Avalon Chronicles #119: The Titanic: Are you on one of the Lifeboats?

      The recent sad story of the destruction of an undersea vehicle with five passengers, seeking a "sightseeing" trip to the deep burial site of the Titanic ship, struck by an iceberg in 1912 off the coast of Newfoundland, has generated an immense amount of attention. The Titanic story came to my attention recently by "accident" in the NKJV of The Evidence Bible (Bridge-Logos 2011 page 175) in a commentary by Ray Comfort. 

    Allow me to paraphrase from the commentary. The sinking of the ship in the freezing cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean has its comparability to the plan of salvation instituted upon the sacrifice on the cross of Jesus, the Savior of mankind, sent to earth by the Creator God to establish a way by which humanity has the Lifeboat of the Savior that takes us from this world, wherein we can live forever and not perish and not sink due to our sins. So many of us know there is a World with all its enticing entanglements of living lustful, hateful, jealous, acquisitive and thieving lives. God provided us an alternative to the Worldly life and that is a life based upon the Word of God. A great moral code, the Ten Commandments, was established by God to the Hebrews seeking the Promised Land after their Egyptian captivity. 

     There will be those, who attribute no value to these timeless truths, embodied in the Commandments. However, living by them does provide us a lifeboat. Obviously, the crew members of the Titanic marshaled rescue of the women and children first. There never were enough lifeboats for all anyway, but, even had there been, there were those on the ship that believed the ship was unsinkable and would not have taken advantage of rescue with the boats. The life jackets they wore were not enough. A life jacket today of only "good works" will not be enough for salvation. Only living a righteous life through true faith in Jesus will be enough to save us. 

     The "ship" carrying many through their lives will sink. There is a way out. That is to believe that the story of Jesus, dying on that cross two thousand years ago at Calvary outside the Old City of Jerusalem, was real and that believing the story told and retold for two millenia is what will be our ultimate lifeboat. 

     All of us need saving from something or other than the ultimate spiritual salvation to guarantee eternal life, but, as we swim our way through life's challenges, I believe my favorite scripture as one to live by is 1 John 3:22: "And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." With this scripture as a guideline we can keep our head above water daily as we face the traumas and travails of life.

The Honorable Allen B. Clark

Author Soldiers Blood and Bloodied Money

Avalon Chronicles #118: Exodus From Human Bondage The Declaration of Independence of America

                                   July 4, 1776 a Day in History that will Endure Forever!

     A treasured book in my personal library is Unto the Generations The Roots of True Americanism        written by Daniel L. Marsh and published by the Long House Publishers in Connecticut in 1968. Author Marsh, at the time Life Chancellor of Boston University, writes of certain historical events, documents and speeches of America's past. He adopts a rather unique rendering for our nation of these special aspects of our history as they relate to Biblical times, Old and New Testaments. Very compelling is his comparison for the signing of our Declaration of Independence to the Exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt. A student/reader of the history of this ancient time will recall how Moses gathered up the Hebrews, who had endured 400 years of oppression and slavery under Egyptian domination. They broke free and began their journey to the Promised Land.

    The British colonies in America had developed from the original landings at Jamestown and Plymouth and had blazed trails south and west and established new frontiers of settlers, who had become very independent. One of the historical facts of complete historical significance is that the trails were blazed through lands occupied by many native Americans, who were dispersed to other areas. Over the decades the rule and control of Great Britain became tighter and tighter in governance and especially in taxation. It was not a slavery as experienced by the Hebrews, but nonetheless it was most oppressive. The colonists in America decided it was time to break free and that we did with the establishment of a nation that had never been nor ever would be again.

     Many documents established throughout history are very much secular, but in our nation we developed a different approach. It had its roots in several evangelistic happenings centered around Great Awakenings, when many colonists developed strong personal spiritual roots in the decades preceding our Revolutionary War. Hamilton Long in 1963 wrote Your American Yardstick another classic book in my possession. Recall that fundamental foundation in our Declaration of Independence, "...all men are created...and endowed by their Creator..." He wrote, "The fundamental principle underlying the traditional American philosophy is that the Spiritual is supreme" The adoption of our Declaration of Independence reflected that we have a nation founded upon, "This governmental philosophy is, therefore, essentially religious in nature...it is uniquely American; no other people in all history have ever made this principle the basis of their governmental philosophy."

     What we established in 1776 is unique in recorded history and, if ever lost, would most assuredly never be repeated. Let us ensure that our Exodus to our own Promised Land is permanent!

The Honorable Allen B. Clark 

Author Soldiers' Blood and Bloodied Money