BSW “A Good Decision”

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Thank you Mark and thank you for dropping by to listen.

“A Good Decision”

Let’s admit it.

The federal government often gets less than high marks for the things they do. So, in this episode I want to give you a look at something that I think the government did well.

I’m serious. I actually found an incident where I think the government made a good decision.

Of course, I had to go back about 240 years to find that incident, but I’m a history guy, so going back in time is a fun thing for me.

Now it’s possible you haven’t heard this story before.

If that’s the case, it’s not your fault, because it most likely wasn’t taught in your history classes.

The Revolutionary War

I’m going back to the 18th century — around the year 1776, when that … oh, what did they call it?

Oh, yeah. The Revolutionary War.

Well, when the Revolutionary War broke out, England was the dominant fighting force in the world, and the thirteen American colonies were far from being a military force of any concern.

In fact, the colonies depended on England to provide them much of what they needed to live and thrive — things like military supplies (weapons and ammunition), manufactured goods (textiles, metal products, etc.), trade goods, paper and printing supplies, and luxury items.

England knew the colonies depended on them, so one of the first things England did when war broke out was to stop sending stuff to them.

That meant the colonies had to learn to do without or find ways to avoid the powerful English navy as they sought to get goods from other countries or make the stuff they wanted themselves. Sometimes it was just an inconvenience. Sometimes doing without was more of a challenge.

One of the things that were cut off from the colonies were … Bibles.

Now that may seem like a little thing to many people today. But back then, the lack of Bibles was an important issue.

Now it’s not that the American colonies didn’t have printers or presses. They had plenty of those. What they didn’t have was enough Bibles in the English language.

You see, England did not allow the colonists to print Bibles in English in the New World. All Bibles had to be printed in England by approved printers, and then they were sent to the New World.

It should be noted that the first Bible printed in America happened in 1662, which was more than 100 years before the Revolution. Known as the Eliot Indian Bible it was a translation of the Scriptures into the Algonquin language for the tribes that lived near him. Elliot learned to speak their language, then created an alphabet to represent their sounds, taught them how to read, and translated the Bible into their language so they would have access to the Word of God.

That was a very impressive achievement.

But when the Revolutionary war broke out, the shortage of English Bibles was felt by many.

Congress

Now that may not seem like an important issue in today’s world.

I mean today in America, Bibles are even banned in some places, but back in those ancient times, having a Bible in English was an important issue.

In 1781, Robert Aitken, a Philadelphia printer asked Congress to support his plans to print a Bible in English. The Bible was completed in 1782 and Congress officially approved what has come to be known as the “Bible of the Revolution.”

"Resolved, That the United States in Congress assembled, highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion, as well as an instance of the progress of arts in this country, and they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States."
Congressional Resolution, September 12, 1782

A question for you to consider:

Do you think Congress would pass a resolution today approving the Bible for use by the citizens of the United States?

Think about it.

And it probably wouldn’t hurt if you pray for our country.

Check out this YouTube video by MrBeast “I Built 100 Wells in Africa.” You probably don’t have the money to build hundreds of water wells around the world — after all, you are not a YouTube megastar — but I would encourage you to ask the Lord if there is anything He would have you do that could make a difference in someone’s life.

Here are a couple of links that I found interesting recently. You might want to check them out.

I read an article “The Baby Bust: Female Perspectives” about the declining birthrate in the U.S. The author wrote about the topic in an earlier post but wanted to share some of the responses he received from women about his article.

“Orwellian Nightmare: British woman fined for ‘silently praying’ outside of abortion center” tells the story of what may be coming our way in the not-too-distant future.

For those of you fascinated with the growth of AI, you might want to check out “Artifical Intelligence bot made an insider trade, then lied about it during simulation” by Leon Wolf on Blaze Media.

Before I go, I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.

“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)

Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today!