Category Archives: Minnesota

20th Century, Agriculture, Business, Food, Food Science, History, Intercession, Minnesota, omnipresent history

A Jolly Green Giant in MN

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1928

“Described by Advertising Age as “a fugitive from a Grimm’s fairy tale,” a hulking green giant becomes the symbol of the Minnesota Valley Canning Company in Le Sueur. The giant gets jollier and more handsome as time goes on.” * 

To provide some backstory, the Minnesota Valley Canning Company was born of the collaboration of 14 merchants in LeSeur, Minnesota in 1903. They initially only sold Early June peas, but sought to market a new variety of a much larger and sweeter pea from England around 1925. “At the time, the company couldn’t legally trademark the name Green Giant to describe the peas, so they created a mascot named Green Giant and sold the new type of peas under that name.” **

We thank You for humble beginnings. We thank you for the vision of the originators of Minnesota Valley Canning Company; canning vegetables means more people can access them. We are grateful for the introduction of the “Green Giant” variety of peas to the diet of Minnesota and much of North America. 

We give You thanks for the technology of canning and vacuum packing! Canning existed long before the MVCC, Louis Appert of France by 1809 had invented a way of sealing cooked food in jars that fed their armies during the Napoleonic Wars.*** Yet, Green Giant would supply multitudes with vegetables that: kept for years, traveled well, were affordable, and quick to prepare. 

Further, psychologically and spiritually icons connect our heads to our hearts; we comprehend information and feel its’ meaning. We remember, Jesus Christ, that Your storytelling, parables, and use of imagery taught both the minds and hearts of mankind. For example, Jesus confronted the religious folks of his day and their masks. He confronted the idea of doing the right things with a wrong heart. 

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy–full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.” **** Matthew 23:25,26 NLT

So, we give You thanks for the humble tin can and its’ inner cleanliness. Will You clean us on the inside, too, so we don’t spoil quickly. We give You thanks for those farmers, packers, and owners who sought to serve their neighbors vegetables through a tin can made famous by a Green Giant! Amen!

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

** http://mentalfloss.com/article/75472/11-hulking-facts-about-green-giant

*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canning

**** http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-26.htm

 

 

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20th Century, African American, Black History, History, Minnesota, omnipresent history

Credjafawn Social Club Forms

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October 16, 1927

“The Credjafawn Social Club was formed the evening of October 16, 1927, by ten young adults who sensed the lack of social activities for persons in their age bracket. The name was devised from a letter out of each of the names of the ten charter members.” *

Although conceived as a social/recreational club, the Credjafawns initiated some outstanding projects of importance for the Twin Cities Black community—opening a cooperative food outlet and a credit union, offering college scholarships, and working to integrate hotels. **

What a pleasure to hear of this group of African-American teens committing themselves to each other, and in writing no less!?! How insightful of them to be proactive with their concerns and wants. They refused to be bored because they realized that they had the power to make and attain goals! 

We thank thank You for this example of covenant  (contractual) relationships in St. Paul. Your Word underscores the importance of covenant: Noahic, Abramic, Mosaic, Davidic, and Messianic. We remember Credjafawn today, and ask Your blessing on Minnesota’s teens to replicate such committed covenant friendships, then, now, and always. 

We thank You for their example to the ages! This group of young adults, at first, just wanted something fun to do and a group to do it with. We do not diminish the need or importance of fun. Perhaps it was this happiness and contentment, well ordained by You, that gave them the inspiration to better the lives of others? We commend to You their accomplishments: in providing healthy food through a co-op, in lending through their credit union, in impacting the marketplace through integration, and enabling higher education through scholarships! ***,****

G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we remember today that You, though G-d of gods, chose to commit in writing to human beings. Every commitment of friendship You have made to the human race has, is, and will be kept! We scarcely can entertain the thought that, though Infinite, You have humbled Yourself to relate to us so very personally. How do I grasp that the King of the Universe has committed himself in writing, to be forever remembered, to me?

Will You forgive us our preoccupation with ourselves? We are bowled over when we focus on the problems of society on our own. Will You forgive the fears, loneliness, and passivity of teens? Will You forgive us the parental roots of these sins, and our failure to have an answer for the longings of our youth?

