Independance Day

(reposted by Aubrey Lenz from July 2, 2009)

March, 1775, Patrick Henry:

“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

On Monday, July 1, 1776, Archibald Bullach, president of Georgia, wrote in a letter,

“This morning is assigned the greatest debate of all,… A declaration, that these colonies are free and independent states, has been reported by a committee some weeks ago for that purpose, and this day or tomorrow is to determine it’s fate. May heaven prosper the newborn republic.”

The question of Independence had already been exhausted in Congress and it was thought that the issue would simply be put to vote, but not so.

Pictured: Independence Hall in Philadelphia, 1776

John Dickenson, of Pennsylvania offered a final appeal that started a debate lasting nine hours. When the preliminary vote was cast 9 out of 13 voted yes. It was decided to postpone the final vote to the morrow.
On this night, the first of 400 British warships were sighted off the coast of New York.

The following morning the final vote was cast and Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Delaware swung towards Independence! The vote is unanimous. July 2, 1776, in Philadelphia, the American colonies declared Independence.

Pictured: The Thirteen Colonies

In a letter to his wife, Abigail, John Adams writes,

“The second day of July will be the most epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated to succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illustrations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

On the third of July, the document, The Declaration of Independence, was edited, cut, and revised and on the fourth of July the final vote for the document was taken and passed, twelve colonies voting in the affirmative and New York abstaining.

The following paragraph is from Lossing’s Lives of the Signers, p. 12,

“On the morning of the day of its adoption, the venerable bell-man ascended to the steeple, and a little boy was placed at the door of the Hall to give him notice when the vote should be concluded. The old man waited long at his post, saying, “They will never do it, they will never do it.” Suddenly a loud shout came up from below, and there stood the blue-eyed boy, clapping his hands, and shouting, “Ring! Ring!!” Grasping the iron tongue of the bell, backward and forward he hurled it a hundred times, proclaiming, Liberty to the land and the inhabitants thereof.”

Only John Hancock’s signature was applied to the document as yet.

On the second of August, 1776 the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence took place. Everything was done in secret and not published in newspapers or correspondence because of the extreme peril of the situation.

“The signing of the instrument was a solemn act, and required great firmness and patriotism in those who committed it. It was treason against the home government, yet perfect allegiance to the law of right. It subjected those who signed it to the danger of an ignominious death, yet it entitled them to the profound reverence of a disenthralled people. But, neither firmness nor patriotism was wanting in that august assembly. And their own sound judgment and discretion, their own purity of purpose and integrity of conduct, were fortified and strengthened by the voice of the people in popular assemblies, embodied in written instructions for the guidance of their representatives.”

Lossing’s Lives of the Signers p. 11

I would be perfectly clear here that the celebration of Independence Day is not a declaration of independence from God, the Scriptures, civil government, or even independence of each other as human beings but independence of tyranny and wrongful, ungodly government. As the concluding line of the Declaration of Independence says, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

In this age we often associate independence with autonomy and individualism, but nothing could be further from the intents of our country’s founders than to be independent of God.

The American Revolution was so wholly different from any other revolution and found it’s roots in the Reformation; i.e. the idea of freedom of conscience, the idea that a king is not divine but appointed by God and thus subject to the Law of God, and further that if a ruler does not hold to the moral obligations of Scripture and violates the conscience of the people it makes void its authority (Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos, The Legal Claim Against Tyrants). Where the French sought autonomy from man and God and gained anarchy in it’s worst form during their revolution in 1789, America sought reliance on God and sought to form a republic ruled by the law, fashioned after the Word of God and not a democracy ruled by the mass of people fashioned after their current likes and dislikes.

There is something very deep and awe inspiring about the purpose behind the Declaration of Independence. They, the “signers”, were willing to be “stepping stones” like the pilgrims and sacrifice much so that future generations might honor God in every aspect of their lives. Much has been written in gratefulness towards our forbears by others much better than I. My hope is that we, generations later, would not forget!

Psalm 78 says, "Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God."

 

George Washington's Birthday is Today! - February 22, 1732

Go Here to "pull back the dark shrouds of secular revisionist history, and meet the humble believer, godly leader, and devoted son who became a fledgling country's source of strength and inspiration."

Luke 2

The Lenz and Carpenter Families

Present

Luke 2

In those days, Ceasar Augustus issued a decree that all the world should be taxed.  (And this taxing was made when Cyrenious was governor of Syria) and all went to be taxed, everyone to his own city.  And Joseph also went up from Gallilee, out of the ciyt of Nasereth into Judea, into the city of David which is called Bethlahem (because he was of the house and lineage of David; To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, becuase there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were in the same country, shepherds, abiding in the feilds, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lrod shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.  But the angel said unto them "Fear not; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be sign unto you.  Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men."  And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said, one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known unto us. 

