A Revolutionary People at War

Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006

21 July 2005

A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character 
By Charles Royster

"Prologue: The Call To War, 1775-1783":

Page 5: "Many revolutionaries believed that God had chosen America to preserve and to exemplify self-government for the world. The revolutionary generation had to fulfill God's purpose against the attacks of men who, they thought, knowingly strove to sap or smash self-government everywhere. History was full of tyrants who ruled because they alone were strong or because the people had decided to share the rulers' corruption by selling themselves into slavery. Seen in this light, the British attack was no surprise, just as America's freedom was no accident. Britain sought to subjugate America partly out of envy of America's strength, prosperity, and liberty. Britain and America were like Cain and Abel, but Americans would defend themselves. Having been chosen by God to show how self-government enabled a people to flourish--and holding this promise in trust for the world--what could Americans expect but assault? In the New Jersey Journal, 'A Soldier' said, 'We ought to rejoice that the ALMIGHTY Governor of the Universe hath given us a station so honourable, and planted us the guardians of liberty, while the greatest part of mankind rise and fall undistinguished as bubbles on the common stream.'"

_____

"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation.  One is by the sword.  The other is by debt."

--John Adams


The Bullet Proof President

Freedom to Bear Arms
Shays' Rebellion

The Greatest Speech in History?  Alexander the Great & The Opis Mutiny

The Wise Shall Understand

Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
27 March 2005

Psalm 49: 20: “Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.”

Daniel 12: 10: “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

What good is all the money and power and influence in the world if you don’t know God? Knowledge is not necessarily wisdom; money is not necessarily wealth; rubbing shoulders with presidents, senators and governors doesn’t necessarily mean that you have power and influence. I once wrote that a jackass with a Ph.D. is still a jackass. A jackass with a billion dollars in the bank is still a jackass. A wicked man in a position of power can drive a nation into the ground.

What is the precious life? Is it accumulating things and possessions? The precious life is maintaining a relationship with God and the people in your life. You can have material things, but do not let them have power over you. If you spend more time working on your car than with your wife, then something is terribly wrong. Give your children time, not things. Who or what do you bond with? Sure, I really enjoy watching college football, but I better spend more time with my wife and kids than with college football on TV.

If a man has accumulated millions of dollars or gained high political office or collected all kinds of trophies and his wife becomes an alcoholic and his kids become juvenile delinquents, then he must be living in abject poverty. Don’t let the world define wealth, power and influence. Don’t let the world define love, wisdom and happiness. Build your life on the Rock; seek the Kingdom of Heaven first. I am one of the wealthiest men I know and I have four dollars in a bank somewhere. Maybe someday the Lord will let me have a job where I can make some money, but my wealth is based on my intimate relationship with my Father, not by my bank account.

Bearing His Reproach

Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
15 March 2005

Hebrews 13: 11-13: “For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”

“Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”

If a man is truly led by the Holy Ghost—a life of obedience to the Holy Ghost—then his life will be lived outside the camp—outside the box—bearing His reproach. Too many Christians put God in a box—which is idolatry. I like to tell people that I am like John the Baptist—I am living on the other side of the Jordan River. John the Baptist’s living on the other side of the Jordan River was a powerful testimony against the Phariseeism that had infected the temple in Jerusalem. Phariseeism has also infected many Christian churches; I am sure that this has been a problem since the first century.

Phariseeism is a way to control people through the traditions of men. It rejects the leadings and spontaneity of the Holy Ghost. Phariseeism is a man-made religion that has a form, but no power and no life. Jesus said that He came to bring life and life in abundance. A lot of the time, the abundant life is lived outside the camp.

This is part of the reason that the Lord has had me hitchhike. Even if I did not have the ability to speak, my life would be a powerful sermon that glorifies God. Simply put: I am living for God and not for man; I am doing the will of my Father and not the will of myself. My Father works and I work. My food is to do the will of my Father who sent me. My Father’s will is for me to live outside the confines and constraints of the box—the traditions of men and any other satanic construct.

If we follow Christ, we die daily. Our plans are in submission to His plans. Take up your cross and follow Me. Many times I have thought that all this hitchhiking is foolishness—it is definitely foolishness to the world. But the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of the world. There was a book written about Francis of Assisi called God’s Fool. It is very good. Francis lived the life of a beggar, but his life was a powerful sermon that still influences Christians today. I believe it was Francis who once said, “Preach the Gospel and sometimes use words.” I would rather walk the walk than talk the talk.

Walk the walk outside the camp.

What should we learn from the life of John the Baptist?

*****

Shiloh
By Tim Shey

Brutal deathdance;
My eyes weep blood.
Pharisees smile like vipers,
They laugh and mock their venom:
Blind snakes leading
The deaf and dumb multitude.

Where are my friends?
The landscape is dry and desolate.
They have stretched my shredded body
On this humiliating tree.

The hands that healed
And the feet that brought good news
They have pierced
With their fierce hatred.

The man-made whip
That opened up my back
Preaches from a proper pulpit.
They sit in comfort:
That vacant-eyed congregation.
The respected, demon-possessed reverend
Forks his tongue
Scratching itchy ears
While Cain bludgeons
Abel into silence.

