Lost at Sea  

     August 2, 1945. Late in the war, a U.S. Navy aircraft crew looked for (unlikely) enemy submarines midway between Guam and the Philippines, far from any land. The fighting now was closer to the home islands of Japan.  

     Problem. Commander Chuck Gwinn was called to the rear. The antenna weight had broken off. As Gwinn looked through a window to inspect, he spotted people floating on the smooth waters. Some were in rafts, others only with life vests, or nothing. Shock!

     No one yet knew the USS Indianapolis had been sunk, five nights and four days earlier. This was the Navy's worst-ever sea disaster. 

     Writer Lynn Vincent wrote that God uses those attending to ordinary duties, even while wanting to be somewhere else - in this case, the action. "Commander Gwinn's faithfulness to God answered the castaway's prayers," she says. 

     Another rescue pilot later said the odds of Gwinn spotting the survivors were "a billion to one." Vincent wrote, "God answers believers' calls even from the 'uttermost parts of the sea' Psalm 139:9. 

     Some sailors were calling on God for the first time. One survivor, Cleatus Lebow, regularly had encouraged shipmates to trust in Jesus. After the ship sunk, 12 minutes after being torpedoed, taking with it the majority of sailors, Lebow taught some of the men floating with him the Lord's Prayer. 

     Long ago, a man lame from birth begged Peter and John for alms. "I have no silver or gold," Peter said. "but, what I have I give to you." Peter "gave him what he had," Vincent wrote, "an invitation to lay hold of something more precious a than all men can ask or imagine."  

     Food and water on the sea would have been like gold to the 316 survivors. They got something far more precious.

WORLD magazine

 

     

Saying Yes to God  

Pastor Erwin Lutzer

     It's hardest for those with exaggerated self-importance, a need for admiration, unwilling to empathize with others' feelings. 

     Do you know someone like that? 

     Unless we are broken, we will never be touched with what touches God's heart. Those who are precious to God have compassion and a willingness to sacrifice. 

     Unless we are broken, we feel comfortable in our sin and rebellion, justified, content with our rights. 

The prophet Jonah, 760 B.C., is our narcissist.

     He hopped a boat to avoid witnessing to the hated city of Ninevites, who didn't have Israel's faith and knowledge. After God freed him from the great fish, Jonah reluctantly obeyed. 

     When the people of Nineveh miraculously turned from their evil ways, God had compassion. But Jonah became angry. He prayed to the Lord, saying he knew this would happen. "That's why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God... Now, O Lord, take away my life..." 

     God reasoned with him, but Jonah remained angry and wanted to die (Jonah chapter 4). 

     The Lord has a mirror for each of us. He can show us our needs and be gracious, as he was with the Ninevites ... for a time. 

     We don't want to be narcissists.  

Jonah was probably the author.

If so, he had repented, giving God the glory,

while allowing his former self to be disgraced.

 

Two thirds of divorcees say... 

     There are many reasons people choose to file for divorce: lack of family support, infidelity, and compatibility are the top three. 

     But, almost all of those surveyed believe their union could have been saved by one factor or another. Only 5 percent said they don't think anything could have fixed their partnership. 

     Here are the top five factors that divorcees believe could have saved their marriage. 

1. A better understanding of the commitment of marriage prior to marrying. 

2. A better understanding of the values and morals of their partner prior to marrying. 

3. Waiting longer to start a family.

4. Seeking professional help from a therapist or a couples' counselor.

5. Waiting longer to get married. 

     If this list doesn't apply to your circumstance, keep it anyway. You may be able to share something helpful to a friend or family member, married or not. 

     You may prevent a divorce and even help spare a youngster the long-lasting hurt that a divorce might cause.

           Jimmy

 IQ Test

Self-administered

Will we know if you say no?

  In what country is the Panama Canal?

    Is the right hand right?

      What kind is a kind word? 

Does your face face the music? 

  Wasn't Abel able? 

    Does a tower tower over all?

      Does a committee table the issue on a table? 

Do you take into account your bank account?

  Can a lot mean a lot?

    Does anyone test a test?

      Have your feet ever accomplished a feat?

Does a flea flee from danger?

  How many people can you see through a peep hole?