Will You give us the grace to establish committed relationships? Will You give us the desire to live for the betterment of others? Will You remove our blindness caused by having so many focal points that we can’t see the one friend we can bless today? Will You bless Minnesota with Credjafawnic Covenants, so we also will bless our generations?

“Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.” Ezekiel 16:60 NASB******

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

**”The Power of Education” by Patricia Anita Young. https://saintpaulalmanac.org/saint-paul-stories/people/the-power-of-education/

***”Commemorating Cradjafawn Co-op” by Matt Frank.  http://msmarket.coop/2018/02/commemorating-credjafawn-co-op/

****Credjafawn impact on the Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul, MN. “Rondo Neighborhood, St. Paul” by Ehsan Alam. http://www.mnopedia.org/place/rondo-neighborhood-st-paul

*****”Five Great Bible Covenants” by David Padfield. http://www.padfield.com/2004/covenants.html

******http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-60.htm

 

 

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20th Century, authors, History, Immigration, Minnesota, omnipresent history, Prayer

“Giants in the Earth” Published 1927

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1927

“Ole Rølvaag, a Norwegian-born professor at St. Olaf College in Northfield, publishes Giants in the Earth, his brooding, epic novel of immigrant pioneer life. The book becomes a huge success both in Norway and the United States.” *

“The infinitude surrounding her on every hand might not have been so oppressive, might even have brought her a measure of peace, if it had not been for the deep silence, which lay heavier here than in a church. Indeed, what was there to break it? She had passed beyond the outposts of civilization; the nearest dwelling places of men were far away. Here no warbling of birds rose on the air, no buzzing of insects sounded; even the wind had died away; the waving blades of grass that trembled to the faintest breath now stood erect and quite, as if listening, in the great hush of the evening….”

–Giants in the Earth, excerpt from Chapter II “Home-founding.” *

Rolvaag, named after his birthplace five miles from the Arctic Circle, was born one of seven children in 1876. He worked as a fisherman with his father and brothers for six years until he was recruited to be a farmhand in South Dakota at age twenty. After a few years, he went after his education graduating from: Augustana Academy in 1901, Saint Olaf both in 1905 (B.A.), and 1910 (MA). His rugged life experiences gave authenticity and realism to his recollections of the struggles of Norwegian pioneers in the Midwestern United States.**

We remember, with You, the plight of the pioneers from Norway to the Midwest. We remember that this earth is Yours, as well as all its peoples and resources, and that in Your forbearance You move them where You choose. So we give thanks for the example of these aliens, and that within their hardships of displacement that they were perfectly placed to thrive by the King of the Universe!

We give thanks to You for the life and extreme austerity experienced by Ole Rolvaag. He knew both the frigid waters of Norway’s Lofoten fishing area, and the burning sun of South Dakota. He battled the elements for the privilege to enrich his mind, and truly took in the discipline and lessons of both.

We recognize the tribulations of the Norwegian characters of “Giants in the Earth”, and reflect on their lessons for all peoples at all times. Each immigrant must wrestle the elements of his environment, a culture that is unfamiliar, and the loneliness for home. We also ponder the judgments of aliens against Your Sovereignty.

Will You forgive our ancestors their environmental judgments against their new home land? Will You forgive the thoughts and words this wave of Norwegians made in their attempt to tame the “amber waves of grain”? Will You forgive our judgments in this era of them? We have forgotten what pestilence means: losing whole crops to blight, grasshoppers, and fire. 

Will You forgive Norwegian Americans their judgments and false assessments of their neighbors? They encountered foreigners, also from Europe, who though racially similar held no common culture or language. They met Native Americans who led migratory lives following the buffalo. Again, somewhat relatable to fisherman following their catch, but different. For all their cultural struggles we seek Your mercy. 

Granted, these are stalwart, hearty people who endured much more than our present generations, but even giants have hearts of flesh. Because of Your kindness, will You forgive the inward struggles of these pioneers? It’s understandable that one would ask, “Who am I?” while at home, but even more so, “Who am I in this new place?”  Will You forgive their sins of fear and doubt related to their identity stemming from Norway rather than the Maker of Norway?

