Richard Nixon and Remembering People's Names

Yesterday I had the privilege of having breakfast with 83-year-old Dr. Jack Dancer and his son Brian Dancer. Brian is a new member of Emmanuel Enid, the church that I pastor, and his father was in town for a visit. Brian knew I'd be interested in some of the stories his dad tells, so they invited me to breakfast.

Dr. Dancer is a surgeon and a fascinating man. He is a graduate of George Washington University's medical school, a former professor of surgery at OU Medical School, a highly successful Air Force surgeon who was commissioned to be the surgeon on the Search and Rescue Mission of the only United States atomic submarine to ever sink (the USS Scorpion), and a long-time successful surgeon in Shattuck, Tulsa, and Stillwater. (Edit: Two commenters pointed out that the USS Thrasher also sunk in 1963, making TWO nuclear submarines that have sunk, not one).  Dr. Dancer retired about 10 years ago at the age of 73, but he still serves on many prestigious national medical boards.

Dr. Dancer told me that while he was in medical school at George Washington University (1957-1961), he worked at night (after classes) as the elevator man for the United State Senate elevator in the old Senate building. He regaled me with stories about Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy,  and a host of other U.S. Senators with whom he rode privately on the elevator over the course of four years. His stories and anecdotes of the various senators, including LBJ and JFK before they became President of the United States of the United States were fascinating.

But there was one story that stood out to me.

When Richard Nixon was a Senator from California (before he became President), he used his elevator key and Jack Dancer took manual control of the elevator and went to Senator Nixon's floor. When the elevator opened, Richard Nixon looked at Jack and said, "You're new here, aren't you?"

"Yes sir," Jack replied.

"What's your name?"

"Jack Dancer."

"Whose patronage are you under?" asked Nixon.

It was customary for elevator worker and security guard jobs in the Senate building to be given to students in the Washington D.C. by various U.S. Senators in a patronage program.

"Senator Barry Goldwater," responded Jack.

Jack had attended Arizona University where he obtained his Bachelor's Degree in chemistry and physics before going to medical school. It was while in college at Arizona that Jack met Senator Goldwater.

"Are you still in school, Jack?"

"Yes, sir. I just started medical school at George Washington University."

Are you married?" the future President asked.

"Yes sir, I'm married to Joy Sue."

"Any children?"

"Yes, we have two kids, Sheila and Brian."

"Well, I'm glad to have you on the Senate elevator. Nice to meet you!" With that, Richard Nixon stepped off the elevator in the basement and took the underground trolley to the Capital to cast a late night vote.

Dr. Dancer continued telling me the story.

"I didn't see Senator Nixon again until over two weeks later when once again Nixon used his private elevator key to call me to his floor. When the elevator arrived and the door opened, Senator Nixon got in and I closed the door."

"Hello Jack," said the Senator, "How's medical school?"

"Fine, Senator. I am enjoying it."

"How's your wife Joy Sue?"

"She's doing well, thank you."

"Well, I know it must be a difficult transition for her, especially watching over the two little ones. Tell me, Jack, how are Sheila and Brian doing?"

Jack Dancer was stunned.

He was a lowly elevator boy, and here a powerful Senator from California not only remembered his name, he remembered the name of his wife and two small kids.

The conversation continued until the elevator reached the basement and Senator Nixon stepped off and bid Jack goodbye.

"That conversation occurred 60 years ago and it has never been forgotten by me," Dr. Dancer, said, "but what happened the next time I saw Senator Nixon is what taught me the importance of knowing peoples' names."

A few weeks later Jack was alone in the elevator again with Senator Nixon, and the future President once again inquired about each of Jack's family members by name.

Jack said, "Senator Nixon, I must ask you a question. How can you remember names like you do?"

Nixon paused, looked Jack in the eye and said, "Jack, I'm a politician. I learned a long time ago that names are important."

"Yes, Mr. Nixon, but I ride with other Senators, and they don't even remember my name. Why are you different."

Nixon then reminded Jack of the Bible story where Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord. "What is your name? Jacob cried, What is your name?"

Nixon said, "Jack, Jacob knew what every politician ought to know. When you know a person's name you control that person."

"That lesson," Dr. Dancer told me, "is a lesson on leadership I've practiced since."

As I've since reflected on Dr. Dancer's anecdote, I can't help but reflect on Jesus' words:

"I am the good Shepherd, and I know my sheep" (John 10:14).

Pastors aren't trying to control people, but we are wanting to lead people.

I can't lead anyone unless I know their names.

It's a challenge I give over and over to myself and the other pastors at our 3,500 member church. 

There are many reasons, psychologists say, why we forget names. 

But pastors should work harder than anyone to remember names. 

Nixon's motives for remembering names may not have been the same as ours, but if Nixon can remember everyone's names, so can we.

The Baptist Blogger Calls Upon Guidestone to Help SWBTS Professors with Their Retirement Needs

When Charles Spurgeon picked up his quill and wrote for The Sword and the Trowel Magazine in 1887, the Baptist evangelical world read every word Spurgeon published. Spurgeon blistered the English Baptist pastors and theologians of his day for their departure from orthodox, biblical Christianity.

Spurgeon's very public fight with liberals came to be known as The Down-Grade Controversy.

Another Baptist writer is picking up the proverbial pen 130 years later, and Southern Baptist pastors, trustees, and theologians who have departed from orthodox business practices or others who have been harmed by such practices are guaranteed to be reading every word this Baptist Blogger writes from now until the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, Texas (June 2018).

