 |
KEN WILLIAMS MINISTRIES Quarterly News Letter ______________________________ Summer 2010 (June thru August) Vol. 3 No. 3 INSIDE THIS ISSUE BIBLE STUDY: Finding Jesus in the Books of I & II Samuel and I & II Kings SCIENCE: More About Dinosaurs AMERICAN HISTORY: Abraham Lincoln A PERSONAL MESSAGE: A Medical Update on Ken Williams _______________________________________ BIBLE STUDY Finding Jesus in the Books of I & II Samuel and I & II Kings By Ken Williams Copyright 2007 All rights reserved First Samuel begins with Samuel, the last of the judges. Samuel was of the tribe and Levi and therefore was a priest. He was also a prophet. The book continues with the inauguration of Saul as the first king of Israel, and then the appointment of David. First Samuel ends with the tragic death of Israel's first king. Second Samuel begins with the ascension of David as the second king, and the beginning of the Davidic line, which God promised would never end. Second Samuel includes stores of the moving of the capitol to Jerusalem, David's mighty exploits and his great failures. It also includes the Davidic Covenant - a covenant that God made with David regarding his descendants and the Promised Messiah. In Second Samuel, we find the Davidic Covenant, in which God promised that He would establish the Throne of David forever. Once again, we see an unconditional covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant was unconditional - that is, God would perform it regardless of what Abraham and his descendants might do. Then there was the Mosaic Covenant, which was conditional - that is, God promised He would perform unless the people of Israel strayed from Him, in which case H would bring punishment for the purpose of bringing them back to Himself. This is followed by a conditional covenant with Israel when they moved into the Promised Land. God said if you serve me I will bless you, but if you depart from my ways, I will drive you from this land. Now we come to the Davidic Covenant - another unconditional covenant. Notice the major points in Second Samuel chapter 2: 1. "I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (verse 13 NIV). It is unconditional - no "ands" "ifs" or "buts." 2. "I will be his fahter, and he shall be my son" (verse 14 NIV). Again, this is unconditional - "I will..." There is no condition given under which David's descendents might cause this covenant to be revoked. 3. "If he commit iniquity..." (verse 14 NIV). There are always consequences to sin. 4. "I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men" (verse 14 NIV). Note that God's judgment of His own people is always "remedial." God's chastisement of His own is designed to bring wayward children back to Himself. 5. "But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul..." (verse 15 NIV). Again, it is unconditional. Remember that the Promised Messiah was to come through the line of King David. God promised in this passage that the line of David would never end. Notice in Second Samuel chapter 7 that there are a number of promises made to David and the nation of Israel which have not yet been fulfilled. Look: 1. (Verse 10) They are promised a land from which they will never again be moved, and their enemies will never again afflict them. Obviously, this is still in the future. 2. (Verses 14 & 16) The throne of David will be established forever. The throne of David is not currently on the scene. So in order for this to be fulfilled, the throne must be reestablished and then continue forever. 3 (Verse 24) The People of Israel shall be God's chosen people forever. You cannot transfer that to any other group. There are those today who teach that because Israel rejected its Messiah, God has rejected Israel, and transferred all of the promises He made to Israel over to the Church. But look carefully! Most all of the promises to Israel are earthly and material. The promises of God to both Old and New Testament saints are very different. It is important that we never confuse "God's people by faith" (Jews and non-Jews), with national Israel. They are not at all similar. Secondly, two of the four covenants God made with Israel are unconditional. Regardless of what Israel did, God bound Himself to fulfill His promises. How can man transfer that to some one else? Third, when Messiah appeared the first time; He literally fulfilled all of the Old Covenant prophecies concerning His first coming. By what rationale and by what authority do some today say that the promises regarding His second coming are not to be taken just as literally, but rather allegorically. Finally, some of the earthly promises God made to Israel have never been fulfilled. They are promises that must be fulfilled literally on earth. Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most noted scientists who ever lived (1642 - 1727), stated, nearly 400 years ago, that as we approach the end of the age, people will begin to try to interpret the Bible allegorically rather than literally. That time has arrived. Incidentally, by taking an allegorical approach to interpreting the Bible, you can make the Bible say anything you want to make it say. While First and Second Samuel are primarily books of history, there are some very interesting parallels between characters in these books and in the New Covenant. Samuel, himself, is a type of Jesus the Messiah. Samuel was a prophet in Israel. He was a priest - of the tribe of Levi, and succeeded Eli as priest in the Tabernacle of God. He was also the last of the judges, meaning that he ruled Israel. Jesus, in the New Covenant, is also spoken of as our Prophet, Priest and King. Incidentally, Samuel was the final judge, winding up 400 years of rule by judges. He ushered in the period of the kings in Israel by anointing both Saul and David as kings. God rejected Saul, because of his sin and unrepentant heart. David, then, became the forerunner of the Messianic King. David was far from perfect. David committed two of what we would consider to be the worst possible sins. He committed adultery, and then tried to cover it up with murder. However, David was repentant, and his heart remained faithful to God. He was punished for his sin, and in repentance he cried out "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me... Restore to me the joy of my salvation" (Psalm 51:11 & 13 NIV). Despite this great sin, God still called him a man after God's own heart (I Samuel 13:14). The New Testament calls Jesus the Messiah, "the seed of David according to the flesh" (Romans 1:3 NIV), and "the root and the Offspring of David" (Revelation 22:15 NIV). In Second Samuel 7:12-16, put a circle around the word "seed" (verse 12). Circle the word "throne" (verse 13). Then circle the word "kindgom" (verse 16). Now, join each of these three circles with a line. What do you have? "Seed," "Throne," "Kingdom." Then underline the last words in verse 16, "...shall be established forever." NOTE: In English, the word "seed" can be either singular or plural. Not so in Hebrew or Greek. This word "seed" does not refer to David's many descendants, but to one particular seed, which should come in his line. Now go over to Luke chapter 1 where the Angel Gabriel is telling Mary that she is going to be the mother of the long awaited Messiah. In verse 32 it says, "...the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David" (NIV). In the first part of verse 32, circle the word "Son" or "Seed." In the last part of that same verse, circle the word "throne." Then in verse 33 circle the word "Kingdom." Then note the concluding remarks of that verse, "...He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever and of His kingdom there will be no end" (NIV). David, himself, received direct inspiration from God to write hymns (Psalms) which became a part of the worship of Israel, many of which point toward the Promised Messiah, and a Kingdom age in which the Messiah will rule. First and Second Kings covers the time period from the death of David through the time the southern kingdom, known as Judah, was carried off into Babylon, a period of about 345 years. The history of the northern ten tribes, known as Israel, is woven through the kings of the south till they were carried away captive into Assyria, a period of 210 years. First Kings introduces us to King Solomon, the wisest man to have lived. Solomon points to Jesus (Yeshua) the Messiah. The Lord met with Solomon in a dream or vision and asked him what he most wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom to lead God's people. The Apostle Paul (Shaul in Hebrew) said that Solomon's wisdom pointed ahead to "Messiah - Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God" (I Corinthians 1:30 NIV). Solomon's fame, glory, wealth and honor foreshadow the Messiah and His kingdom. Jesus, referring to Solomon's spendor, said of His own coming, "indeed a greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42 NIV). The northern ten tribes, known as Israel, had a total of nine different dynasties during their roughly 210 years of existence. The southern two tribes, known as Judah, had just one dynasty - that of David - in the nearly 350 years before being carried off captive into Babylon. During this time, there was yet another attempt by Satan to cut off the line through which the Messiah was supposed to come. The story is found in II Kings chapter 11 and in II Chronicles chapter 22. King Ahaziah died. His mother, Atahliah, got all of Ahaziah's children (her grandchildren) together, and had her servants kill them. It is hard to imagine a grandmother wanting to kill off all of her grandchildren so she would be the only one in line to the throne. She thought she had killed all