Tags: A House Divided, Abraham
Lincoln, Civil War, Union, Confederacy, Slavery, the Founders, modernist, modernism,
Christian heritage, Civil War, Abe Lincoln, Peter Cartright, deist, deism, Carl Sandburg,
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church,
The
Path of the Just There has been a considerable amount of question regarding whether or not Abe Lincoln was a Christian at all. In 1846 he successfully ran for Congress against Peter Cartright, a famous frontier evangelist and circuit rider. During the campaign, Cartright's men kept the notion going that Lincoln's wife was a high-toned Episcopalian; while Lincoln himself held drunkards to be as good as Christians and church members, was a deist who believed in God but did not accept Christ or the doctrines of atonement and punishment, and said "Christ was a bastard." The bold This drew the rebuttal, "I observe that many responded to the first invitation to give their hearts to God and go to heaven. And I further observe that all of you save one indicated that you did not desire to go to hell. The sole exception is Mr. Lincoln, who did not respond to either invitation. May I inquire of you, Mr. Lincoln, where you are going?" To this the politician replied, "I came here as a respectful listener. I did not know I was to be singled out by Brother Cartright. I believe in treating religious matters with due solemnity. I admit that the questions propounded by Brother Cartright are of great importance. I did not feel called upon to answer as the rest did. Brother Cartright asks me directly where I am going. I desire to reply with equal directness: I am going to Congress." How was it, then, concerning Abraham's personal salvation? Was he the deist that he was accused of being by Brother Cartright -- the humanists of this day? Was he a man dominated by his own political ambitions as suggested by our current modernist progressives? Was he no more than a charlatan who perpetrated his self-image of a Godly man to the nation for his own political advancement? Was there sincerity in what he said as it pertained to the God of the Bible? Carl Sandburg wrote, "Continuously Lincoln gave no definite impression that he belonged to any particular church or endorsed any special faith or doctrine. That he was a man of piety and of deep religious belief was conveyed to large numbers of people by unmistakable expressions in his speeches and messages. The President and his wife usually drove to the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church but sometimes walked, accompanied by a guard, arriving punctually and never delaying Dr. Gurley's opening of the services. . ." But going to church regularly doesn't make one a Christian any more that standing in a garage makes him a car. In October '63, To delegations of Methodists and Baptists he spoke, "I now humbly and reverently, in your presence, reiterate the acknowledgment of that dependence, not doubting that, if it shall please the Divine Being who determines the destinies of nations that this shall remain a united people, they will, humbly seeking the Divine guidance, make their prolonged national existence a source of new benefits to themselves and their successors, and to all classes and conditions of mankind." But trusting the Lord for the national welfare does not make one a Christian either. Acknowledging a Baptist delegation during the same year the President uttered, "I have had a great cause of gratitude for the support unanimously given by all the Christian denominations of the country." Late in the summer of that year a committee of black people presented Lincoln with a richly wrought Bible to which he thanked, "It has always been a sentiment with me that all mankind should be free. . .To you I return my most sincere thanks for the very elegant copy of the Great Book of God which you present." And to a Quaker woman, Eliza P. Gurney, Yet the love for the church and God's people, a benevolent heart for the downtrodden with a belief in inalienable rights for all mankind, the knowledge and love of the proclamation of God's Word and a constant reading of it in even the most ornate of Bibles, the earnest work of an honest man, a trust in the ends that God ordains, the anticipation of God's goodness in action, or the conviction that God knows best will not afford one with the opportunity of an eternal existence in heaven. At a later time, a clergyman attempted
to formulate a creed that would accurately describe the beliefs of this foremost President
of the These are words of immeasurable
importance to a nation that desires to live under the cloak of God's blessing. Fortunately
for all of us the man who held those views, Abraham Lincoln, was President during the
greatest national disaster that One of the steadfast and loyal friends