The modern writings should be called The Sword and Throw in the Towel because each word is a blistering indictment of what is happening at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and I predict that trustee leadership at SWBTS will eventually "throw in the towel" and reverse themselves.

We'll see.

Until then, you can read the Sword and Throw in the Towel for yourself.

Mission Dignity for Southwestern Seminary Faculty and Staff.

Incredible.

The Red River Logjam and Lessons in Leadership

One of the most remarkable but little-known stories of American history is the source of some great lessons in entrepreneurial leadership. It is the story one man's extraordinary and successful effort to remove the longest and most massive logjam in American history, called the Great Raft, or more precisely, the Red River Raft.

When Napoleon sold 828,00 square miles of French land to the United States in 1803, a transaction we call The Louisiana Purchase, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson determined that the United States had better explore this vast new land. Everyone knows that the President appointed Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to investigate the Missouri River, but very few realize that President Jefferson also organized two additional expeditions to explore the two other major rivers that dump into the Mississippi from the west - the Arkansas River and the Red River.

The Red River Basin

The team assigned to explore the Red River was called The Freeman-Custis Expedition, named after Thomas Freeman, a surveyor, and Peter Custis, a medical student, appointed by President Jefferson to lead the scientific team. The expedition was delayed for a variety of reasons but finally set off in May of 1806 from the spot where the Red River flows into the Mississippi River, on the eastern boundary of what we now know as the state of Louisiana. One month into the upriver journey, not yet even halfway across modern Louisiana, the team reached a settlement called Natchitoches. At the time, the Red River north of Natchitoches was unexplored by anyone but the Caddo Indians - and with good reason as the Freeman-Custis Expedition would soon discover.

The Logjam on the Red River

The expedition left Natchitoches and shortly came across an obstacle in the Red River, a hindrance that eventually become known as "The Red River Raft." In essence, the team had found the largest and oldest logjam in the history of North America. The Oklahoma Historical Chronicle describes the obstruction as being over one hundred miles in length. In some places the logjam completely closed the Red River, creating lake lagoons where the water backed up into tributaries. It was not a solid jam the entire way, for a few places along the Red River Raft being comparatively free of driftwood. But in some places men could travel across the Raft on horseback, the logjam being so dense and so aged that a considerable vegetable growth arose, including full grown trees. It was said that in a couple of places along the Raft, extending for several miles, one could even pass over the river itself and be unaware of its presence. In 1941, Dr. Norman Caldwell wrote a fine description of how the great Raft was formed centuries earlier:

Drift formations began at the mouth of the river as a result of a higher stage of water in the Mississippi, the waters of the lower Red River being at such times quiet or "backed up". Below Alexandria the Red River is naturally meandering and of slow current. Drift wood floating in such quiet water would accumulate into obstructions, such formations tending to "tighten" as the waters receded. Once established the raft continued to grow, the average yearly accumulations amounting to about one and a half miles of drift . . . As the obstruction grew and progressed up the river, it rotted away at its lower end and disintegrated, the river thus becoming clear again. The raft was thus like a great serpent, always crawling upstream and forcing the river into new lateral channels.

By the time of the 1806 expedition, the Red River Raft had grown to well over 100 miles in length and was continuing to snake north as the southern end decayed and the northern end grew. It made passage to the northwest via the Red River a journey filled with incessant fatigue, toil, and danger, doubt and uncertainty. In other words, it was unnavigable. This is the reason why the Freeman-Custis Expedition, what Thomas Jefferson himself had called at the beginning "The Grand Excursion," became a grand failure. No new geographic information about the upper reaches of the Red River was obtained.

The Red River mission was a political setback for President Jefferson. The materials that Freeman and Custis did collect were vastly overshadowed by the achievements of Lewis and Clark, who had returned in 1806. The Red River was one vast logjam, and there would be little exploration of northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas, southern Oklahoma and northern Texas because of the inability to navigate the Red River.

Enter Captain Henry Shreve

Henry Miller Shreve ((October 21, 1785 – March 6, 1851) has often been called the "Master of the Mississippi," while others refer to him as the "Father of the Mississippi Steamboat." From an early age, he loved the river. Henry began his career on the river by river working on keelboats in the Ohio and Mississippi valley. In 1807, at the age of 22, Shreve made his first trip to St. Louis from the Ohio River valley. Within a few years, he was captaining his own vessel, transporting goods between New Orleans and St. Louis. Shreve is said to be the first captain of a steamship on the Mississippi, a ship he called "Washington." Though many had predicted the new steamship would fail, its shallow hull and deck-mounted engine allowed for easier navigation. Within a few years, Shreve had a fleet of steamships and revolutionized transportation along the Mississippi and rivers westward. But it was another invention of Shreve's that led to the breaking up of the Red River Raft.

The Snagboat patented by Shreve

In 1827, Shreve patented the snagboat, a boat he used to clear fallen trees and other debris that often clogged the rivers. Just a year earlier, President John Quincy Adams had appointed Shreve as Superintendent of Western River Improvements, a position he held for fourteen years through both the Jackson and Van Buren administrations.