of the royal line. However, God saw to it that she did not. A daughter of King Ahaziah had a son that was only one year old. She took him to the Temple where the priests hid him till he was seven, and then made him king. His name was Joash. He was a good king. He reestablished the temple worship in Jerusalem, which had gone into disrepair during the decades of idol worship in the nation. In spite of Queen Athaliah's attempt to destroy the House of David, and the Messianic line; God remained faithful to His covenant with David by preserving his lineage so Jesus, the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem. _________________________________________________________ SCIENCE: More About Dinosaurs By Ken Williams Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved In an earlier essay we discussed dinosaurs. However, there is so much more to say that I have decided to do an additional essay on the subject. The fact is that evolutionists use dinosaurs more than anything else to captivate the minds of our children, and teach them that there is no God. Ask any three, four or five year old what animal was extinct 65 million years before man appeared on earth, and they will all shout the answer, "dinosaurs!" In a school book for children titled The Magic School Bus in the Time of Dinosaurs by Joanna Cole, 1994, one page shows dinosaurs on the same page with cavemen. One child says, "This is a make-believe story." His answer is approved because, "There were no dinosaurs in the time of cave people. This article goes on to tell our children that "No people ever saw a dinosaur. When early humans appeard on earth, dinosaurs had already been dead for millions of years! People found out about dinosaurs from fossils." In National Geographic (January 1993, p. 142), an article titled "Age of Dinosaurs," begins with the sentence, "No human being has ever seen a live dinosaur." This concept is foundational to evolution. If it can be demonstrated that man and dinosaur coexisted on the earth, the Evolutionary Theory would crumble. That's why dinosaur and human footprints "looked like" they were human, but they couldn't be because humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time, regardless of what the evidence showed. In Dr. Philip Kitcher's book titled Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism (1982, page 121), he claimed that solid evidence for the co-existence of dinosaurs and humans would "Shake the foundations of the evolutionary theory, because, of course, the dinosaurs are supposed to have been long extinct by the time the hominids (humans) arrived on the scene." The fact is that there is lots of evidence that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time, and that dinosaurs were still living in many parts of the world as recently as seven or eight hundred years ago. In our first essay on "Dinosaurs," we looked at a very small amount of convincing evidence that showed humans and dinosaurs have indeed co-existed on this earth. However, that was very limited in scope. Even with this essay, we will only touch the surface of the evidence that is available, but which has been buried by evolutionists. So, let's begin. Did you hear the report in January 2005 of the fossilized remains of a mammal which was discovered? The reason you haven't heard about it is because in the stomach of the fossil was a small fossilized dinosaur. Like humans, mammals did not exist in the time of the dinosaurs, according to the evolutionary theory. What the find means, is that the fossilized mammal had just finished eating the dinosaur (which supposedly had been long since extinct) when it was suddenly and catastrophically buried in mud, which very quickly turned to rock (Noah's flood, perhaps?). The report was given in the January 13, 2005 issue of Nature. Dr. Javier Cabrera Darquea, of the Inca National University, was given a gift by a Peruvian farmer. The gift was some egg shaped stones with carvings on them. They were from the Inca culture of the 1400's AD. He set out to find more in the same area. Before it was over, he found more than 11,000 of them. Most interesting about the carvings is that a very large percentage of them had carvings of various types of dinosaurs on them. Some of them had both dinosaurs and people on them. Certainly these Indians in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Ecuador would not have known what dinosaurs looked like unless they had seen them first hand. To make this even more interesting, some of the dinosaurs pictured on the stones were labeled by evolutionists as nothing but art from the figment of their imagination, because no dinosaur existed that looked like some of the pictures. That was their way of dismissing the dinosaurs which were accurately pictured. But in 1992, in Geology Magazine, the Inca pictured dinosaurs were