April 2007 Archives

THIS is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight...

Faith Evangeline examines a beautiful edition of the Longfellow classic which shares her name. The lovely vintage volume came care of our favorite antiquarian book seller, Mr. Tim Potts.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 30, 2007 | Permalink

Learn more about Hospitality: The Biblical Commands, also available as a part of the Fruit of the Gospel Audio Collection.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 30, 2007 | Permalink

See you in Jamestown, June 11-16.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 28, 2007 | Permalink

WorldNetDaily.com—The president plans a visit May 13 to Jamestown, Va., the settlement founded four centuries ago with the primary goal of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he’ll be aware of complaints that its history is being revised to exclude its Christian heritage.

White House spokeswoman Dana confirmed plans for the visit and then promised to look into concerns of a politically correct perspective being applied retroactively at Jamestown when Les Kinsolving, WND’s correspondent at the White House, asked her about it.

“I know the president is looking forward to going to Jamestown on May 13,” Perino said. But she said she would have to decline to comment on the rest until she could look into it.

“I believe this is one of the most significant battles of our day,” said Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum Ministries and the founder of the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History, Vision Forum’s own series of events to celebrate the quadricentennial. “It is the battle for our history.”

Click here to view the rest of the story.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 28, 2007 | Permalink

“The Enduring Legacy of the First Landing” is my featured column this week on worldnetdaily.com.

Four hundred years ago yesterday, the world changed for the better.

A cross was planted in the ground and a prayer was offered to heaven. The cross was planted literally, but it was also planted spiritually.

The event was the first landing of the Jamestown settlers. One hundred and four of them arrived at Cape Henry on April 26, 1607. We remember the event as the “First Landing,” but it might be better known as “Covenant Day” for America.

The rude wooden cross they stuck in the Virginia ground was more than an ebenezer of thanksgiving to God’s providence. In fact, it was an actual gauntlet thrown in the face of the enemies of Christianity. It was a legal and spiritual challenge to all comers that declared, “This land now belongs to Christ and His people.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 28, 2007 | Permalink

One of our favorite adventures as a family and with our friends, is to visit the San Antonio Zoo for creation science field trips. This week on ICR’s national radio broadcast Science, Scripture and Salvation, I gave a report on how homeschool families can combat evolutionary thinking and have their own creation science adventure at the zoos local to them.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 27, 2007 | Permalink

Learn more about Children and the Dominion Mandate, also part of the Fruit of the Gospel Audio Collection.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 26, 2007 | Permalink

Newsmax reports on our Celebration. Newsmax.com—“The Grand Marshal is Harrison Tyler, whose grandfather President John Tyler spoke at the 1857 event and father Lyon Tyler, President of William and Mary College, spoke at the 1907 celebration. There will be “Mini-Faith and Freedom” history tours, fife and drum music, colonial firearms demonstrations, reenactments and speeches from Christian orators.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 26, 2007 | Permalink

Praise the Lord for the wonderful families who came to the Vision Forum open house this last Saturday. Above is an image of Faith Evangeline setting up a display of our dolls.

Our dear friend Arnold Pent, author of Ten P’s In a Pod,

Puppy dogs were welcome.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 25, 2007 | Permalink

We are brimming with excitement concerning the great opportunity the Lord is giving to celebrate the mighty works of Providence through the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History. The Lord seems to be pouring down showers of blessing through open doors and special opportunities. One of these special opportunities has come in the form of tethered hot air balloon rides. We are grateful to have secured two hot air balloons which will be operating during the week of June 11-16. Professionally operated and owned by a Christian family, these beautiful balloons will provide a panoramic perspective on the land of our forefathers.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 24, 2007 | Permalink

The Daily Press, a Newport News, Virginia-based newspaper, is offering “tidbits on the Settlement” to educate their readers on the history of Jamestown as the “400th anniversary approaches.”

In yesterday’s edition, they posed this question: “In his dealings with Virginia Indians, was John Smith an accomplished trader or a robber?”

Their answer: A Robber.

Their source: The oral history of the Mattaponi Indian Tribe, as cited in the newly published, The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History.

This “source” is a book which begins with a lengthy dedication to demons. That’s right. the book opens with prayers to Indian spirit gods. It then continues by informing us that this secret oral tradition is the “real story.” That story includes shocking new revelations that Pocahontas was physically abused and murdered, and that she was forcibly converted to Christianity. (More on this story later.)

Meanwhile, in response to an intense public backlash against the historical revisionism that has been advanced by Jamestown tour guides — officials have now conceded that the “first motivation [for the Jamestown Settlement] mentioned in the 1606 charter is to spread the Christian religion” (See “Nation’s 1st goal? Spread the Gospel”)

But they still can’t bring themselves to “celebrate” America’s 400th birthday.

In an article entitled, “Honoring the Beginning”, which appeared yesterday in the Washington Times, Rex Ellis, vice president of the Historic Area for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, explained: “It is more a commemoration than a celebration.”

Why? Why are our officials still ashamed to celebrate our founding? According to this official it is: “Because as America began to create its own identity as a republic, it also made the decision to do it under a system of slavery.”

Not only is this statement highly misleading and factually inaccurate, but it perpetuates the self-loathing which is being communicated to millions of children. Please remember that this is the first time in American history that our officials have been ashamed of our providential origins. This is the first time in history that a national centennial event has declined to “celebrate.” This is a birthday party where our leaders are savaging the parents and lamenting the birth.

For a refreshing and Christ-exalting alternative — a grand celebration in the tradition of great centennial celebrations of the past, come to Jamestown June 11-16th for the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History. [FYI: early bird special ends in seven days.]

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

My sweetheart sent me a link the other day. To the link she added the comment: “over my dead body.” Here is the link.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

After reading all the negative feedback you received from your article on the VA Tech tragedy, I just wanted to tell you that to me (and many others, I know) your article was a breath of fresh air, as usual. You brought a thoroughly Biblical perspective to a tragedy that, for most people, brings only doubts and questions. Thank you for providing the Biblical answers to those questions, even when they are unpopular.

You were accused of being callous and insensitive, but that is simply not so. Your article was tactful and respectful, sensitive and compassionate, yet candid, truthful, and painfully honest. Now is not the time to shirk away from the widespread issues that led to this community disaster. The words of Patrick Henry seem so relevent for this time in our history: “It is natural for men to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren until she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in the arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not those things which so nearly relate to their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost me, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.” I thank God that even in our day, there is a remnant who are willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst and to provide for it. It seems tragic that the theology of so many Christians is so woefully lacking that they would respond to this situation by denying the Sovereignty and Providence of God, seemingly unable to conceive of a loving, all-powerful God who will sometimes send bad things into the lives of people. Equally tragic is the fact that others defend the murderer...In the meantime, Mr. Phillips, persevere. Do not let the attacks and rejection discourage you. You bear an important message, one that our nation needs to hear...”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

In this controversial article, Nathaniel Blake asks this troubling question. For asking the question, he was named the “second worst person in the world” by Keith Olbermann. Concerning the Olbermann article, one reader observed: “If Gorbachev had held out another twenty years, the Ruskies could have invaded this country with pop guns.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

Dear Mr. Phillips, Thank you for your thoughtful words and scripture. My husband is a State Representative here in Oregon, one of the few conservative Christians left in this troubled State. On Tuesday, the day of the shootings, our State Legislature voted along party lines to establish civil unions and transgendered, transsexual and gay rights laws that even include teaching homosexuality in public schools. It was a horrible day here in Oregon. We have broken our Covenant with God! However, faithful Christians can still hope in His mercy as we remain faithful in this fallen world. Incidentially, my husband spoke against the bills and took a great deal of heat because of his stand, and my children (all six) have been taking the heat, too. As we pray, each morning for so many things to be made right, we will continue to pray for your ministry and for its success as it effects the lives of so many and helps us remain faithful as we await the coming, again, of our dear sweet Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

A great mystery.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

More than 100,000 people rest at Laurel Hill Cemetery on a bucolic 78-acre hill overlooking the Schuylkill River in the East Falls section of Philadelphia. But on Saturday afternoon, a group of visitors will be visiting several gravesites that inter no one at all. They’ll be taking part in the cemetery’s third annual walking tour commemorating one of history’s most famous disasters — the sinking of RMS Titanic, which struck an iceberg 95 years ago tomorrow and sank on April 15, 1912, taking more than 1,500 passengers and crew to the bottom of the frigid North Atlantic.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 23, 2007 | Permalink

Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. Jeremiah 31: 13

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 22, 2007 | Permalink

” ...ABORTION, which is violence against children while in the wombs of their mothers, is the root cause of the violence that we see coming out of this generation of youth. The Bible says, “bloodshed toucheth bloodshed” (Hosea 4:2), or bloodshed follows bloodshed. Innocent bloodshed in the womb is being followed by innocent bloodshed around our nation. The 33 killed Monday at VA Tech is 1/100th of the estimated 3300 murdered daily by surgical abortion alone on American soil in America’s approx. 740 child-murder-by-abortion domestic terror centers. There are spiritual principles of corporate bloodguilt and blood recompensation revealed in the Bible which apply when innocent blood is shed upon a land, as in the case today of government-protected child-murder-in-the-womb.

We adults should not be surprised that a generation of youth is resorting to violent murder to resolve their problems with others, even when it ends in the taking of their own lives. The Bible says that God is not mocked, that we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). For the last 34-plus years, we have sown violence into the next generation by murdering children in the womb. God spoke through His servant the prophet Hosea over 2700 years ago, to the people of Israel:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,... seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” Hosea 4:6

It is time for the adults of America to repent. We have sinned grievously and wickedly against the next generation. We have killed one-third of the post-Roe generation by surgical abortion alone, and probably two to three times that number chemically with abortifacient birth control, e.g., birth control pills, Depo-Provera, Norplant, IUD, etc. We have taught the next generation that it is OK to fornicate, and if necessary, it is OK to “choose” to kill those pre-birth human beings in the womb who are unwanted. Now (e.g., Columbine, VA Tech) we are reaping the bad fruit of what we have sown. We have sown VIOLENCE in the womb (abortion), and now we are reaping VIOLENCE in schools, on the streets, in homes, and around the nation. These shootings are a sign and a judgment from God Himself.

Virginia delegate George Mason said in the 1787 Constitutional Convention, “By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins, by national calamities.” Child-murder-by-abortion is a national sin. Columbine, 9-11, Katrina, and VA Tech have all been national calamities. More and greater divine judgment is coming upon America, even destruction, unless we repent of the national sin of abortion. REPENT AMERICA” !