Shreve was ordered in 1832 by Secretary of War Lewis Cass to clear the Great Red River Raft, now over 150 miles of dead wood on the Red River. The task, particularly in 1832, bordered on impossible. But through seven years of incredibly difficult work, extraordinary leadership, and dogged determination, Shreve and the United States Army Corp of Engineers successfully removed the Red River Raft. Shreve constantly battled inadequate funding from Washington, D.C. and the elements, but despite all obstacles, both political and natural, the massive Red River logjam was cleared.

Shreveport, Louisiana, named after Captain Shreve

The area of the Red River where the Raft was most concentrated is now named in his honor - "Shreveport." The people who live in modern Shreveport, much less those who live elsewhere, know very little about Shreve but were it not for his leadership, the areas affected by the flow of the Red River would not be nearly as thriving and progressive as they are today.

It was on April 11, 1833, that Captain Henry M. Shreve and the U.S. Army Engineers arrived at the lower end of the raft and began their work. Shreve brought four "snag boats" and one hundred fifty men to do the impossible. To understand the enormous effort required to clear the Red River Raft, one merely needs to read the contemporary descriptions of the work. Shreve and his men fought the heat, snakes, wild animals, quicksand on the river's shores, all the while fighting a constant battle for supplies from Washington, terrible shortness of funds, mechanical problems, Indian attacks, and a host of other impediments. But Shreve never quit. He never gave up. Eventually, the largest and oldest logjam in North America was cleared.

How Henry Shreve broke removed the logjam of the Red River is a fascinating story, one that teaches us several lessons on true leadership:

Captain Henry Shreve

(1). What some consider impossible is only seen as a challenge to leaders.
(2). The people getting muddy doing the detail work often never see the end result.
(3). It is the ability to see the big picture that gives perseverance through problems.
(4). Logjams that prevent progress must be confronted, tackled, and intentionally removed.
(5). Those who criticize the removal of impediments to progress are the ones history forgets.

Dr. Patterson, Flowers No Substitute for Answers

Friday we were visiting Rachelle's ailing father in Frisco, Texas when my secretary sent me a text photo of a bouquet sent me from Dr. and Mrs. Patterson, President and First Lady of Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

I'm always appreciative of flowers, and this is the second time I've received such a gift from the Pattersons. The previous floral arrangement came after I began asking questions about the secret decision of Dr. Patterson to admit a professing Muslim into Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in opposition to the school's charter and without approval from the school's trustees.

Those questions eventually led to some uncomfortable answers and an apology issued by Dr. Patterson to the entire Southern Baptist Convention.

The Patterson Retirement Home

I believe the current crop of daisies and mums sent to me by the Pattersons are a result of similar questions being asked about a decision to build a retirement home for the Pattersons on SWBTS school property. I am now asking if the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees voted to approve this retirement home during an open business session - consistent with charter mandated ethical business practice for all SBC agencies - or if that decision was made in secret.

My calls to Southwestern Baptist Theological Trustee Chairman Kevin Ueckert are not being returned. I learned a long time ago that if answers to good questions are not forthcoming when requested in private, then the proper recourse is to ask those questions publicly. (Edit: Technically, I left one electronic message February 6, 2018 and made one additional phone call Friday morning, February 23, 2018 to Chairman Ueckert. That phone call (“not calls”) was returned by Chairman Kevin Ueckert on Monday, February 26, 2018, with a follow-up phone call on Thursday, March 1, 2018. I promised Chairman Ueckert that I would not publish any of our conversations over the phone to allow SWBTS to release an official statement that would answer the questions I’ve posted. The clarity and transparency of Chairman Ueckert were both surprising and refreshing. Agreement on the decisions of SWBTS leadership over the past year may be hard to come by, but praise for the manner in which the questions posed were thoroughly answered is due. Thank you Chairman Ueckert and the SWBTS Executive Committee for the conversation by phone today - the date of the edit -  March 1, 2018).

Though I am appreciative of the flowers sent my way, I would prefer daisies of declaration and disclosure, carnations of call-backs and clarity, and tulips of truth and transparency. Flower arrangements are no substitute for frank authenticity. The former smells good for a few days while the latter issues a fragrance that Southern Baptists will appreciate for generations to come.

Questions that Need To Be Answered

Record Details for Construction

1. On what date did Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees vote to approve building a retirement home for the Pattersons on school property, and where is the public record of this action, including the vote?

2. When filing for code permits for construction of this home, why does the application state "residential" and "single family residence," when the SWBTS public relations department says it is a Baptist Heritage Center and not a residence?

Residential New Building Permit - Page One

3. In making room for the new retirement home for the Pattersons, how many student residential housing units were demolished?

4. Was anyone informed of needs of the young lady with cancer - the wife of an SWBTS student - who was living in student housing while taking her cancer treatments, but was forced to relocate to make room for the construction of the Patterson retirement home on school property?

5. Was there a competitive bidding process on the construction of the new residence built on school property or was the contract awarded to Bailey Draper Custom Homes, son of Dr. Jimmy Draper, without competitive bidding? And, if a competitive bidding process did take place, when were the bids opened, and who determined the winning bid?

6. Did anyone on the trustee board of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary request permission from the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention before seeking to raise capital funds for the Patterson retirement home being built on school property, per the constitutional requirement of the Southern Baptist Convention for convention entities?

7. Finally, would the trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary allow private capital funds to be raised for any current or future president, administrator, or professor of SWBTS to have their respective retirement homes built on school property, and if not, what is the rationale or principle being followed for secretly allowing the Patterson's home to be built on school property?

