PASTOR’S
COMMENTS 11-28-03
I
am beginning these comments on a
Day that has been set apart by
this nation, the USA, many years ago as
a Day of Thanksgiving.
In
these comments, I intend to use
quotes that make known the
origin of it, the recognition of
God by the early Pilgrims, as
well as proclamations from
president George Washington (the
first president), and
president Abraham Lincoln,
establishing the Day that is now
observed by this country as a
legal holiday.
Proclamations
making known that it is to be a
Day of REMEMBRANCE of our
national and individual
blessings along with
thanksgiving to the Source of
our blessings, the Almighty God,
and repentance for our sins..
This
is the what the Day is suppose
to mean.
The
following quotes make known the
origin of Thanksgiving Day:
TOMORROW’S
WORLD,
November 1971 –
'THANKSGIVING DAY'
“The
first Thanksgiving Day
originated with a festival being
held by Plymouth Colony in 1621,
in gratitude for a successful
harvest. The pilgrims from
England had landed at Plymouth
Rock in December, 1620 and had
endured a hard year. On
that first ‘Thanksgiving
Day’ they THANKED GOD they
were still alive and had food to
eat. The pilgrims
RECOGNIZED GOD as the SOURCE of
their blessings. They held
that first ‘Thanksgiving
Day’ IN GRATITUDE AND THANKS
TO GOD. Many Americans have
forgotten this. Many
probably don’t EVEN think of
God on Thanksgiving Day much
less actually PRAY TO HIM AND
GIVE THANKS.”
The
following quotes reveal the
Pilgrims had great cause to be
very thankful to God:
DESTINY
OF BRITAIN AND AMERICA,
Pages 142-144, by
the ROADBUILDER, Lt. Col. W. G.
McKendrick, DSO, January 1926,
Last printing (6th ):
“...
the Pilgrims left Plymouth
(England) and started across the
ocean in the ‘Mayflower’ and
the ‘Speedwell’. On
two occasions they had to sail
back to England because of the
un-seaworthiness of the
‘Speedwell’, and they
finally had to give up the
‘Speedwell’, sell part of
their provisions, and overcrowd
the ‘Mayflower’ when they
made their final start,
September, September 6-16, 1620,
for Virginia.
“The
‘Mayflower’ had a tough
passage, encountering many
gales, in one of which her main
beam was broken. But one
of the Pilgrims had a jack screw
and with this a repair was made
and the voyage was continued.
They made land November 11, 1620
at Cape Cod. The crew
refused to sail down the coast
in the teeth of the November
gales, and the Pilgrims had to
land and stay in Massachusetts
though their patent was only for
Virginia.
“Right
here may I mention how
Providence guided these people
and took care of them. HAD
THEY LANDED ON ANY OTHER SECTION
OF THE COAST than what they did,
THEY NEVER COULD HAVE SURVIVED
the winter and the Indians.
A plague had struck this section
of country two years before and
WIPED OUT the Indians and LEFT
in a cave some eight bushels of
Indian corn, which the Pilgrims
used for seed for the season
1621, as they brought none from
England.
“On
December 25th they commenced
their first house. During
that first winter they ENDURED
many hardships and lost their
governor and one half colony by
death and the rest were so
weakened that had the warlike
Indians of the other parts of
the coast been in this section
of country, the Pilgrims could
not possibly have survived.
“As
early as 1623 these Englishmen
kept days for fasting,
humiliation, and PRAYER and in
1637 passed an ordinance:
‘That it be in the power of
the governor and assistants to
COMMAND solemn days of
humiliation, AND ALSO FOR
THANKSGIVING,’ and since then
their American descendants have
eaten the November turkey and
cranberry, with or without the
aforementioned humiliation and
PRAYER attachments and in many
cases I’m afraid have
FORGOTTEN WHAT THEIR
PREDECESSORS KNEW in their
souls, namely, that God has been
and still LOOKING AFTER THEM and
‘PROSPERING THEIR
UNDERTAKINGS,’ as your Great
Seal of State with its
all-seeing eye declares.”
The
End-Time —
This
was true in 1926, and continued
through World War II, but only
partly true in the
following wars, and to this
present time. The House of
Joseph began removing herself
from any real recognition of God
in a much greater way after
World War II!
This
removal from any real
recognition of God has so
dramatically increased where we
now are in time, that the Houses
of Congress, the Judiciary, the
Churches, and the public, as a
whole, have removed the reality
of God to a back-burner.