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 22, 2007 | Permalink

A Family Event

Dear Mr. Phillips, your documentary film on Jamestown was wonderful. My whole family sat down and watched it and were all very impressed. Oh how I wish we could attend the Jamestown celebration with you at Jamestown. Thank you for all you and your ministry does. God bless you.

Did Her Research

Mr. Phillips, I want to tell you that I watched your program last night and was struck dumb by the video of the tour guide and her comments and the laws of the colony. I know her intent was to show just how crazy those Christian, capitalist, landgrabbers were. Yet today, the environmentalist may rob men of their livelihood if not their lives because the land they wish to farm or develop his the habitat of a bird or bug.I searched online for the laws of Jamestown to find the law she was refering to (I’ve gotten quite good in my researching skills thanks to the Jamestown 400 hunt began and I had a little down time). The law reads as follows

“What man or woman soever, shall rob any garden, public or private, being set to weed the same, or wilfully pluck up therin any root , herb , or flower, to spoil and wast or steal the same, or robbe any vineyard, or gather up the grapes, or steal any ears of the corn growing, whether in the ground belonging to the same fort or town where he dwells , or in any other...”

The tour guide failed to put the law in context. It was written in 1610 during the starving time and law was about stealing the food (and therefore the chance of survival) from another man’s garden. I want to thank you for teaching my family and I to seek the truth of America’s Christian heritage for ourselves rather than rely on want Hollywood or the educational elite or the major media wants us to believe.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 21, 2007 | Permalink

Here is a short clip from Vision Forum’s 30-minute documentary film Jamestown: Ancient Landmark, Modern Battleground that recently aired on the NRB Network.

(To view this video clip, you must have QuickTime 7 installed.)

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 20, 2007 | Permalink

Please take time to read my column today on worldnetdaily.com. Here is an excerpt:

Consider also the recent propaganda presented to the children of America care of the friendly evolutionists at National Geographic.

Their May 2007 cover story that just hit the stands is entitled: “Jamestown: The Real Story: How settlers destroyed a native Empire and changed the landscape from the ground up.”

National Geographic assures us that: “Much of what we learned in grade school about the New World encountered by the colonists at Jamestown is wrong. Four hundred years later, historians are piecing together the real story.”

Away with the undisputed histories we have heard and celebrated for close to 400 years! Away with the historical academic record! It’s time for a new history for a better tomorrow.

So just what is the “real story” of Jamestown? Answer: environmental injustice.

Here is what kids can learn from the new history: Christian settlers were “environmental imperialists.” They not only brought a host of nasty destructive bugs to the near utopian ecological world of the Native Americans, but they “unsettl[ed] the landscape” and “unleashed what would become a multi-level ecological assault on North America.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 20, 2007 | Permalink

Dear Vision Forum: I am a history buff and our family genealogist (well, one of them anyway). I love the “thrill of the hunt” in finding out new information about our family history in America. Last year my husband was deployed to Iraq and, to keep ourselves busy, my children and I played along with the online version of NBC’s Treasure Hunters. It seemed like a good fit for our family as we are all curious about history. My husband returned home safe and sound in September and we received your Providence and Perseverance Catalog in November (I believe). Imagine our great surprise when we found that we had another treasure hunt we could play along on?! We solved the first clue that first night but sat the catalog aside again until after the Christmas holidays had passed. We picked up the hunt again and wanted to let you know how blessed we’ve been to be able to follow along with the clues and persevere! Our family has answered clues anywhere from just sitting in the living room together all the way to using it as a distraction on the way to the Children’s Hospital in Phoenix where our oldest son had to have an EEG (he had to be sleep deprived!!). We will continue to persevere and will see you in Virginia this summer, whether we are in the 100 or not! God bless you as you continue to minister to people in such unique and Godly ways!

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 20, 2007 | Permalink

Friends of the work and ministry of Vision Forum are cordially invited to join us on Saturday, April 21 for an open house here at our headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. Come meet the families of Vision Forum, have a favorite book signed by one of several participating Vision Forum authors, and browse through our clearance bins while enjoying food and fellowship with other guests. Doors will open at 9:00 a.m. and close at 5:00 p.m. See below for schedule and highlights.

In addition to meeting a number of Vision Forum authors, you will have the opportunity to enjoy fellowship and snacks, as well as take advantage of special offers good only at our Open House event. Save 20% on everything we carry! Be sure to browse your catalog or visit online to prepare your “wish list” of favorite items to pick up at this special pricing.

Additionally, browse through scores of newly discontinued products now on clearance and receive a 40%-60% savings.

Finally, take advantage of the opportunity to sift through clearance bins of toys, books, and other products that you will not find in our catalog or on our web site. Each year, Vision Forum receives hundreds of sample items, either sent in for us to consider carrying, or that we request from our favorite vendors. These items will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Book Signings and Messages

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Kelly Bradrick (author of Coming In on a Wing and a Prayer) Josh and Sarah Wean (authors and editors of The Adventure of Missionary Heroism, To Have and to Hold, and Teach Them to Your Children).

2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Doug and Beall Phillips (authors and editors of Poems for Patriarchs, Verses of Virtue, The Birkenhead Drill, and others) Elizabeth and Anna Sophia Botkin (authors of So Much More) And More...

1:15 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

A 45-minute workshop for young ladies given by the Botkin girls, entitled “A Vision of Nobility and Honor for the Daughters of the Twenty-First Century.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 20, 2007 | Permalink

Tonight at 9pm EST, the NRB Network will air, “Jamestown: Ancient Landmark, Modern Battleground,” a half-hour special that we have produced that explains the war on America’s history at Jamestown. In the thirty-minute documentary, I contrast the long-held providential perspective on Jamestown and its legacy of law and liberty with the modern politically correct interpretation that seeks to paint the Jamestown colonists as ruthless invaders who stole land from the Indians.

The NRB Network has also begun airing select episodes of EveryDay News on weekdays and Saturdays as part of their children’s programming.

The NRB Network is included in DIRECTV’s base package, TOTAL CHOICE on channel 378, and is available to all of DIRECTV’s more than 14 million subscribers.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 19, 2007 | Permalink

Here is a remarkable scoop from worldnetdaily.com:

As the nation debates whether more guns or fewer can prevent tragedies like the Virginia Tech Massacre, a notable anniversary passed last month in a Georgia town that witnessed a dramatic plunge in crime and violence after mandating residents to own firearms.

In March 1982, 25 years ago, the small town of Kennesaw - responding to a handgun ban in Morton Grove, Ill. - unanimously passed an ordinance requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun. Since then, despite dire predictions of “Wild West” showdowns and increased violence and accidents, not a single resident has been involved in a fatal shooting - as a victim, attacker or defender.

The crime rate initially plummeted for several years after the passage of the ordinance, with the 2005 per capita crime rate actually significantly lower than it was in 1981, the year before passage of the law.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 19, 2007 | Permalink

Amos 3:6 says, “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?”

Undeniably the shootings at Va Tech were a tragic event. Loved ones left behind are in need of our compassion and support. Any of us who have lost those we love to sudden tragedies such as this know the grief, feelings of helplessness and the desire to turn back the clock in order to be able to avert what happened. However, is it the Church’s sole responsibility in times such as this to merely comfort those who are mourning or must we proclaim the whole counsel of God?

Is God worrisomely wringing His hands and reacting to the actions of men? Scripture is very clear. Amos 3:6 says, “...shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” God’s plan has not changed. He has not idly stood by or been caught off guard. He has not now been forced to react.

Certainly Job knew this. Job knew that Satan was not the highest cause in the calamities that befell him. He did not say “the LORD gave and Satan taketh away” but instead, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Scripture is clear that God purposes all things that come to pass. He does this not for man’s glory but for His glory. What is difficult for our finite minds to grasp is how God upholds, directs, disposes and governs all creatures and their actions and yet the sinfulness of these actions proceeds only from the creature and not from God who can neither be the author or approver of sin. However, just because my finite understanding cannot fully grasp HOW this works itself out, makes no less true this immutable teaching of Scripture. God’s use of Pharoah is a powerful example:

Romans 9:17 “For the scripture saith unto Pharoah, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.”

After a senseless act of violence such as this we are tempted to cry out, “This is not fair!” or “A loving God would not do such a thing!”

However, in saying this I expose my man-centered theology. I expose my idolatry. I expose my attempt to create a god after my own image. God is not loving because He does things that I define in my fallen nature as loving. No, God IS love therefore whatever He does IS loving. Who am I to judge God? I have heard many times there must be balance in what we teach. I would argue we must have fullness. We must teach the fullness of God’s love along with the fullness of God’s wrath, the fullness of God’s mercy along with the fullness of His justice. This can only be accomplished as we speak boldly about the revelation of Scripture.

No wonder pseudo-Christianity has become irrelevant in the world today. How can we expect anyone to be forced to come to terms with the God of creation when He is taught in a manner that gives fictional superheroes such as Superman or Spiderman more influence over the affairs of men?

Only as we teach the true God of Scripture and proclaim the true Gospel is unregenerate man brought face to face with a loving, wrathful, just, merciful God.

Jonathan Edwards wrote,

“From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, in choosing whom he would to eternal life; and rejecting whom he pleased; leaving them eternally to perish, and be everlastingly tormented in hell. It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me. But I remember the time very well when I seemed to be convinced, and fully satisfied, as to this sovereignty of God, and his justice in thus eternally disposing of men, according to his sovereign pleasure. But never could give an account how, or by what means, I was thus convinced, not in the least imagining at the time, nor a long time after, that there was any extraordinary influence of God’s Spirit in it; but only that now I saw further, and my reason apprehended the justice and reasonableness of it. However, my mind rested in it; and it put an end to all those cavils and objections. And there has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, with respect to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found so much as the rising of an objection against it, in the most absolute sense, in God showing mercy to whom he will show mercy, and hardening whom he will. God’s absolute sovereignty and justice, with respect to salvation and damnation, is what my mind seems to rest assured of, as much as of any thing that I see with my eyes; at least it is so at times. But I have often, since that first conviction, had quite another kind of sense of God’s sovereignty than I had then. I have often since had not only a conviction, but a delightful conviction. The doctrine has very often appeared exceedingly pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God.” How can I be so bold as to attempt to make excuses for God. How can I dare to take any of His glory from Him.

Psalm 115:3 “But our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”

So I commend Doug Phillips. Well done. I am thankful for Vision Forum Ministries. I rejoice knowing we serve the same God - the God that Scripture proclaims. We serve a God that works all things after the immutable counsel of His own will for His own glory. In humbleness, Doug Phillips and the staff at Vision Forum will admit they are just men. They are men in need of God’s wisdom and grace. Know that our prayers and support are with you.