More to come.

A Culture Built on Feelings Cannot Handle Truth

America is in trouble. 

We've become a people who would rather feel than think. We want to be liked more than we want to learn. We're urged to refrain from speaking what we deem as truth to create an illusion of unity and progress since truth is viewed inferior to complex human emotions.

"If the truth you believe makes me feel bad, then you better not speak lest you offend me," says an entire generation of Americans.

We've created a cultural climate where citizens are free to shout their demands for unconditional affirmation and to intimidate others deemed intolerant because of a truth believed and spoken.

The feelers have been given the forceps.

Spoken truth is being taken, tossed, and trampled on in America.

If an American dares whisper a truth that offends, punishment is swift.

South Korea, Japan,  and the Truth

An American named Joshua Cooper Ramo was punished for truth-telling last week.

Dr. Ramo was hired by NBC as an expert on Asia to comment during the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Dr. Ramo is an expert on Asia, educated at the University of Chicago, and a former Time Magazine foreign editor. He also serves as a top executive at former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's consulting firm.

Dr. Ramo knows Asia.

But when pictures of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared on the screen, Ramo noted that Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945 and then said this:

"Every Korean will tell you that Japan is a cultural, technological, and economic example that has been so important to their own transformation." 

Oops.

That's the truth. But South Koreans don't like the truth spoken publicly because it doesn't feel good. It never feels good to give credit for any positive changes that come as a result of former oppression.

NBC, in line with modern American values that feelings always trump truth, removed Dr. Ramo from their television line-up.

The Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, and the Truth

Mark Cuban was levied the largest fine in the history of the NBA for an interview he gave to Dr. Julius Erving on the radio last Sunday.

Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. What was Mark Cuban's crime?

He told the truth.

"I'm probably not supposed to say this, but, like, I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night, and here we are, you know, we weren't competing for the playoffs. I was like, 'Look, losing is our best option,'" Cuban said on the podcast. "Adam [Silver] would hate hearing that, but I at least sat down and I explained it to them. And I explained what our plans were going to be this summer, that we're not going to tank again. This was, like, a year and a half tanking, and that was too brutal for me. But being transparent, I think that's the key to being kind of a players' owner and having stability."

Cuban's comments were "detrimental to the NBA" according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Forget that the Dallas Mavericks have been throwing games to get a higher draft pick in the NBA lottery. It happened last year and Mark Cuban wanted it to happen again this year since the Mavericks are out of the playoff race.

The truth doesn't matter.

Perceptions, feelings, and acceptance are everything.

How the public perceives the NBA is more important than spoken truth by the NBA.

Churches, Pastors, Homosexuality, and the Truth 

A company called Church Clarity is putting pressure on pastors and churches to disclose their views on homosexuality.

The stated purpose is "clarity and transparency," but in reality, it's designed to be a means to intimidate pastors to refrain from speaking their view of truth in public because their view of truth causes people emotional pain.

According to Jonathan Merritt, "The organization’s leaders tell me there is more to come. They will now begin posting quote memes from well-known Christian leaders and pastors who have spoken about the need for clarity but have yet to disclose their positions on this matter."

"If your truth offends us or makes us feel poorly about ourselves, dear pastor," say these modern feelers, "then we'll intimidate you into silence."

The forceps of feelings is extracting truth to bury it.

Billy Graham and the Truth

When Billy Graham died, a young media activist named Lauren Duca tweeted that Billy Graham was a "rotten, evil bitch" and should "rot in hell." 

Why the venom? 

Because Lauren Duca didn't like Billy Graham's version of the truth.

According to her, Billy Graham was a hatemonger because Mr. Graham believed homosexual behavior to be a sin and urged homosexuals to repent of their sin and turn their lives over to Jesus Christ.

That's why Billy Graham should rot in hell.

Mr. Graham hurt her feelings.

"Don't Ever Challenge the Feeler!"

Why are our schools in such terrible shape?

Because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

Why is in our society addicted to pornography, drugs, and self-absorbed sex?

Because we are too afraid to tell anybody the truth about their behaviors. 

Why are we in trouble as a country?

Because we can't handle the truth.

Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.

I close with a video of a student who went off on his teacher. 

If bad language offends you, don't watch the video. If you want to know why we are a country headed toward cultural decline, watch the video.

Feelers have feelings and don't ever speak truth to a feeler or you'll feel the feeler's hatred.

An Era Has Ended: Billy Graham Is Dead at 99

In 2006 I was near Asheville, North Carolina, and on a whim, Marty Duren, Kevin Bussey, and I went to the home of Billy Graham in Montreat, North Carolina (Black Mountain). I had known Franklin Graham since 1992 when he preached a week-long evangelistic crusade in Enid, Oklahoma, but I had never met his father.

When we arrived, coming out of the massive gate at the front of an iron fence - a fence built by J. Edgar Hoover as a favor to Mr. Graham - was a Graham family member (a niece). She said that her uncle was feeling ill and had lain down to take a nap. She suggested we go to his office in Montreat and that Mr. Graham's assistant would see if we might be able to meet Mr. Graham later that afternoon.

Upon arriving at the Billy Graham offices in Montreat, we walked in and Mr. Graham's assistant greeted us, then surprised me by saying- "Wade, I read your blog regularly." I discovered that though we'd never met, we had several common connections.