of To Fell though, the President confided much, inspiring the scrupulous recorder to write, "On the innate depravity of man, the character an office of the great head of the Church, the Atonement, the infallibility of the written revelation, the performance of miracles, the nature and design of present and future rewards and punishments (as they are properly called) and many other subjects, he held opinions utterly at variance with what are usually taught in the church. I should say that his expressed views on these and kindred subjects were such as, in the estimate of most believers, would place him entirely outside of the Christian pale. Yet to my mind, such was not the true position, since his principles and practices and the spirit of his whole life were of the very kind we universally agree to call Christian; and I think this conclusion is in no wise affected by the circumstance that he never attached himself to any religious society whatever." Christianity flowing out of the spirit of a man is the Christian world view we have been talking about. It is the perspective of life that drives the moral fiber of an individual in a manner that causes his actions and words to reflect nothing other than the mind of Christ, regardless of what his personal standing before God is as it relates to eternal salvation. It is a moral consciousness that brings
about blessing in anyone's life. These blessings come to the one who will conform to an
acknowledged LAW of God -for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. (Rom In the case of Abraham Lincoln, Jesse
Fell may well have had an acute insight into the President's heart as he wrote of his
actual spiritual state. But while looking at the graves at Actually, the invitation to have the President speak at the sight of that historic battlefield was an after thought. After the main orator, Edward Everett, spoke, Mr. Lincoln was "to formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use with a few appropriate remarks." These "appropriate remarks"
were scratched on a piece of scrap paper with a memorandum that The loss of his favorite son had left Abraham inconsolable as well. When the youngster died, a nurse had stood with them day-after-day to tell Abe that God's comfort would not be found in doing good works but in personal faith in Christ. Nonetheless The principal speaker addressed his
squirming audience for one hour and forty-five minutes. The yawns from the captive crowd
could do little more than convince the President that he should depart from the platform
none too soon. As it was, Only a few moments after it began, the Gettysburg Address concluded, "That the nation, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." It was a high price that our nation paid during those perilous times to assure future generations they would inherit the freedom that was won on that battlefield. It was a confrontation covered with the prayers of the deliverer of this famous address to his war torn nation. He was a man thoroughly convinced that God is a God of black and white and right and wrong -- that God is One who will deliver justice to those who will obey Him. Interestingly, However, Harper's weekly observed, "The oration by Mr. Everett was smooth and cold. The few words of the President were from the heart to the heart." But as Abe looked upon the sepulcher of fallen men, he began to see a reality of the Word that he had never realized before. God appeared to him that day as He never had. Now the personal feelings of Abraham
Lincoln are items that he seldom divulged to anyone. However, many of So on The whole world could see the
encouragement that filled the heart of the President from that time on. Governor Dick
Yates commented to a group of Methodists in Yes, So it was at the end of 1863 with this
decisive victory in his pocket and the beginnings of a new view of God in his mind, that Just looking back on the war of all wars was a testimony of God's hand working in our nation in order to affect His will. Knowing the conviction from which it originated; the results alone of this great conflict should bring this nation to its knees before the Almighty Abraham Lincoln confided to A. G. Hodges early in 1864, "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. . . Now, at the end of three years struggle the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man devised, or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find a new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God." The fact that we have equal rights for the black man today goes back to the faith of one man, Abraham Lincoln. Within the context of that faith was a true belief in the overriding justice and goodness of God who brings about the benefits of value to any society. The Chicago Tribune wrote, "So far as can be gathered. . . God meant him to be President, or the nation is deceived." Now either Early in 1864, Governor Yates spoke of him, "I stand up here to say that from long acquaintance with him, that he is not only one of the honestest men of God ever made, but in clear, cool, statesmanship judgment, he is without peer in the history of the world." Today, we are faced with a barrage of views that proclaim to us that those who gave us our country were other than what we always have believed they were. In particular, they desire to deface the Founding Father's Christian stance. The Christian base of our country stands as a road block between them and how they desire to live there lives. Changing history is how they justify the application of immoral behavior as a fitting employment of inherent, inalienable rights. * * * It is like the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that finds our hero sitting at a table with pencil and paper to discuss his profound insight to his loyal companion. "We really don't understand what really causes events to happen," he explains to his attentive friend. "History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has direction and order." Now standing erect with hands waving in the air the young wizard continues, "That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices." The tiger ponders on. "So what are you writing?" the fluffy mammal inquires. "A revisionist autobiography." * * * What is the truth of history? Who is