Philip Cochran

Mr. Cochran is a fighter pilot instructor, a home school father, and a servant of Jesus Christ

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 19, 2007 | Permalink

A hearty congratulations to a very special band of brothers made up of young ladies and men, of fathers and mothers, from around the United States who were among the first 1000 players to complete Phase One of the Jamestown 400: Our National Treasure Hunt. You have persevered and we are very proud of you. Each of you was inducted into the Order of the Jamestown 400. Congratulations.

I understand from inside sources, that beginning next week, the world of the Jamestown 400 will be moving mighty fast for those of you who want to take the Jamestown 400 to the finish line. One hundred of you will be selected on May 15 to participate in a physical search which will take place in the Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown area.

For those of you who just missed making the cut for the Order of the Jamestown 400, who have yet to enter the search, or who are somewhere in-between, please be reminded that you can still qualify to be in the final one hundred contestants and the search for the physical treasure.

Thank you for the many wonderful letters we have received communicating gratitude and appreciation for the Jamestown 400. Keep ‘em coming. They are so encouraging to the families of the Vision Forum. This project has been a tremendous effort on the part of many people, and it has been our joy to serve you by providing this special opportunity. Through everything we have one supreme desire — that Jesus Christ would be glorified through every aspect of this adventure.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 19, 2007 | Permalink

Dear Mr. Phillips, I have read your response to the VT massacre and the numerous praises and criticisms that followed. While your critics are entitled to their own opinion, I’m wondering if they read the same article that I did ? Your article stated that if another person had been armed they might have stopped the shooter. Apparently others assumed you were saying, “Christians should kill all the bad guys before they kill us, then head on back to the ranch to celebrate”. I think some of your readers misunderstood your point. I have read some blogs saying that you blamed this on public schools, and this is the judgement for going to a public university. What a ridiculous rant ! You said nothing of the sort. I keep thinking of the Bible verse, “If the blind lead the blind, they both fall in the ditch”. It seems [there are some] blind readers ! I think your response was full of truth and written with very open eyes.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 19, 2007 | Permalink

“Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:4-5)

Ninety-five years ago this week, the world was asking fundamental questions. Why would God allow thirteen hundred people to perish in the frozen waters of the North Atlantic ice fields?” We are told that the weeks after the R.M.S. Titanic sank, the churches in America and England experienced the largest attendance up to that point on the twentieth century. People were looking for answers. They were looking for hope and meaning out of tragedy.

Ninety-five years later, the men and guests of the Christian Boys’ and Men’s Titanic Society gathered on the anniversary of the disaster to remember the lessons and the legacies of the sinking of the Titanic. And there are many.

One of the great legacies of hope which was recognized in 1912 and remains significant today is the stunning message that God is sovereign over all things. Man can not build unsinkable boats any more than he can flee God’s sovereign decrees (Daniel 4:25, 34-35). God, not Satan, controls the universe (Isaiah 46:9-11; Daniel 4:17; Hebrews 1:3) and has determined the beginning and the end of man (Deuteronomy 32:39; Hebrews 9:27; Ephesians 1:11-12; 1 Peter 2:8). He has decreed that even the wrath of man will work the praise of God (Psalm 76:10). He and all of His ways are just (Deuteronomy 32:4).

The London Baptist Confession of Faith explains the comprehensive and undeniable providential sovereignty of God thus:

God who, in infinite power and wisdom, has created all things, upholds, directs, controls, and governs them, both animate and inanimate, great and small, by a providence supremely wise and holy, and in accordance with His infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable decisions of His will. He fulfills the purposes for which He created them, so that His wisdom, power and justice, together with His infinite goodness and mercy, might be praised and glorified. Nothing happens by chance or outside the sphere of God’s providence. As God is the First Cause of all events, they happen immutable and infallibly according to His foreknowledge and decree, to which they stand related. Yet by His providence God so controls them, that second causes, operating either as fixed laws, or freely, or in dependence upon other causes, play their part in bringing them about.

Consciously or unconsciously, many modern Christians think and talk as if events happen by chance. Alternatively, they conclude that Satan is the author and supreme guiding hand behind all calamity — as if God has no authority, no plan, and no ability to thwart him. They believe that man is free to act autonomously from his God, and God is bound not to interfere with man’s autonomous will. They insist that their God would never allow people to drown or college students to be shot. They forget that this same God decreed and carried out the death sentence by drowning, not merely thirteen hundred Titanic victims, but the entire population of the earth — perhaps millions — saving only eight souls (Genesis 6:7-8; 7:21-23). They forget that this God decreed the death of the first born of Egypt (Exodus 12:29), that he repeatedly prophesied death and judgment to those who break His covenant (Leviticus 26:14-25; Deuteronomy 28:15-63), and that His Son is coming back with a sword (Revelation 19:11-16) and will cast into everlasting punishment all those who reject him (Revelation 20:11-15).

They have created a God of their own choosing — one that makes them feel comfortable, one that suits their personal sense of justice, and one that they can place in their pockets and take out when it is convenient. In so doing, they rewrite the doctrine of the Atonement, and turn it into a cute Bible story, instead of one of the defining principles of life. And that principle includes the fact that by His very nature, God could not look the other way when man sinned (Psalm 11:4-6; Romans 2:3-11). This is so because He is a just God who requires bloodshed for the remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22-28). Consequently, God could not give Adam a free pass (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12-14; Ezekiel 18:4). There was only one hope — an infinite, holy sacrifice (1 Peter 1:19) which would suffer unimaginable pain and die a horrible death (1 Peter 2:21-24; Hebrews 12:2). Yes, the loving, kind, and merciful God who makes salvation a free gift of grace to man (Ephesians 2:8-9) demanded the execution of the only innocent man in history (Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 9:14-16) — the God-man, Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity (Hebrews 1:1-3; Romans 8:3-4).

Not only have modern professors in Christ divorced the sovereignty and justice of God from the love of God — they have sought to create a God of their own choosing. But they have done more. They have redefined themselves as little gods being the authors of their own destiny. They have exchanged the complex mystery of human responsibility and divine sovereignty for a mess of autonomous pottage. In so doing, they not only believe that God is incapable of calling them, but that they can resist Him when He draws them. In the end, they have adopted a shamlessly high view of themselves. When it comes to judgment, fundamentally, they do not believe that they have done anything worthy of death. They are just not “that bad” (Romans 3:10-12; Isaiah 64:6). And they think God would be unfair to bring (for his Glory and the good of His elect) calamity or hardship into their lives (Romans 9:13-16; Amos 3:6). They have forgotten that their sin (through their father Adam) brought death and suffering because He broke the law of God (Romans 5:12). They forget that God would have been unjust had He not sentenced to death all of mankind (Romans 6:23).

Consequently, modern man is incapable of interpreting modern events. He blames everything, but himself. He asks all the wrong questions, and consequently he gets none of the right answers.

Once upon a time, the men of Jesus’ day sought to find meaning in the midst of calamity. The Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of Heaven and Earth, taught them how to respond to calamity. Jesus said:

“Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:4-5)

This settles the question with resounding clarity: Judgment may be coming (Deuteronomy 32:41). Repent, or be counted among the dead (Jonah 3:9-10, Joel 2:12-14; Psalm 85:4-7).

I fully agree with the analysis and application of this passage by the president of Answers in Genesis, Mr. Ken Ham, who wrote today:

“Jesus was reminding people that every person will one day die, and that they need to be ready! Those who were killed by this tower in Luke 13 didn’t know that when they arose that morning, it would be their day to die. The Lord Jesus, in saying “unless you repent,” was reminding everyone that they needed to be sure they were ready to face eternity. This is the most important lesson for all of us to consider during this tragic time in American history, and to be reminded of what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

When Titanic sank, the wiser Christian commentators applied a two-prong analysis. First they asked: Have we done something to merit the displeasure of the Lord that he would allow such calamity to fall upon us? Second, they asked: How is God glorified, even in the midst of this tragedy? As to the first, they recognized that human arrogance had supplanted faith. As to the second, they acknowledged that the Lord had left a testimony that pointed to the Savior — “Women and children first,” which reminds us that “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” These two observations prompted repentance and provided hope and encouragement that continue to inspire men ninety-five years later.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 19, 2007 | Permalink

This article from Time details nearly thirty horrific school murders which have occured between 1966 and 2007. Note the significant increase of secondary school and higher education killings over the last ten years.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 19, 2007 | Permalink

In today’s 5-4 decision of ALBERTO R. GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL v. LEROY CARHART ET AL. Justice Clarence Thomas joined the majority in upholding the Partial Birth Abortion ban, but went further to write a concurring opinion in which he was joined by Justice Scalia and stated:

I write separately to reiterate my view that the Court’s abortion jurisprudence, including Casey and Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973), has no basis in the Constitution. See Casey, supra, at 979 (SCALIA, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part); Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U. S. 914, 980-983 (2000) (THOMAS, J., dissenting).

Click here to read the entire decision

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 18, 2007 | Permalink

Coming this month from Vision Forum.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 18, 2007 | Permalink

Wife of Marine Thankful for Rejection of Passive Non-Resistance

“Dear Mr. Phillips —I’m sorry that so many have decided to say bad things to you about what you wrote with this article. The truth is hard to bear I guess. Someone had said that Jesus would never command us to bear arms or be agressive but I beg to differ. Both the apostles Mark and Luke describe Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. He overturned tables and did not allow people to walk through with their wares. Jesus had a righteous anger over what was happening in the temple. While I don’t believe he would carry a gun these days I do wholeheartedly agree that he would stand up and not allow a shooter to continue shooting innocent people. My husband is a Marine and has been to Iraq. We hear all the passive aggressive news all the time. We must come to grips with the fact that we have to take a stand for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Maybe the death toll would not have been so high had other men of honor such as Mr. Librescu had stepped up and faced that challenge. God bless you and your ministry.”

Reader Dissaproves of Attributing Judgment to God

“God did not send this as punishment or judgment. We live in a world where satan (I knowingly use a lowercase letter) rules where we don’t allow God to rule. WE are the Holy Spirit’s voice, hands, feet etc. on this earth—I didn’t make that law, God did! God is always good. There is no bad in Him whatsoever. We will all stand before Him in judgement when we die. And, that judgment can be bad or good depending on if we have judged ourselves here first and lived according to His Word for each of us. As much as I do respect your company and have purchased products, and will continue to, I feel that your ‘answer’ for this horrible massacre does not line up with God’s Word. If I weren’t a grounded lifelong Christian I would have read your answer and felt like that’s not a God I want to serve...”