For the next hour, we were regaled with stories about Mr. Graham, the meetings that had been held in his private office over the years (the office pictured where Mr. Graham is standing in the portrait to the left), and various other personal anecdotes that I will always treasure. We were able to take several pictures and ask even more questions. It was an afternoon I'll never forget.

Due to Mr. Graham's illness, we were unable to meet him that day. However, within a couple of weeks, I received in the mail his autobiography with a personal note attached. I have since read Mr. Graham's autobiography on at least three occasions and am moved every time I read it.

Evangelist Billy Graham has touched this world in a way that generations to come will remember with fondness. When I heard of his passing this morning, my thoughts went out to his children, grandchildren and extended family.

An era good for our country has come to an end.

Liberty, Tyranny and the Debate Over Gun Control

Emotions are running very high in the United States on the issue of gun control in 2018.

There are friends of mine on both sides of the issue, speaking with equal passion on the subject. 

It's important to remember that every American heart breaks when our children are murdered, regardless of one's position on gun control. While every American may not agree on the solution, every single American grieves over the situation. 

My arguments against increased gun control go against the cultural climate. The principles I advocate run counter to the emotional current of many Americans who feel the pain of mass shootings. That is to be expected. Principled arguments during times of sorrow are like uninvited wedding guests; you may tolerate them for the sake of appearances, but you definitely don't like them or want them.  

Yet the best surgeons with the steadiest hands are those who operate using principles and procedures refined long before the emotional impact of meeting a dying patient.

The debate over gun control should be rooted in wisdom and principles, not emotion and passions.

On two occasions during my lifetime I've been in the middle of a crime scene that involved the deaths of more than one child. The gruesome images have never left me. I feel for the young people in the Florida high school who had to step over their dead friends. I empathize with first responders who cared for the wounded and the dying. My heart goes out to the parents who lost a child as a result of a murderer carrying a gun. I understand what you saw, and I know how you feel. 

If possible, read what follows without emotion and see if it makes sense.

Liberty Is the Principle 

Americans do not need less liberty regarding possessing and carrying guns, we need more.

The reason there are mass shootings like those we've experienced in America is due to the government encroaching on, limiting, and intervening in the personal freedom of individual Americans to openly and continually carry a firearm. 

Let me explain. 

When our country was founded, the nation's Founding Fathers believed in what is called Natural Law. Natural Law is a view that certain rights or values are inherent in - and universally known by - human reason. 

The best summary of Natural Law is contained in the following seventeen-word statement: 

"Do all you have agreed to do and do not encroach on other persons or their property."

Our Founding Fathers believed that every rational human being knows that you don't intrude or infringe on someone else's person or property.

In the early days of our country, when a criminal encroached on another person or property, the criminal was forcibly detained and jailed locally. The courts established the precedent that restitution would be made to the victim(s).

If your property had been taken, the thief would be ordered to return your property and make financial restitution to you for taking it in the first place. If your house were destroyed by an arsonist, the fire starter would be responsible for building you a new home and financially reimbursing you for your inconvenience.

If you were injured or wounded by a criminal, he would have to pay you money. Victims of crime had their property and personal losses financially restored by the criminal. 

In the case of murder, the murderer would be swiftly brought to justice via execution. It was "a life for a life."

Over time, common law developed within the court system of the United States. As various crimes occurred in the United States and the criminals were caught and brought to court, the judges would look at legal decisions in previous cases to make a ruling on the restitution amount that would be deemed fair and equitable to the victim.

Again, throughout the first few decades of American jurisprudence, two things were true about crime and the courts:

1. The people encroached upon were the victims, not the state.
2. The criminals who encroached made restitution to the victims, not the state.

 The Reason for an Armed Citizenry in a Land of Liberty

Because our forefathers understood the principles of Natural Law, it was necessary that American citizens always have the right to keep and bear arms. Amendment II of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution gives to citizens "the right to keep and bear arms." 

Most Americans don't understand the reasons our forefathers felt the right to keep and bear arms was necessary for a free society to exist.

There were two main reasons.

(1). Our nation's forefathers knew there would be occasions when criminals would not make the court-ordered restitution to their victims.

When that happens in a country built on Natural Law, outlawry is invoked.

Outlawry is the ability for citizens in a civilized society to pass judgment and punish those criminals who refuse to make court-ordered restitution to their victims. 

Most of us understand the term "outlaw," but few of us understand that it is derived from the word outlawry. Outlawry means criminals who run from court-ordered restitution are handed over to society and placed "outside the protection of law."

This is what it meant to be an outlaw. One "outside the law" was Wanted: Dead or Alive.

It did not matter how the outlaw was captured. The outlaw was to be brought dead or alive back to the courts. The state paid the one who captured the outlaw a bounty for the capture.

In the old days, prisons were fairly empty. Incarcerations were limited to those awaiting trial. Once a court ordered the terms of restitution, the criminal was released to work and pay for his crimes. 

It was extremely dangerous for a criminal to run from his responsibility of making restitution for his crimes.

It would cost him his life.

Our Founding Fathers understood the need for civilized society to "keep and bear arms" because a society of free and civilized people was ultimately the highest power in the land. The citizens of the United States would need to keep and bear arms because of outlaws. 

A criminal placed "outside the law" for refusing to pay restitution was to be refused his civil rights. He is an "outlaw" or "out(side) of (the) law."