discovered in various parts of the world. So, our modern research is just now catching up with what the Inca indians knew from observation in the 1400's. Let's move next to Mexico. In the Acambaro area of Mexico there is a mountain called El Toro. In the foothills of that mountain, a man was riding along on his horse, and noticed a small ceramic figurine of a dinosaur. Since then hundreds and hundres of these ceramic figurines of dinosaurs have been found. They are about the size of a person's hand. Some were entire dinosaurs. Others had been broken. They sent some of the broken pieces off to two dating laboratories. They used two different dating methods, both of which dated them between 1800 and 2000 BC. Many months later the laboratories were advised that the ceramic pieces were from ceramic dinosaurs. Immediately the laboratories withdrew their dating, and said that they could not date the materials. The reason is obvious: the evidence did not fit the evolutionary theory. Let's move on to Cambodia, where a Buddhist Temple more than 800 years old was recently uncovered. To everyone's dismay, the intricate carvings on the building included many carvings of dinosaurs. How did those people know what dinosaurs looked like if they had never seen them? That would put dinosaurs in Cambodia as late as about 1200 AD. Our next stop is Blanding, Utah, and the Natural Bridges National Monument. In this area there are three natural sandstone bridges. On these bridges, and around the area, there are many petroglyphs (pictures drawn and carved by early Indians on the rocks). Those pictures include numerous dinosaurs, flying reptiles and dinosaur-like creatures. Surely these Indians must have seen these animals, or they would have had no way of drawing them. Fran Barnes, evolutionist and recognized authority on rock art of the American Southwest, in Barnes and Pendleton, Canyon Country Prehistoric Indians - Their Culture, Ruins, Artifacts, and Rock Art, Wasatch Publishers, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1995, wrote, "There is a petroglyph in Natural Bridges National Monument that bears a striking resemblance to a dinosaur." I have seen a picture of the dinosaur to which she refers. It is not a "striking resemblance;" it is a dinosaur, no question about it. As an evolutionist, Barnes simply could not admit that the Indians had drawn a dinosaur. For if they had drawn a dinosaur that would have meant they had seen dinosaurs. And if they had seen even one dinosaur at any time during their lifetime, that would invalidate her loyalty to the evolutionary theory. According to evolutionists, man was separated from flying reptiles such as teradactals and teradons by 65 million years. Yet, there are historical references to such creatures in written history. Herodotus (a Greek historian from the fifth century BC wrote, "There is a place in Arabia...to which I went, on hearing of some winged serpents; and when I arrived there, I saw bones and spines of serpents, in such quantities as it would be impossible to describe. The form of the serpent is like that of a water snake; but he has wings without feathers, and as like as possible to the wings of a bat (1980 reprint, Historiae, trans. Henry Clay, 2:75-76). Herodotus knew of flying repiles, and recognized that these creatures were neither birds, mammals, nor insects; but reptiles with wings. Herodotus is not the only reference in history to dinosaurs and flying reptiles. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote about Moses and his army having a difficult time passing through the Arabian Desert because of the presence of flying serpents. "When the ground was difficult to pass over, because of the multitude of serpents (which it produces in vast numbers...some of which ascend out of the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and do come upon men at unawares, and do them mischief)... [Moses] made baskets like unto arks, of sedge, and filled them with ibes (a type of bird), and carried them along with them; which animal is the greatest enemy to serpents imaginable, for they (the serpents) fly from them when they come near them; and as they fly they are caught and devoured by them (by the ibes) (n.d., Antiquities of the Jews, 2:10:2, underling added). Dr. Samuel Hubbard, Honorary Curator of Archaeology at the Museum of Natural History in Oakland, California, led an archeological expedition in the Grand Canyon area. His purpose was to prove that the American Indians had been on the North American Continent longer than anyone had thought. He did just exactly that. He discovered their pottery, their tools, their weapons, etc. But he also discovered their cave art. Among the pictures they drew were dinosaurs. How did they know what they looked like if they have never seen dinosaurs? In the book Strange Prehistoric Animals and