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.  When they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child, and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Saffron Rolls

This authentic Swedish recipe was passed down to us from our great-grandmother, Bertha Anderson whose mother emigrated from Sweden to America as a twenty-nine year old young lady in 1882.  Saffron Rolls are also often referred to as St. Lucia Buns.  They most remarkable for their brilliant color and distinctive flavor, being flavored with both saffron and cardamom.  We make them every year a few weeks before Christmas for our family and relatives. Last year we started making them for others as well when they ordered them ahead of time.  I don't think I exaggerate at all when I say that it would border on sacrilegious in some circles to eat them any other time of year than the few weeks around Christmas and St. Lucia's Day.

Saffron is one of the most rare and costly spices in the world.  It is in fact the stammen of the Saffron Crocus dried.  To extract the mellow-sweet perfume and flavor, and vivid golden color for two batches of the delectable buns, we soak about $75 dollars worth of the precious strands in water and sqeeze every drop of the flavor out.  This year we found a rarity in one of the plastic dish the saffron is packed in...a crocus petal!

Because there is no forgivness for mistakes with such precious spices, we are very careful about the preparing of the dough.

Grandma Bertha could find the correct temperature of the water with her finger, and Aubrey has learned to do the same.  I am still learning that skill, but it gets easier every time I try it.  There is no way to describe it.  The correct temperature is neither hot nor cold, but it is warmer than luke-warm and cooler than warm...105 degrees!

There is always that great moment when you add the saffron with excitement...and fear and trembling.

Then of course there is the cardamom...that exotic, spicy, effervescent fragrance that tingles in your nostrils.  It is so strong, some people use the whole seeds as breath mints!  I was shopping in Bath and Body recently and enjoying the whiffs I was getting from their aroma-therapy candles when I suddenly found one that shouted "Christmas" to me in every breath.  I thought for a minute it must be evergreen or something, but it wasn't in the Christmas area of the store.  "Where have I smelled that before?" Then I looked at the label...Cardamom and Lemongrass.  Well that explained it.  Cardamom and Saffron are two scents that spell Christmas to me...hard to describe, but unmistakable once you know them.  In explaining to other people, I often say that Cardamom is the primary flavor in most Chai teas, which it is, but that doesn't do much for them either since it is overwhelmed with a smattering of other spices.  Needless to say I didn't leave Bath and Body without that candle!

Back to the rolls.

Safely on the other side of mixing, we start the long and delicate process of adding the necessary flour and kneeding by hand.

These buns rise for two hours both before and after you form them, but they only bake for around 15-20 minutes.  We stand over the oven whatching and waiting during that time.

The final coat of butter to give them that shiny finish!

Everyone has their traditions...passed down through the generations.  The tradition in and of itself may not be remarkable, but it reminds the next generation of the things their fathers held dear.  Saffron Rolls are that way for us.  We talk often about maintaining the principle that tradition serves the generations, rather than the generations serving the tradition.

Our great-great-grandmother emigrated from Sweden as an indentured servant to a wealthy family in Omaha Nebraska.  Our grandma said that Anna Katarina, or Kate,  as she liked to be called, never wanted to talk about the voyage from Sweden because the conditions on the ship were humiliating.  She met her husband, a farmer and widower with eight children, at a Baptist tent meeting in Omaha.  Kate had three children of her own before her husband died in a wagon accident, leaving her with eleven children and a farm.  We have the Swedish Bible Kate brought with her on the ship from Sweden, filled with marked passages.  Although her life was filled alternatly with hardship and joys, her faith was built on God's faithfulness.  The youngest of those eleven children was our Great-grandmother, Bertha, born in 1894.

Great-Grandma Bertha had special memories of Christmas.  As a child on Christmas day, she would run from window to window keeping peepholes in the frost open with her breath.  Having all those big brothers and sisters was like having so many parents. They prepared the Christmas tree every Christmas Eve in the parlor of the farm house.  Bertha had to recite the Christmas story from memory in Swedish before they would throw open the doors to reveal the tree!  And of course there were the Saffron Rolls.  Bertha lived to be 101 years old and passed the tradition of the Saffron Rolls, and the story of our family, to her daughter and her grandaughter, Karen, our mother! 

The amazing story of God's provision amidst blessing and hardship is the story behind the Saffron Rolls.  Saffron Rolls alone can give us nothing.  But they serve as a reminder of the faithfulness of God to work in our lives for our good and His glory through the generations of those that serve Him.

The Mysterious Islands

More than 2500 Attend Tampa Premiere of The Mysterious Islands on Seven Screens!

www.themysteriousislands.com

25 Years Ago Today!

On Sunday, we celebrated Mama and Daddy's 25th wedding anniversary at a lovely restaurant in St Paul called Forepaugh's.  The food was excellent and we had such pleansant ladies serving us. 

The restaurant is in a beautiful old mansion in St Paul, and the food was delightful, but it also has family history.  Grandma and Grandpa Rees (Mama's parents) celebrated their 25th anniversary at Forepaughs as well...even in the same room!

After eating, we revisited the place where God started our family!

In this small chapel Craig and Karen Lenz, our dear mother and father, covenanted together in marriage.

As their children, it was amazing to be in this historical place.  Mama and Daddy verbally remembered not only that day but all the following days. They said again and again that they marvel at what God has done in their lives.  We marveled together at the beauty and blessing God has showered on our family.

First Day of School!

Charlie is a senior this year!

