America's Providential History

About a week ago, the mailman accidentally (or, perhaps, providentially?) left a copy of my neighbor's "Enjoying Everyday Life" magazine in my mailbox.  It is published by Joyce Meyer Ministries.*  I found the same magazine online, and wanted to share a commentary about a book that I think all Americans should read.  The book is entitled, "America's Providential History." by Mark A. Beliles and Stephen K. McDowell.

The two authors of the book wrote an excerpt and placed it in the "America At Its Best" section of the magazine.  It is entitled "A Land of Religious Freedom:  God's Plan of Colonization for the United States."

I am looking forward to getting a copy of this book.  It was written for the purpose of giving readers insight into God's hand at work as we discover the true and genuine history of America (often, unfortunately, left out of secular classrooms) and the spreading of the Gospel worldwide.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the birth of our nation is contained in this quote:

"Every attempt to colonize...the U.S. was met with failure.  God was preserving [it] for a people He had yet to prepare."

No wonder our Founders spoke and wrote about Divine Providence in our Founding Documents!  They truly knew, realized, and respected God's Hand at work in the birth of our great nation!

Our nation is in moral, financial, educational, and especially spiritual trouble.  Why?  Many reasons, but the lack of good leadership stands out since 2008.  I continue to pray for restoration of our nation and the future appointment(s) of more Godly leaders

~  Christine



The following is a copy of the excerpt:

In 1492, Christopher Columbus [whose name meant “The Christbearer”] opened up the New World to civilization. We all know of this event, but do we know what motivated Columbus to embark on such an arduous and dangerous journey? The following excerpts from his diary will tell us.

“It was the Lord who put it into my mind —I could feel His hand upon me—the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies…

“All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me… There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures… For the execution of the journey to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics, or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied…

“No one should fear to undertake a task in the name of our Savior, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His Service… The fact that the Gospel must still be preached to so many lands in such a short time – this is what convinces me.”

While Columbus discovered the New World, God did not allow the country from which he sailed to colonize the territory which originally comprised the United States. ...Explorers carried with them the seeds of religious tyranny, and God had plans for America to be planted with seeds of liberty.

Historian Daniel Dorchester writes:

“While thirst for gold, lust of power, and love of daring adventure served the Providential purpose of opening the New World to papal Europe, and Roman Catholic colonies were successfully planted in some portions, the territory originally comprised within the United States was mysteriously guarded and reserved for another—a prepared people.”

During the century following the discovery of the New World, colonization occurred in much of South and Central America. In 1493 the Pope gave Africa, Asia, and Brazil to Portugal and the rest of Latin America to Spain.  This is reflected in the colonization that followed.  Every attempt to colonize the territory comprising the original United States was met with failure.  God was preserving this land for a people whom He had yet to prepare.


In 1497, John Cabot, landing near the St. Lawrence River, laid claim to America for England. At this time, England, as all of Europe lived under civil and religious tyranny, yet…God would be at work in the sixteenth century to assure that this was changed.

B.F. Morris writes of God’s providential hand at work during this era:

“No era in history is more signally and sublimely marked than that of the discovery and Christian colonization of the North American continent.

“The intervening century was in many respects the most important period of the world; certainly the most important in modern times. More marked and decided changes, affecting science, religion, and liberty, occurred in that period than had occurred in centuries before; and all these changes were just such as to determine the Christian character of this country. Meantime, God held this vast land in reserve, as the great field on which the experiment was to be made in favor of a civil and religious liberty. He suffered not the food of Spaniard, or Portuguese, or Frenchman, or Englishman to come upon it until the changes had been wrought in Europe which would make it certain that it would always be a land of religious freedom.”

This copy is an excerpt from Mark A. Beliles and Stephen K. McDowell’s book, America’s Providential History.

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A Note from Dave Meyer:

In the sixteenth century, God began to move in the hearts of many across Europe—especially throughout England. In order to establish America as a free Christian nation, God had to first do a work in the lives of those who would become the founders of this great nation. America’s Providential History describes how key players such as William Tyndale, the puritans, William Bradford and even people like Henry VIII and “Bloody” Mary each had a part to play in the birth of the United States and how hundreds of others were used by God to develop and establish this nation for His glory. America’s history is truly His story. If you want to read the rest of the story, I encourage you to get this book.
 

This book and others can be found at: Providence Foundation

Hat Tip: Joyce Meyer.org

*Note: This post should not be construed as a blanket approval of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Hopefully, she leads an accurate and true Bible-based Christian ministry.  At this time, I do not have enough information about the ministry to make an informed decision on all that she preaches or publishes.