Thank You for Biblical Perspective

“Dear Brother Doug: What a wonderful analysis of the tragedy that has gripped our Nation. You put everything in order from God’s perspective and how we are always ready to blame Him for such action. however, we want nothing to do with His commandments. It should be a lesson to each and every one, Christian as well as secular that just as you said, our God is faithful to perform His promises and protection but He will not (and cannot) wink at our disobedience and sinful living. Thank you for hopefully bringing us to our knees.”

Reader Does Not Believe Community Violence is Judgment

“I take a very deep objection to Mr. Phillips’ statement that “Second, we must acknowledge that the rise of community violence is a judgment of the Lord. Our nation has broken covenant with the God of our fathers.” I am deeply offended! The MAN who gunned down those people was NOT being directed by a loving God, but by his OWN selfish ways. Mr. Phillips didn’t bother to put in that God GAVE us FREE WILL to CHOOSE to obey or not and that that choice directly affects US the individual. That disobedience, in turn, will affect others around us... Very greviously yours.”

Encouragement

“I want to encourage you through all of the feedback that you are now enduring. May God make you more resolute than ever. I agree with your position. I would add that guns are not the enemy, neither are knives, cars, baseball bats, fertilizer bombs, and electric outlets. All can be lethal, but none are the enemy. We fight against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world and sadly it can be manifested through men who choose to disobey God and follow Satan.”

Government School Superintendant Finds Article Unconscionable

“Please remove me from your mailing list. The use of this tragedy by any organization to promote an agenda is unconscionable. Superintendent, _ County Public Schools”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 18, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 18, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 18, 2007 | Permalink

Home School Mother Prays for Boys Who Will Defend Girls

“I want to email you and thank you for the letter you wrote concerning VA Tech. You were spot on dealing with this issue. I am a homeschool mother of 4 boys and 1 girl so far. My husband and I are teaching our boys that they must stand up and protect their family and those around them. It just breaks my heart to hear how boys were jumping out of windows rather than standing up and protecting them ladies that were in these class rooms. But, this is what happens when the world no longer lives by the biblical model that has been set before us. We must stand up and begin to live our lives in the way that the Lord laid out for us. my husband and I praise the Lord for your ministry because it has helped us learn what the Lord expects of us as not only believers but as mothers, fathers, leaders, and friends.”

A Police Officer and SWAT Veteran Asks If Men Have Become Passive in Response To Evil

“I have enjoyed your work and the work of Vision Forum and have used many of your CD’s, tapes, etc. I have been a police officer for almost 31 years and most of that in the Los Angeles area. I have been on the SWAT team for over 25 years. Regardless of these mentioned identifiers of my occupation, I am foremost a follower of Yeshua. I don’t know all the particulars of the Virginia Tech murders but I was astounded by the probability that young men, possibly many young men did not defend themselves and their fellow students by physically attacking this demented killer. I have seen and been involved in deadly conflicts and it seems most probable, without knowing all the facts, that most of these people resigned themselves to a passive death. I recently listened to, “The Heroism of the Fathers is the Legacy of the Sons” and I wonder if the hopeful rise of Todd Beamers in our society has once again been subjugated to a feminist, anthropomorphic, victim mentality and agenda? I know from far too many experiences that the police or a police state are doomed to fail. The police are responders, almost always after the incident. People must learn to resist evil at every turn, not only spiritually but physically, when appropriate. As Christians we must continue to raise up our boys to be God-fearing, strong, enduring, adventurous, wise, action-oriented men. May our Lord give us the strength and conviction. Thank you for your work.”

Reader Offended By Suggestion Lethal Force May Be Used By Christians In Defense of Others

“Dear Sir: This quote came in my most recent email from your organization, from the President’s pen: “If even one of the students in that university had been armed, Cho Seung-hui could have been stopped. A strong case can be made that in a violent society like our own, it is the duty of every Christian man to be armed such that he is ready, willing, and able to come to the immediate aid of his neighbor in the face of the ruthless behavior of lawless men.” This quote is in reference to firearms, yes? I don’t question the subduing or restraining of a madman with force, but is the suggestion here that some Christian should have “taken him out?” Am I understanding correctly that you would have applauded the murder of this man in this case? I do believe we should have the right to bear arms, less government control - all those things. But when Christian leaders send out mass emails seemingly declaring “someone should have taken him out,” I can see why the world calls us hypocritical. How can we kill those we’re called to love? If Cho Seung-hui wasn’t the enemy yesterday, I don’t know who could be classified as such. Do you honestly believe Jesus would gun down an enemy? That was not what He modeled or taught. What law are you choosing to live under? I choose the Law of Christ...”

It Is Valid To Speak To Solutions Now

I so appreciate your article. It saddens me to see the response of some within “Christendom” that would seek to disarm the innocent and subject women and children to the cruelties of evil men. When fathers are disarmed, how are we to defend the weak? This is not a “political” issue as some claim. It is a biblical and a constitutional issue. Yes, we may mourn. But in our mourning, it is certainly valid to offer solutions to preventing this meaningless violence. An armed, law-abiding populace is the only “freedom loving” means to prevent senseless killing.”

Reader Urges Apology For Suggesting That It Is Biblical to Carry Guns

“I am very disapointed in the comments you made about the general public carrying guns. Where is the Bible book, chapter and verse that gives us the “rights” or “commands” of God for us to take the life of any evildoer? You stated that every Christian should be carrying a weapon to come to the aid of their neighbor, but God didn’t give any of us “regular” citizens the right to take justice into our own hands. You show me the verse where God even gives us a hint that we are to defend ourselves as Christians and I will be more than willing to agree, but maybe now is the time to disarm the regular citizen and let justice be done by the authorities that are put in place by our government and God himself. Please pray about this and if you cannot find a verse in the Bible then you owe everyone an apology for making the general statement that everyone should be carrying a weapon.”

From Grief to Loving Remembrance

“Thank you for your words of wisdom concerning the massacre at Virginia Tech yesterday. You have brought my grief back around to the loving embrace of the Lord Jesus. He is God, and God doeth all things well. All Things. I agreed with everything you said in your commentary. It did my heart good to read it. I will rest in the Lord. God bless you.”

Praise God

“Praise God for the sound truth where even among Christians who don’t seem to know the truth of the word of God anymore let alone preach it. Thank you for this beautifully written truth that will be etched forever in my heart.”

I Am a Good Person

“hi, i read your letter this morning and it seemed pretty gloomy. we all do not deserve death. jesus died on the cross so we might live and thats why he did that. we also dont deserve eternal punishment. again he died so that we may look forward to heaven with him. i am a good person and your note made all of us sound so bad. i plan to go to heaven and see all my family and friends. yes life is precious but you make it sound like we dont deserve to be on this earth... “

The World Should Hear

Thank you. This was an awesome message. One I wish the world would hear.

“Take Me Off Your List.” Reader Argues God Can Not Interfere With Free Will

”...Here is what I was hoping to hear: 1. Because of original sin, evil entered the world. 2. Because of his great love for us, God allows us the grace of free will. We may freely choose to love and serve him and try to use our life to improve things here on earth, or we may freely choose to cooperate with evil and use our life to degrade life here on earth. 3. As much as God loves each and every peson on earth, he will not and cannot interfere with our free will. The result is that sometimes bad things happen to good people...I would request that you remove me from all further e-mail and snail mail contact. Please remove me from all of your databases.

Thank You

“Thank you! This was a excellent letter and it could not have been said any better.”

Concern Over Christians With Guns

“Please explain your reasoning behind the third point in the email you sent our about the Horror at VA Tech. You say every Christian man should be armed, well, we know if the law would allow it, it won’t just be Christian men that are armed, it would be many others and we would see shootings like this more then ever. Whenever someone has a ‘bad day’ they could just pull out their gun meant for protection and fire away. Plus, as your bio says ‘You are a sinner saved by grace’ so is every Christian man. They are not perfect and there’s also the potential of them using their gun in the wrong way. I worship God, the Creator of all and I look to his son Jesus for examples of how to walk through this life. I have a hard time seeing Him carry a gun.”

Blacksburg is Close to Reader’s Heart

“Blacksburg is close in my heart. Some one dozen of my family have graduated from there, and I have a niece there now, whom God spared through this holocaust. I grew up in that area, and my heart is saddened not knowing if these young people knew the Lord. I believe God is speaking in these last days, but who is listening? Thank you for your inspirational and thoughtful comments.”

Glory to God

“I believe your email is accurate and brings further glory to God. May it bring comfort to many.”

Reader Believe it a Mistake To Focus on Hard Doctrine; Instead Focus on Sins of Ommission

”...Hurting people hurt other people. Attention should be given to the need of Christ’s love to be spread abroad in our cullture to act as a healing balm for those who are suffering due to emotional abuse, neglect, malnourishment as a result of the darkness to which they have been subjected...The shooter is described as being the child of very reclusive immigrants...That suggests the possibility of a poverty of social, emotional, and spiritual experience which is a great breeding ground for sociopathic tendancies...The questions to ask should include whether the surrounding community of the immigrants could have done more to reach out and express love, acceptance and respect for the newcomers at a critical time in that family’s lifespan and development. If the shooter attended public schools, then the obvious question should address what services function in those schools to identify unmet needs of students which are indicators of later high-risk or negative behaviors... this situation deserves to be evaluated in terms of what sins of omission by those in proximity to the individuals could have contributed to their spiritual poverty...”

The Christian Position

“Congratulations on an extremely well written piece, expressing the Christian position within the will of God beautifully.”

Reader Points Out That God Sovereignty is An Offense to Sinful man

Just wanted to offer a little encouragement in light of the many negative comments regarding your response to the Virginia Tech incident. I know you know this, but sinful man will always kick and scream at any percieved attack against his free will. Those who are so offended by your comments can’t see past their own sinful condition. It’s the age old problem of pride. Your affirmation of God’s Sovereignty and man’s depravity is a welcome reminder in the midst of this tragedy, and I have been pointing everyone I know to your blog to read those comments. Thank you for your faithfulness to God’s truth, and in line with this year’s theme: Persevere!