Their History, L. C. Page & Co., Boston, 1954, pp 155ff, he writes, "Taken all in all, the proportions are good. The huge reptile is depicted in the attitude in which man would be most likely to see it - rearing on its hind legs, balancing with the long tail, either feeding or in fighting position, possibly defending itself against a party of men." In Discoveries Relating to Prehistoric Man by the Doheny Scientific Expedition, Oakland, California Museum of Natural History, 1925, pp. 5, 7, Dr. Hubbard writes, "The fact that some prehistoric man made a pictograph of a dinosaur on the walls of this canyon upsets completely all of our theories regarding the antiquity of man... The fact that the animal is upright and balancing on its tail would seem to indicate that the prehistoric artist must have seen it alive." Incidentally, nearby the expedition also found dinosaur tracks preserved in stratum identified as Triassic - supposedly more than 165 million years old. We might also note, that the expedition found drawings of sheep, oxen, humans and other things. All of those drawings were accurate. Can we not also believe that the Indians drew accurate drawings of dinosaurs which they had seen first-hand? Have you read of the discovery of some T-Rex bone March 24th of 2005? Scientists discovered, to their chagrin, soft tissue, blood vessels and blood cells. Any molecular biologist will tell you that soft tissue, blood vessels and blood cells will not stick around for 65 million years. Maybe a thousand or so at the most. Have you heard about this discovery? Likely not. Why not? Because it violates the Theory of Evolution. In the floor of the Carlisle Cathedral in England you can find the tomb of Richard Bell who died in 1496, about 350 years before the word "dinosaur" was invented. Carved into that ring are various animals like an eel, a fox, a cat and a dog and some dinosaurs. If the person or persons who did the carvings had never seen dinosaurs, how could they have accurately depicted them? In Peru, we have burial cloths and pottery with pictures of dinosaurs on them that date back to about 700 AD. What about the Roman murals from the second century AD that depict two long-necked dinosaurs? Or how about the Mesopotamian cylinder seal, found in 1969, which contains dinosaurs just like what we call the Apatosaurus? But let's go on to the ancient Egyptian tablets attributed to the first Pharaoh of the United Egypt. They have dinosaurs carved into them. Marco Polo, who lived in China for 17 years, reported in approximately 1271 AD that the Chinese emperor raised dragons (the word used for dinosaurs before the word "dinosaur" was invented in about 1845) to pull his chariots in parades. We know from history that in 1611, the Chinese emperor initiated the post of a "Royal Dragon Feeder." There is also the record of Chinese families raising dragons to use their blood for medicines and highly prizing their eggs. We have just touched the tip of the iceberg. WhY then do evolutionists insist that dinosaurs became extince 65 million years before humans arrived on the scene? Because if dinosaurs and humans co-existed on the earth, the entire evolutionary theory collapses in dust. _________________________________________________________ HISTORY: Abraham Lincoln By Ken Williams Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved A great revival led by Peter Cartright and others was sweeping the frontier in 1809. In one of those revival meetings in Kentucky, Tom Lincoln and Nancy Hanks met and were eventually married. From that union came one of the future presidents of the United States - Abraham Lincoln. Nancy took young Abe with her to church every Sunday; and she taught him the Bible as he sat on her knee. He memorized large portions of the Scriptures as a young lad, but special emphasis was placed on the Ten Commandments. Lincoln tried hard to live by the Ten commandments, and became known as "the most honest lawyer east of China." He was nicknamed "Honest Abe." It was not unusual for Lincoln to remind an opposing lawyer of a point he had overlooked or forgotten in the presentation of his case. Lincoln did something which many people also do today. Lincoln had separated the Biblical ethic from the Christ of the Bible. He tried to live by the Biblical standards upon which the Constitution and the foundations of the nation had been laid; but he had never come to know the Christ of the Bible personally. Asked by a woman in Springfield, Illinois during one of his many failed election campaigns, if he were a Christian, he responded, "I am not a Christian. God knows that I would be, but I do not read my Bible the same way as these ministers in Springfield." It was about this time that Lincoln was befriended by a group of skeptics in Springfield. Today we would call them "agnostics" or "atheists." They gave