Though
Thanksgiving Day is yet observed
with the traditional turkey,
cranberry sauce, mince and
pumpkin pies, it is now called
by most “Turkey Day” instead
of “Thanksgiving Day” –
thus removing any further real
recognition as it was originally
observed and proclaimed by
presidents George Washington and
Abraham Lincoln.
There
is no longer any real
recognition of God!
As
the result, God is no longer
favorably watching over this
great nation. Soon He will look
the other way while He permits
the curse of the horrors to
befall the peoples of Israel, in
famine, disease epidemics, and
devastating warfare, to be
followed by slavery, so says
Holy Scripture.
And
sadly, we are bringing these
terrible prophesied things upon
ourselves!
The
Intention of Establishing
Thanksgiving Day —
In
the real beginning of this
nation, a particular ‘Day of
Thanksgiving’ was
established by Presidential Proclamation
by president George Washington,
as a Day to honor and thank the
Almighty God for our national
blessings in this great country.
ASCENT
TO GREATNESS,
Page 98, Mr. Raymond
McNair
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 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 and
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 states to
the service of that great and
glorious Being who is the
beneficent author of all the
good that was, 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, ...
“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, ...
“Given
under my hand at the city of New
York, the 3rd day of October,
A.D. 1779."
G. Washington
Grave
Warnings —
President
George Washington also gave a
grave warning in his First
Inaugural Address, April 30,
1789, as the very
first president of the United
States, as to what would happen
to this great country if we
should forget our God:
“...
that the propitious smiles of
Heaven can never be expected on
a nation that DISREGARDS the
eternal rules of ORDER and RIGHT
which Heaven itself has
ordained.”
In
January, 1838, President Abraham
Lincoln also gave a grave
warning:
“If
danger ever reaches us it must
spring up amongst us. It
cannot come from abroad.
If destruction be our lot, we
must ourselves be its author and
finisher. As a nation of
free men, we must live through
all time, or die by suicide.”
General
Douglas MacArthur, in a speech
given on December 12, 1951, said
the following:
“In
this day of gathering storm, as
the MORAL DETERIORATION of
political power spreads its
growing infection, it is
ESSENTIAL that every spiritual
force be mobilized to defend and
preserve THE RELIGIOUS BASE upon
which THIS NATION was founded.
For it is that base which has
been the motivating impulse to
OUR MORAL and national growth.
History fails to record a single
precedent to which nations
subject to MORAL DECAY have NOT
passed into political and
economic DECLINE. There
has been either a SPIRITUAL
REAWAKENING to OVERCOME the
MORAL LAPSE, OR A PROGRESSIVE
DETERIORATION LEADING TO
ULTIMATE DISASTER.”
Learning
Lessons from History —
The
leaders and peoples of America
need to examine and heed the
lessons of history. All
of the mighty nations and
empires of the ancient world
CRUMBLED from internal
weakness.
As
an example, world-ruling
Babylon was suppose to be
impregnable, but the Bible and
history both reveal it fell
overnight!
Every
empire fell when its people
LOST their sense of purpose,
their character and
self-restraint and began
loving the life of EASE,
complacency, self indulgence
and moral lassitude.
China
built a great wall to keep out
invaders, but FORGOT that all
an enemy had to do was to
BRIBE the gatekeeper.
Remember
Pearl Harbor? It was
caught asleep on an early
Sunday morning due to a lack
of VIGILANCE AND COMPLACENCY!
This nation was caught totally
unaware of the surprise
bombings that did take place
on December 7, 1941. Yet
the warnings were there, but
unheeded!
The
great and very fast ocean
liner, the huge mighty
passenger ship, the Lusitania,
was sunk by one torpedo from a
small German Submarine for the
same reasons. Yet it had
repeated warnings, just as did
the unsinkable Titanic that
sank when it struck an iceberg
while on its maiden voyage!
It was suppose to be
unsinkable! It was reported
when a person was coming
aboard for its first and last
voyage, asked one of the crew
members if it were really
unsinkable, he replied,
"Lady, God Himself could
not sink this ship!"
Yet, it sank!
The
Imperial German Embassy had
actually placed A WARNING in a
New York Newspaper about the
danger of the Lusitania being
sunk by them before it sailed!
However it was said at the
time the ship could outrun any
U-boat the Germans had, and it
could have, had the captain of
the ship remained vigilant!