We, like them, are displaced from the heritage of our Creator. Much of our travail is that our identity is based on geography, ethnicity, and culture, but these are comforting false gods. Will You give us an unshakable sense of place that can only come from the Cornerstone of the Universe and Your unchanging Word? 

17″You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge. 18″But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. 19″When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.…

Deuteronomy 24:17-19 NASB***

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Edvart_Rølvaag

***http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/24-18.htm

 

 

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20th Century, African American, Black History, cultural transference, History, Intercession, Judgment & Counter-Judgment Cycle, Minnesota, omnipresent history, Republican

Francis Appointed Minister to Liberia

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1927

“St. Paul attorney William T. Francis is appointed U.S. Minister to Liberia. His success is the product of an active black professional community in the Twin Cities. Francis had at one time been the chief clerk of the Northern Pacific Railway and had served as a presidential elector in 1920.*

Mr. Francis first found work in the Twin Cities with the Northern Pacific Railroad, working his way up to clerk. By 1904, he had graduated from St. Paul College of Law, and became the chief clerk of the law office of Northern Pacific. This high position made him a powerful leader and advocate for black Minnesotans.**

As was common in this era, he voted and actively participated in Republican politics. (African-Americans, on average, supported Republicans from the time of Emancipation until FDR, shunning the Democratic party for its support of slavery and slave states in the Civil War.) After two failed attempts in local races, his stalwart support garnered him the status of being a most powerful African American Republican west of the Mississippi as well as serving as a presidential elector by 1920.**

His quiet authority eventually paid off when in 1927 President Coolidge appointed him the U.S. Minister and Consul to Liberia. American tire companies had made large investments in the rubber industry there critical to a country in love with the automobile. Francis, always alert for breeches of justice, made a key report that uncovered corruption of major Liberian officials taking bribes for supplying men for forced labor. Soon after submitting his report he succumbed to yellow fever, and died in Monrovia, Liberia on July 15, 1929.**

His death rocked the African-American community of Minnesota, and as a lifelong member of Pilgrim Baptist Church he was given the following eulogy by the mayor of Saint Paul.

“Whereas: The City Council has been officially notified of the death of Wm. T. Francis, U.S. Minister to Liberia…

Mr. Francis was a St. Paul product, a citizen of fine spirit, clean purpose and genuine devotion to the public good, held in high esteem of those who knew him. He fashioned his own career out of courage, determination and ability. Facing unusual handicaps he overcame them all by the quality of his character, and by single-handed struggle forced recognition of his worth. He won high honor on worth alone and earned a wide approval because he was sincere, kindly, human and gracious.

At the time of his death he was on the threshold of a distinguished career, and assured of a commanding destiny among men. His government associates were open in their praise of his achievements. Here in his home city he was respected for what he was- a true brave man, gifted with vision, cheerful and uncomplaining, and devoted to high aims. His untimely death is a tragic loss to his country and especially to his home community. He leaves behind him the memory of one who was unafraid of life, the example of one who was victorious against all untoward circumstances.”***

“…and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” I Thessalonians 4:11,12 NIV****

In Your mercy, hear our prayer. We thank You for the stellar example of W.T. Francis. We thank You for gifting him with the tenacity, perseverance, and humility to stay at his task and quietly do so much good for so many. We thank You that his years of trials, like Joseph, prepared him to be the first African-American to be an American ambassador. We thank You that his process of overcoming led to greater freedom for tens of thousands of Africans!

Will You bless those who follow his patient path to greatness? Will You bless his progeny, both literal and figurative, to be blessings to their families, neighborhoods, and cities? Will You bless African-American leaders to be imitators of his invaluable contributions to the company, state, and nation he serves?

We ask that You forgive the judgments and jealousies that fell on him from Minnesotans, and by those in his own community. We ask forgiveness of the offense of judging You by judging the success of African-American leaders. We ask forgiveness of You by judging the success of all leaders.

