2020 – Page 4 – Another Coffee Break

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 26

I’m going to run a little long today but I want to finish up with our abbreviated history of one of the most significant founding fathers, George Mason. In May of 1776, George Mason wrote, "All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights .... among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." His statement became part and parcel of the Virginia Constitution. It was a mere two months later that Thomas Jefferson cribbed from Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights while writing the Declaration of Independence. Many historians have suggested that Jefferson's version was not an improvement on Mason's.

By Regner Capener|2020-06-11T14:32:41+00:00June 5th, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 25

Let’s take a different course in today’s Coffee Break talking about the author of our national anthem, lawyer Francis Scott Key, and a brief picture of what he saw and experienced as he wrote The Star Spangled Banner. We all know the name, Francis Scott Key, but few know much else about him other than his famous anthem. Born August 1, 1779 at the family plantation -- Terra Rubra -- near Keymar, Maryland, Francis Scott Key was both an American lawyer and an amateur poet.

By Regner Capener|2020-05-29T07:09:22+00:00May 29th, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 24

As you will see in today’s discussions, founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush, was a genius of the highest order. Gifted by God, he put those gifts to work and blessed both this nation and other nations as well. The signs and symbols, the Scripture references that abound in our founding fathers' commentaries, and their labors of love and covenant to establish this great nation make abundantly clear that they purposed to have "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

By Regner Capener|2020-05-29T02:01:23+00:00May 22nd, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 23

As has already been noted, Alexander Hamilton was a man of faith, a man with an implicit trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. The tragedy today is that the truths surrounding all of our nation’s founding fathers has been scrubbed from our educational system, beginning in the first grade of grammar school and continuing on into our colleges and universities. Before we move on to discuss the life of Benjamin Rush, let me wrap up our discussions on Alexander Hamilton and then deviate for a little bit to talk about the Liberty Bell, and the significance it played in our nation’s founding.

By Regner Capener|2020-04-02T08:34:27+00:00May 15th, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 22

We concluded last week’s Coffee Break beginning our discussion concerning Alexander Hamilton. Most people who study Economics and Banking know that Hamilton was essentially the father of our current economic system. What most people do not know is just how Covenant oriented he was, and how that orientation affected both his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the integral place faith had in the formation of our government.

By Regner Capener|2020-04-02T08:35:51+00:00May 8th, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 21

I want to finish up with Daniel Webster today and then move on to a look at Alexander Hamilton. Yesterday, we finished up his December 1820 speech to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. Today, let's take a look at an address he made at Dartmouth. This speech must easily have taken an hour or more to deliver, and it would take a week of Coffee Breaks to try and cover the whole thing, so let me rather take some extracts from his address -- and address which clearly denotes his personal convictions and thought processes concerning the Lord and His interaction with mankind.

By Regner Capener|2020-04-02T08:36:24+00:00May 1st, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 20

We started talking about Daniel Webster yesterday, and I was concerned that the discussion would take up a whole lot more time than I wanted to spend for the day so we'll finish up talking about him today. We finished the day with a portion of his December 1820 speech to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention; and in a minute, we'll go back to it for some more.

By Regner Capener|2020-04-02T08:36:53+00:00April 24th, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 31

Let's see if we can finish up with a couple of Supreme Court decisions today -- decisions, that is, that took away more of our First Amendment guarantees to religious liberties in America. One thing that I think you will find interesting in this Coffee Break is a link to Justice William Rehnquist's argument in the Wallace v. Jaffree case; and I believe that many of you will find his (lengthy, but) complete argument very interesting reading. Here's the link: http://www.belcherfoundation.org/wallace_v_jaffree_dissent.htm

By Regner Capener|2020-04-22T09:49:17+00:00April 22nd, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 19

Let's talk about someone whose name is synonymous with education and learning, and someone whose name is likely more used today than even that of George Washington. We're talking, of course, about Daniel Webster, whose name is on the overwhelming majority of the dictionaries used in schools and institutions of higher learning.

By Regner Capener|2020-04-02T08:37:26+00:00April 17th, 2020|

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: OUR FOREFATHERS’ COVENANTS, Part 18

Last week, I started sharing a statement from David Barton concerning some notes that James Madison wrote concerning the Federal Convention of 1787. I realized later that I cut off what he was saying, so let’s go back today and get the first part, and then finish with James Madison’s full statement concerning that convention. "Although authorized by the Congress of the Confederation, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was nevertheless cloaked with secrecy and confidentiality. The official papers of the Convention sat in the Department of State, untouched, until 1818. Yet in retrospect, the gathering reveals both the men and the issues they faced during the founding era. Through analysis of both the Philadelphia debates and the various ratification conventions, we realize the concerns and needs of a developing nation.

By Regner Capener|2020-04-02T08:39:32+00:00April 10th, 2020|