Author Archives: Dr Snyder

American Character: John Winthrop

  

John Winthrop, leader of the Puritan migration to Massachusetts, and that colony’s first governor, sometimes gets a bum rap from historians. Even one of my favorite historians, Paul Johnson, considers him too severe. A good corrective on that, however, is a fairly recent biography by Francis Bremer, John Winthrop: America’s Forgotten Founding Father. Bremer shows rather conclusively, I think, that Winthrop was a man of great moderation fueled by his Christian faith. Winthrop is known, if at all, primarily for… Read more »

Principle: Sowing & Reaping (Part IV)

  

I ended the last post with this question from Psalms 11:3: If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The answer is actually quite simple: rebuild. Now, I know that is easy to say and considerably harder to do. But there is no other choice. Nehemiah followed God’s call to return to Israel from Persia. His task? Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. What he saw could have led him to despair, yet he had faith that the Lord… Read more »

Principle: Sowing & Reaping (Part III)

  

I’ve spent two days talking about how important it is to sow Biblical principles in our society. Yesterday, I noted that no matter how well we sow, there will always be those who refuse to accept God’s truths. Sowing the right seeds will not automatically result in reaping the right harvest. The soil/heart in which they are sown must receive them. Yet there is the promise from God that sowing the right seeds generally will bring a good harvest. In early America,… Read more »

Principle: Sowing & Reaping (Part II)

  

Jesus related the following parable to His disciples: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. In my last post, I noted that Christians are to be sowing the seeds of God’s principles. As we sow, people respond differently to the truths we are sharing. Some people are so closed off against the truth, the principles/seeds… Read more »

Principle: Sowing & Reaping (Part I)

  

We sow seeds in the natural, but we do the same spiritually. A dictionary definition of the word “sow” points to the natural side when it says: To scatter seed in the ground for the purpose of growth. What is “seed?” Again, according to the dictionary: That from which anything springs. But then it moves the definition from the natural to the spiritual, when it adds this one word: PRINCIPLES. Christians, therefore, should be about the business of sowing principles… Read more »

American Character: Edward Winslow

  

There probably aren’t too many Americans who know the name Edward Winslow. He was one of the Pilgrims, a trusted friend and helper for William Bradford for many years. As with Bradford, Winslow’s Christian faith led him to depart England for Holland, and then on to the New World. Winslow suffered in the same way Bradford did at first in the new colony of Plymouth. The first winter was severe, and half the company died. One of those was Winslow’s… Read more »

A Less-Than-Supreme Choice

  

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” — Judge Sonia Sotomayor, in her Judge Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Lecture at the University of California (Berkeley) School of Law in 2001 Now there is a quote, which if you reversed it, would get someone into trouble. Let’s say a white… Read more »