We, . . . Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do . . . solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick…. (Mayflower Compact 1620)

In most of America’s institutions of learning, the Puritans, Calvinists, and Pilgrims are often portrayed only as separatists. But a close examination of the lives and writings of the early American colonists clearly reveal that “their intent was to seek liberty for themselves and their little ones, and to walk with God in a Christian life, for the rules and motives of such a life were revealed to them from God’s Word.”

They were determined to escape the religious persecution of Europe. Bradford made it clear that the Pilgrims’ purpose was to labor to have the right worship of God and discipline of Christ established in the church, according to the simplicity of the gospel, without the mixture of men’s inventions.

The original group of believers in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire joined themselves by a covenant to the Lord into a church estate, in the fellowship of the gospel, to walk in all ways made known unto them, according to their best endeavors, whatever it cost them, with the Lord assisting them. They had that great hope and inward zeal of laying a good foundation for the propagating and advancing of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world.

According to Bradford, the Pilgrims came into these parts of America with one aim, namely, to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the gospel in purity and peace. The strong grasp of the intellectual and practical side of his and other Pilgrims’ ideas of religious liberty they owed, no doubt, a deep debt to that splendid apostolic figure, their old pastor at Leydon, John Robinson.

The Farewell Sermon

It was evening, and the place was Delfshaven Holland and the date was July 31, 1620. The beloved pastor looked over the pulpit at his flock of around 120 pilgrims for the final time. He then read his last sermon to them before they set sail the following morning on an adventure that would change all their lives:

We are now ere long to part asunder, and the Lord knoweth whether he [Robinson] should live to see our face again. But whether the Lord had appointed it or not, he charged us before God and His blessed angels, to follow him no further than he followed Christ; and if God should reveal anything to us by any other instrument of His, to be ready to receive it, as ever we were to receive any truth by his ministry; for he was very confident the Lord had more truth and light yet to break forth out of His Holy Word.

He took occasion also miserably to bewail that state and condition of the Reformed churches who had come to a period of [standstill] in religion, and would go no further than the instruments of their reformation [i.e. those who had been leaders in the Reformation]. For example, the Lutherans could not be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw; for whatever part of God’s will He had further imparted and revealed to Calvin, they [the Lutherans] would rather die than embrace it.

And so also, saith he, you see the Calvinists, they stick where he [Calvin] left them, a misery much to be lamented; for though they were precious shining lights in their times, yet God had not revealed His whole will to them; and were they now living, saith he, they would be as ready and willing to embrace further light, as they had received.

Here also he put us in mind of our church covenant, at least that part of it whereby we promise and covenant with God and one another to receive whatsoever light or truth shall be made known to us from His written Word; but withal [he] exhorted us to take heed what we received for truth, and well to examine and compare it and weigh it with other Scriptures of truth before we received it. For saith he, it is not possible [that] the Christian world should come so lately [recently] out of such thick antichristian darkness, and that full perfection of knowledge should break forth at once.

As heirs of their risky and adventurous faith, new believers in the U.S. and around the world still seek to embrace this further light.

The Great Sacrifice

William Bradford wrote:

I do not think many Americans will gaze upon it without a little trembling of the lips and a little gathering of mist in the eyes, as they think of the story of suffering, of sorrow, of peril, of exile, of death and of lofty triumph…..There is nothing like it in human annals since the story of Bethlehem. These English men and women going out from their homes in beautiful Lincoln and York, wife separated from husband and mother from child in that hurried embarkation for Holland, pursued to the beach by English horsemen; the thirteen years of exile; the life at Amsterdam in alley foul and lane obscure; the dwelling at Leyden; the embarkation at Delfthaven; the farewell of Robinson; the terrible voyage across the Atlantic; the compact in the habour; the landing on the rock; the dreadful first winter; the death roll of more than half the number; the days of suffering and of famine; the wakeful night, listening for the yell of the wild beast and the war-whoop of the savage; the building of the State on those sure foundations which no wave nor tempest has ever shaken; the breaking of the new light; the dawning of the new day; the beginning of the new life and the enjoyment of peace with liberty…….

The phrase, Pilgrim Fathers commonly used by Americans, has created a vague impression of  severe old men with long beards wearing long traditional attires similar to what is associated with ministers of religion. But the majority of the Pilgrims at the time of their arrival in America were still young men and women who sacrificed everything:

They had an inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least of making some way for the propagation and advance of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even thogh they should be but steeping stones to others in the performance of so great a work. 

For instance, William Bradford was thirty-one years old in 1621, when he was first elected to the office of governor. Most of other Pilgrims were about the same age or younger.  Unfortunately, many people, born and raised in the United States have forgotten their history. Yet, we advance our knowledge and understanding of the world we live in by studying history.

History is not about mere memorization of important people, dates, or events. History is about studying cause and effect—what causes civilizations to develop and what causes them to collapse.

Over and over again, as the Israelites prepared to cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land, Moses charged them to remember with gratitude where they came from. Moses continued to remind God’s people of the past, taught them how to live in the present, and urged them to look ahead to the future. They were warned not to forget, especially when prosperity and wealth came.

