Washington's & Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamations

Just a note of remembrance regarding two of our nation's presidents, in regards to a national day of giving thanks unto Almighty God for His abundant mercy, blessings, and grace. Sadly, as a nation we no longer fear God, and this is reflected in the decisions and actions that are driving us into darkness. Still, those of us who love and fear God may still cry out to Him for mercy in the midst of judgment, and for the manifold blessings He still bestows upon us...for He is good, and His mercy endureth forever.

Thanksgiving Proclamation, 3 October 1789

[New York, 3 October 1789]

By the President of the United States of America. 
A Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

Washington, D.C. October 3, 1863
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation

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

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Marshalltown Holiday Stroll 2019

Saturday, November 23rd, 2019

My table set up and ready to go with tracts & DVDs

We had a great time handing out Candy Cane gospel tracts, "God of Wonder" DVDs, along with free hot chocolate at this year's Holiday Stroll in Marshalltown, operating out of the Stepping Stones Christian Book Store on Main Street. A big thank-you to Mindy, the owner of the store, for allowing us to be there. I had a table set up outside with tracts and DVDs, and Mary, Karen and Priscilla were inside with tracts and DVDs plus hot chocolate to give away.

The weather was a lot better than what I was planning on. Friday night was so cold, I thought I would be in my insulated Carhart overalls and using "hot hands" hand warmers, and coming into the store to warm up. But is was not too cold at all - maybe just cold enough to want a nice cup of hot chocolate!

Looking inside Stepping Stones Christian Bookstore

There were a ton of people out this year. Main Street was packed with people for the Holiday Stroll parade, and then afterwards we had a steady stream of folks coming into the bookstore.

Thanks to Adam and the church family at Solid Rock Bible Church in Toledo for providing the funds for the tracts, DVDs and all the supplies needed to pull this together; for my wife Mary for helping organize and serve; for Karen M. and Priscilla S. for helping us out in a big way in the store; and for all the prayers that God would use this outreach to plant the seed of the gospel in many hearts and minds both here in Marshalltown, and for a similar outreach the church supported down in Grinnell, Iowa on Friday night. Please keep on praying for people to understand and believe the gospel, that they might trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and be born again into the family of God.

The last of the 100 DVDs and 200 Candy Cane tracts that went out tonight

My Wretchedness & God's Grace

Something my pastor mentioned in passing today (11/9/2019) stirred a thought in my mind, and I wanted to jot it down, so here goes.

A cherished hymn of the Christian Church, Amazing Grace, penned by John Newton, a man whose life was a demonstration of God's amazing grace, is known by heart by many of us.

And while well known, my Pastor remarked that many people want to change the wording in the first verse of this hymn:

"Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!"

The problem, said Pastor Adam, is that people do not want to be referred to as a wretch. According to Webster's 1828 dictionary:

Wretch

---

WRETCH, noun
1. A miserable person; one sunk in the deepest distress; as a forlorn wretch
2. A worthless mortal; as a contemptible wretch
3. A person sunk in vice; as a profligate wretch
4. It is sometimes used by way of slight or ironical pity or contempt.
Poor wretch was never frighted so.
5. It is sometimes used to express tenderness; as we say, poor thing.

We don't want to think of ourselves as that bad. We don't comprehend, we cannot wrap our heads around the reality of how repugnant our sin is in the sight of a Holy God. Proverbs 20:6 says,

"Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?"

It seems our default mode of thinking when it comes to self-evaluation regarding goodness is a "horizontal" one. We look around us, and it is easy to find people who's behavior or life are much worse than our own. We compare ourselves to those with a more scarlet reputation, and it gives us a sense of superiority. And horizontally, this may be the case. However, I believe that when sin entered into the world, it affected everything including our thinking. Even our thinking is messed up and needs to be corrected and renewed.

The Apostle Paul, in replying to the Church at Corinth, comments on the wisdom of this horizontal look:

 "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."

 (2 Corinthians 10:12)

Why is this so? Because our standard is not the life or behavior of other fallen men and women. It is not a horizontal look, but a "vertical" look that we must take, and realize that God has a standard by which He judges "good", a standard that is so high, none of us can handle it: sinless perfection in thought, word, and deed.

I believe that Jesus, when delivering the sermon on the mount, was fulfilling prophetic scriptures regarding Messiah, and doing something else:

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."   

(Matthew 5:48)

That, my friend, is God's standard of good.
And that's our problem.

Isaiah the prophet wrote, speaking of the servant of the LORD:

"The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable." 

