John 316 Marshall

Washington and the Frenchman Lafayette loved each other. They developed almost a father/son relationship, but strongly disagreed on the issue of slavery. It grieves me to read of how Washington dealt with slaves at the end of the Revolutionary War. He made sure as many slaves as possible that had been freed by the British were returned to their bondage. We're talking thousands of African Americans. After the War, Lafayette asked Washington to enter a joint venture in which they would start a plantation that would be successfully operated by the labor of freed former slaves. The Frenchman believed this would be a good example for others, and could lead to the freeing of slaves in America. Washington refused the offer. Lafayette was heartbroken. He later wrote, "I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I could have conceived that thereby I was founding a land of slavery." www.john316marshall.com

From the first, Christmas has been hard to envisions without thinking of the Magi. In early catacomb art about Jesus' birth, the most frequent painting-motif was the Magi. The star in their story is the star of their story, but the essential fact we often overlook is that they also followed the Bible. First, they had to have read in the ancient scrolls the predictions about the coming King of the Jews. Without Holy Writ, they would not have known what the star pointed to. Second, once they arrived in Israel, the star disappeared. They had to ask for help from Herod, who consulted the religious leaders. They  pointed Herod to a passage the prophet Micah (5:2) had written 700 years earlier. He predicted that Bethlehem, the small-town birthplace of King David, would also be the birthplace of the Messiah. The star did re-appear, but d on't miss the honor God placed on His Word. God gave the Magi a star to help them start their way to Christ, but made sure even they could not comple...

I never speak publicly about current political figures, but history is a different matter. Twenty-six years later, I still think we did President Bush a huge disservice by not re-electing him President. He was not perfect. He would sometimes say unwise things. He was unable to come out from under Reagan's shadow. He appointed an iffy Supreme Court Justice. He broke his "Read my lips; no more taxes" promise. As I look back over a quarter of a century ago, I guess I have to wonder; does a person have to be perfect to be President? Bush was an American hero when a teenager. He was shot down as a pilot in WW2 at age 20. He held as many significant political positions as anyone in modern times. He was part of the longest, most powerful family dynasty in our history—a combined total of 20 years as President or Vice-President. I have been blessed by the response of the American people to President Bush at his death. It is a comfort to know he and his beloved Barbara ar...

We have become a society that has too often legitimatized anger, however small the offense. The result is sometimes a violence enacted due to a small offense. We are an angry society, and anger is always only one step removed from violence. Our Master became angry only for the honor of God (cleansing of the temple) and for the help of others (healing the withered hand in the synagogue). On both occasions, the anger resulted in helpful deeds. Once the deeds were done, the anger subsided. In contrast to this, many believers in our culture rightly start as angry over a particular issue, but then sin by staying angry rather than by doing something helpful that might have a positive result in the situation. If anger is not driving us to positive action, we need to let it go, to not let it seethe. We can learn from our own nation's history here. I just finished Peskin's biography of James Garfield. When this extremely popular President was assassinated, the nation fell into ...

Ruth loves Hallmark movies. Occasionally she is able to convince me to watch one with her. I've seen relatively few of them, but have already noticed some recurring themes that actually serve as good lessons for life. One, a relationship can get off to a rocky start, yet end well. It's true we have only one chance to make a good first impression, but there are plenty of later impressions that can soften the first one. Ruth and I are a good example of this. She thought I was cocky (which I was), but we were able to forge a great relationship eventually. Two, relationships always ride on bumpy roads. Life is made up of conflicts. It is impossible for two people to agree on everything. Relationships are built on, or buried in, the ruins of disagreements. Ruth and I are both strong willed people. We disagree often. Nevertheless, we have always been able to work through our differences, and actually be made better by them. Three, we all want happy endings. This is, of course, the ul...

The Peter Principle is one I learned when young, and have seen fulfilled often through the years. It states we tend to promote people to the level of their incompetence. In other words, they do well at various jobs, and thus we keep promoting them until they reach a point that they don't do as well, and we leave them in this level of mediocrity. The life of President James Buchanan illustrated this principle again for me. Before the Presidency, he had a long string of successes to his credit. He served with distinction for over three decades at various levels of political involvement. But then he miserably failed as President. He is always ranked among the least effective Chief Executives. What does this have to do with us? Learn a vital lesson here. Don't always accept a promotion automatically. Pray first. When we find our niche, pray about staying with it. Contentment is a rare jewel in life. Find where you are effective, and consider staying there. I know this is e...

Folly almost brought me down. At the end of my college days, I needed only one more class to fulfill my math major. I looked over the course offerings, and saw one titled "Introductory Algebra". It was a 5000-level class, which meant it was a Master's Degree course, but since it had the word "introductory" in it, I decided it couldn't be too bad, and signed up. On the first day, Dr. Michaels (for whom the math building was later named) took one step inside the door and began working a problem on the blackboard. He took one wall to prove what 2 is; he then took a second wall to prove what 4 is; he then took two more walls to prove that two wall ones equaled one wall two. He finished the final blackboard just as the bell rang. He gave us our homework assignment, and then walked out the door. I knew I was in big trouble. I barely made it through that class. It was probably the iffiest segment of my college career. The Lord brought good out of this scho...

