Ben Gilmore

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

September 14, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

This e-mail needs circulating

On Friday, September 11, 2015 8:38 PM

Pray and do all you can to spread this e-mail across our land!! G & J

It doesn’t get any worse than this. Please send this to all your Christian friends and pray that some how some way God will intervene to save these people.

September 1
Please pray for this urgent request.

Prayer Request from Dan and Marilyn Wilson. Missionaries who are in the areas that are being attacked by ISIS are asking to be showered in prayer. ISIS has taken over the town they are in today. He said ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far all have consequently been killed. But not the parents. The UN has withdrawn and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families even if it means their own deaths. They are very afraid, have no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who have seen their children martyred. Yet he says he knows God has called them for some reason to be His voice and hands at this place at this time.

Even so, they are begging for prayers for courage to live out their vocation in such dire circumstances. And like the children, accept martyrdom if they are called to do so. These brave parents instilled such a fervent faith in their children that they chose martyrdom. Please surround them in their loss with your prayers for hope and perseverance.

One missionary was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn’t say it, but I believe she believes it will be their last conversation. Pray for her too. She said he just kept asking her to help him know what to do and do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for them and they are not alone or forgotten — no matter what. Please keep them all in your prayers.

This came this morning…Just a few minutes ago I received the following text message on my phone from Sean Malone who leads Crisis Relief International (CRI). We then spoke briefly on the phone and I assured him that we would share this urgent prayer need with all of our contacts.
"We lost the city of Queragosh (Qaraqosh). It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been smuggling food to. ISIS has pushed back Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated its staff in Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!"

Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of the people of Northern Iraq from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for mass conversion or death for Christians across this region. May I plead with you not to ignore this email. Do not forward it before you have prayed through it. Then send it to as many people as possible. Send it to friends and Christians you may know. Send it to your prayer group. Send it to your pastor and phone him to pray on Sunday during the service – making a special time of prayer for
this. We need to stand in the gap for our fellow Christians.

Thank you for all your prayers !!!!
Dr. Becky Peters Professor of Education
Director of Lutheran Teaching Programs,
Colloquy, & Lutheran Placement
Concordia University Irvine
949-214-3355

Gloria Morgan
Project Representative
The JESUS Film Project
(800) 387-4040, Extension 7538
gloria.morgan@jesusfilm.org
www.jfministrypartners.org <http://www.jfministrypartners.org/>
– All things are possible to those who BELIEVE. Mark 9:23

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

September 8, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

Rogue Authority

All authority comes (ultimately) from God. Thus, “authority” (direction, regulation, control, restraint) contrary to authority delegated by God does not exist. It might be called “rogue authority”. Laws (rules of action) made by such rogue authority should be considered no law at all.

In the Bible, King David had the king’s authority (ultimately) from God. When David propositioned Bathsheba, he had stepped outside his God-given authority and Bathsheba was under no obligation to submit. David had no authority to make such a proposal. He had gone rogue.

Had Bathsheba refused to submit to rogue authority, the story might have had a happier ending!

I believe each of us will face hard choices. (It would have been difficult for Bathsheba to refuse such a powerful authority figure.) It boils down to whether we will do what we know is right, because it is right, and let the results take care of themselves. – or – Try to manipulate and compromise in an effort to produce better results. BTW – It never works!

I have been waiting for someone to make the point that authority comes from God, not government! Neither the Supreme Court, nor the Legislature, nor the President have “rogue authority”. “We the people” cannot give government what we don’t have. “We the people” have no authority outside the laws of nature and of nature’s God.

Within those laws, “We the people” authorized OUR Constitution. “We the people” did give the Supreme Court the authority to determine if laws are within the authority “We the people” placed in OUR Constitution. “We the people” did not give the Supreme Court the authority to make laws.

Suppose every Christian in America understood “rogue authority” and refused, as an individual, to submit to it while being very careful to stay within the laws of nature and of nature’s God. We would all better understand and respect the liberty we have from God.

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

September 7, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

No Law At All

In my last Blog Post (“The Letter”) I wrote about all authority originating with God. It is important that we understand the principle and its broad impact upon everything. Please think about it, then help spread the concept through Christendom.

Suppose your neighbor does not believe there is a God. If he is a policeman, his authority comes from the city, whose authority comes from (ultimately) “We the people”, who gave some of our authority to civil government for our protection. “We the people” received our authority as individuals, from God.

Go down any path of authority. It always leads back to God, regardless of what someone may believe.