While we did not venture as far as last year, we did some history digging close to home in Wasioja. Believed to be one of the first settlements in the state, the small hamlet does not boast of much; but it harbors buried treasure...

In 1862, Wasioja was bustling with business... Now it hardly appears on the map with a population of only 84 people. We were drawn there because of the little stone building below, originally built in 1855. It was converted into a military recruiting station in April of 1861 to aid in organizing Company C of the Second Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment for service in the War Between the States.

Of the eighty young men who left Wasioja in 1861 only twenty-five returned alive and unhurt. Not half a mile away are the ruins of a Seminary built in 1860. First called Minnesota Seminary and later Northwestern College, the school was instrumental in the growth of Wasioja. Many of the young men enrolled in this seminary enlisted at the recruiting station as soon as organizing Captain James George asked for volunteers. After the war, the seminary continued to operate although its enrollment was cut in half.

Like the town of Wasioja, however, the school never recovered from the loss due to the war. It eventually closed permanently in 1894 and a fire destroyed the building in 1905.

The cemetery there also stands testimony to the heritage of the town. I found one stone in particular which read David ______ (I could not make out the name) Born 1789, Died 1855. It is amazing to think of the time and events that have passed over that grave, and intriguing to see the remnants of the labor of men who lived more than a century ago.

The History of Independence Day

March, 1775, Patrick Henry:

“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

On Monday, July 1, 1776, Archibald Bullach, president of Georgia, wrote in a letter,

“This morning is assigned the greatest debate of all,… A declaration, that these colonies are free and independent states, has been reported by a committee some weeks ago for that purpose, and this day or tomorrow is to determine it’s fate. May heaven prosper the newborn republic.”

The question of Independence had already been exhausted in Congress and it was thought that the issue would simply be put to vote, but not so. John Dickenson, of Pennsylvania offered a final appeal that started a debate lasting nine hours. When the preliminary vote was cast 9 out of 13 voted yes. It was decided to postpone the final vote to the morrow.
Tonight, the first of 400 British warships are sighted off the coast of New York.

The following morning the final vote is cast and Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Delaware swing towards Independence! The vote is unanimous. July 2, 1776, in Philadelphia, the American colonies declared Independence. In a letter to his wife, Abigail, John Adams writes,

“The second day of July will be the most epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated to succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illustrations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

On the third of July, the document, The Declaration of Independence, was edited, cut, and revised and on the fourth of July the final vote for the document was taken and passed, twelve colonies voting in the affirmative and New York abstaining.
The following paragraph is from Lossing’s Lives of the Signers, p. 12,

“On the morning of the day of its adoption, the venerable bell-man ascended to the steeple, and a little boy was placed at the door of the Hall to give him notice when the vote should be concluded. The old man waited long at his post, saying, “They will never do it, they will never do it.” Suddenly a loud shout came up from below, and there stood the blue-eyed boy, clapping his hands, and shouting, “Ring! Ring!!” Grasping the iron tongue of the bell, backward and forward he hurled it a hundred times, proclaiming, Liberty to the land and the inhabitants thereof.”

Only John Hancock’s signature was applied to the document as yet.

On the second of August, 1776 the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence took place. Everything was done in secret and not published in newspapers or correspondence because of the extreme peril of the situation.

“The signing of the instrument was a solemn act, and required great firmness and patriotism in those who committed it. It was treason against the home government, yet perfect allegiance to the law of right. It subjected those who signed it to the danger of an ignominious death, yet it entitled them to the profound reverence of a disenthralled people. But, neither firmness nor patriotism was wanting in that august assembly. And their own sound judgment and discretion, their own purity of purpose and integrity of conduct, were fortified and strengthened by the voice of the people in popular assemblies, embodied in written instructions for the guidance of their representatives.”
Lossing’s Lives of the Signers p. 11

I would be perfectly clear here that the celebration of Independence Day is not a declaration of independence from God, the Scriptures, civil government, or even independence of each other as human beings but independence of tyranny and wrongful, ungodly government. As the concluding line of the Declaration of Independence says, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
In this age we often associate independence with autonomy and individualism, but nothing could be further from the intents of our country’s founders than to be independent of God.
The American Revolution was so wholly different from any other revolution and found it’s roots in the Reformation; i.e. the idea of freedom of conscience, the idea that a king is not divine but appointed by God and thus subject to the Law of God, and further that if a ruler does not hold to the moral obligations of Scripture and violates the conscience of the people it makes void its authority (Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos, The Legal Claim Against Tyrants). Where the French sought autonomy from man and God and gained anarchy in it’s worst form during their revolution in 1789, America sought reliance on God and sought to form a republic ruled by the law, fashioned after the Word of God and not a democracy ruled by the mass of people fashioned after their current likes and dislikes.
There is something very deep and awe inspiring about the purpose behind the Declaration of Independence. They, the “signers”, were willing to be “stepping stones” like the pilgrims and sacrifice much so that future generations might honor God in every aspect of their lives. Much has been written in gratefulness towards our forbears by others much better than I. My hope is that we, generations later, would not forget!

Psalm 78 says, "Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God."