However he was overconfident
due to the greatness and fast
speed of the ship.
Captain
Turner is recorded as saying,
just before sailing:
"Germany can concentrate
her entire fleet of submarines
on our track, and we would
elude them!" But
the captain became careless as
he neared the Irish coast so
close that people could be
seen on land.
He showed
down, and was not zig-zagging,
as he was suppose to do with
this great ship. She
sank in 18 minutes with the
loss of 1,198 lives, 120 of
them American.
Warning
Signs Are Here Now --
Even
now WARNINGS are here before
us today as to what the Bible
tells us will take place very
soon, unless there is
repentance. However the
leaders do not seem to
recognize what is virtually
before their eyes. We
are a super-nation and nothing
can happen to us – so
they think! Once
again, look at the lessons of
history.
I
saw a movie years ago
regarding the Fall of Babylon. At
the conclusion of it, I read a
statement on the screen
that I have never
forgotten for it spoke of the
lessons of history mankind
should know well. It
read:
“No
great civilization has ever
fallen without until it first
has fallen within!”
President Abraham Lincoln
—
President
Abraham Lincoln also further
established the ‘Day of
Thanksgiving’ to remind us
yearly of our blessings, and
the Great Almighty God who
gave them to us. At the
same time he spoke of the
people even then having
forgotten God:
“We
have been the recipients of
the CHOICEST BLESSINGS OF
HEAVEN; we have been preserved
these many years in peace and
prosperity; we have grown in
numbers, wealth, and power as
NO OTHER NATION has ever
grown. BUT WE HAVE
FORGOTTEN GOD! We have
forgotten the GRACIOUS HAND
which PRESERVED us in peace
and multiplied and enriched
and strengthened us, and we
have VAINLY imagined, in the
deceitfulness of our hearts,
that all these BLESSINGS were
produced BY some superior
wisdom and virtue of our own.
Intoxicated with unbroken
success, we have become too
self-sufficient to feel THE
NECESSITY of redeeming and
preserving grace, TOO PROUD TO
PRAY TO THE GOD WHO MADE
US.”
'THANK'
has the connotation of
'THINK'! Most people do
not really think, for if they
did possibly they might begin
to realize to think
and then to thank the
all-bountiful God in heaven
above who is very aware when
we do express heartfelt
blessings, and also when we
don’t!
President
Harry Truman —
In
this context, president Harry
Truman said the following:
“I
do not think that anyone can
study the history of this
nation without becoming
convinced the DIVINE
PROVIDENCE has played a great
part in it. I have the
feeling that God created us
and brought us to our present
position of power and strength
FOR SOME GREAT PURPOSE. It is
not now given to us to know
FULLY what that purpose is.
But I think we may be sure of
one thing ... It is given to
us to defend the spiritual
values – the moral code –
against the vast forces of
evil that seek to destroy
them. This is a hard
task. It is not one that
we have asked for. At
times we would like to lay it
down. But we need not be
afraid IF we have FAITH.”
Prime
Minister Winston Churchill —
Prime Minister
Winston Churchill also
recognized the hand of God in
the affairs of the United
States of America and the
United Kingdom, and said as
such in a speech on October
31st, 1942:
“I
have a feeling sometimes that
some GUIDING HAND has
interfered. I have a
feeling that we have A
GUARDIAN because we have a
great Cause, and we shall have
that Guardian as long as we
SERVE that Cause faithfully.
And what a Cause it is!”
(NOTE:
Most of the quotes in this
writing have been taken from
the book, “ASCENT
TO GREATNESS”, by
Mr. Raymond McNair. This
is a book that should be in
the school system. It is
well written and very
factual.)
As
we can well know, we have not
heard quotes recognizing God
in the same way from the
leaders of both nations since
World War II. True, God
is sometimes mentioned by
name, but there is no depth
and real meaning in the use of
His Name. And even the
use of His name is coming to
be less and less used by the
leaders of Israel.
This
nation has almost reached the
full depth of depravity in
morality as well as violence
and other grave problems.
All
one has to do is to scan the
channels on television, look
at the movie listings, and
read the newspapers and
magazines to see how far away
this nation has removed itself
from any real recognition of
God and obedience to His holy
and righteous laws. It is no
wonder that ‘Thanksgiving
Day’ is only looked upon
today as ‘Turkey Day’!!!