Nothing exists without laws (limits) to govern it. Outside those limits is chaos. Common sense says that we must submit to authority. If we refuse to submit – chaos – we are in rebellion.

The Bible also says that we must submit to the authority God places over us. [Hebrews 13:17 & 1^st Peter 2:13] These scriptures are strong admonitions to submit to authority.

Here is the caveat that many Christians overlook – There is no authority outside God’s laws (“the laws of nature and of nature’s God”). Any law outside those laws have no authority. We should consider them, no law at all.

Suppose every American did as the county clerk, Kim Davis, has done. There is no valid authority to issue homosexual marriage licenses. There is no valid authority for same sex marriage. Granted: Rogue authority has put her in jail. Rogue authority cannot put us all in jail. The judge and all those up the line, are misusing the authority “We the people” gave them.

If we are not to submit to rogue authority, we must be willing to stand proud upon valid principle and let the results take care of themselves.

Liberty costs more than slavery because it is worth more!

[Gilmore]

“Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God”

[Jefferson]

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

September 3, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

The letter

Jane and Jill were studying in their college dorm room. The RA knocked, entered and gave the mail to Jane. Jane looked at the envelope and exclaimed with excitement. The letter was from Mr. “It”. Both coeds were all atwitter as, with shaking hands, Jane tore open the envelope and began to read.

Jill waited in anticipation. Finally – Jill asked, “Well! What did he say?”

Clutching the letter to her heart, Jane replied, “He loves me!”

In truth, Mr. “It” had written all about his football practice. Jane was reading into his words what she wanted to hear.

Can you see that she might as well have written the letter to herself, if she was not going to read it as the writer had intended. By spinning her own interpretation, she destroyed the value and purpose of the letter.

It is the same thing when a judge or lawyer seeks to spin the meaning of a law, rather than researching and understanding the intent of those who wrote and ratified the law. That is why history is important. There are lots of articles written about most laws at the time they were ratified. That history, not today’s interpretations and norms, give the law its authority.

Speaking of authority – Like it or not, all authority originates with God. God gave “We the people” inalienable authority over our choices, within the laws of nature and of nature’s God. “We the people” chose to grant part of our authority to a government that “We the people” created. Government authority exists within the limits that “We the people” established.

Those limits, in turn, must lie within the limits of the laws of nature and of nature’s God. That is – “We the people” cannot grant what we don’t have. Our God-given authority is limited by the laws of nature and of nature’s God. Any law outside those limits is tyranny and has no authority. Such a law is to be considered as no law at all. The Supreme Court had no authority to define marriage. It is already defined by the laws of nature and of nature’s God.

Some might say, “Well, that is fine for you, but I don’t believe in God, therefore His laws don’t apply to me.” Try breaking the “Golden Rule” and stomping on someone’s toe. See how you like the consequences. Doing unto others as you would have others do unto you is one of the laws of nature and of nature’s God. When you choose an action, you choose a consequence – – – regardless of what you believe!

“Meaning of law.—Law, in its most general and comprehensive sense, signifies a rule of action; and is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of action, whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. Thus we say, the laws of motion, of gravitation, of optics, or mechanics, as well as the laws of nature and of nations. And it is that rule of action, which is prescribed by some superior, and which the inferior is bound to obey. …

“Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being. A being independent of any other, has no rule to pursue, but such as he prescribes to himself; but a state of dependence will inevitably oblige the inferior to take the will of him, on whom he depends, as the rule of his conduct; not indeed in every particular, but in all those points wherein his dependence consists. This principle, therefore, has more or less extent and effect, in proportion as the superiority of the one and the dependence of the other is greater or less, absolute or limited. And consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his Maker’s will.”

[“Commentaries” – by William Blackstone, “Father of the legal profession” 1765]

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

September 2, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

POTUS primary cause

Now that we understand the Electoral College, let us look at some more political basics.

A year from now, Tuesday, November 8, 2016 is election day. Usually the race for the White House begins in earnest just after Labor day. This year, Ted Cruz announced in the spring. Rather than letting him run alone, the other candidates were forced to get into the pool. Add in the unconventional appeal of Donald Trump and suddenly the public is way more involved than usual for this time before an election.

What will the Presidential race look like in the year ahead? Some states will hold a Primary Election. Others use a caucus (political meeting) system. The dates vary from state to state. These elections result in state delegates to their respective National Party Conventions. Rules of the political party vary from state to state.

Republican Convention is July 1821, 2016 in Cleveland.

Democrat Convention is ‎July 25–28, 2016 in Philadelphia.