him a book, Volney's Ruins, a vicious, but very articulate attack on the Bible. It had a chilling effect on whatever small faith Lincoln may have had. Lincoln, however, returned to the Bible when the woman he loved and wanted to marry turned him down, calling him "illiterate, self-opinionated, overbearing and abominably ill-mannered." With a broken heart, Lincoln turned to his mother's Bible, which he had kept. He read the teachings of Jesus, with an eye toward changing his personality. He read until he could read and write well. He became one of the humblest presidents this nation has ever had. It was said of Lincoln that he could forgive anyone. And he became one of the most polite people of his day. Friends were amazed by the transformation. But still he did not know the Christ of the Bible. During his presidential campaign he was told that his opponent had called him "a fool." Lincoln's response was, "Then I must be a fool, for he is a very wise man." Simon P. Chase was Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln. He was a handsome, cultured man; a classical scholar who could speak three languages fluently. He was also a backstabber. He frequently went behind Lincoln's back and undercut him. What was Lincoln's response to aids who urged him to fire Chase? Here is what Lincoln said about Chase, "I'm not in favor of crushing anyone out. If there is anything that a man can do and do it well, I say, 'Let him do it.' So I am determined, so long as he does him duty as head of the Treasury Department, to shut my eyes to his attacks." Can you imagine a president taking that kind of attitude today? Secretary Chase became even more vicious. When he didn't get his way, he would turn in his resignation. He did it five times. Lincoln would go to him, praise him, and talk him into resuming his duties. The sixth time Chase handed in his resignation, Lincoln accepted it. Chase was shocked. Lincoln had called his bluff. But while Lincoln thought Chase's usefulness as a cabinet officer was over, he still thought of him as a great man. Even though Chase had stabbed him in the back time after time, Lincoln said this concerning him, "Of all the great men I have ever known, Chase is equal to about one and a half of the best of them." And then Lincoln conferred upon Chase one of the highest honors a president could bestow. He made Chase Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Where did Lincoln get the grace to treat an enemy so well? From his study of the words of Jesus when He said, "Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you." Yet, by his own profession, Lincoln was not a Christian. You see, the Judeo-Christian ethic was the foundation upon which the country had been built. But you didn't need to be a Christian to try to live by the ethic. Theodore Roosevelt said of Lincoln, "He mastered only one book - the Bible." He quoted from it more than any other president, yet he did not know the central figure of the Book. Lincoln's life was filled with tragedy. His mother died when he was nine. His sister died. The woman he loved, Ann Rutledge, could never be his. The woman he did marry constantly nagged and yelled at him, so that be began to stay away from home for three months at a time as an Illinois circuit lawyer. Then the apple of his eye, his son Willie, died. Lincoln's personal body guard, Ward Lammond, summed up the tone of Lincoln's life this way, "...the misery that dripped from Lincoln as he walked was caused by his lack of any personal religious faith." What a sad commentary. Lincoln said that the hardest thing he lived through was the death of his son Willie. He was heartbroken and in despair. He set aside each Thursday to mourn for his son. Not being a Christian, the president had no hope. His wife sent to New York City for a friend, Dr. Francis Vinton, rector of Trinity Church. Dr. Vinton told Lincoln that it was not right for him to mourn thus over his son. He said, "Your son is alive, sir, in Paradise. Do you remember the passage in the Gospels, 'God is not the God of the dead, but of the Living?'" Lincoln, who had been sitting at his desk almost as if he were not listening, suddenly shook as if startled. "Alive! Alive!" he shouted, "Surely you mock me, sir!" "No sir!" said Vinton. "Believe me, it is the most comforting doctrine of the Church, founded on the words of Christ Himself." Lincoln leaped from his chair, embraced the rector and cried aloud, "Alive! Alive! Alive!" That day a change began to take place in Lincoln's life, which culminated November 19, 1863 when he went to Gettysburg to deliver the most perfect speech ever given by uninspired man - the Gettysburg Address. We always remember the "Four score and seven years ago..." portion of that speech. But I want to zero in on a portion which usually gets little attention. You see, Lincoln, and the