For the next three weeks, I’d like to tackle a subject that most people first think of politics when they hear the word. Sure. The word does have political ramifications, but that’s not really what I want to focus on. The concept of liberal really plays on our relationship with the Lord, and how we respond to Him. Watch!
This is the second in a series of older Coffee Breaks that I’m re-publishing while I’m taking time to finish a new series. Each one of the experiences reported here make it clear that when people make up their minds and settle things in their spirits, they can make an appointment with God in order to see the finish of that which they are asking of the Lord.
Good Morning, all you blessed people! I’m at work in a new series, and not quite finished with it yet. That said, For the next few weeks, I’m going to bring back some Coffee breaks that were originally written, some as much as 14 years ago. These Coffee Breaks still carry a message to the body of Christ that is as valid today as it was 14 years ago.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
Last week, we started off a bit differently than we have in the past, and this week’s Coffee Break is no different. Last week, we dealt with the effect of curses, and the non-effect of causeless curses. This week, let’s talk about deliverance from the need to compromise. In Psalm 122:6, David writes, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good."
"As the sparrow in her wandering, as the swallow in her flying, so the causeless curse shall not alight." (Proverbs 26:2, Amplified Version) "How can I curse those God has not cursed? Or how can I [violently] denounce those the LORD has not denounced?" (Numbers 23:8, Amplified Version) Today I'd like to take a few minutes and share with you some of my own personal experiences in the realm of causeless curses. Some of what I share you’ve heard me share previously, so bear with me if you’ve read it or heard it before. Anyway, Good Morning, all you Blessed People! Sorta got started there a bit different than normal. Pull up a chair, set a spell, and pour yourself a cup of this good Columbian brew.