States, was not afraid to speak his mind on any subject.
The following is an excerpt from “Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Sons on the Bible and its Teachings”…

“The first point of view in which I have invited you to consider the Bible, is the light of Divine Revelation. And what are we to understand by these terms? I intend as much as possible, to avoid the field of controversy, which I am not well acquainted with, and for which I have little respect, and still less inclination. My idea of the Bible as a Divine Revelation, is founded upon its practical use to mankind, and not upon metaphysical subtleties. There are three points of doctrine, the belief of which, forms the foundation of all morality. The first is the existence of God; the second is the immortality of the human soul; and the third is, a future state of rewards and punishments. Suppose it possible for a man to disbelieve either of those articles of faith, and that man will have no conscience, he will have no other law than that of the tiger or the shark; the laws of man may bind him in chains, or may put him to death, but they can never make him wise, virtuous, or happy…
It is so obvious to every reasonable being, that he did not make himself, and the world which he inhabits, could as little make itself, that the moment we begin to exercise the power of reflection, it seems impossible to escape the conviction that there is a Creator. It is equally evident that the Creator must be a spiritual, and not material being; there is also a consciousness that the thinking part of our nature is not material, but spiritual — that it is not subject to the laws of matter, nor perishable with it.”

Adams believed that all men have the same God-given rights. He worked for years to end slavery. In a speech delivered on the 61th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, he stated…

“The inconsistency of the institution of domestic slavery with the principles of the Declaration of Independence was seen and lamented by all the southern patriots of the Revolution; by no one with deeper and more unalterable conviction than by the author of the Declaration himself. No charge of insincerity or hypocrisy can be fairly laid to their charge. Never from their lips was heard one syllable of attempt to justify the institution of slavery. They universally considered it as a reproach fastened upon them by the unnatural step-mother country and they saw that before the principles of the Declaration of Independence, slavery, in common with every other mode of oppression, was destined sooner or later to be banished from the earth. Such was the undoubting conviction of Jefferson to his dying day. In the Memoir of HIs Life, written at the age of seventy-seven, he gave to his countrymen the solemn and emphatic warning that the day was not distant when they must hear and adopt the general emancipation of their slaves. “Nothing is more certainly written,” said he, “in the book of fate than that these people are to be free.”

The Bare Facts

Image

I don’t know Ted Cruz, but I truly think he loves America just as much as Starr Parker or Ben Carson.  And I believe the left attacks Ted, Star, and Ben is a demonstration of extreme fear.  Harry Reid, who reminds me of Satan in a pair of tight blue jeans, is nothing but a nutty, narcissistic, pea-brained, egotist — he doesn’t hate America, he loves Harry Reid.

This is my prayer…a song written by Bobby Bare — recorded by Bare, Loretta Lynn, Tex Ritter, Conway Twitty.

“God bless America again

You must know the trouble that’s she’s in

Wash he pretty face, dry her eyes and the

God bless America again

 

You know, I wish God would bless America again

Like He did, way back there when it all began

He blessed her then

And we sort of took it for granted and didn’t ask again

So let’s just kinda’ hold on to her hand now that’s all

In case she stumbles, let’s not let her fall

 

I don’t understand everything I read and hear

About what’s wrong with America.

You know, I don’t have a lot of book learning

There’s many things you don’t understand

 

But I know this much, she’s like a mother to me

And I love her with all my heart

And let me tell you this sir, everything I am

Or ever hope to be, I owe to her.

 

No Angel On My Tree

Mrs. Arnold, a resident at Plant City Living Center in Florida, was told that federal law prohibits her from displaying any religious words or symbols associated with Christmas in the common area of her apartment building.

According to HUD, “any religious symbols or religious words associated with Christmas” are banned.  Under the guidelines issued by HUD, the 85 year-old grandmother cannot place a small Christmas tree outside her door if it displays an angel.

If the residents want to have a Christmas party in their community room, they cannot use the word “Christmas.”  Government directive demands that they use the word “Holiday.”

Every year a Sunday School class from a church located near Mrs. Arnold’s apartment hosts a hanging of the greens and a Christmas party for the elderly residents.  She said the highlight of their Christmas party comes at the end of the hanging of the greens and the Christmas party for all the residents when someone places an angel on top of their Christmas tree.

The federal government is so afraid of the ACLU that it is banning Christianity from Christmas.  Not only that, atheists have so much influence that the National Park Service ordered the removal of the words “Laus Deo” (Latin for “Praise be to God) from a replica of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., and the VA (Veterans Administration) banned the script of the flag-folding ceremony mentioning “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” and the “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost” at over 100 national cemeteries.

I just wonder, has anyone in congress read the first amendment which clearly states that government shall not prohibit the free exercise of religion?

The Pledge Of Allegiance

I remember Red Skelton reciting this on his TV show in 1969.  He loved his country.  He loved making people laugh.  He was an American.  Of the few Master Mason’s in Hollywood back when it didn’t embarrass a parent to take his child to the movies, I believe Red was my favorite entertainer.  We need more Red Skeltons (and other M.M.’s like John Wayne, Tex Ritter and Roy Rogers who practiced the tenets of Freemasonry) setting an example for today’s youth.

We Reap What We Sow

Today’s blog is rather lengthy, so it is located in the right column under “Pages” — entiltled “Sowing And Reaping.”