people of his day, still knew why the first Europeans came to North America. It has long since been censored from our history books. Lincoln said, "...to that great task which remains before us, the task of the building of the Kingdom of God throughout the world. This was the purpose of those that first came to this shore, for the advancement of the Christian faith." That was still the purpose and aim of the nation in Lincoln's day, during the mid 1800's. Not long after this, an Illinois clergyman visited with President Lincoln and asked, "Do you love Jesus?" Lincoln replied, "When I left Springfield, I asked the people to pray for me; I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life; I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers; I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, I do love Jesus." Lincoln lived another year and a half, and it is said that a tremendous change took place in his life. Asked by a newspaper reporter if God was on the side of the Union in the Civil War, Lincoln responded, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My great concern is to be on God's side." Lincoln's second inaugural address was perhaps his best speech. In it he referred to himself as a believer in the Living God. He talked about his fervent prayers and he cited the truth and the righteousness of God. That speech, though expunged from today's history books, is forever preserved on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial. The last bill Lincoln signed into law provided for the words, "In God we trust," to be displayed on all U.S. coins. At his last cabinet meeting, Lincoln ordered that no recriminations and no vengeance be taken against the south. How different things might have turned out for the south had Lincoln lived. He also told his cabinet that now that slavery had been ended his next project would be to take up "the curse of alcohol which plagues the land." In his last speech, President Lincoln asked Congress to establish a national day of Thanksgiving. Then, on that fateful Good Friday evening, the President and the First Lady went to Ford's Theatre to watch a play. Lincoln was not much interested in the play. Word had just come that the Civil War was over. Lincoln leaned over to Mary and said, "Do you know what I would like to do now? I would like to go with you to the Near East." A young man had gone to a tavern that same day to drink. His name was John Wilkes Booth. That night another man had left his post outside the President's theatre box to go across the street to a tavern for a drink. Now, the first of these two men (Booth), in the absence of the second man (the guard), opened the door to the President's box. Lincoln continued, unaware of what was about to happen, "We could go to Bethlehem where He was born." Booth stepped quietly into the Presidential Box. "We could go to Bethany and follow in His hallowed footsteps," the President whispered." Booth lifted the gun and aimed it at the back of Lincoln's head. Lincoln continued unaward, "And we could go up to Jeru..." BANG! The maddest pistol shot in history rang out! A few days earlier Lincoln had written to his pastor at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. He told him that he had come to faith in the Savior and wanted to make a public profession of faith on Easter Sunday morning. That letter remains in the archives of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington today. As word spread of the President's death, great crowds filled the streets in all the major cities. In New York City it was reported that the crowd was mourning in hopelessness and despair. Then a man climbed up on a building and shouted, "The Lord reigns in Washington!" A hush fell over the crowd. The meaning of that phrase settled in on them, and slowly and silently they dispersed. Even though nearly a hundred years had passed since the Colonies had revolted against the King of England, the people still remembered the ground swell which came when the Constitutional Convention was dealing with how to select the king over the new United States of America. The immediate cry at the time was, "We have no king, but King Jesus!" You see, the Lord was King. The president merely presided over the King's business. That reminder calmed the people's fears, and they returned to their homes. President Abraham had presided over the biggest and most divisive issue the nation had ever faced. On the one side were the people for "life." They claimed the other side was taking the lives of people. On the other side were those who were for "choice." A person had the right, they claimed, to do whatever they wanted with that which was their own. People for life said slavery was a moral issue involving the taking of the lives of the people involved. People for choice contended there was no moral issue at