Will You forgive us of judgments based on partisanship, of our own mothers and fathers, across political party lines? In this case, will You forgive our judgments against Republican leadership? We have largely forgotten as a society that slave states were led by Democrats, and that the leadership of President Lincoln and Republican principles of liberty defeated the slavery of African human beings in the United States. W.T. Francis did not forget, but used his liberty to procure liberty of Liberians being enslaved and betrayed by their own countrymen. Will You raise a generation of African Americans in Minnesota that similarly burn with justice for Africa?

We thank You that his inner peace begat external peace. May we receive Your peace in Minnesota, and let it radiate outward. May we work for Your applause just like William T. Francis.

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

**https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2017/03/lawyer-civil-rights-campaigner-and-diplomat-life-william-t-francis

*** http://credo.library.umass.edu/view/pageturn/mums312-b048-i368/#page/1/mode/1up

****http://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/4-11.htm

*****Read deeper on this good man’s life. https://publishing.rchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/RCHS_Winter2017_Nelson.pdf

 

 

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20th Century, Business, History, Intercession, Minnesota, omnipresent history, Science

An Invention that Sticks

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1925

“After twenty-three years of creating sandpaper and other industrial abrasives, the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) moves into a new market with its invention of masking tape. Of 3M’s 55,000 products today, the best known are probably masking tape, Scotch Tape, Thinsulate, and Post-it Notes.” *

Below is a condensed history of 3M in the years that led up to the invention of masking tape.

“William L. McKnight joined Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. in 1907 as an assistant bookkeeper. He quickly rose through the company, becoming president in 1929 and chairman of the board in 1949. He is known for shaping the company’s culture of innovation and collaboration.  In 1910, major investor Lucius Ordway established 3M’s headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, where it remains today. We created the world’s first waterproof sandpaper, which reduced airborne dust during automobile manufacturing, in the early 1920s.  A second major milestone occurred in 1925 when Richard G. Drew, a young lab assistant, invented masking tape — an innovative step toward diversification and the first of many Scotch® Pressure-Sensitive Tapes.” **

But what of the man, Richard Gurley Drew, who actually developed masking tape?

“Scotch tape was invented in 1930 by banjo-playing 3M engineer Richard Drew. Scotch tape was the world’s first transparent adhesive tape. Drew also invented the first masking tape in 1925 — a 2-inch-wide tan paper tape with a pressure sensitive adhesive backing.

In 1923, Drew joined the 3M company located in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time, 3M only made sandpaper. Drew was product testing 3M’s Wetordry brand sandpaper at a local auto body shop, when he noticed that auto painters were having a hard time making clean dividing lines on two-color paint jobs. Richard Drew was inspired to invent the world’s first masking tape in 1925, as a solution to the auto painters’ dilemma.

The brandname Scotch came about while Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The body shop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, “Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!” The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.” ***

Good G-d, it’s easy to see Your image in a well-rounded man like Richard Gurley Drew! We give thanks for his scientific persistence, his love of rowdy banjo playing, and a good looking two-toned car! Will You bless him and his literal and figurative heirs to reflect so practically Your creative Image?

In particular, we give thanks that he did not take offense when his product failed at the auto shop. He did not not take offense when the workman used a racial slur “Scotch”, (extremely thrifty or cheap), to malign both his product and his company. He listened to their needs beyond their words, and responded.

We give You praise for this image! May we learn from the patience of this inventor to reserve judgment of another’s lack of tactfulness, or use of salty language. May we open the gift of criticism we receive, and look past the ugly wrapping paper! 

Will You give Minnesotans past, present, and future this same humility to accept criticism? Will You forgive the harshness of our words even if spoken with good intent? When and where we  have used racial slurs we have not only stereotyped each other, but Your Image invention of those people groups. Have mercy: then, now, and into our future.

We thank You today for 3M! We thank You for its dedication to innovation through nurturing the inspirations of its employees. We thank You for its model of balancing collaborative and individual creativity. We thank You for its model of relational management, decades ahead of its time, that saw their employees as whole people. They saw that when Richard Drew played the banjo and was excited by a showy car that he would be a better scientist. 