I remember it well. It happened in my first college semester. My Calculus I professor was Dr. Ahuja. Every class session began with several of us students going to the blackboard to post solutions of our homework problems from the night before. On the infamous day, one of the students said he could not go to the board. When Dr. Ahuja asked why, he said he had forgotten to do his homework. What happened next defies adequate explanation. My mild mannered professor suddenly transformed into the Incredible Hulk. Dr. Ahuja ran to the student's desk, leaned over him, and began interrogating. "Do you forget to breathe?" "No." "Do you forget to eat?" "No." "Do you forget to sleep?" "No." "Your Calculus homework comes just as regularly; never forget it, and if I leave at the end of class, and fail to give you your homework assignment, you are still responsible for it. Make sure you always know your assignment before you ...

Why would anyone who knew he was going to be a preacher major in math? Great question. I've been asked "why" questions like this one many times through the years. It's actually an anticlimactic story. Dad often told me I needed to get a non-religion degree in college, in case the ministry did not work out for me. Thanks, Dad, for that vote of confidence. When I arrived to register for my first semester in college, I was awestruck at the length of some of the sign-up lines. The English majors stretched a block on one direction; the history majors covered a block the other way. At this moment of despair, I saw a professor (Dr. Francis, who would later teach me) leaning back in his chair, reading a book, with his feet propped up on the desk in front of him. I felt compelled to walk straight toward him. I hesitated a moment when I saw a "Math" sign on the desk by his feet, but interrupted his reading anyway by saying, "I am here to register." ...

Radical, proud misinterpretations of the Book that created our nation and made it great are what destroyed it in the Civil War. That's the premise of Mark Noll's book "The Civil War as Theological Crisis". The armies of the Civil War were the most religious armies in our history. Christianity and the Bible were not embraced by everyone, but were certainly respected by the overwhelming majority. But when the War ended, one of its casualties was the Bible. It had been so abused and misused by people on both sides that an underlying mistrust of the Bible itself began to seep into American life. Some began to think the Bible could be used to prove anything. Others felt it was proven to be in error by how the War turned out. Radical Abolitionists debunked the Bible because it did not straightforwardly condemn slavery. Radical southerners defaced the Bible by using it to justify their horrible treatment of slaves. There were Bible students who advocated slow emancipat...

Heroes are too often forgotten. I had never heard of this senator from New Jersey. In my reading the biographies of Presidents, his name kept coming up. I decided to read a summary of his 1830 six-hour speech delivered to Congress opposing Indian removal from the southern states. His passionate plea almost won the day. How different American history might have been had his words been heeded. Springfield MO witnessed some of the final throes of Congress' failure when the Trail of Tears passed through our town in 1838. Once I read the summary, I wanted to read the whole unedited version of his speech. The folks at Brentwood Library did archaeological excavations for me and found it in its entirety at archives.org . I wish I could have heard the "Christian Statesman", as Frelinghuysen was called, deliver it in person. He said the Indians were as much under God's care and Providence as the European settlers had been. The senator claimed neither British law nor USA law nor...

In reading biographies of the Presidents, I've come across a huge surprise. One author claimed the 1840s and 1850s were the two most important decades in USA history. He said if the Civil War is the most pivotal event in our history, we must admit it did not happen in a vacuum, and need to investigate what caused it. In pondering this possibility, I have come to an unexpected conclusion. The Presidents of these two decades (between Jackson and Lincoln) were not nearly as ineffective as history has commonly painted them. They had a deck stacked against them. They were fighting against the Czar, Dictator Slavocracy. I have dealt with this in a former blog, but want to point how impossible it made for the Presidents to be hugely effective during its ascendancy. Not until LIncoln, who was elected with only 42% of the vote and who due to the secession of southern states did not have to be  handcuffed with slavocracy, was a President able to effectively undertake issues with proper Execu...

The word that throws the pallor of death over everything we study about the USA between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. As I have read the biographies of the first Presidents (I'm on #12 now), one issue puts all others in the shade—slavery. Slavocracy defines the era. No law could be passed, no President elected, no infrastructure improvements enacted, without the blessing of the slaveowners' interest. The latter always had enough clout to run the show, until Lincoln was elected. By the way, he won only 42% of the vote when he was elected, barely enough to win the electoral college. Before the Civil War, the northeast usually voted as a bloc, as did the newly opening lands of the west, and as did the southern slave states. The south always had enough clout to throw its weight around politically. They were often the lynchpin that held fragile coalitions together. The tragedy is; slavery mocked our claim of being a land of the free. There were actually slave markets close to th...

God rules in the affairs of men, and decides who will or will not be President. I have to admit, from a finite human perspective, it seems Henry Clay was born and bred to be our President. In reading the biographies of the Presidents, one name keeps recurring in the  leaders of the early 1800s. Henry Clay seemed to be omnipresent. They called him the Great Pacificator (we would say peacemaker). Four times he came up with compromises that held our union together under almost impossible odds. He bought the USA time, enough time to allow the north to become strong enough to end slavery and win the Civil War. His greatest contribution was his profound influence on Abraham Lincoln. The latter said every major political idea he had was based on the teachings of Henry Clay. Lincoln quoted Clay often, and grieved profoundly each time Clay lost the Presidency (thrice) and when Clay died (in 1852). For me, the biggest surprise of his life was how his American System was so bitterly opposed b...