God is not in most peoples
thinking!
‘Slouching
Toward Gomorrah’ —
A
book, by the above title, was
written a few years ago by a
well known former judge who
was nominated by the President
of the United States to the
Supreme Court but was rejected
by the very liberal Judiciary
Committee, and the
establishment in Washington,
DC.
At
the same time, they can not to
be totally blamed for they are
only the reflection of the
overall citizenry of this
country. They do what
the overall populace wants --
a free-wheeling way of life to
live them without any
real restrictions.
(From
what I read the same
zealousness continues to be
exercised by the Judiciary
Committee to keep any real
conservative nominee from
being accepted to any high
Federal Court.)
In
this book, written by former
Judge Robert H. Bork, all that
is so terribly wrong in this
nation today, is laid out
throughout his writing in
graphic detail, and the
reasons behind the degeneracy.
After
reading it, one can easily see
why God has a curse on the
nation! However, this
nation is not by itself in its
immoral indulgences and
other problems for the
other nations of Israel are
heavily involved in the very
same problems, perhaps even
worse.
The
house of Israel is most
definitely headed for a very
similar fate as Sodom and
Gomorrah experienced, and not
all that far away!
I
highly recommend the purchase
and reading of this book by Mr.
Bork for it makes known
why God has a curse on this
nation and the other nations
of Israel.
Thy
Kingdom Come --
All
the more, we need to be praying,
'Thy Kingdom
Come', while
realizing this world truly needs
the return of Jesus Christ and
the new civilization He will
establish in righteousness.
A time when mankind will not
only recognize the great God,
but also come to know Him and
will be keeping His 10
Commandments as well as all of
the other laws of God.
At
the same time we should be so
affected by what we see
about us that it deeply
grieves us. For it is God
who makes known that
it is only those who sigh and
cry for the terrible sins in
this nation and this world who
will have His blessing of
protection when the final
curtain comes down on this sinful
civilization of the House of
Joseph, and a little later,
all of the other nations (Ezekiel
9:4).
In
Conclusion —
Brethren,
I intended to try and get this
to you yesterday,
‘Thanksgiving Day’ (in the
USA), but one thing and
another interfered so I had to
postpone it until today.
I
beseech all of you to please not
let the day to day problems we
all experience overpower us
for they will unless we keep
in contact with the Almighty
God in heaven above. We
need God’s loving care and
it will continue to be provide
it to us as along as we do not
forget Him.
At
the same time, PLEASE REMEMBER
to offer thanks to God each
and everyday for the continued
blessings of life and the
health we do have along with
the priceless blessing of
being His begotten children.
Also,
please do not forget to
say 'thank you' for any favors
that come your way in whatever
form. This will help all of us
to form the habit of not only
being thankful to people, but
most important to God, our
Father and His Son Jesus
Christ.
The
Bible reveals we are living in
a thankless generation and as
God's people, we should want
to be different (II Timothy
3:1-5).
Please
realize, we are only marking
time now! Soon it will
all be over and we will be
forever and always be in
God’s loving care as
born-again Family Members of
the God Family.
Our
love and prayers are for you,
Don
Billingsley
(There
is now an ARCHIVE posted
inside my Pastor’s Comments
by which you will be able to
review past writings. At
present there are only two of
them, but we hope to have
others posted there very
soon.)
To
listen to our Church services
by a speaker phone, please
dial (free call): 1-800-
820-4690, then follow the
operator’s instruction and
punch in the following
numbers: 7076149, then to be
followed by the pound sign #
We
are now using a new Conference
call service; The new number
is 1-877-553-9909, then follow
the operator's instruction and
punch in 8819, and you will be
connected (A free call for all
of you).
Beginning
last Friday night, 5:30 PM,
our time, we began a
‘Fellowship Hour’ with the
new Conference Call Service
opening up this phone line to
the members for an opportunity
to chat with one another.
We
had some problems with the
server who did not have enough
lines available. This
time we have 25 lines set us
so we should be able to do
better. But please be
patient with us, if it does
not work all that well the
first few times, we will
continue to improve it until
all can have the opportunity
to fellowship with one
another.
It
is our desire to serve
all of you as well as we can
for we know it gets lonely out
there by yourselves and you
need fellowship along with the
Church services..
Though
it will be little used, we
will keep the old conference
number for 2-3 months just in
case we have problems to work
out with the new one.