    Do you ever dream of a dream?

      Have you seen people flock to see a flock?

Does meat meet with your approval?

  Can a Ruler use a ruler?

    When does the one in charge charge?

      Can your second step be taken in a second?

                   Am I Jimmy the blogger or jimmy the crowbar? 

Tonight's the Night 

     Oh goody! 

     Those who don't have near the support as Donald Trump, a no-show, will compete tonight in the first Republican debate. They say each candidate is very nervous today. No kidding. 

     Who knows, we may end up voting for one of them. Eight years ago, when I prepared for the same debate, determined to decide for myself who is best suited to lead our executive branch, here's what happened. 

     I took a large sheet of paper and drew horizontal and vertical lines. Across the top I listed the major subjects. Down the left side I listed the names of each candidate.

     During the debate, I summarized each answer in the appropriate block, and hoped my winner(s) would stand out. Not. 

     No question was directed to most candidates, and in fact there was nothing on my "scoreboard" to separate winner(s) and losers. 

     Tonight, there is an interview with Trump, already recorded, which Newsmax will air, purposely while Fox News is hosting the debate. It's about stealing audience.  

     Fox, Newsmax and all the channels wedded to Democrats will keep their loyal viewers no matter who is elected. So why bother with the information needs of the voters?  

     Remember the Democrats' two debates four years ago? No winners. The South Carolina politician went on TV and told the voters who to choose in their election. Joe Biden (not a winner) was the choice from then on. And the party chose the vice president, also not a debate winner. 

             Jimmy

 We Aren't to Judge the World

     "...Paul says...but to mind our own business and ensure there is proper discipline in the church (1 Cor. 5:12-13). 

     "When faithfully executed, such instruction recovers a brother or sister. It upholds God's commands and tells an understandably suspicious world, 'We can police ourselves, thank you very much.' We fall into the sin of gossip when we seek to uphold Christian nationalism rather than the body of Christ.

     "Christians are called into union with Christ through the gospel. We are also called to citizenship in our temporary country. There is nothing wrong with Christians as citizens participating in non-religious and nonviolent protests or advocating for particular candidates and policies.

     "This must not be done in the name of Christ or his church. Ministers and churches must proclaim God's law and gospel to all people and nations, including rulers. However, they have no authority beyond God's Word. The church does not have a president or legislative body, but a King who has given them a specific commission:

     "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). 

End of chapter 11

Recovering OUR SANITY

Professor Michael Horton

Loving One Another

by Michael Horton

     "Love covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) 

     "Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends." (Proverbs 17:9) 

     "Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense." (Proverbs 19:11)

     "Especially in Christ, who is Love Incarnate, such wisdom takes on new luster." 

     "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) 

     "This does not mean we ignore violence, vice or false teaching. 'Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them - the sinful works, not the people. (Ephesians 5:11) Properly exercised church discipline aims at repentance and restoration, no matter the sin." (Galatians 6:1)

Final: We don't judge the world

Choosing Sins 

by Michael Horton

     "Gossip and slander make it into Paul's Top Ten sins, right along with sexual immorality, idolatry and murder. Paul warns about 'works of the flesh...gossip, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, sorcery, impurity, drunkenness, orgies' etc. (That's more than 10.)   

     "Liberals and Conservatives like to pick out the real sins in this list, but Scripture treats them as a package. Gossip and slander are increasingly comfortable to us in a digital age. Reputations have been ruined, relationships fractured, and tempers fanned into the flame of mutual acrimony. 

     "Terrible harm has come from reckless social media posts. This serious problem is worsened by our fear-driven social and political tribalism. No one gets a fair hearing, much less a fair trial on social media. 

     "Today, it is acceptable to gossip about others so long as it's about those other sins on the list. We deflect sin to Them to confirm Us in our 'righteousness.' We might be telling the truth, but a conceited heart is revealed in relishing other people's failures. 

     "This behavior is tolerated even in the name of defending the truth, but in reality, it is an 'appearance of godliness but denying its power' (2 Timothy 3:5).

     "The remedy is love grounded in the forgiveness of sins, of those committed by others as well as by us."