In 1939 Clark Gable was Rhett Butler, Dorothy walked the yellow brick road, and Freeman Cleaves wrote one of the most suspenseful books I have ever read. Huh? Freeman who? His biography of William Henry Harrison is a hold-your-breath can't-put-the-book down thriller. Historians often write in broad strokes. They tell of large movements and trends. Cleave also does this, but at the same time knows when to slow down the action, to recount every second, every breath. His descriptions of the War of 1812 battles defies my ability to explain. He talks about bullets striking flesh and near misses, cannonballs decimating targets, rifles firing, tomahawks and scalping knives destroying. There were actually times when it would have been impossible for me to stop reading, and put the book down. It shows the human side of war, the groans, shouts, and cries of the common soldier on the battlefield. The heroism recounted in the stories is beyond comprehension. The British, native Americans, and ...

My Grandpa Marshall preached against Kennedy in the 1960 election, but then had a sudden change of heart in the voting booth, and voted for JFK. After the vote in 1960, Grandpa returned to his yellow dog Democrat ways. When Nixon made his return, and was elected President in 1968, Grandpa just about went bonkers. Grandpa said terrible things about Nixon. He couldn't seem to talk about the President in normal ways. "Tricky Dick" was a well-known, much used, nickname for Nixon, and Grandpa relished using it. But this was not enough for Grandpa's dislike of Nixon. Grandpa invented a new image of derision. He felt Nixon was pompous, and dubbed him "King Richard". He once told me that he believed Nixon stayed awake at night, practicing in the privacy of his bedroom how to best march to "Hail to the Chief". You must remember, my grandpa was not a raving lunatic. He was an intelligent, very astute, man. He was a gifted Baptist preacher. What was ...

I remember little about Ike. I do recall New Years Eve, December 31, 1959. After our midnight watch service at Illmo (now Scott City) Baptist Church we headed to a local restaurant with other church families. This was a rare event for us. We always went to bed early, but every year our church brought in the new year with a circle of prayer, after which we headed straight home and went to bed. Not so on the last night of the 1950s. That night there were images on the walls of the restaurant commemorating the decade. There was a large picture of Ike, and another of Khrushchev. The latter had a mean, mad snarl on his face. At barely eight years old, all I remember knowing for sure was that the Russian leader was a bad, evil man. That's the sum total of my memories about Eisenhower's Presidency. But what happened in 1960 politics was burned into my psyche. I remember many details of the 1960 Presidential election as if I had been an adult rather than a boy when it happened. I...

Trying to nail down President John Adams' religious beliefs is like trying to hit a moving target. He was literally all over the religious map. I am still fascinated at reading about people whose religious views change dramatically over a lifetime. When I was young, I thought religious change in a person was extremely rare, but now I know better. People often shift in their religious thinking. Time allows many factors to influence individuals toward change. John Adams exemplified religious change. He was raised in the Puritan system, accepting the Bible and the deity of Christ. He claimed to be a devout Christian, and attended church regularly. Adams quickly began shifting. As an adult, he believed in miracles, and still embraced the Bible, but came to believe institutional Christianity was the source of much suffering in the world. In his old age he maintained that religion was essential for society, but eventually rejected the deity of Jesus, and became what could best b...

From the first of the Revolutionary War, the British wanted New York, for it would divide the colonies. Also, it controlled the Hudson River, the main gateway to the north. In July 1776 the British landed at Staten Island, some 30,000 strong. Washington and his troops were outnumbered 3 to 1. By the last week in August, the colonists had been pushed all the way back to Brooklyn, at the western tip of Long Island. Howe's cannons belched relentless death into the trapped army. Washington saw 2,000 of his men die in three days. By August 28, 8,000 Americans, with the East River at their backs, were trying to hold of 20,000 attackers. Victory was in Howe's hand, but he never pressed for it. He went against all military logic, and hesitated. Washington waited, anticipating the inevitable. He believed the war was about to end, but Howe never attacked. By late afternoon Washington finally let himself believe Howe was not coming. Some of the soldiers were calling it a miracle. That nig...

One of the greatest military miracles in USA history happened in March 1776 atop Dorchester Heights above Boston. The British were hemmed in, but the Colonists had too little fire power to attack. Henry Knox, a man whose only knowledge about war was what he had read in books, devised a plan to bring cannons and ammo from Fort Ticonderoga to make the Heights impregnable. The army built the fortifications in one night. General Howe awoke the next morning to a vast array of cannons pointed down at him. His weapons could not fire high enough to reach the fortification. Howe quickly had to hoist a flag of surrender.  Washington had won a bloodless victory. A remarkable deliverance had been wrought, and Washington knew where credit belonged. He referred to the whole incident as "this most remarkable interposition of Providence." He set aside March 7 as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer "to implore the Lord and giver of all victory." Washington wrote the General As...