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 18, 2007 | Permalink

From the Wife of Rescue Squad Responder

“I just read your email newsletter about the VT tragedy. I am from Blacksburg and have lived here all my life. My family has 3 generations of workers at VT and we are avid Hokies, but first and foremost we are Christians. I want to deeply thank you for helping me to put this into some kind of perspective. While I believe with all my heart God is all knowing and He is in charge, the human side of me did question Him and want to know if He had left us. Thank you for restoring my focus on God. While I didn’t know the victims firsthand, my heart is still broken. My husband is on our local rescue squad and responded to the scene yesterday. He didn’t have to transport as they had so many ambulances respond. I am thankful that he didn’t have to see inside that building but at the same time we know many people (police and rescue squad) that went in the building. Please pray for God to give their minds peace. While our focus has been on those killed and injured (and rightly so) we tend to forget those first responders who must live with mental images that we can’t imagine. Anyways, I am beginning to ramble. Thank you for your newsletter, I appreciate all the prayers of those around the world. Please continue to pray for those injured, the families of those killed and the entire VT community. May God’s Name always be Glorified!”

From a Home Schooling Mom

“Thank you for your response to the sad crisis at Virginia Tech. Your compassion, courage and culture confrontation are threads of truth which I hope and pray will find their way into a tapestry of change greatly needed in this country. My husband and I are looking forward to being with like-minded people at the Jamestown Quadricentennial. I mourn at the state of this nation, which has been so greatly blessed by God’s providence. It is taking a lot of strength to simply stand against the tide of evil in our times. God bless you and your families as you swim upstream. You are on the right path.”

Hoping to Give God the Glory

“Thank you sooo much for your word of encouragement and wisdom. At such a time as this, we all need to understand God’s ways are higher than what our minds could ever fathom. Trusting in Him and acknowledging His word in our lives can be that example to the world. I agree, let us mourn, love and encourage one another, and let us give God the glory in everything, even death.”

Phillips’ Article Was Pomopus and Callous

“I, sir, am outraged by your callous letter! How dare you suggest that students come to class armed! Is God’s arm so short in our hour of need that He cannot save? I think not. Please do not turn this into a political issue. What occured on April 16 at VA. Tech was evil. Yes, we all deserve death, but now is NOT the time to be preaching that particular message. People need healing, not have deep theological truths crammed down their throats...I lost a brother to a shooting 11 years ago. My first prayer was that God’s justice be done. The killer is currently on death row. The killer, in this instance is dead. There is no one to “get revenge” on. Yet, God made His people with needs that only He can supply. I know that He is able to protect, comfort, heal, build up, etc. Your letter was callous and pompous. I suppose you meant well. Up until now I have enjoyed learning from you, as I have MANY tapes and cd’s from your lectures...”

Christian Analysis Better Than Psychoanalysis

“Thank you for your e-commentary, Mr. Phillips, on what’s going on at Virginia Tech and our society. It was encouraging to see your perspective which comes from a godly frame of reference. Most of the news coverage on television seems to refer to other false religions—humanism, Buddha, psychoanalysis, etc, before having much, if at all, to say about our Sovereign Creator God. We pray God would bring many to Himself through this tragedy.”

Thanks From a Home School Daughter

“My name is Hannah...This e-mail touched my heart in many ways, and I believe that it would touch many other people’s lives via e-mail. I would love to be able to send this to my friends and family. I truly believe that it would touch their hearts, and that they would send it on to others. God would really be glorified by this e-mail. Before I do this, I wanted to ask for your permission. So may I please send this e-mail to my friends and family, and may they pass it on to their friends and family? Also, please tell Mr. Philips thank you for writing this e-mail.”

Article is Illogical and Shallow

“I detect the undercurrents of distortion of truth, judgementalism, polarization, dualism, inconsistent logic, to name but a few. I see nowhere where the author offers any real compassion and hope for the future of American citizenry outside of every American citizen carrying a gun to shot evildoers on sight. I find the authors response to this tragedy both shallow and insulting to Americans, to Christians, to those who died, and to their familles and communities.”

Good Points, But Ixney on an Armed Citizenry

”...makes some valid points, but I would hate to have to live in a society where everyone is walking around with a gun...”I want to thank you, Lord, for life and all [the good] that’s in it. Thank you for the day, for the hour, and for the minute.” Maya Angelou

Without Christ, A Moment of Silence Means Little

“I watched in disgust today as the University lined up a parade of politically correct and spiritually void speakers with the grand finale “poet” once again making a time of mourning into an “aids” rally. It is disheartening to watch the thousands of lost souls having a “moment of silence” whatever that means...Thank you for the call to repentance and for speaking Truth.”

Comforting and Enlightening

“Thank you Mr. Phillips, Your insight is very comforting and enlightening. May God bless you and I pray that your voice will be heard.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 17, 2007 | Permalink

Today, the nation mourns the senseless murder of thirty-two men and women who were gunned down in cold blood. The slaughter of students at Virginia Tech constitutes the largest campus killing spree in American history. The murderer was a fellow student, twenty-three-year-old Cho Seung-hui of South Korea. Though little is currently known of his motive behind the murders, it is clear that his plan was calculated and carefully executed. He was premeditated and thorough. Doctors report that not a single victim had less than three bullet wounds.

Thousands will be deeply affected, probably for the rest of their lives. The most serious pains belong to the mothers, fathers, and sisters and brothers of the murdered victims. What shall we say to them? What are we to learn from these events?

First, we must remember the answer to the question “why?”

When people ask: “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” or “How can such a terrible thing happen?”, we must point them to the fundamentals. First, all of us deserve death and all of us will die. The only question is when will we die, and what will be the state of our eternal soul at that time. Every breath is a gift of God. None of us deserve it. We have no rights or demands we can make to our Creator. In fact, apart from Christ, we stand condemned to a fate far worse than physical death — eternal punishment. And there is a reason for all of this. God is God, and we are His creation. Understanding the distinction is everything. He sets the rules. He determines what is just. And His plan is always good, even when we do not understand it. Not only is he a loving and kind God, but He is also infinitely just. This justice has implications for man. It was God who created the world and man “very good.” But man sinned against an infinite and holy God. The penalty for this sin was physical death. Because of man’s sin, all of creation became subject to death. Our bodies and the world around us die and groan as a reminder and a punishment for our rebellion before the Lord. Everything would be supremely hopeless, but for one important truth: Though the wages of our sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. It took an infinite, perfect, and holy sacrifice to atone for our sin against an infinite, perfect, and holy God. Christ was that sacrifice. This means that all whom the Father calls, and who repent and believe in Christ, shall not perish but have eternal life.

Thus, the question is not, why did God allow the tragic death of these students, but why does He allow any of us to live? We deserve death. Every breath of life is a gift. It is only by His grace and mercy that we live and breathe and have our very being. He is our Creator and He is just to determine the beginning and the end of our existence. Beyond this, we must remember that even the tragedy of death is part of the eternal plan of God to bring glory to Himself. The fact that we do not understand the infinite purposes and counsels of the Triune God only means that we are creatures and need to trust Him. That is why He has given us His Holy Word. The Bible is the revealed mind of Christ for man. It reminds us that all things — including the murder of the innocent — work together for good to those that are the called of God. It cautions us to flee to God while we yet have life. It reminds us that the victory of Christ is greater than the grave itself. It warns us that without Christ there is no hope whatsoever. When we see the horror of death, we must be convicted of sin and flee to God. We must be emboldened in our sense of urgency to communicate to others the only source of hope from death. We must treasure the preciousness of life as God’s sacred gift, and we must wisely invest in meaningful Kingdom work this brief whisper of an opportunity called — our life.

Second, we must acknowledge that the rise of community violence is a judgment of the Lord. Our nation has broken covenant with the God of our fathers. We have forsaken the law of God and have worshipped before false idols. We have sacrificed our children, not only spiritually and intellectually to the high priests of a new secular religion in our government schools, but have quite literally sacrificed baby boys and girls to the gods of convenience in the abortuaries of America. One out of four Americans is not here because they were aborted by their mothers.

The modern trend towards school killings must be considered in terms of the hopelessness and evil which is being communicated to the children of this generation through the music culture, the entertainment culture, the sexual culture, and the intellectual culture of evolution and meaninglessness — all of which converge in the modern schools. Our children are being taught the Gospel of evolution and man. It is a religious faith that ultimately teaches that transcendent truth does not exist; life is meaningless, being the product of chance. Why are we surprised when the present generation acts upon the logical implications of this false gospel? If we do not see the connection between this false faith and the culture of death, we are blind bats, or willingly ignorant. The answer for us as a people is repentance and restitution, which begins by turning from our sins and reclaiming the ancient paths of the Lord wherein there is hope.

Third, the worst response to school murders that our politicians could make would be to further disarm the American citizenry. The heavy death toll may in part be attributed to past legislation making it difficult for citizens to carry sidearms. But, if even one of the students in that university had been armed, Cho Seung-hui could have been stopped. A strong case can be made that in a violent society like our own, it is the duty of every Christian man to be armed such that he is ready, willing, and able to come to the immediate aid of his neighbor in the face of the ruthless behavior of lawless men. We have one of two futures — a police state full of regulation and controls, where only the state and criminals have access to guns, thus leaving most women and children defenseless to evildoers, or an informed, well-armed citizen population, which is, to my mind, the surest safeguard against lawless men.

Fourth, every tragedy is an opportunity God gives to reflect glory and honor to Him. We give glory to Him as we reach out to others and lead them to the great Comforter. Now is the time for Christians to reach out in love to those who are in unimaginable pain, as well as those who are just shell-shocked by the horrible news. There is a time to mourn with those who mourn, and now is it. Let us mourn, love, and encourage, and let us give God the glory in everything — even death.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 17, 2007 | Permalink

Dear Sir:

I am an 80-year-old native of Virginia, misplaced in Montana, and I was thrilled to read about the celebration in Jamestown in June. My ancestors arrived in Jamestown during the early years of the 1600’s, something that I am very proud of, and I wish you a very successful Celebration.

I remember when I was young, my parents and grandparents, took me to Jamestown many times. In those days the only thing to see was the ruins of the church, but my grandfather told us the stories of our ancestors. One of my ancestors was Rev. Haute Wyatt, the minister at Jamestown. My grandfather was a history buff and he spent hours telling us history of the area. His many great grandfather was Christopher Woodward.

Will there be a video of the Celebration? I hope so as I would love a copy.

Sincerely, Martha R.