this Abraham Lincoln? Was he a man motivated by political lust, or a man after God's own
heart who truly sought the Almighty in envisioning a brighter future for In making any judgment regarding an
individual, one must listen to the testimony of those who witnessed the actions of the
man. To know the truth of The liberal college professors of today
desire to pull what ever incident out of Yet the Bible indicates that one will
know men according to the fruits of their lives. To look back on the accomplishments of
our most prominent President, is to see a work that guaranteed the preservation of liberty
of such a magnitude that it still stands un-paralleled in American history. Convinced by
the Word of the Lord he had grown up with, Emerson's analysis saw the person of John Hay, who knew the man better than
any other, called Who shall you believe? The arm-chair
historian who is looking back a hundred years through the lens of his own prejudices? The
one who uses isolated facts and quotes out of context to make his point? Or are you going
to listen to the people knew Believe the ones who finally witnessed
the conclusion of the great Civil war. General Lee ultimately surrendered at While These profound words from the one who preserved liberty for all ring out their cadence throughout our land now filled with decadence and decay. They are words that must be heard. They embody the only truth worth considering. Click Here to purchase the E-book edition for only 99 cents!
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Don Wigton
is a graduate of the prestigious music department at CSULB where he studied under Frank
Pooler, lyricist of Merry Christmas Darling, and sang in Poolers world renown
University Choir alongside Karen and Richard Carpenter. During this time Don was also the
lead composer of the band, Clovis Putney, that won the celebrated Hollywood Battle of the
Bands. After giving his life to God, Don began attending Calvary Chapel, Eventually
Don served as a pastor at Calvary Chapel Bakersfield to witness thousands of salvations
through that ministry. As the music/concert director, Don worked for seven years with most
major Christian artist of that time while producing evangelical concerts attended by
thousands of young people seeking after God. Dons Calvary Chapel Praise Choir
released the album Let All Who Hath Breath Praise the Lord on the Maranatha! label. The next
years of Dons life were spent as the praise leader of Today Don is
the leading force behind Wigtune Company. This
webbased project located at www.praisesong.net has provided several million downloads of
Dons music and hymn arrangements to tens of thousands of Christian organizations
throughout the world. More music can be found at Don's Southern
Cross Band website at www.socrossband.com. The book Holy Wars represents Dons most recent effort to bless the church with biblical instruction and direction in praise and worship. This heartfelt volume is an offering not only to Gods people, but also to God Himself. Connect With Don Online |
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This first of five books looks into a pivotal moment in American history that changed the world forever. It was a time when the United States was on the brink of destruction. It was and era when an American prophet and patriot stood up to eco the words of Christ: "A house divided cannot stand." Today we live in a similar era today where America is torn asunder between truth and error. And the wrong decision will bring dire consequences! Click Here to purchase the E-book edition for only 99 cents!
All For Freedom! Thanks to the men and women who give their all for our freedom.
Father's Eyes A nation in apostacy
Uh Uh Uh There are many lying voices out in the world calling us to sin and despair.
You Broke My Heart Jesus said "Let your yes be yes and your no's be no's." When we break our word people get hurt.
Wigtune Company An offering of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs for the
worship edification of the Body of Christ. Praise and Worship Songs to bless God. . .
Holy Wars. . .a powerful and dynamic "must have" for every Christian who is seeking to worship God in the midst of the tempest of our modern world. CLICK HERE or call Author House @ 888.280.7715 to purchase a hard or soft cover copy of Don Wigton's book "Holy Wars" upon which this blog is based. Click Here to purchase the E-book edition for only 99 cents!
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