(Isaiah 42:21)

While it can be argued that Isaiah through the Holy Ghost is speaking of the nation of Israel, it may also be argued that this magnification of the law is a work of the Redeemer. Look back at Matthew chapter 5, and see how the Lord Jesus took the letter of the law ("Ye have heard that is was said by them of old time...But I say unto you....") and lifted it to a higher level. To hate without a just cause is equated with murder; to look with lust is to commit adultery in the heart. Jesus took the law and lifted it up to such a lofty height, he put it completely out of the reach and grasp of sinful men and women. And so, to understand God's standard of good is to better understand the Holiness of God, and also better understand my own sinfulness. My own wretchedness. And that is why me and you and everyone needs God's grace, and a verse that is comforting to me, when I see that I have nothing good to offer God in myself, even on my best day, even after God saved me, is this:

"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
(Romans 5:20,21)

And so I say Amen. Thank you, Lord.
Maranatha!
Paul

All Who Live Godly in Christ Jesus

Mary just showed me an article from The Daily Caller, and the headline is, 

"Allegedly Transgender Woman Gashes 79-Year-Old Man's Head With Stiletto For Preaching On Subway: Report"

https://dailycaller.com/2019/11/03/transgender-attack-elderly-man-subway-religion/ 

Here's a screen shot of him holding his head after the attack. You can access some short videos through the link above from the article, and I also put another link to an Instagram account below.

It goes on to say that this brother in Christ was preaching the gospel and singing gospel songs. There are some video links in the article, and the person who took the video says:

"This old man right here was just singing some gospel songs and sharing the word of God to people on the train, he didn't say anything to hurt anyone, he wasn't even loud, you could barely hear him talk but this is what he got in return...."

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4Ia3UhFN_e/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_mid=Xb9megABAAE69DTNL6GCkma0eFn3 

I don't know this brother's name, but if he was speaking God's word and singing gospel songs to the subway riders in New York City, God bless him! He's my kind of man. Not knowing the details, let me say this: we who engage in public ministry don't go out and proclaim Jesus Christ because we hate people. We love them, as fellow human beings. We want to make sure someone loved them enough in this life to point them to the One who alone can give them eternal life, even if that means not everybody likes us. We strive to make sure that is the message of the cross, and not ourselves, that is the offense, if there is one.

And so this brother in the Lord has experienced what the Bible says we will experience:

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12)

Gospel Outreach on Halloween

We are praising God for the 300 gospel tract-candy bags that were handed out to trick-or-treaters on Thursday evening. As you can see from the snow in the picture below, it was cold this year, and that kept some folks from coming out, opting for indoor activities.

Set Up and Ready To Go!

So I got out my insulated Carhartt's and my old felt-pack boots, and set up at our "borrowed" home at 1108 Main Street. Basically, the same setup as last year, with the light-up "JESUS SAVES" witnessing cross that really stood out as the sun went down.

"One Way"

It was cold, but clear; the wind died down and it really wasn't that bad...I was colder 2 years ago when we tried this at our house, and I was sitting inside our garage.

 Please pray for the Holy Spirit to open the eyes, hearts, and minds of the children, parents, grandparents...whoever might get their hands on one of the gospel tracts we placed in the candy bags. We were not celebrating Halloween, after all, but rather using it as a way to get the gospel into the hands and homes of our neighbors here in Marshalltown.

Notes (above) put in the bags (below)

I personally don't believe God saves people against their will, and our job is not to save them, but to deliver the truth of the gospel and Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit's job is to bring conviction of sin and the need for the Savior, and then it is the lost person's job to either receive or reject the Savior. 

So pray that God would do everything possible to bring understanding of the gospel message, that they would see their need and see Jesus Christ as the Savior God sent into the world for sinful man;  that they would "think again" (repent) and turn to God for the forgiveness of their sins by trusting in Jesus alone as their Savior.

Also, pray for any believers who may get one of these tracts:

• That they would be encouraged in their walk with the Lord
• That they would live boldly for him, reaching out to the lost around them, rich in good works, and telling everyone about Jesus Christ and the gospel.

Looking east down Main Street-part of our mission field

Thank you to my church family at Solid Rock Bible Church for helping with getting the gospel tracts, candy, and helping make up some gospel tract-candy bags. A big thank you to Mary, who helped fill many of these bags starting back in September! Thanks also for praying for the people who live here in Marshalltown.

Solid Rock Bible Church family helping to make the gospel tract-candy bags

Maranatha!
Paul