In response, may we ever be grateful for their reflection of Your Image in this, and foster wholeness in our business! will You forgive us where we have only seen our employees as faceless “human resources”? Will You forgive our lack of humility when and where we have lost that the spirit of invention exists to better serve our fellow man, and indirectly to serve You? Amen!

…Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’    ESV Matthew 25:45****

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

**See “A Rich History of Ideas” to peruse the many inventions created by 3M that have changed the way we live. http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-Company/Information/Resources/History/

***See “The History of Scotch Tape” by Mary Bellis https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-scotch-tape-1992403

****http://biblehub.com/matthew/25-45.htm

 

 

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20th Century, Faith, History, Intercession, Judgment & Counter-Judgment Cycle, Minnesota, omnipresent history, Science, Uncategorized

William Bell Riley: Minnesota’s Link to the Scopes Monkey Trials

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July 21, 1925

“William Bell Riley was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1897 until 1942. Riley was a theological conservative and advocate for the New Hampshire Confession of Faith of 1833.  In 1919, he founded the World Christian Fundamentals Association as resource for the Church in an era of modernism. In 1947, Riley persuaded Billy Graham to become president of his university and seminary; the Northwestern Bible College (University of Northwestern-Saint Paul).” *

According to William Vance Trollinger Jr., author of God’s Empire: Wiliam Bell Riley and Midwestern Fundamentalism. (1990, The University of Wisconsin Press.), Riley was “…the dominant figure in American fundamentalism in the first half of the twentieth century. More than any other individual, it was Riley who, in the decade after World War I, marshaled the fundamentalist forces into crusades designed to purify both American Protestantism and American culture in general”. “Riley was the founder and leading spokesperson of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association (WCFA), the first organization that attempted to unite conservative Christians of all denominations in an international association. An indefatigable polemicist, he was one of the most active and effective debaters among American antievolutionists”.***

Given this stance, it is no surprise that he was aware of a small trial developing in Tennessee that would become a touchstone of controversy in American culture; the evolution of man vs. the creation of man. Riley responded by tapping, perhaps, the greatest orator of the 20th century to defend the Church; William Jennings Bryan. It also bode well for the Fundamentalists that Jennings was a man of influence: lawyer and three-time Democratic presidential nominee, former United States Secretary of State, lifelong Presbyterian, and a man of the people.

The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was a famous American legal case in 1925 in which a high school teacher John Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee’s Butler Act which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. It became a national show trial highlighting the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy. Famed orator and politician William Jennings Bryan argued the Fundamentalist position that the Word of G-d revealed in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge. Clarence Darrow, a powerful defense attorney and labor lawyer, argued the Modernist position that evolution was not inconsistent with religion. It became a theological contest between the two camps as to which should be taught in public schools.**

In Your mercy, Lord hear our prayer. We, the State of Minnesota, being comprised both of people of faith and those who believe in the supremacy of science have judged You. Our greatest offenses to You, perhaps, are judging Your ability to create, that You are not the author of all science and natural laws of the universe, and indirectly, by attempting to usurp Your benevolent moral authority as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending of all. We, who live in the dusty bookshelf of our observations within linear history, do not comprehend the Ancient of Days, the Eternal Now, the I Am. Great One, will You forgive us; back then in 1925, now, and into the future?

Will You have mercy on the beliefs and misbeliefs of William Bell Riley, the WFCA, and the Fundamentalist movement of this era? Their root fears, in this case, likely would be that teaching evolution alongside creationism would cast doubts on the truthfulness and historicity of Your Word. To amplify further, public schools may eventually abandon teaching the Bible at all, based on the premise that it’s “unscientific” where it addresses science, and that it’s values are static rather than evolutionary. Though one needs to understand it to thoroughly grasp the greatest writings of Western civilization, it could also be deemed untenable as literature. 

Granted, their fears have come true in less than 90 years. We do not currently rely on the Bible for any use in public education in Minnesota. Yet, where they closed their ears to Your voice spoken through science and evolution, will You have mercy? Will You forgive where fundamentalists’ fears may have blocked the growth of students eager to study a species’ curious abilities of adaption?