My flesh in tattered pieces
Clots red and cold and sticks
To the rough-hewn timber
That props up my limp, vertical carcase
Between heaven and earth.
My life drips and puddles
Below my feet,
As I gaze down dizzily
On merciless eyes and dagger teeth.

The chapter-and-versed wolves
Jeer and taunt me.
Their sheepwool clothing
Is stained black with the furious violence
Of their heart of stone.
They worship me in lip service,
But I confess,
I never knew them
(Though they are my creation).

My tongue tastes like ashes:
It sticks to the roof of my mouth.
I am so thirsty.
This famine is too much for me.
The bulls of Bashan have bled me white.
Papa, into your hands
I commend my Spirit.

Ethos
February/March 1997
Iowa State University

Genesis 49: 10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

The Sheep Hear His Voice

Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
8 March 2005

John 10: 1-5: "'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.'"

"The sheep hear his voice."

"And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."

"A stranger they will not follow."

I have met some strange Christians in my life. They attend strange churches that reject the Holy Ghost and worship the precepts and traditions of men--these traditions make void the Word of God. Strange, blind and deaf: the blind lead the blind into a ditch because they do not hear His voice.


My Sheep Hear My Voice - Jesus is the Word

Broken Bread and Poured-out Wine

Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
8 March 2005

Broken bread and poured-out wine. I first heard of this phrase while reading Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest. The Lord cannot work through prideful, self-willed Christians. We must be broken of self-will. Before a man can eat a loaf of bread, he must break it (or slice it) first--especially if he is going to feed others. A broken and contrite heart, Oh, Lord, thou shalt not despise. The Holy Ghost flows much more freely through a broken vessel than a vessel that is all blocked-up because of self-will.

Poured-out wine. If the Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for us, then we must sacrifice our lives for others. Wine was never meant to stay in the cup. Take this and drink. Partake of My Blood. Partake of His Life. The life is in the blood. Leviticus 17: 11: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life." Luke 22: 20: "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."

When we obey the Lord, self-will can only die. It doesn't die overnight--it is gradual, it takes time. Reno, Nevada wasn't built in one day. We are conceived in sin, and before we are born-again, we are raised in the world system (The Matrix) and by the world system to be conformed to the world system. It is a type of brainwashing. When we decide to follow Christ, we must continue to abide in Him to fight against the desire to be what we once were--conformed to this world and dead in our trespasses and sins. If a Christian has been saved for a number of years and is still conformed to this world, then I have a real problem with his salvation. If Jesus was whipped to shreds and then hung out to dry and bleed to death on the cross, then why should we treat His blood and His grace so cheaply? Hebrews 10: 26-29: "For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. A man who has violated the Law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?"

Life is precious; blood is precious. The life is in the blood. Jesus is precious; His blood is absolutely precious. We should be about our Father's business or go home and go back to bed. We must be about our Father's business and quit chasing our selfish desires and then calling it Christianity. We who are born-again are vessels created for our Father's service. When we obey Him, our lives are poured-out wine for others who are thirsting for something eternal and substantial.

John 15: 1-2: "'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.'"

John 15: 4-8: "'Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.'"

"'Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away.'" "'If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.'" Sounds like that branch lost his salvation. What are we to think of a Christian who bears dead fruit, who is conformed to the world and resists the Holy Ghost? "For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment."

"Abide in me": this could also mean, "obey me" or "remain under my covering". Having knowledge in your head about the Gospel doesn't cut it. Jesus didn't die on the Cross so that we could become worthless aesthetes or hair-splitting theologians. He doesn't want us to treat Him like an object of idolatry or an object of man-made religion. The Lord wants us to abide in Him, the True Vine, so that His Holy Sap will flow into us and sustain us, so we can grow stronger and bear much fruit. We do not abide in Him in thought (through dead reason); we abide in Him in revelation through faith.

Faith is what moves mountains in the spiritual realm; faith is what keeps the sap flowing from the True Vine into the branches. When we act in faith, our lives are blessed and the Lord gives us fresh revelation. Do you want to live on the shores of the Dead Sea or do you want to live by a fresh, fast-moving, clear mountain stream? Abide in Christ everyday in faith, obey what He reveals to you and see how refreshed you are and how refreshing your life is to others.

Reason by itself is idolatry; reason inspired by the Holy Ghost can only be beautiful. What good is an IQ of 200 if you are not born-again? What good are multiple college degrees and you reject Christ? What good is a forest of trees without rain or a field of wheat without irrigation? It will all wither and become chaff for the fire. I have heard more wisdom come out of the mouths of children who abide in Christ than from university professors who abide in nothing.

"Abiding in" separates the men from the boys. "Abiding in" separates the living from the dead. There is living, "abiding in" fruit and there is fruit that lies on the ground, rotten and stinking. Did Jesus die on the Cross so that we could become a stench that rises up to Heaven or did He die so that we could die to self and be a sweet-smelling savour of life unto life. Our lives should be a sweet-smelling sacrifice unto the Lord.

Genesis 4: 4: "and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering." Abel's offering points towards the First-born-among-many: the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

"And the Lord had regard for Abel."

"This is my Son in whom I am well pleased."

"Draw nigh to me and I will draw nigh to you."

"A savour of life unto life."

"Abide in me."

Vincent van Gogh and the Gospel of Jesus Christ - David Wood