A modern version of outlawry would be a free and law-abiding teacher in a school, armed with a weapon, shooting and killing a murderer in the act of encroaching on a human life. When a person attempts to take someone else's life, as a citizen of the United States, you are to take action. You are to take that person's life.

Natural Law demands it.

The citizen doesn't wait for "law enforcement" to take action. Our Constitution, built on Natural Law, demands the citizens to take action.

Many believe a country is more civilized when free citizens don't have guns. Our Founding Fathers believed just the opposite. A free society, according to Natural Law, makes the free people of that free society the highest authority--not the state or the government.

Government is of the people, by the people, for the people.

Could law-abiding citizens in a free society make a mistake in dealing with an outlaw? Of course, but the checks and balances on a free people is the knowledge that you might be deemed an outlaw if you violate Natural Law and encroach on an innocent person. 

Natural Law is as much a science as biology, physics, and math. It is understandable regardless of one's religion because it comes from Nature and Nature's God. Natural Law understands that victims are those who experience a crime of encroachment and the criminal is the encroacher.

The United States Government Has Assumed the Role of Victim 

In today's "advanced" society, the criminal pays his or her debt "to the state" (e.g. "prison time"). The criminal who encroaches is no longer forced to pay restitution to the victim. 

Unfortunately, in modern, progressive America, the United States government has replaced the people of the United States. When a state usurps the governance of a free people, the state will eventually devolve into fascism. 

A fascist state does not arise overnight. Just like Germany in the early 20th century, fascism progresses slowly as more and more power is handed to the state and more and more freedoms are taken from the people. 

One of the fundamental needs of a fascist state is for its native citizens not to be armed.

(2). Our nation's forefathers understood that there could be an occasion when the government violates Natural Law (by encroaching), and it would be the duty of the free citizens of that state to rebel.

Very few Americans know that the reasoning of those we call Patriots, the men, and women who fought their government during the American Revolution, was built upon Natural Law. 

People like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, and others believed that England was encroaching on the people and property of the colonists. 

America's Patriots believed people should always be able to keep and bear arms because there always needs to be the ability for a free people in a free society to revolt against a government that violates Natural Law. England violated the principles of Natural Law, and in obedience to Nature and Nature's God, the American colonists revolted against England.

Thomas Jefferson, when writing the draft of the Constitution of Virginia, wrote:

 "No free man shall be debarred the use of arms."

 Alexander Hamilton wrote:

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed." (The Federalist Papers, pages 184-188). 

Abraham Lincoln declared at the commencement of the Civil War:

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it."

These men understood that any government which removes the right to keep and bear arms from her free citizens takes a gigantic step toward statist fascism.

So, though we grieve over the mass murder at Sandy Hook, and though we deplore acts of violence by criminals throughout our land, we should resist with all our might any intrusion by the government to take weapons from us.

Natural Law demands free citizens have the right to be armed.

As a Christian, I may choose not to bear arms, choosing instead to turn the other cheek and to live like Jesus Christ lived. But as an American citizen, I feel I must resist any effort by the state to take weapons from her citizens. 

It's not a biblical principle on which I stand regarding gun control. It's not a Christian principle I am promoting. 

It's a matter of liberty vs. tyranny.

It's a matter of Natural Law.

Natural Law demands that I advocate against the government removing the liberty of our citizenry being armed, lest this great land of liberty become infected with dictatorial tyranny.

Jesus or Jezebel and the Just Sentence of Death

As Jesus was dying on the cross, He bled in four places: Atop His skull where the Romans had placed a crown of thorns, in the middle of His two palms where the soldiers hammered nails into His outstretched hands, and at his feet where a giant nail was driven through His feet, one foot aligned on top of the other.

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)  bled in fulfillment of the Law (Matthew 5:17).

1500 years before the death of Jesus, the first Passover lambs were slain by the Hebrews at God's command (see Exodus 12).

The blood of the original Passover lambs was placed on the door of the Hebrew homes in four places: Atop the door (i.e. 'the crown'), on both sides of the door (i.e. 'the outstretched palms'), and at the threshold  (i.e. 'the feet').

The Passover lamb died as the means through which God delivered His people from their slavery in Egypt.

As the Hebrews ate the Passover lamb inside their blood covered homes, the angel of death came to visit Egypt. The angel "passed over" every home where the blood had been applied. Thus, from that first Passover until today, the Hebrews commemorate that night with a meal they call Passover.

The Egyptian people, however,  did not appropriate the Passover lamb, and so they did not escape the judgment of death. In every Egyptian family, the firstborn child died.

As the Egyptians mourned the deaths of their firstborn, the Hebrews left their bondage in Egypt and made their way to the Promised Land (Exodus 12:29-30).

The judgment of death that first Passover came upon the Egyptians at the midnight hour.

You can watch actor Charleston Heston play Moses in The 10 Commandments, a 1956 film which reenacts the first Hebrew Passover and is broadcast on American national television every Easter.

But the real-life fulfillment of Passover occurred 2,000 years ago - 1500 years after Moses' original Passover - when Jesus the Messiah came to die as God's Passover Lamb for the world.


Jesus As God's Passover Lamb

Why did Jesus die?

That simple question will get you some very complex answers from people who study theology. I'm going to simplify it.

1. Jesus died as a demonstration of Divine love.
2. Jesus died as a substitution for human death.
3. Jesus died as a propitiation of Divine wrath.

The first reason Jesus died was to demonstrate God's love for us.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16).