But sadly the lesson was not learned and “they did not understand nor appreciate His miracles…they hastily forgot His works; and did not wait for His plans to develop in the desert” (Psalm 106:7, 13). How does this apply to us today? Paul tells us,

Now these things are examples (warnings and admonitions) for us not to desire or crave or covet or lust after evil and carnal things as they did….

Now these things befell them by way of a figure [as an example and warning to us]; they were written to admonish and fit us for right action by good instruction, we in whose days the ages have reached their climax (their consummation and concluding period)” (1 Corinthians 10:6, 11 AMP).

While on the contrary, William Bradford vividly remembered God’s past acts on behalf of the pilgrims when they sailed from Plymouth and decided to settle in America. “Our fathers,” said Governor Bradford to his fellow Puritans who landed at Plymouth, “were Englishmen who came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice, and looked on their adversities and the sons and daughters of the Pilgrims then remembered.”

History demonstrates that the Pilgrims were willing to put biblical and Christian principles in government to the test. Both spiritually and politically, they rose up foundations of many generations. Four hundred years later, the people of the United States are still building on this great heritage that the Pilgrims laid.

Below is the video from CBN about Celebrating the First Landing:

Source and description of Image: The Embarkation of the Pilgrims (1857) by the American painter Robert Walter Weir at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. Wikipedia

One of the biggest problems we have in our society today is thinking because we “know” something that it is “knowledge.” That is what makes it possible for so many psychopaths to publish a plethora of lies on the Internet that is believed by so many people.

This is the information age. Never have people had access to so much information – and it can be accessed while sitting in the comfort of your own living room… on your Smart TV or your laptop.

But information is not knowledge. It is just information… possibly true, possibly false; possibly meaningful, possibly not; possibly helpful, possibly destructive or otherwise worthless.

How does information become knowledge? Experience!

You only KNOW information is accurate when it has been tested. If people understood this there would be far fewer divorces and far fewer wars.

I often ask people for their definition of truth and most have to think before they give a response. They often reply “factual.” Here is my definition: Truth is that which does not change. There is only one thing that never changes. It is God, the only entity that is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus Christ told us He is “the way, the truth and the life.”

There is a difference between factual and truthful. One can change; the other cannot. When truth changes it goes without saying that what we thought was the truth before it changed was, indeed, not the truth – so how reliable is updated “truth”? One thing you can always count on in worldly matters is change.

We understand when presented with a list of facts surrounding a specific topic that as we investigate we will find more facts and some will conflict with others. As we learn more, our understanding of the facts changes.

To verify that statement, we can look at the numerous scientific opinions put forth about global warming – all based on scientific facts (or opinions about facts that are presented to the public as facts rather than opinions).

When we get conflicting facts, those who seek knowledge dig more to determine which ones are accurate, which are not. Those who are satisfied with information — those to whom knowledge is unimportant — stop seeking when their comfort level is reached.

The point is, facts may change. Truth does not. We once thought the earth was flat, for example. Our facts were erroneous. Today we believe it to be round, but as we learn more about our universe who knows what facts we may find?

The lesson to be learned? Information is just information, not knowledge. It may or may not be factual. Before making important decisions in your life, it is important to understand that.

Knowledge is information with which you have experience. You have tested it. It, too, may not be factual, however. Look how many people sincerely believe that something for nothing is a good idea – for them, for society.

Bernie Sanders has generated a following of many millions of Americans who think free education and free medical care are really free. They do not understand that they are coveting – putting their hands in their neighbors’ pockets and stealing from them money their neighbors worked hard to earn. They are incapable of digging deeply enough to learn that socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried.

One reason socialism fails is because when the productive are told they must support those who choose to be non-productive they become less productive. Why? Maybe it’s because they have no motivation to pay for your education or that of your children.

Perhaps they resent having the quality of their medical care go down so people who prefer to be unemployed rather than employed can get free care. Those who are truly unable to work need free medical care, but those who prefer the “freedom” of being unemployed? Please!

When people become less productive, government tax revenue goes down because fewer people are employed and fewer people can afford to buy things… from homes to clothing to cars.

Taxes realized by government as a result of lost income tax from jobs and sales tax from purchases go down. Because college is free, more students attend and the quality of instructors goes down and so does the quality of education… college becomes (as it is today) advanced high school.

There are a lot of people who use information to escape rather than find reality.

Those seeking facts are totally different from security-motivated people who manipulate their life experiences so they hear what they want to hear, learn what they want to learn, and confirm the facts they want to confirm so they can keep their heads firmly buried in the sand – or wherever. You may ask: “If they are confirming facts, aren’t they seeking reality?”

Many people stop seeking facts when they reach a point that confirms what they want to believe. They seek no additional facts that may take them into areas of discomfort. That is what we call cognitive dissonance.

Let’s look at the sources we use to gain information today. Let me begin with this quote from Proverbs 26 (24-25): “A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit! Though his speech is charming, believe him not, for seven abominations fill his heart.”