Next: Love covers many sins 

What's the Main Focus? 

by Michael Horton

     "In the media, even among otherwise well-informed journalists, there is little knowledge of the beliefs of particular religions, nor how these religions might play a significant role in people's lives. And most tragically of all, most Christians have little comprehension of what they believe.

     "Conservative Christians need to confront the fact that President Trump made anti-Constitutional statements while privileging his white evangelical base. This pandering is red meat for many supporters but poison to the witness of Christ. 

     "Protestant leaders opposed JFK's run because he was a Roman Catholic, and Mitt Romney in 2012 because he is a Mormon. Yet evangelicals elected a president who is not a professing Christian because he vowed to protect them. The fear of losing cultural, social and political power often drives a large number of evangelicals to put their trust in princes. 

     "The church in Galatia turned the gospel into the law and made ethnic distinctives an entry requirement. The church was not purer or holier. Paul told them that if love is the summary of the law, the Galatian church was lawless (Gal. 5:14). 

     "Only faith rooted in the gospel bears the fruit of the Spirit, which is 'love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law'" (vv. 22-23). 

Next: The package of sins

Applying Lessons Today 

by Michael Horton

Note: History (see previous blogs) speaks to our current social and political crisis. The root of republicanism was in Athens, Greece. It is a political ideology based on citizenship and self-rule. Its values and ideals appear in our constitution and history. 

     "Today, there is very little of U.S. republicanism. It has been replaced by radical theology, first held by those who sought to set up the kingdom of God on earth. The same outlook characterizes the extreme left today. These radicals may be found at both extremes of the political spectrum. 

     "This vision is neither progressive nor conservative, but is a divide between Good and Evil, perilous to civil liberty and the cause of Christ. From Washington to Obama, speeches were laced with biblical allusions. They were often taken out of context and woven into an American narrative rather than old-covenant Israel as a sacred nation.  

     "Many American politicians assumed there is a God above all rulers and Law above national laws. Such recognition has tempered populism and tyranny. This allowed abolitionists and civil rights leaders to appeal to the Law above law, as many do today in defense of the unborn. 

     "On the negative side, this vague civil religion has corrupted Christianity in America, as similar combinations of religion and civil society have done throughout history."

Next: Shared consensus has evaporated

 

Doctrine of Two Kingdoms 

by Michael Horton  

     "As John Witherspoon and James Madison believed, Protestant reformers held to the doctrine of two kingdoms. Christ is Lord of all, but he rules temporal nations through moral law and common grace, while exercising saving grace in the church through the Word and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. 

     "Martin Luther held that the gospel cannot be enforced, and the church must never take up arms. John Calvin said, 'It is impossible to resist (the judge) without resisting God himself.' He believed a legitimate authority could depose a despot, but the church can never inspire social or political revolution. If a ruler fails to uphold true religion, he will answer to God alone. 

     "In short, the church does not assume responsibilities of the state and vice versa. Madison was concerned about how tax exemption would corrupt the church. What competence does the state have? 

     "A citizen's involvement in civil society is always conditional...'with a saving of his allegiance to the Universal Sovereign.' Madison added, 'Religion is wholly exempt from the authority of Civil Society.' 

     "A time may come when churches lose their tax-exempt status. It is a benefit, not a right. It may be necessary for churches to refuse tax exemption rather than risk gradual and deadly concessions in exchange for financial support. The faithful will always support the Lord's work, with or without tax write-offs."

Next: Applying these lessons today

     

by Michael Horton

Controlling the Effects 

     "James Madison said a good government must protect against the pooling of power in any department. He wrote, 'You must first enable the government to control the governed; and ... oblige it to control itself.' In Federalist No. 51 he offers detailed prescriptions. 

     "He believed, 'the causes of factions cannot be removed ... relief is only sought in the means of controlling its effects. The heart is beyond the reach of government and laws. Since it cannot reform human nature, the state must at least supply opposite and rival interests that each (office) may be a check on the other.' 

     "We do not have a great Constitution because Madison thought the American people possessed superior virtue or capacity for moral improvement, but for the opposite reason: because they share in the common corruption of the human race. 