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life..." (John 15:13).

The second reason Jesus died was to take our place bearing the judgment of death as our Substitute.

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us" (II Corinthians 5:21).

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 5:6-9)

The third reason Jesus died was to make sinners 'at-one' with God forever through Him.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"We also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation with God" (Romans 5:11).

It's this third and last reason which causes so much confusion for people. When the Bible speaks of the "wrath of God" (see Romans 1:18) we often wrongly think of the anger of a drunk, abusive earthly father, or the tirades of an unjust and uncivil boss, or the brooding silence of an angry spouse.

Rarely do we see God's righteous anger in human form.

I've seen it a few times in my work as a police chaplain. I once saw righteous anger in a judge who pronounced the death sentence for a killer who coldly and brutally murdered four victims (I did the funeral for one of the murderer's victims).

Righteous anger is rarely seen today because we're not often around judges who justly pronounce a sentence of death on the wicked. Usually, the anger we see or experience comes from peers who unjustly take vengeance.

God is the Supreme Judge. As Christians, we are to wait for Him to execute righteous judgment on the wicked:

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge: I will repay," says the Lord. (Romans 5:19).

On the cross, Jesus bore God's righteous sentence for sin.

God, in His love for sinners, sent His Son to be the Substitute for sinners, bearing death - the just punishment from God for sin, so that sinners "covered by Christ's death" will live forever and not forever die.

Christ's death is the reconciliation - or an "at-one-moment" - between a holy God and lawbreakers who deserve death.


Death As the Righteous Punishment for Sin

When God demonstrates His wrath, He does it right. That's why it is called "right-eous" wrath. No one is able to question the justness of it.

The display of God's wrath will always be proven right.

Through death, God eradicates evil.

"The Lord will destroy the wicked" (Psalm 145:20).

"But all sinners will be destroyed; there will be no future for the wicked." (Psalm 37:28).

"He shall punish the wicked with everlasting destruction" (II Thessalonians 1:9).

The final and full display of God's wrath toward sin - and His full and His free gift of eternal life for sinners who have trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior - is still to come.

"For a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear My voice and come out" (John 5:28)

The apostle Paul said it like this:

"And I have the same hope in God...that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked." (Acts 24:15).

At that final judgment after the resurrection, called "the wrath to come" - the wrath from which Jesus, as God's Passover Lamb, rescues His people (see I Thessalonians 1:10) - the wicked will be judged for their sins in this life and die a "second time."

But this "second death" (Revelation 20:14), unlike the first death, is called everlasting because there will be no reversal, no hope of deliverance, no future resurrection.

Contrary to the unbiblical view that God tortures sinners in hell forever, the Bible teaches that the wicked die everlastingly as a just punishment for their sins.

We can be sure that "the wicked will not go unpunished" (Proverbs 11:21).

"The wicked will perish for their sins" (Psalm 37:20).

However, there is some Good News.

The immortal God - in love for sinners - took upon Himself mortal flesh - in order to die as a Substitute for sinners - giving everlasting life to those who are in Christ because a holy God is "at-one" with sinners through the work of Jesus Christ.

"Be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Savior" (Acts 2:36).

In this life, the assurance you have that Jesus is your Saviour is Jesus is your Lord.

He either becomes King of your life during this present life or He is not your Savior from death and Giver of everlasting life.

Jesus died that you might live.

But not all sinners want Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives.


Jezebel's Death Pictures God's Final and Righteous Judgment toward Sinners

Jezebel is a picture of the wicked who die outside of Christ.

The name Jezebel means "chaste or pure," but like every person created by God to be free from evil, Jezebel is one who turns from God and lives licentiously, immorally, and selfishly.

Jezebel is a picture of one who lives independent of God (see Revelation 2:20).

The way God's judgment fell on Jezebel at her first death is a type or picture of God's righteous judgment on all who are turned over to everlasting death on the day of judgment.

You can read how Jezebel died in II Kings 9:30-37.

"But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet, and her hands."

The only thing left after the dogs had consumed Jezebel's body in the streets were the crown of her head, her two hands, and her feet.

The very places that Jesus bled on the cross.

A sinner experiences death as the righteous judgment from God, or a sinner will find that the judgment of death "passes over" because the Lamb has given His life (eg 'bled') in place of the sinner (e.g. "as the sinner's Substitute').

Or to put it succinctly:

The everlasting Messiah dies in the place of sinners or sinners die an everlasting death themselves.

The difference between the two potential destinies of sinners - everlasting life or everlasting death - is determined by the sinner's embrace of the Lamb of God.

"Kiss His Son, or God will be angry and your way will lead to destruction" (Psalm 2:12).

"And into the eternal city will be brought...only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 2:27).

The Wicked Will Be Erased from Memory

After Jezebel died, the Bible says "No one was able to say, 'This is Jezebel" (II Kings 9:37).

There was no memory of her. There was no memorial to her. There were no remnants of her except those pieces that are a reminder of the death of Jesus (e.g. "the skull, the hands, the feet").

Jezebel was gone.

So too, very soon, the wicked will go the way of Jezebel.

"A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found" (Psalm 37:10).

Jesus or Jezebel.

Both deaths represent the two different and ultimate ends for sinners.

One death brings life; the other death brings shame, contempt, and the loss of identity.

"For God so loved this world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). 