These conventions nominate their candidates for President. The Presidential nominee traditionally selects the candidate for Vice-President. Third party races have little chance of winning. It becomes a two candidate race after the Conventions.

The Olympic Games offer a break from politics in mid-summer. Then we have the final sprint to Election Day. After Election Day, we will know the distribution of delegates to the Electoral College and thus, who will be elected. The winner will then have the fall of 2016 to organize his/her cabinet and prepare to move into the White House in early January, 2017.

What is YOUR ROLE in all of this? Two choices (A) Sit back, observe and be entertained. Accept the choices others make for your wellbeing. (B) Involve yourself in the way that best suits your means and abilities. Each of us is different with different abilities and talents. Remember Ignorant activism is more dangerous than apathy! Inform yourself.

I will share more along the way.

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

August 31, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

President of what?

Have you thought about it? The President is the President of what?

Members of my last Principles of American Government (PAG) class stumbled over the obvious answer –

He is the President of the United States. He is not President of the people!

In the coming months we will often hear complaints about the “Electoral College”. It is important for Americans to understand what that is and why it exists.

Delegates from the 50 states meet every four years, according to the Constitution, to elect the President of the states. “We the people” don’t elect the President. We vote in our respective states to elect delegates to the Electoral College. The delegates to the Electoral College elect the President. This is a good thing!

A nation as large and as diverse as ours exhibits unity with diversity. We must respect and honor our differences. Were we to have a national election where a majority of all the voters elected the President of the United States, votes by citizens of the smaller states would count for little. Further, votes by rural and suburban areas would count for little. Votes cast in the largest cities would determine the national election.

The system may not suit everyone, but I suggest, the system has served us well for two centuries. Let’s not change it unless we are confident it is replaced with something better.

BTW – The next online PAG course begins Wednesday, September 9th at 9am PT. Phone me if you want in.

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

August 21, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

Principles of American Government

Online course begins

9am, Wednesday, September 9, 2015

This course is guaranteed to be “inconvenient”! You will be expected to set aside 75 minutes every Monday and Wednesday morning for online class time for three months – plus – 4 or 5 hours of personal reading and study each week.

In return you will receive in depth exposure to the principles that lead America’s founders to create the first nation in human history based upon the laws of nature and of nature’s God. You will learn and understand the Biblical, historical, and logical developments that lead to the Declaration and Constitution.

More importantly – You will learn and understand the providential hand of God, over 6,000 years, in teaching man to love God and others. You will learn critical thinking and how to use what you have learned in the marketplace of ideas.

The next course begins at 9am, Wednesday, September 9th. We use Skype (free) software as a virtual classroom. The classes are interactive (you can see and hear one another). Interruptions for questions and discussion are encouraged. Classes are usually half teen and half adult.

Those with interest are encouraged to surf the “Students Comments” tab on our web site (above). Enroll by phoning 916-722-2501.

By the way – All times mentioned above are California time.

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

August 16, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

Small thing – BIG SIGNIFICANCE

I believe it was the Lord who prompted me – Whenever I speak with someone about abortion I must also speak about forgiveness and salvation. Otherwise, I may succeed in showing that abortion is murder without showing the way out of guilt.

A friend of mine had an idea a few years ago about a memorial garden as a place to grieve and gain closure after losing an unborn. Fran and I walked the proposed site and sensed the peace of God. I told my friend that we felt we were to help when the project began to take shape.

Today he brought the plan and the web site for “New Hope Memorial Garden” www.SacUnbornMemorial.org

The timing for this project seems to synchronize with the present full court press attack upon the Planned Parenthood organization. God’s hand appears to be at work!

By the way, next Saturday, August 22nd, Pro-life groups have scheduled a national protest against Planned Parenthood centers across the country. Those in the Sacramento area may call 916-993-8673. Those outside the area may call their local pro-life activist for information.

Those of you who have never participated in public demonstrations are missing an opportunity. Good people have been passive for far too long. Such demonstrations have been part of American culture since colonial days.

I hope you will surf the New Hope Memorial Garden web site (above). Read the text, enlarge and contemplate the pictures (artist’s conceptions). Pray about sending $ for this project. By comparison with other national projects it is small potatoes. In terms of its potential healing power, it is huge!

This column has long reminded readers that God’s hand is at work. This is not a time for inaction. This is the first time this column has been used as a fund raiser. The reason? – Because I believe in the project and I believe the Lord is prompting me to do so. Please open the web site and contribute what you can.