     "...to follow arguments undergirding elements of the U.S. Constitution, theological liberals and evangelicals would have to recover the doctrine of original sin. However, that ship has sailed for liberals, who use "original sin" only when they refer to slavery. Evangelicals seem just as optimistic about the human condition. (In a 2020 poll), about half of evangelicals said that humans are basically good. 

     "To them, Madison replies, 'If men were angels, no government would be necessary.' Calvin made the same point, saying, ' If we were like angels ... we would not need rules or regulations. To those who think that government is good, Madison adds, 'There must be checks on private and public power.'

Next: Doctrine of two kingdoms

No Christ in U.S. Constitution

by Michael Horton

     "James Madison intentionally did not write Christianity into the U.S. Constitution. His personal faith is ambiguous, although he became a Presbyterian. 

     "He studied at Princeton, because John Witherspoon - a minister and signer of the Declaration of Independence - was president there. Many of the founders learned moral philosophy and theology from him. 

     "Witherspoon shared the view of Luther and Calvin that although humanity is created in God's image, it is fallen. Children of Adam are not capable of justification before God by their own efforts. And yet, the image of God is only corrupted, not destroyed. 

     "Even the unregenerate are capable of civic righteousness (virtuous acts). Yet there must be checks on power because of moral depravity. There should be several political institutions preventing one gaining inordinate power over the others. Calvin did not believe that one form of government is universal. However, checks on power are essential. 

     "Witherspoon preached in a sermon, 'Man is considered as in a fallen and sinful state.' However, government cannot heal the wound of original sin and its effects, but it can restrain injustice, violence and vice. This thinking was totally counter to that of the French Revolution, which was based on the moral perfectibility of humanity."

Note: Today's far left now controlling the Democratic Party claims humans will be morally perfect if society stops punishing lawbreakers and provides equality of income to all. They are experimenting in cities. 

Next: Government must control itself

 

Our Founders a Variety  

by Michael Horton

     "Some Christians are confusing America with Israel under the old covenant. Christian nationalism violates the doctrine of 'one holy apostolic church.' Salvation does not come to nations that rededicate themselves to the law. 

     "Even if it did, we have broken it, even while we sing about God having 'crowned our good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea,' or 'a shining city on a hill.' Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. He was referring to his own flock, gathered from the world, not a geopolitical entity.

     "Christ, not America, is the last great hope for mankind.

     "History does not support the idea of Christian nationalism. This was the mistake of the Holy Roman Empire. Nationalism was the talk of Holy Russia, Germanic Fatherhood and England's green and pleasant land. 

     "America's founders were a mixed bag. Jefferson, Adams, Paine and Franklin regularly visited salons. Washington was baptized Episcopalian, but not a regular church goer. 

     "There were orthodox Christians like Jay, Henry and many others. Overall, the setting of the founders seems quite similar to our own day. George Washington believed that a self-governing people could not last long without generic religion, but for him as with the likes of Franklin and Jefferson, this could best be preserved by a competition of sects rather than privileging one." 

Monday: Christ by intention not written into our Constitution.

 

 

Opposition to Christian Nation

by Michael Horton

     "There is biblical opposition to a Christian nation - apart from the worldwide body of Christ.

     "In Old Testament Israel, the church was the state and vice versa. God was head of the state and the whole nation and its land were holy - that is, set apart to the Lord. Like Abraham, individual Israelites looked to the coming Savior and were justified - even as we are - by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. 

     "There was another covenant that people rather than God swore at Mount Sinai: 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do' (Exodus 19:8). If they broke it, then God would drive them out of the land (Deut. 28). This was like the covenant that Adam swore to keep. 

     "National covenant promises were based on Israel's faithfulness. Like Adam they transgressed the covenant (Hosea 6:7). In time, God sent his Son, the Messiah, to fulfill the law and to bear the sin of the world. Having done this, he rendered the national covenant with Israel obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). 

     "'A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession' originally belonged to the geopolitical nation of Israel (Exodus 19:6) and is then applied in the New Testament to the worldwide body of Christ (1 Peter 2:9). 

     "The new covenant covers not descendants but all who trust in Christ from every people (John 8:39-59; Romans 9:8; Galatians 3:10-29).   

     To summarize the author: That being the case, how much more offensive to God would it be to give the "chosen nation" label to Americans, most of whom are unrelated to Abraham? 

