By Bill Bunkley
As we celebrate a holiday that is uniquely Americana in scope, it is imperative that we clear away the fog of revisionist history that is constantly dispersed on children and adults alike by secular humanists.
It's time to take a look back, to determine how we must look forward before it is too late.
Thanksgiving Day is unique and special and make no mistake that its origins come from followers of Jesus Christ who risked it all in the New World to seek and serve Him in a free and pure environment.
As we ponder Thanksgiving 2010 in the midst of an economic and governmental catastrophe of monumental proportions, shouldn't we reconsider our past in setting the course of our future?
As we recently witnessed the successful election results from the revival of the Tea Party Movement, could there be another revival waiting in the wings, this time from the followers of Jesus Christ?
Let's consider the following question: Which governmental agenda would you say is more harmful to Christian citizens? …….a government that forces it's official interpretation of Christian Doctrine upon it's people (via the Church of England), or a government that is committed to the non-recognition of anything Christian (Your United States Government)?
I'd say they are both equally harmful and mutually unacceptable.
Looking back the Pilgrims and later the Puritans have left a lasting legacy for us to consider today. When corruptible men came between them and their free worship of Jesus Christ they stood fast and were not conformed by the winds of the increasingly secular culture. Year after year London was at the epicenter of a declining moral environment. They were sensitive to that increasingly ungodly state and did not allow themselves to be bullied by the Church of England to go along to get along.
They debated for years whether they could stay and have any hopes of changing the situation from within, or to declare Great Britain too far gone and move their flock to the New World where they could begin a new ministry for the Propagation of the Gospel.
One of their biggest concerns of these earlier Christians was for the cultural environment their children were being raised in. These ungodly influences in London finally progressed to the point that the decision was made to flee Great Britain lest their children be lost to the central truths of the Gospel forever. (I wonder why we don't see that same sense of concern and urgency among Christian parents of today?)
So after Prayer and careful planning they set sail for the New World. The treacherous Atlantic crossing proved to be only the first test for these freedom seeking devotees. They would first land at Jamestown then years later at Plymouth and Salem. With these arrivals began the earliest underpinnings of our new nation that was clearly dedicated to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: The Jamestown settlers first official act upon landing was the erecting of a cross on the shores of Virginia and later the Pilgrim's would write in their Mayflower Compact of their sacred commitment for the new settlement" having undertaken for the Glory of God, and the Advancement of the Christian Faith".
As Paul Harvey would say "The Rest Of The Story" is history and that history is solidly recorded through many personal journals and writings from the early settlers down through the many quotes of our Founding Fathers. We should firmly insist that our nation's historians and school text book writers publish accurate renderings of the undeniable Christian influence and upon the history of our nation.
Our Christian settlers and Patriots diagnosed the problem and got it right. They established the only country ever created that was clearly founded upon Christian principals. But are those principals in eminent danger today?
Let's fast forward to 2010 and consider an equally unacceptable governmental influence permeating upon American Christians today.
We have fallen asleep after decades of inaction against our secular government's lawmakers and to a much more serious threat the activist judges who have sought to remove all vestiges of the Christian influence upon our American experience.
The threat we face today's is a slow cleansing of anything Christian in America.
What are the results of this Christian cleansing?
As we look around one cannot deny that there is a clear connection between the progressive abandonment of Christian Principals (that made this nation great) and the undesirable consequences of years of decision making by secular humanist leaders.
Is it any wonder that as the result of this "man" centered leadership we are not just broke as a nation but buried under a mountain of increasing debt? Aren't we morally bankrupt as well? History tells us time after time that when man left to his own devices he will fail every time. How long will it be before America wakes up and gets it?
Isn't it time we take our country back?……and I am not talking about from the Democrats or Republicans here. Isn't it time we take back the ground we have surrendered to any person or institution that stands opposed to the exercise of our First Amendment Religious Rights?
Hasn't the moral decay of our country crossed a line that forces us to take collective and decisive action to preserve our Christian Principals and to protect OUR children from the immorality that has set in around us?
So what should we do today?
Our option is not to leave America for another New World like the early Pilgrims. Our only option is to take back all the ground we have given both within the government and without.
It is time to take a stand against any Anti-Christian sentiment. It is time for God's people to work together both within and across denominational lines. Churches who have not sold out to a leftist liberal theology must unite together based on our common acceptance of the basic tenants of our Christian Faith.
In coming together let's remember how the early American Christian's formed Commonwealth's all across New England. These alliances were formed to declare their common political alliances based on sound Christian principals. Could not our churches come together today with modern Christian based Commonwealth agreements?
Think of what would happen if Christian churches all across America formed these new Commonwealth's that stood tall to defend, promote and influence neighborhood standards that reflected Christian principals that would benefit all members of our communities.
If this revival is to begin it will all start with you. Is God calling you to take up your Spiritual Arms in this fight for the Gospel?
As you give thanks to the Lord this Thanksgiving for your Freedom and His Blessings to you, reflect on what your part will be in the coming year to protect and preserve Christian Freedoms of your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Our Forefathers boldly stood in the gap for us……..will we boldly stand in the gap for our future generations? Only time will tell.