Dear Martha, we are seeking the Lord to put the funds together this very week so that we can have a nicely produced, television quality documentary on the Jamestown Quadircentennial. At this point we have completed what I believe to be an outstanding thirty-minute television documentary which is scheduled to run on national cable television next month. I will have more information on this in the near future. Thanks for asking and thanks for the tremendous story of your personal link to Jamestown and America’s birthday. God has given you a wonderful heritage to remember.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 17, 2007 | Permalink

Dear Vision Forum Team,

I just wanted to take a moment to send a million “thank you” notes your way. My daughter Allison and I attended your Father Daughter weekend last week. On Saturday night, Allison had to leave the session early. She had come down with what turned out to be a stomach bug. By the next morning, she could not get up and move around without getting sick. Needless to say, she was heart broken that she would not be able to attend the High Tea. She also kept lamenting the fact that Mom (Amy) had spent so many hours on making such a special dress that she wouldn’t be able to use.

Just before time for the Tea, I went to where they were setting up the tables to see if I could get a “to go” box of lunch for myself and to see if they would mind saving our cups and saucers so that we would still have a special souvenir. I tapped the lady who appeared to be in charge on the shoulder and told her my request. When Mrs. Keen heard of our dilemma, she simply melted right there in front of me. Her heart was broken for Allison and she immediately sent me to Mrs. Turley behind the book counter with instructions to write down our names and room number. Listening in as I did this was Mrs. Brown. One by one, the women who were told of our situation melted with compassion just as Miss Keen did. Within minutes, I was brought a box of food, a bouquet of flowers in a Tussie Mussie, a stack of books for Allison and I to read while stuck in our room, and a promise that they would gather some more things and get them to us in our room.

By about 3 o’clock that afternoon, Allison felt well enough to go to the birds of prey exhibit and then to the Butterfly House and we were able to be there for the evening session. There, I was told by Mrs. Turley that Mrs. Keen had it worked out for us to have our own private High Tea after the Sunday Morning service and that Mrs. Keen’s daughter Jeanine would be taking our picture! All these things were done just as they told us they would be. Mrs. Keen also sent the Botkin girls over to our table to introduce themselves to us.

In short, Mr. Keen, Mr. Brown, Mr. Turley and Mr. Phillips, your wives, daughters and staff truly lived up to the example of the Proverbs 31 woman. They were in every way wonderful ambassadors of your own homes and ministries. They were truly Christ’s Church acting as it should - by loving one another. What a powerful example to a sick 14 year old girl and her father! This was our first Vision Forum event. My family had been blessed already by your books, CDs and fun things for our boys but you all confirmed for us in vivid fashion that the heart of your ministry beats in time with the heart of Christ. May God continue the work he is accomplishing through you and may you all be richly blessed!

Sincerely,

Russell and daughter Allison

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 16, 2007 | Permalink

During this talk at the History of the World Mega-Conference Dr. Marshall Foster highlights the battle between two family dynasties, and explains God’s strategy for using the family to accomplish His mission throughout history. The rest of this exciting message is available as part of The History of the World Mega-Conference 2006 DVD Collection available from Vision Forum.

(To view this video clip, you must have QuickTime 7 installed.)

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 16, 2007 | Permalink

Dr. Matt Friedeman article online with AFA makes this interesting observation.

“I would never let my children even come close to this thing.” Such are the musings of the late Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, Russian-born inventor of the television set who, evidently, had some misgivings about the whole project when reflecting on his life’s work on his 92nd birthday.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 16, 2007 | Permalink

Brigitta (pictured above on the left) and her family are much beloved members of our San Antonio community. Her family has not only blessed us in years past through their fellowship in our local church, ministry throughout our community, but also through their family evangelism ministry to Mexico and Haiti(onlyaservant ministries). Now, Brigitta’s big sister Sarah is putting her entrepreneurial talents to work as a seamstress. Sarah is serving her father by working with the women of a Church in Mexico to make lovely dresses, and even historic outfits for the Jamestown Quadricentennial. By purchasing one of Sarah’s dresses you will not only receive a handmade dress, but you will help Sarah’s family in their missionary efforts to work with the underprivileged in Mexico—-specifically, by providing resources to help put food on the tables of financially struggling Christian Mexican families. Go to this website to see Sarah’s handmade everyday dresses and historic reproductions.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 16, 2007 | Permalink

Imus has been fired. The world is a better place. There should be little debate when rascals, gossips, and foul-mouthed troublemakers come tumbling down.

And yet there always is debate.

At one level, the debate centers around the theory of some high profile bigots that certain people are allowed to be foul and racially derogatory, while others are not. This notion — all too popular in rap music circles — is nonsense. Those who ridicule and mock others on the basis of their skin color are a plague to civil, Christian discourse — and it does not matter whether such individuals are white, black, green, or polka dot.

At another level, the debate rages over the issue of free speech in the public square. The question: Shouldn’t journalists and shock jocks have the right to speak their mind? How about bloggers, authors, reporters, or even the “tattlers” and “busybody” women of 1 Timothy 5?

It never fails to amaze me how successful the ACLU has been in its efforts; not only has it done its best to convince the Supreme Court of a view of the First Amendment which would have been utterly foreign to the Founders, but it has trained scoundrels, rogues, and criminals of all stripes to invoke the First Amendment in defense of their bad behavior.

Once upon a time, I was a constitutional law student sitting under my professor, Judge Robert Bork. When we studied the free speech clause, Judge Bork would remind us that the constitutional issue is rather simple. The only type of speech protected under the First Amendment is political speech. That is it. Neither libel, nor profanity, nor obscenity, nor vulgarity are protected under the First Amendment.

This applies to radio, to television, to blogs, to newspapers, and even to conversations. It is not unconstitutional to make rules or pass laws which limit non-political speech. This does not mean that such rules or laws are always wise or advisable, but unless they are examples of the federal government restricting political speech, they are not unconstitutional.

But the fact remains — people may not say, write, or communicate to others whatever is on their mind. They may not shout fire in a crowded theater and then claim a First Amendment Free Speech right. Of course, the American law (both common law and statutory) has always recognized this principle. (Note that until well into the 20th century, certain jurisdictions actually made it unlawful to curse or swear in front of women and children.) The narrow focus of the First Amendment is such that some types of speech are not only tortious (thus civilly actionable) but specifically criminal in nature, and thus prosecutable under federal and state law.

The point is this: The American War of Independence was not fought to give people legal sanction to lie, harass, profane, blaspheme, or slander. Nor was it fought to give unscrupulous men the right to be crude on the public airwaves. It was fought to give people the right to hold their government accountable, and to use speech as one means to accomplish this end.

In my view there is a fair amount of hypocrisy surrounding the firing of Imus. People will let shock jocks like Imus rant and rave in the most indelicate, foul, and offensive manner, but if these radio commentators touch on a politically sensitive subject — they are out. My view is this — don’t wait for the politically insensitive subject — kick ‘em out if they are crass, crude, and foul. Period. By this standard Imus should have gotten the boot a long time ago.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 16, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 14, 2007 | Permalink

Today, WorldNetDaily.com ran my latest article in the Jamestown Jubilee column series. “America’s Most Politically Correct Founding Father” addresses the manly Christianity of John Smith.

WorldNetDaily—The most politically incorrect monument to an American Founding Father lies in disrepair on a remote location off the coast of New Hampshire. For those few intrepid tourists who care to journey to Star Island, and then take the rocky and somewhat treacherous path to the Captain John Smith Memorial, little awaits them but a weather-beaten stone, a seagull-soiled marker and crumbled remains.

But once upon a time, the Captain John Smith Monument boasted a magnificent pillar crowned with the severed heads of three Muslim soldiers.

Go to WorldNetDaily.com for the rest of the article.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 13, 2007 | Permalink

Join Scott Brown, Director of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches for a Conference Designed to Sharpen Your Skills at Biblical Exposition. Learn How You Can Train Your Family and Congregation To Open Up God’s Word With Greater Precision. Cultivate a Love in the People You Love for the Infallible, Inerrant, Perspicuous, Self-Attesting Word of God.

Why an expository preaching conference? Simply put — our heart’s desire is to raise up a new generation of expository preachers and expository fathers. Both are desperately needed today, and both have their particular requirements and responsibilities — and their roles require some of the same skills in biblical exposition.”

This letter which I received from a state home school leader summarizes the need:

Hi Doug, I was quite pleased to see the Preaching Conference scheduled. It has been a concern of mine that as home churches continue to spring up too many will be limited in the area of expository preaching. Organizations such as Word of Life Fellowship have teens involved in gatherings which sponsor expository preaching opportunities. Home educators and family integrated churches need the same kind of encouragement. Without verse by verse exposition an assembly lacks depth and focus. Thanks for addressing this need.

The Sufficiency of Scripture and the Christian Faith

A defining question for man is this: What is the voice of authority and how do we hear it? The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture is the hallmark doctrine of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches. It is the pivotal principle around which all matters of faith and practice must revolve. Given this fact, our great desire at the NCFIC is that the people of God would be satisfied with Scripture alone and that we would foster a love for God’s Word by giving it the prominent place in the meeting of the church through expository preaching. To help encourage this, the NCFIC is pleased to present a workshop on expository preaching to be held April 27-28, 2007 in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

This special two-day workshop will include three key elements:

• Instruction on the biblical foundations of expository preaching.
• Practical training: We will be presenting examples of expository sermons.
• Personal time with the conference faculty, the people at Hope Baptist Church on Sunday, and the Brown home for a Sunday afternoon of fellowship and ministry.

After the conference, everyone is invited to attend Hope Baptist Church in Wake Forest and then to come to Scott Brown’s home for more discussion on Sunday afternoon. This will conclude with the traditional scrambled egg sandwiches and shakes — a weekly tradition in the Brown home.

Sign up for the conference here..

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 13, 2007 | Permalink

Dear Mr. Phillips,

Hello, my name is __ and I am 18 years old. The reason I am writing to you is to say a special thank you for the Father Daughter retreat that I attended last weekend. I had wanted to thank you in person at the retreat but never had the privilege of doing so.

My father and I have never had a close relationship before, and having 8 sisters (not to mention 4 brothers) I never got to spend time alone with him. But during the Father Daughter retreat something totally unexpected happened. Something I can only explain as a miracle from the hand of God. During the conference God spoke to my heart through you and all of the other wonderful speakers. He showed me all of the anger that I had stored up against my dad, and now he has placed a special love in my heart for my father.

I am so grateful to you for all of the work, time, and prayer that you put into this conference. Because of last weekend, God has restored my relationship with my dad, and for that I am forever thankful.

I will be praying that God blesses you and your family just as you blessed me last weekend.

Thanks so much!