all, but rather a political issue. They vowed to defend their human rights with all their might. The people for life organized, demonstrated, wrote and published articles. The rhetoric got stronger and stronger until the U. S. Supreme Court dealth them a crushing blow by declaring that the people involved were not people at all, and therefore could not be covered by the guarantees of the Constitution. That, however, did not end the controversy. If anything, it made the religious right even more determined. Fighting and demonstrations broke out all over the country between those who were for life, and those who were for choice. It all came to a head when the President of the United States issued the Emancipation Proclamation setting all the slaves free. They say history repeats itself. Is it possible the pro-choice argument is no more valid today then it was in 1863? In similar fashion, the Supreme Court has declared that unborn babies are not people and therefore are not covered by the guarantees of the Constitution. The anti-slavery movement (or people for life, as they were called), grew out of fiery revival preaching from America's churches. In 1835, a great host of people gathered for a pro-life convention in New England, and formed the Anti-Slavery Socity. Two-thirds of the delegates to the convention were ministers. The plantation owners of the south never could see the issue. To them there was nothing moral or immoral about it. To them it was simply a matter of choice - purely political. If you didn't believe in slavery, you didn't have to own any. To them slaves were personal property with which they could do as they willed. To back up their arguments, the U. S. Supreme Court had ruled, in what became known as "The Dreat Scott Decision," that slaves were not people, and therefore were not protected under the Constitution. It was over this that the bloodiest war ever fought on these shores was waged. Then, on January 1, 1863, during a cabinet meeting, President Lincoln reached into his hat, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and presented it to his cabinet members. On it he had scribbled, the everning before, the text of the Emancipation Proclamation. He told those present, "I made a vow to Almighty God that if He would grant our army victory at Antietam, I would emancipate the slaves." _________________________________________________________ A PERSONAL NOTE: A Medical Update on Ken Williams I want to thank all who have been praying for me. It has been amazing to discover that individuals, churches and even a seminary student body (Mexico) on four continents have been praying for me during this time. As you may be aware, on January 28th of this year, I was diagnosed with a malignent tumor on my spine. The symptoms began to show up last fall. After numerous tests, the tumor was finally discovered in January. By that time I was numb from the knees down, and walking with the aid of a cane. I was also very tired and had to force myself just to get through the normal routine of the day. During March I completed a series of 25 radiation treatments. I am currently on oral chemotherapy, which has much less side effects than interveinous chemo. Not withstanding, there are side effects. Every Friday I take a concoction of 10 pills which make me very hyper for the next 24 hours, including a lack of sleep on Friday night, and a pulse which races into the mid 90's. Every evening I take a very strong pill which is so heavily regulated it cannot be obtained through a local pharmacy. In fact, in order to be approved for it, I had to take a test and interview with the Federal Drug Administration; and additional interviews will take place once a month as long as I am on it. I had to chuckle when the FDA warned me in no uncertain terms that under no circumstances while taking this medication should I become pregnant. The symptoms have deminished. The pain in my back disappeared during the radiation treatments. The numbness in my legs has left, except for the very tip of my toes; so I am not longer using a cane. I lost much of the strength in the muscles in my lower legs. I am on a program to rebuild that. However, the doctor says that it is sometimes very difficult for a person of my age to regain the former strength. While still tiring late in the afternoon, I am functioning at a much higher level than I was just a few months ago. Again, thank you so much for your prayers. My wife and I would request that you continue to uphold us before the Throne of Grace. _______________________________________ Fall 2010 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2010 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2010 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter ______________________________ |
 |
 |
||
|
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| Site Map |