Tomorrow:  What about "a shining city upon a hill?" 

Christian America???  

     Is "Christian America" the same thing as the Body of Christ?

     Over the next few days, we provide insights from Michael Horton, a professor in California, who has researched these matters beginning with our founders. We hope you find this as fascinating as we do.

     Horton: "Christ is the head of a new creation. It's all about him, as he delivers himself to sinners through preaching and teaching, baptism and Communion. That's the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20).

     "Any church that loses interest in Jesus' commission fades away, just part of the desert again. Liberal Protestants still wear the shirt but are playing a different game. Evangelicalism seems precariously close behind.

     "Many feel they are playing the 'Christian Nation' game in a heated tournament with the 'Progressive Agenda' team. Churches that just wear the shirt become part of the political right or left...something other than Martin Luther's A Mighty Fortress is Our God ... a word above all earthly powers. 

     "At both political extremes one discerns a deeply religious vision...but is not Christian. It's object of worship is not the triune God but America. Christian nationalism is not merely a white phenomenon. Sixty-five percent of African Americans support Christain nationalism. Hispanics are split evenly, as are whites overall."

Tomorrow: Is Christian Nationalism Biblical?

 

 What is an American? 

by Janie Cheaney

     American history has been a minefield of reinterpretation. The Stars and Stripes triggers anxiety. The Fourth of July calls for dirges. It's a civil war of words, testing whether any nation that debates its own existence can long endure. 

     A Frenchman wrote in 1782: "What then is an American, this new man? An American is heir to European arts and sciences but freed from European traditions and obligations. He is a man of property, entitled to the fruits of his labor."

     "He is a free agent in a classless society, owing no allegiance to a king or a church. Here, individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will cause great change in the world."

     He left to Americans to discover for ourselves who we are. We haven't figured it out yet. 

     Americans might be defined as individuals freed to act out their human nature. Human nature is complicated, as is American history. 

     Another Frenchman wrote the "glory and garbage of the universe" turned loose on a largely empty continent, will do glorious and garbagy things. Glorious are the innovations, material prosperity, and the opportunity to follow up on a good idea. Less so is the freedom to exercise greed and prejudice. 

     Americans aren't uniquely good or evil; we've just been uniquely unfettered. That's why John Adams said our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. We the people still believe that. The disagreement is over whose morality and what religion.

 

 This is Different

     Three major banks - Silicon Valley, First Republic and Signature - failed earlier this year. Collectively they were worth $532 billion. 

     Several U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would stiffen repercussions for leaders of failing banks. The measures would empower the FDIC to seize profits made by executives in the form of salaries, bonuses and other compensation. 

     Sen. Elizabeth Warren's bill would seize the executives' profits made five years prior to a bank's failure. A bill introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown and Sen. Tim Scott calls for a two-year window. 

     Supporters of the bills think raising the stakes for failure would incentivize bank executives to make more careful decisions. 

     

Strong Delusion 

     After the Supreme Court's final decision on June 30, CNN's home page headline read: "Conservatives are on a roll to remake America through the courts." 

     Actually, the reconfiguring began in 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, nominated liberal Louis Brandeis to the high court, leading to the first confirmation fight in U.S. history.

     Wilson and other progressives saw the courts as launching pads for social reform. Legal academics began turning law schools into incubators for lawyers who would practice "sociological jurisprudence" - making social and economic arguments instead of arguing the law. 

     Paul wrote to believers at Thessalonica that in the last days the "lawless" one would deceive "those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false."

     We seem to have crossed from reinventing truth to an outright rejection of reality. 

     Killing unborn babies is healthcare. Child mutilation promotes mental health. Helping people commit suicide is compassionate, as is euthanizing the sick and disabled. These and other insane positions are now mainstream. Tens of millions are living in a miasma (oppressive atmosphere) of lies. 

     People may think they are really doing the right thing. 

     It's also heartbreaking when a holy God gives people what they insist they want.

Lynn Vincent, WORLD magazine

Will Our Pillars Stand? 

     You have seen photos of ancient cities in Turkey, Italy and Greece. Pillars of once-important buildings are all that's left of their former glory. 