In Christian love

Ben & Fran Gilmore

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

August 1, 2015

This is a letter to our friends –

Organizations

Nothing exists without a set of rules to govern it (i.e. direct, regulate, control, restrain). Every

human organization is governed. There are three types of organizational rule (that is

“polity”): Rule of one; Rule of a few; Rule of many. Human organizations are a mixture of

these elements of polity.

Rule of one is called, “Monarchy.” Rule of a few is called, “Aristocracy.” Rule of many is called, “Democracy.” Think about it – Rule of one, few, many are the only possibilities. Sir William Blackstone (1723 – 1780), father of the legal profession, wrote about the good and bad attributes of each.

I summarize what Blackstone wrote in “Commentaries”:

Democracies (think, “majority rule”) – public virtue and good intention, want what is right and just, patriotic and public spirited. Often foolish (unwise) and weak in getting things done. Democracies are usually the best for making laws.

Aristocracies (rule of a few) – wiser than the other two, but less honest than a democracy and less powerful than a monarchy. Aristocracies are fitted to judge the laws.

Monarchy (rule of one) – More powerful than the other two, can get things done, BUT, is most vulnerable to misusing that power. Monarchies are best for executing the laws.

To quote Governor William Penn (1682), “…any government is free to the people under it (whatever be the frame) where the laws rule and the people are a party to those laws:” But what happens if the government steps outside those laws?

A democracy becomes an “Anarchy.” An aristocracy becomes an “Oligharchy.” A monarchy becomes a “Tyranny.”

I find all three forms of polity in the Bible. Human nature is such that we are tempted to say, “Since our form is Biblical, yours must not be!” God appears to have endorsed each at different times. I will speculate upon why that is. –

It is a law of nature – The quality of an organization’s government is determined by the over-all self-government of its members.

God loves and wants the best for everyone. Suppose He is considering an organization whose members have poor self-government: Because He wants the best for them, He gives them a top-down (rule of one) polity. If He gave them majority rule, they would likely turn it into anarchy.

On the other hand, consider an organization made up honest law-abiding members. They would chafe under top-down rule. I see a spectrum that morphs from rule of one, through rule of a few, to rule of many – depending upon the corporate quality of self-government at the time.

Another law of nature – Every society has a dominant corporate relationship with a “higher power” of some sort. That vertical (church) relationship will always determine the horizontal (civil) relationship. Never the other way around.

A parting thought – If America’s civil government has shifted from liberty toward monarchy (even tyranny), what does that say about the corporate character of our vertical (church) relationship with God?

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

July 20, 2015

This is a mail-merge letter to PAG Participants –

On Bible reading

Reading through the Bible in a year has been Fran’s and my morning practice for several years now. Like taking health supplements – you don’t notice the day-to-day effect, but over the long term you can see the results.

Our friend, Jay Grimstead, mailed a paper on the subject that expresses my thoughts as well (below).

COR UPDATE FOR JULY 2015

P.O. Box 1139, Murphys, CA 95247

READING THROUGH THE BIBLE AS BASIC TO HEARING GOD’S DIRECTIONS

Dear Friend of COR,

Recently in counseling with the 20 year old son of one of my Christian friends, I was again impressed with the Church’s need for all it’s sons and daughters (and its older people)to, year by year, systematically read through the Bible, and to keep reading the Bible over and over throughout one’s life to keep God’s perspective on life about His principles, our ultimate values, and our purpose in life.

I told him these things which he already knew, but needed to hear again at that point in his life.

1. GOD SPEAKS TO US PRIMARILY THROUGH HIS WRITTEN WORD, THE BIBLE

Since the Bible is actually 100% God’s very words (given to us through prophets and apostles acting as co-authors of the Bible), it is very natural for God to use most any sentence we read at any time to speak a personal message to us and give us needed direction, exhortation, encouragement etc. etc., as well as simply informing and reminding us of His absolute truths about all areas of life, past and present. We may expect God to speak to our hearts personal messages as well as inform us of raw facts of living.

The Bible is God’s standard of Truth and Reality to judge all other books, ideas, plans and worldviews.

2. CHRISTIANS SHOULD READ & OBEY THE BIBLE DAILY TO KEEP IN PERSPECTIVE

There is a unanimous agreement by the biblical writers as well as by all the Church History heroes that it is our great wisdom and godly efficiency to saturate our souls and minds in the written Word of God. We are to daily read and study the Word, and to memorize it, think on it and sing it regularly so it seeps into our “cells” and effects our actions, words, thoughts and plans daily and throughout all of life.