First we have the media. It is hard to believe that people who consider themselves intelligent rely on the mainstream media for information, but they do.

How do we know the mainstream media is not reliable? We know because there is no bigger purveyor of political correctness. We know the primary victim of political correctness is facts.

When an entity that portrays itself to be the provider of news embraces political correctness, you often get opinions rather than facts and the facts that are presented are very selectively chosen.

The people instinctively understand this (which accounts for the popularity of presidential candidate Donald Trump who consistently makes politically incorrect statements; people may dislike his personality but like him for the facts he provides).

We know people who believe political correctness has value are those who have an agenda. Often, they are being paid for pushing a particular agenda… the Food and Drug Administration is a good example of that as are politicians. These people think in terms of “the collective good,” a socialist concept. Or perhaps they think of payoffs. Their agendas cannot be supported with facts.

Second, we have social media.

While in college, a computer programmer, Mark Zuckerberg, decided people needed a computer program that would enable them to communicate with others, stay in touch with family and friends, and create new friends via a Web page reflective of their opinions.

In 2016, Facebook, Zuckerberg’s creation, has 1.1 billion unique visitors monthly. That is close to 1/6th of the world’s population every month.

Born May 14, 1984, Zuckerberg’s Facebook has created him a net worth estimated by Forbes to be $46 billion.

Twitter has 310 million unique visitors monthly and LinkedIn has 255 million. There are many social media outlets. These three merely provide insight into how heavily the social media is used in modern life.

What has social media contributed to our society?

Unfortunately, the result has been to de-personalize communication with family and friends. Rather than a phone call or a personal visit with Mom and Dad on a Sunday afternoon, kids today tell their parents to visit their Facebook page for the latest pictures of the grandkids.

We have an entire generation of people who while walking down the street or driving a car are Tweeting others and reading messages (both of which are dangerous). It has placed libelous material in the marketplace, put there by people who get their jollies by misleading others.

Though the large majority of postings to Facebook are made by normal, healthy and happy people, the social media also provides a reflection of human arrogance and stupidity… the posting of offensive and ugly parts of society including confessions of personal behavior that will stay with the person who posted it for a lifetime… or with a person about whom someone posted libelous information.

Facebook and other imitative social media have become heaven on earth for psychopaths. These mal-wired, usually angry people can say anything they want about anyone, including themselves.

Because mentally ill people often get their jollies by lying, their postings are often designed to be destructive to someone they either envy or hate. ISIS uses social media to attract young men to join their cause and blow themselves and others up.

They recruit young women to become wives to ISIS warriors. Old men who portray themselves as young, dynamic young men entrap girls into relationships which have morphed into personal (and destructive) meetings.

I had an interesting experience last week with one of these degenerates.

This sick person’s Facebook identity will remain anonymous. I try to direct people to factual data and avoid promoting those with sick ideas.

Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg’s creative energy, this man told the world that I was being paid a fee whenever a child is sold to a child trafficking ring. I was appalled to see those words publicly stated in writing. Could there be any worse thing to say about a person?

Does Mr. Zuckerberg monitor Facebook for accuracy or give innocent victims who avoid taking part in his social media experiment a place to complain about this kind of abuse? How can I find out who this person is so I can take him to court?Do I have the opportunity to say “this is a lie and this person is sick and should not have access to the public marketplace of ideas”? Evidently Mr. Zuckerberg overlooked the need for such an alternative.

Understand that I realize anyone who knows me is as shocked by hearing it as I am. I also realize there are far more people in the world who do not know me than who do. It is a comment for which I have absolutely no responsibility and about which I can do nothing. If I had a Facebook account, I could “un-friend” this sick-o.

The Bible tells us there is one unforgivable sin: to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. I believe that anyone who abuses a child blasphemes that child’s Holy Spirit. I believe pedophilia to be a more serious crime than murder because by traumatizing their spirit it kills in childhood the person God intended someone to become.

They are forced to live with the outcome… a fate far worse than death. I know people who were sexually abused as children and they carry the scar of that trauma with them throughout their lives.

Those are just a few of the dangers of Facebook and other social media. The people who read the madness pass it on… it gives them a sense of empowerment. They think they know something no one else does and that makes them appear better informed than they are.

In fairness to Facebook, this happens as a result of telephone conversations, too. People read or hear something, don’t check it out, and pass it on as if it’s a fact… and that’s called gossip, not information – and certainly not knowledge.

When you pass on information about someone with no corroborating evidence (evidence goes beyond “I know this person well and he/she would never lie to me”) you may be defaming someone and may be libeling them. If we don’t take time to verify what’s being said about another person we have no business passing it on.

We as Americans need to ask ourselves some questions. One of them is: Has the quality of life gone up or down since the technology revolution? I also think when we give ourselves an honest answer to that question we need to understand it is what we have done with technology that creates problems rather than the technology, itself.

As for Facebook, please consider yourself “un-friended” (what a stupid expression!).

Copyright © 2016, News With Views, All rights reserved.