     Will Christian influence, common law, private property and a free economy continue to mark the U.S.A. in our lifetimes? Not if Marxists and oligarchs have their way.  

     When American settlers began to expand, the fastest mode was by horse. There were no elementary schools for decades, and all but one of the eastern colleges was Christian oriented. 

     No one was wealthy. Later, there was slavery mostly in the South.  Settlers in the Midwest ignored the rules, and it paid off with "squatters rights," celebrated today by U. of Oklahoma "Sooners." 

    We read that President Thomas Jefferson worked alone in the White House during the Lewis & Clark expedition. It was Jefferson who wanted all territory placed in private hands. Didn't happen.

     To sum up - no electricity, radio, TV, phones, drilled oil, autos, airplanes, rubber, steel, satellites and little medicine. George Washington was a reluctant president. Now, we get 20 or more candidates wanting to rule the roost. Many departments were added since World War II. Everything we invented can be used against us. Lying is expected.  

     Many in Congress are there to gain wealth and power. Democratic Senator Strom Thurmond, South Carolina, who opposed civil rights, focused on his voters. In 2003, then a Republican, as he - mentally gone - neared his goal of "serving" until age 100, guess who encouraged him most: Democratic Senator Joe Biden. 

     In Rome, only the elite mattered. Will our pillars survive?

              Jimmy

      

PILLAR #4 

Free market economy

     Both Jamestown and Plymouth began with a form of socialist economy. Each had common lands to be cultivated. Each had common grain storage. Both failed.

     They call 1609-1610 the "starving time" in Jamestown. William Bradford lamented that perhaps he and his fellow colonists had thought themselves wiser than God. 

     Plymouth didn't suffer as deeply. Gov. Carver divided up the land and seed. Within one planting season they enjoyed abundance. That led Bradford to proclaim a day of Thanksgiving. 

     Adam Smith, concerned with finding the most moral system of economics, developed what is considered the theory of capitalism in 1776. But this was well after Plymouth. By 1630, Plymouth's colonists had so many crops coming in they needed a full-time miller. In one of the first "divisions of labor," they agreed to pay a miller (with crops) for milling their grains. 

     In both Jamestown and Plymouth there were two of the pillars - common law and private property with written titles and deeds. Only in Plymouth did a bottom-up Protestant religion take root. And it was Plymouth that had the first free-market economy. Virginia had top-down Anglicanism and Presbyterianism. 

     No other nation in the world has all four pillars, and only Plymouth, not Jamestown, had all four. American exceptionalism was born in Plymouth, with a bottom-up religious structure that stressed local control, participation by everyone, private property and a free market economy. 

     Those four pillars, not the Declaration or Constitution, make us exceptional. Those two amazing documents merely placed into the written record what Americans had already known for more than 150 years. 

Next: What to make of it today?

PILLAR #3 

Private property with written titles and deeds

     Private property in Europe was reinforced in 1215 by the Magna Carta. The key was written titles and deeds. 

     Much of the world practiced an oral tradition that today's progressive (Democrat) scholars find desirable. It was not. Spoken words came down to "might makes right." 

     Into the 1700s, English and colonial government could seize property for almost any reason. The need: Written titles and deeds would provide security and leverage to obtain loans. Without clear proof ownership, land could not be transferred or used as collateral for loans. 

     Our founders codified written titles and deeds into law even before the U.S. Constitution. He writes, "I often argue that the Land Ordinance of 1785 was the most important law in American history. It set up a system of surveys and sales of public lands." Thomas Jefferson wanted all government land moved into private hands as soon as possible. Didn't happen. 

     Pioneers' general attitude was, "No one's gonna tell me where I kin settle." This was a challenge to the founders, because pillar #2 said, in essence, "The people know what they are doing." Founders decided to accommodate those who settled outside the survey through a new law best known as "squatter's rights." 

     The second most important law in American history also came before the Constitution, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. It created territories now comprising Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. It provided gradual growth leading to requests for entering the Union.

     Slavery was prohibited in the Northwest Territory. Since the words slave or slavery did not appear in the U.S. Constitution drafted two years later, it presumed that all future U.S. territorial expansion would be free. 

Last: PILLAR #4, Free market economy.