Love [a grateful daughter]

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 13, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 12, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 12, 2007 | Permalink

If you have never read Lamplighter Classics to your children, now is the time to begin. If they have already become a staple in your family reading diet, then you may want to expand your menu of Scriptural delicacies with the latest releases — each a gem of biblical encouragement and practical admonition in the character of Christianity for the young and the young of heart. They have been precious in our family reading time for many years.

Now here is the entirety of one of my favorite poems. The Children’s Hour, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the inclusions in my book Poems for Patriarchs.

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me,
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes,
They are plotting and planning together,
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O’er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, o blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 12, 2007 | Permalink

Dr. Paul Jehle talks about the importance of covenants and sanctions during his talk The Biblical and Historical Background for the Law of Nations at the Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy. This talk can be found on the Introduction to Christianity, Law, and Culture DVD set available from Vision Forum.

(To view this video clip, you must have QuickTime 7 installed.)

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 11, 2007 | Permalink

The Lord has been kind to prosper the Vision Forum Ministries’ Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History with great favor. Americans, especially Christians, appear to recognize that it is not right to have a birthday party where you lament the birth and dishonor the parents — one of the messages communicated through the signiature events of the basic message of the state-sponsored commmemoration. Instead we must celebrate the providences of God (Psalm 78).

Thank the Lord, registrations are quite strong and event planning is proceeding at full steam. We are especially grateful that the Lord has brought the message of our duty to honor the Lord with gratitude to the people of America through various venues, including the press.

Below is a snippet from an article run in the Richmond Times Dispatch this morning:

Richmond Times Dispatch—A conservative Christian group says it will hold an alternative celebration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown because the official proceedings are mired in political correctness and ignore the hand of God in bringing Christianity into the New World.

Vision Forum Ministries expects to welcome at least 3,000 conservative Christians from around the U.S. to the Jamestown area June 11-16 — a month after the main event — for walking tours, scholarly talks and other activities, said the group’s founder, Doug Phillips.

The closing celebration will be held along the James River on part of the estate of Harrison Tyler, whose grandfather, the 10th U.S. president, John Tyler, delivered a three-hour speech at the Jamestown celebration of 1857 regarding the providence of God at Jamestown, Phillips said in an interview.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 11, 2007 | Permalink

Dear Vision Forum

We look forward to Mr. Swanson’s [Suffer the Children: The Blessing of Imperfect Children] with great anticipation. As the parent of a 19 year old multiply disabled daughter we have seen some of the ugliest parts of church life as we went from church to church seeking one that would embrace ALL of us and teach true to scripture. My daughter has had doors slammed in her face and we have been told she would never be welcome in the congregation, but it has not dimmed her love for the Lord nor has it prevented Him from using her to encourage and challenge any who took the time to get to know her. I pray this will be used mightily to open doors so that these members of the body can take their rightful place amidst the congregation of the righteous.

Thank you for publishing it. I dare say no one else would have. The C. Family

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 11, 2007 | Permalink

According to Breitbart.com “A child who brought a realistic replica of a gun to school told a teacher she needed it “for protection,” police said. Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said the third-grader took the authentic-looking replica of a German Luger pistol, which she apparently thought was real, with her Monday because she knew her older brother would not be able to walk her home from the bus stop that day. Children told a teacher about the gun, leading to police being called.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 10, 2007 | Permalink

According to Fox News in

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — > Hundreds of protesters marched on New Zealand’s Parliament Wednesday, demanding lawmakers throw out a proposed new law that critics say removes parents’ right to smack their children.

About 500 people, some pushing children in strollers, carried banners reading: “Don’t mess with the family” and “Kids don’t belong to the state” as they rallied in the largest of several protests against the bill in recent days.

Parents, some churches and political groups are trying to derail a plan to repeal a section of New Zealand’s Crimes Act that allows parents to use “reasonable force” to discipline their children.

Supporters of the amendment say the current law has been used to secure acquittals for parents accused of beating their children with everything from lumps of lumber to electrical cables....

“The nanny state has well and truly overstepped the mark,” he said, as the crowd waved banners reading: “A smack is not a beating,” “Let parents be parents” and “Down with Nanny state.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 10, 2007 | Permalink

“The English returned with Pocahontas to the Henricus settlement, where she asked for and received the rite of baptism. With that done, she became the first native in English America to convert to Christianity.”

Love and Hate in Jamestown, by David A. Price, p.157.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 10, 2007 | Permalink

ABC News—Scientists say they have finally come up with a workable design for an invisibility cloak.

Physicists figured out the complex mathematical equations for making objects invisible by bending light around them last year.

Now a group of engineers at Purdue University in Indiana have used those calculations to design a relatively simple device that ought to be able to - one day soon - make objects as big as an aeroplane simply disappear.

The design calls for tiny metal needles to be fitted into a hairbrush-shaped cone at angles and lengths that would force light to pass around the cloak. This would make everything inside the cone appear to vanish because the light would no longer reflect off it.

“It looks pretty much like fiction, I do realise, but it’s completely in agreement with the laws of physics,” said lead researcher Vladimir Shalaev, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 10, 2007 | Permalink

For a time of family vision and refreshment that comes but once in a century, join us for the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History. For savings, take advantage of the Early Bird Special which ends this month.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 9, 2007 | Permalink

Honor Phillips looks with great delight at a very special replica of the 1607 Jamestown Fort still under construction by some young men we were visiting.

A side view.

I hope these pictures will inspire the lads and ladies to have fun preparing for the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History. Over the next two weeks will be posting information on ideas and patterns for costumes.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 9, 2007 | Permalink

Diego Bermudez serenades his daughter.

This young lady made her first attempt at helping Daddy get ready in the morning.

One of of the highlights of the event is the opportunity on Saturday evening of the Father and Daughter Retreat, for the dads and their daughters to share encouraging testimonies.

The three-legged race at the opening events: The Father and Daughter Unity Games.

Mr. Guzman and his daughter from Bronx, New York.

After High Tea at the Calloway Gardens.

An open panel discussion on practical biblical issues for fathers and daughters.

Nearly six hundred were in attendance.

More serenades.

From Tennessee.

From Texas.

The Hogan family.

Father and daughter at the butterfly gardens.

Jubilee with Elizabeth.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 9, 2007 | Permalink

Can you name the author and the book?:

SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particular..., from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17__ and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral Benbow Inn and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof.

I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow—a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards...”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 9, 2007 | Permalink

They go by so quickly.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 9, 2007 | Permalink

It is a sad day when the the same America whose Congress once passed legislation for days of humiliatiion and prayer to “Christ” and who officially invoked the name of the “Savior” and the “Holy Spirit” in our legislation, now kowtows to the political pressure for pluralism by anointing our legislative sessions with false prayers to false gods. It is sadder still that our leaders do not blush when the Lord Jesus Christ is excluded to favor the reading of the Quran and the idolatrous worship of the Mohammedans. Now WorldNetDaily reports that:

A controversial Texas imam who at one point participated in a “tribute to the great Islamic visionary” Ayatollah Khomeini, has offered a prayer to open the state Senate....”

The prayer calling upon the false God “Allah,” appeared to request that American leaders be protected from listening to followers of the Lord God Jesus Christ — individuals who fall under the category of people described in the Koran as “infidels” who have “lost their way” and earned “Allah’s wrath.” The imam said:

“Oh, Allah, guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored, not of those who have earned your wrath or of those who have lost the way,” prayed Imam Yusuf Kavakci of the Dallas Central Mosque....

The imam introduced what he was going to do: “We will pray by reading from first chapter, opening chapter, Al-Fãtehah, from holy Quran, followed by recitation, traditional way of recitation of text from holy Quran, with an addition.”

Then he prayed:

In the name of god, Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. All praise is for Allah, our lord, the lord of the worlds, the compassionate, the merciful, master of the day of judgments. Oh, god, Allah, you alone we worship, and you alone we call on for help. Oh, Allah, guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored, not of those who have earned your wrath or of those who have lost the way....”

Click here to read the rest of the story

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 7, 2007 | Permalink

According to the Washington Post: “Walt Disney Company said yesterday that gay couples can buy the company’s high-end Fairy Tale Wedding package that allows them to exchange vows at Disney’s theme parks and aboard its cruise ships, starting about $4,000 per wedding.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 7, 2007 | Permalink

“Don’t be the Devil’s bellows any longer to blow up the fires of strife. Leave off setting people by the ears. If you do not cut off a bit of your tongues, at least season them with the salt of grace. Praise God more and blame neighbors less. Any goose can cackle; any fly can find out a sore place; any empty barrel can give forth sound; any brier can tear a man’s flesh. No flies will go down your throat if you keep your mouth shut and no evil speaking will come up. Think much, but say little; be quick at work and slow at talk; and above all, ask the great Lord to set a watch over your lips.” Charles Spurgeon

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 6, 2007 | Permalink

Please take time to read my article posted today on worldnetdaily.com. I explain that cultural warfare, not skin color, seperated the Virginians of 1607. Here are a few exerpts:

America’s first permanent European settlement was largely a color-blind society. Religious and cultural differences, not melanin count, divided peoples inhabiting the Virginia of 1607...

This legal and religious precedent established by Pocahontas and Rolfe predominated for at least half a century. And the principle was very simple: It is faith, not skin color or ethnic background, that ultimately unifies or divides men. Where man and woman are truly united in Jesus Christ, there must be no legal impediments to their marriage.

The Jamestown settlers knew nothing of anti-misogyny laws. Their practice and precedent of “interracial” marriages would not be reversed until much later in Virginia history, and that in direct response to tensions arising from the tragic introduction of chattel slavery to our nation....

The significance of “The Pocahontas Letter” and the union of Englishman and Indian in the bonds of Christian marriage is of central significance to the real issues at play in Jamestown. It demonstrates what Tim Hashaw, author of the acclaimed book, The Birth of Black America: The First African Americans and the Pursuit of Freedom at Jamestown, has observed:

For most of the 17th century, class and religion were the dominant markers of social prejudice. Race did not become an issue in marriage until nearly the end of the century.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 6, 2007 | Permalink

Happy birthday, little girl.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 5, 2007 | Permalink

The local church is not a gathering place for perfect people. It is an assembly of redeemed sinners, submitted to Christ and under his authority, each of whom are works in progress. It is also a place for the infirm, the sick, the brokenhearted, and the disabled to worship the Lord in community with fellow saints. Tragically, many churches will not “suffer the children.” They prefer the efficiency models of the modern world to the biblical pattern of inclusion.