Al Mohler's Unbiblical Belief that New Testament Gender Equality Means Affirming Homosexuality

Recently Dr. Al Mohler released an article entitled All Other Ground Is Sinking Sand: A Portrait of Theological Disaster.

Dr. Mohler, President of Southern Theological Seminary, writes that he believes the numerical decline of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is due to that denomination's affirmation of homosexual behavior. Mohler believes that the CBF leadership is caught in the trap of being forced to affirm homosexuality by "millennials" in the CBF while at the same time attempting to prevent "the loss of support from (CBF) churches outraged by any policy condoning homosexuality."

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship broke off from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1991. Interestingly, many of the conservative/moderate churches in the CBF are opposed to any affirmation of homosexuality, believing homosexual behavior is categorized as sin in Scripture.

The CBF has recently released a report entitled Honoring Autonomy and Reflecting the Fellowship which has, according to Mohler, "infuriated LGBT proponents and alienated more conservative CBF churches."

Mohler's thesis in his article is that the problems in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship are "the inevitable result of the abandonment of the full truthfulness and authority of Scripture."

I happen to agree with Mohler that those of us who believe the Bible to be truthful, inspired, and authoritative also believe that homosexual behavior is a sin against God.

However, Al Mohler goes on to make this statement:

"This (eg. 'affirming homosexuality') is also the logical consequence of adopting a hermeneutic that allows for the service of women as pastors — for many Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregations, the key issue of outrage at the Southern Baptist Convention. The same negotiation and “reinterpretation” of the biblical text that allows for the service of women pastors will logically lead to the acceptance of the LGBT revolution. How can it not? Individuals and congregations may refuse to take this next step, but they have surrendered the only binding argument that would offer an objective truth claim. Eventually, the revolutionaries will win, and they know it. Clearly, some appear unwilling to wait."

Sorry, Dr. Mohler.

You don't get a pass on this one.

Many Bible-believing, Christ-honoring people, pastors, and denominations see the New Testament Scriptures to teach that followers of Christ serve according to their giftedness, not their gender.

And these same Christians believe the New Covenant Scriptures also portray homosexuality - as well as other sexual acts outside of a marriage between one man and one woman - as sin.

Catherine Clark Kroeger has written an insightful article entitled Does Belief in Women's Equality Lead to an Acceptance of Homosexual Practice?

No Bible-believing, Christ-honoring follower of Jesus can read Catherine's article and arrive at Mohler's illogical and unbiblical conclusion that affirmation of New Testament gender equality - with distinctions of service based on giftedness - ever equates to an affirmation of homosexuality.

I would encourage Dr. Mohler and others like him to be careful of painting theological constructs with such a broad brush.

Valentine's Day - The Lost Art of Ascending in Love

Falling in love.

The phrase is an oxymoron. It's a figure of speech that is contradictory.

It's like saying "I'm falling to the summit of Everest" or "I'm falling to the office of CEO."

You may fall in lust, but you can't fall in love.

Love requires effort.

The creation didn't fall into place by accident. The Sistine Chapel isn't great artistry because Michelangelo did nothing. Transcendent greatness requires a creator who cares.

Love is an art. Love takes knowledge, effort, and perseverance. Love is something you ascend to, not something you fall in.

Since one falls into lust and ascends into love, the greatest artists of love are those who understand the differences between love and lust.

Lust is a feeling of pleasure that attaches to me like a virus. I'm not sure where it comes from, I only know I have it by the symptoms it brings, it usually ends in some form of pain, and I need help from others to identify it and get rid of it.

On the other hand...

“Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, it does not boast, and is not proud. Love does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, and it is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (I Corinthians 13:4-8). 

Therefore, love is an art and lust is an appetite. Love is selfless and lust is self-absorbed. Love is of God and lust is of myself.

Love takes work because it's not a natural attribute of the naturally self-absorbed.

Valentine's Day 

Americans will spend nearly $12 billion dollars on flowers, candies, and cards that say "I Love You." 

The ancient Romans gave Americans this holy day called Valentine's.  The Romans celebrated an annual festival in February called Lupercalia,  Roman men stripped naked, sacrificed a goat and a dog, and then whipped naked women in the marketplace with the hides of the animals they just killed.

Young women would actually line up for the Roman men to hit them, believing participation in the festival would make them fertile and the festival would be the means for the ladies to find strong, handsome, virile men to whom they could mate.

The Romans were kings and queens of lust.

On February 14, during a Lupercalia festival in the 3rd century, Roman emperor Claudius II executed two men on  - both named Valentine - for their rebellion against the emperor. Both Valentines followed another King they called Jesus.

After the fall of Rome, the Roman Catholic Church took to calling February 14 Valentine's Day in honor of the two Christian martyrs who died during Lupercalia.

Though the name has changed from Lupercalia to Valentine's, the spirit behind both holidays remains the same.

Even Christians tend to forget that love is an art which you ascend and attain and not an aura into which you fall and remain. 

If I say, "I love my church," but I'm looking for what I can get from my church rather than what I give to the people who make up the church, then I'm infected with lust.

If I say, "I love my spouse,"  but I'm looking to receive something from my spouse rather than to give patience, kindness, forgiveness, hope, protection, truth, honor, and perseverance to my spouse, then I may need a fresh reminder of the difference between love and lust.

Love is an art.

And the only way to learn how to love is to take a class from the Master Artist.

"Love one another. As I have loved you," Jesus said.