Probably nothing we do is as important for setting ourselves up for a life of obedience to His Word.

3. THE BIBLE SHOULD BE READ OVER AND OVER BY CHRISTIANS ALL LIFE LONG

My godly friends and I recommend our daily and yearly personal practice of systematically reading through the Bible, year after year, over and over to help this “Word saturation” process keep percolating.

I tell all serious Christians, young and old, who want to serve God with all their hearts whatever jobs they have, that a good minimum reading goal for the Bible for serious Christians is to read through the New Testament once each year, and to read through the Old Testament every 2 or 3 years. (The Old Testament has about 3 times as many pages as the New Testament.) One’s appetite and hunger and need for the Word seems to grow as we get older. At 80 years old, I now ordinarily read through the New Testament twice each year, and the Old Testament every year, and because of my work as a theologian, I also read through most of the Greek New Testament every three years as well. And my appetite for the Psalms now has me reading through the Psalms 3 or 4 times each year the past 20 years. (NOTE): I tell young people if they read through I and II Chronicles one year, they can leave out II Samuel and I and II Kings that reading period, then read those books alternately, since the same period of history is covered.

4. SYSTEMATICALLY KEEP A RECORD EACH YEAR OF YOUR BIBLE READING

Unless one simply reads the Old or New Testament from the front cover to the back cover(which I never seem to do), I recommend keeping a yearly list in the front of one’s Bible recording which books of which testament is read each year as we go along from book to book. It is easy to lose track if a written record is not kept. The point is to help oneself SYSTEMATICALLY get through all the books of the New Testament and Old Testament according to a schedule you think is right for you at your present stage of Christian growth and your hunger for the Word. And yes, in the earlier stages of one’s Christian life we need to sometimes MAKE ourselves do our daily Bible reading because our mind knows it is so important for our growth as Christians, and for our Biblical worldview perspective on life.

(Please see other side of page.)

2

5. SOME HELPFUL TOOLS FOR HEARING GOD “SPEAK” AND OBEYING THE BIBLE

A. READ WITH THE ATTITUDE “I WILL OBEY” NOT JUST “I WILL LEARN”.

If Bible-reading ever get’s “boring” for you, start reading it (as we all should anyway) with the attitude of “I will indeed obey everything I believe God is asking me to do in these verses.” At that point, Bible-reading can even get a little scary, but it will probably not be boring!

One key point to remember at this stage is that this Bible is God’s very own words as if

God Himself wrote the Bible’s words with His own hand, which spiritually, He did. The historic

Church’s view of the Bible for the past 2000 years is that the Bible is inerrant; that is, it is accurate not only where it speaks of heaven and the invisible world, but also where it speaks of matters of concern to both history and science in the world of time and space, matter and energy!

B. ACCOUNTABILITY WITH ANOTHER HUMAN HELPS US OVERCOME SIN

Most of us raised in American churches this past 100 years have had close to zero experience

of having some other human or team hold us accountable for certain levels of godly behavior. When we are unsuccessfully trying to overcome some little or big sin (actions contrary to the Bible), or any unwise or unhealthy behavior which may not technically be a sin, when we ask

a trusted friend if we may confess this sin or unwise behavior to them weekly or monthly, it can greatly help our success rate in overcoming such sins or unwise behavior. This is called

“accountability with another Christian” and it has worked well for centuries, but we in most

good American churches have never even heard of this as a healthy, Christian practice. In this

“accountability tool” we see the sad fact that generally we fear other humans more than we fear God.

C. HELPFUL “SPADE & SHOVEL” TOOLS FOR MINING GOLD FROM THE WORD

In my last year of college as a young, eager Christian I ran across this set of “mining tools” for

either an individual study or a group study of the Bible. The mining tools are these questions we

ask of any chapter or portion of scripture we are reading.

a) What command is stated here for me to obey?

b) What good example is stated here for me to follow?

c) What promise is here for me to claim for myself?

d) What sin or error is here for me to avoid or stop?

In closing I want to express this final word. I do hope all the younger Christians I know around the U.S. will take this advice seriously and apply it to their Bible-reading lives if they are not already doing so. And for those older Christians who do not have themselves reading the Bible through in some kind of systematic way year by year, I urge you to work into your life some version of what we are saying in this newsletter.

For the advancement of the Kingdom of God on earth,

Dr. Jay Grimstead JGrim1776

P.S. Please keep in mind that the summer months are the time when non-profit organizations usually receive the least amount of income through donations from their mailing lists.