However, in this emotionally powerful and Scripturally rich message, Kevin Swanson shares the moving testimony of the way the Lord has transformed the heart of a local church through its decision to include special needs children during the worship of the meeting of the local church. He explains how the challenges, interruptions, and difficulties have actually produced a community of love, patience, and understanding. Only when Christians learn to “suffer the children” will they experience maturity and the richness of God’s blessing on their worship.

To be released end of April.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 5, 2007 | Permalink

The five Whiddon ladies with their father after tea time.

High tea was an opportunity for many of the girls to dress up, like the delightful Miss Sarah Casady, pictured above with her father.

Faith Evangeline — blessing her father with a smile.

Pastor Franco and his two lovely daughters.

The table for the Father and Daughter high tea.

The ladies of the Morton family, with their beloved father.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 5, 2007 | Permalink

“What if the inscription on the monuments erected over the dead be rendered illegible by time, and the monuments themselves be in fragments; yet is there a glory encircling those ruins, and arising from the earth on which those adventurers trod, which decay cannot reach, and which the lapse of centuries can only make more imposing. We are to do them reverence, and in the silent homage of the heart to utter thanksgiving and praise to our Heavenly Parent for the great benefits which, under His good providence, their hardy and successful adventures have conferred upon us and upon the world.” —President John Tyler on the role of monuments and the duty to remember, 1857, at the 250th Jubilee of Jamestown

This year, one monument will be erected for America’s 400th birthday. And the state has nothing to do with it. (For the first time in our nation’s history, officials have decided not to erect official markers of gratitude on the occasion of a centennial celebration.) The monument is the Jamestown Children’s Memorial, and it is the first American monument dedicated by children, based expressly on Holy Scripture and the Fifth Commandment, and dedicated to honoring the Lord for His work through our Jamestown founding fathers. Underneath the monument will be a time capsule to be opened on the 500th anniversary of America’s birth. The capsule contains the names of the children who made the monument possible. It also contains words of encouragement and exhortations from Holy Scripture for the children of the twenty-second century.

The Jamestown Children’s Memorial will be paid for by the one-dollar donations of the grateful children of America, with help from the generous donations of other donors who are making this special testimony of thanksgiving a reality.

Thanks be to the Lord — we are pleased to report that God has kindly raised up a generous donor who is making a matching grant for $20,000 available for the Jamestown Children’s Memorial, and for the purpose of helping Vision Forum Ministries raise the resources necessary for our efforts at historic preservation of the providential record of God through Jamestown in 2007. The offer provides that if we are able to raise $20,000 for the Jamestown Children’s Memorial in this month of April, that our donor will match those gifts with an additional $20,000. If you would like to help make this matching gift a reality, please feel free to visit our web site for information on online donations.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 4, 2007 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 4, 2007 | Permalink

The following two quotes were sent to me this week by a friend who is an afficianado of all things Sam Houston. Both quotes reflect perspectives and principles that Houston held dear — the blessing of honor, and the moral evil of dishonor. Houston led a remarkable life filled with tragedy, failures, and victories, but a life that was ultimately crowned with a passionate Gospel fervor and love of Christ. Here are the Houston quotes on honor and dishonor.

“It is far better to endure and suffer from the ills of even a great evil than to violate a vital principle.”

“Unfortunately for the peace of society, there is everywhere a class of impertinent busybodies, who make it their special business to superintend and pry into the domestic affairs of their neighbors; and as curiosity must be gratified at any expense of private character, and such persons always like to believe the worst, the secrets of no family are exempt from their malignant intrusions. These are the disturbers of the peace of society whom the law seldom punishes, although they perpetrate more crimes than highwayman and assassins — burglars of domestic tranquility of families — robbers of others’ good name — assassins of characters of the innocent.”

Edited by Donald Day and Harry Herbert Ullom, The Autobiography of Sam Houston (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1954), pp. 71, 46.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 4, 2007 | Permalink

86-year-old Marvin Sneed was the senior dad at this year’s Father and Daughter Retreat. He brought his daughter (pictured behind him) to the event. An aviator and veteran of Iwo Jima featured in the Vision Forum film The League of Grateful Sons, Mr. Snead received a long standing ovation from the nearly 600 men and women in attendance.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 4, 2007 | Permalink

One of the great defenders of God’s precious sovereignty, A.W. Pink, wrote this concerning marriage and family relationships:

It is perhaps a trite remark, yet nonetheless weighty for having been uttered so often, that with the one exception of personal conversion, marriage is the most momentous of all earthly events in the life of a man or woman. It forms a bond of union that binds them until death. It brings them into such intimate relations that they must either sweeten or embitter each other’s existence. It entails circumstances and consequences that are not less far-reaching than the endless ages of eternity. How essential it is then that we should have the blessing of Heaven upon such a solemn yet precious undertaking, and in order to this, how absolutely necessary it is that we be subject to God and to His Word thereon. Far, far better to remain single unto the end of our days, than to enter into the marriage state without the Divine benediction upon it. The records of history and the facts of observation bear abundant testimony to the truth of that remark.

Even those who look no further than the temporal happiness of individuals and the welfare of existing society, are not insensible to the great importance of our domestic relations, which the strongest affections of nature secure, and which even our wants and weaknesses cement. We can form no conception of social virtue or felicity, yea, no conception of human society itself, which has not its foundation in the family. No matter how excellent the constitution and laws of a country may be, or how vast its resources and prosperity, there is no sure basis for social order or public as well as private virtue, until it be laid in the wise regulation of its families. After all, a nation is but the aggregate of its families, and unless there be good husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, there cannot possibly be good citizens. Therefore the present decay of home life and family discipline threaten the stability of our nation today far more severely than does any foreign hostility.

A. W. Pink, An Exposition of Hebrews, Vol III, Chapter 108, pp. 222-223, cited in Free Grace Broadcaster on “Marriage.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 3, 2007 | Permalink

The 2007 Father and Daughter Retreat, held this weekend at the Callaway Gardens in Georgia, was perhaps the most encouraging and inspirational ever. I will post on this soon. During the breaks from the conference, we really enjoyed visiting their butterfly and vegetable gardens.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 3, 2007 | Permalink

BEIJING, China (AP) —After searching high and low, the world’s tallest man has married a woman two-thirds his height, a Chinese newspaper reported Wednesday.

Bao Xishun, a 7-foot-9-inch (2.36-meter) herdsman from Inner Mongolia, married saleswoman Xia Shujian, who was 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 meters) tall, several days ago, the Beijing New reported. Bao’s 28-year-old bride is half his age and hailed from his hometown of Chifeng, even though marriage advertisements were sent around the world, it said.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 3, 2007 | Permalink

Dr. Paul Jehle is not only a featured speaker at this year’s Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History, but he is the author of an outstanding article on the relationship between Jamestown and Plymouth which we have just posted. This is must reading for those who will be leading their children in a celebration of the great providences of God in this the 400th anniversary of our nation’s birthday.

As the year 1606 draws to a close, down the Thames river three ships sail on the 10th of December. The Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery had set sail from England for Virginia. On board, the Charter of 1606, sealed by King James, was the civil birth certificate of America insuring God-given rights.

Soon John Smith, embodying the social birth certificate of English chivalry, would be put in the hold as a prisoner on charges of mutiny. He would soon be set free by the contents of the sealed envelope on board.

As the year closes, Bradford is probably on his knees, strengthening those convictions, embodied in the Scrooby Covenant, that would eventually be the spiritual birth certificate of America.

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 3, 2007 | Permalink

Syndicated columnist Mona Charen in her recent Townhall.com article stated:

The quadricentennial of the Jamestown settlement will be noted this spring. Whether it will be celebrated is a freighted question. Virginia has gone to some expense and effort remembering the founding settlers of 1607. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is serving as honorary chair of what is being called “America’s 400th Birthday.” There will be musical performances, lectures, and seminars. The Queen of England will visit on May 4 and 5.

But emblematic of our troubled understanding of our past and our present discomfort with our national identity, the powers that be in Virginia have decided not to refer to these and other observations as “celebrations.” Instead, they will be called commemorations. “You can’t celebrate an invasion,” declared Mary Wade, a member of the Jamestown 2007 organizing committee. The native people were “pushed back off of their land, even killed. Whole tribes were annihilated. A lot of people carry that oral history with them, and that’s why they use the word ‘invasion’ . . .”

Virginia is expecting many visitors to the reconstructed Jamestown settlement — and it is worth the trip. We’ve taken the children a couple of times. But the timid, apologetic tone of some of the exhibitions detracts from the experience. As Edward Rothstein reported in The New York Times, “The Indians, we read, were ‘in harmony with the land that sustained them’ and formed an ‘advanced, complex society of families and tribes....’”

She concludes the article by saying:

There is every reason to celebrate the 400th birthday of America — for warts and all — there never has been a better country for all its citizens.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 2, 2007 | Permalink

In my weekly column for WorldNetDaily I discuss the legacy of the Tyler family and their central role in celebrating America’s Jubilee over the last two hundred years.

If you were standing on the hallowed grounds of the James River for the 1807 Jubilee - the 200th birthday celebration of the founding of Jamestown and the birth of America - you might have met revolutionary war hero John Tyler and his 17-year-old son, John Jr., who was then a student at the College of William and Mary.

Fifty years later, John was no longer known as Jr., but as the former president of the United States of America. As the keynote speaker on May 13, 1857, for the 250th Jubilee of Jamestown, President John Tyler would remind those in attendance that they must honor their fathers, give thanks to almighty God and never forget the many kindnesses He had bestowed upon our land. Tyler spoke reverently of the legacy of Jamestown, and the great pantheon of patriot pastors and Christian heroes that providentially descended from the Jamestown fathers...

In fact, for close to three hours President John Tyler would regale those in attendance with stories of providence and perseverance in the Old Dominion. He concluded with this admonition to children of the future:

The memory of a glorious ancestry should be kept bright in the recollections of their posterity; and their noble daring in the cause of civilization, and brave resolves in favor of freedom, should be recounted from generation to generation.

Fifty years later, the president’s son Lyon Gardiner Tyler would follow in the footsteps of his father by teaching America about the magnificent legacy of the Jamestown founding. That year was 1907, and the entire nation joined Virginia for the celebration of America’s 300th birthday....

But the remarkable multi-generational legacy of the Tyler family and their contribution to America’s birthday celebrations would not end in 1907, or even in 1957 for the 350th celebration of Jamestown. For America’s 400th birthday, Harrison Tyler, the grandson of the 10th president of the United States, will continue the multi-generational legacy of the Tyler family when he serves as grand marshal to the “Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History.”

Click here to read the rest of the story

Posted by Doug Phillips on April 2, 2007 | Permalink