Similarly, will You have mercy on the beliefs and misbeliefs of the modernists and evolutionists of this era? They likely feared that their students would subject their minds to the shaky traditions and teaching of Your Word without the ability to “scientifically” test them to be credible. Were their suppositions of the infallibility of the scientific method and reproducible experiments even the correct means to assess any book, let alone Your Revealed Word written over a span of 2,000 years by forty different authors from three different continents? What are the correct means of testing the reliability of writing?*****

First, does a book of antiquity pass the basic principals of historiography: the bibliographical test, the internal evidence test, and the external evidence test? What type of manuscript evidence exists? How many extant copies of the book do we possess, and how close are these copies to the date of publishing? These are useful questions our educators have failed to ask of Your Word. Have mercy on our lack of curiosity!*****

Next, does archaeology support or refute the claims of the Bible? Below, two giants in the field give their testimony on the subject.

Nelson Glueck, the renowned Jewish archaeologist said, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.” *****

“There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament tradition.” William F. Albright ******

Again, were the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ? Below is a brief list of Old Testament prophecies and their New Testament fulfillment:

  1. Born of a seed of woman – Galatians 4:4
  2. Born of a virgin – Matthew 1:18
  3. Son of G-d – Matthew 3:17
  4. Seed of Abraham – Galatians 3:16
  5. Son of Isaac – Luke 3:23
  6. Son of Jacob – Luke 3:23,34
  7. Tribe of Judah – Hebrews 7:14
  8. Family line of Jesse – Luke 3:23,32
  9. House of David – Revelation 22:16
  10. Born at Bethlehem – Matthew 2:1
  11. Presented with gifts – Matthew 2:11
  12. Herod kills children – Mathew 2:16
  13. His pre-existence – Colossians 1:17
  14. He shall be called ‘Lord’ – Luke 2:11
  15. Shall be Immanuel – Matthew 1:23
  16. Shall be a prophet – Matthew 21:11
  17. Priest – Hebrews 3:11
  18. Judge – John 5:30
  19. King – Matthew 27:37
  20. Special anointment of Holy Spirit – Matthew 3:16,17
  21. His zeal for G-d – John 2:15-17
  22. Preceded by a messenger – Matthew 3:1,2
  23. Ministry to begin in Galilee – Mathew 4:12,13,17
  24. Ministry of Miracles – Mathew 9:35
  25. Teacher of parables – Matthew 13:34
  26. He was to enter the Temple – Matthew 21:12
  27. He was to enter Jerusalem on a donkey – Luke 19:35-37
  28. “Stone of stumbling” to Jews – I Peter 2:7
  29. Light to Gentiles – Acts 13:47-48
  30. Resurrection – Acts 2:31
  31. Ascension – Acts 1:9
  32. Seated at the right hand of G-d – Hebrews 3:1
  33. Betrayed by a friend – Matthew 10:4
  34. Sold for 30 pieces of silver – Matthew 26:15
  35. Money to be thrown in Temple – Matthew 27:5
  36. Price given for potter’s field – Matthew 27:7
  37. Forsaken by disciples – Mark 14:50
  38. Accused by false witnesses – Matthew 26:59,60
  39. Dumb (silent) before accusers – Matthew 27:12
  40. Wounded and bruised – Matthew 27:26
  41. Smitten and spit upon – Matthew 26:67
  42. Mocked – Matthew 27:31
  43. Fell under the Cross – John 19:17
  44. Hand and feet pierced – Luke 23:33
  45. Crucified with thieves – Matthew 27:38
  46. Made intercession for his persecutors – Luke 23:34
  47. Rejected by his own people – John 7:5,48
  48. Hated without cause – John 15:25
  49. Friends stood afar off – Luke 23:49
  50. People shook their heads – Matthew 27:39
  51. Stared upon – Luke 23:35
  52. Garments parted and lots cast – John 19:23,24
  53. To suffer thirst – John 19:28
  54. Gall and vinegar offered him – Matthew 27:34
  55. His forsaken cry – Matthew 27:46
  56. Committed himself to G-d – Luke 23:46
  57. Bones not broken – John 19:33
  58. Heartbroken – John 19:34
  59. His side pierced – John 19:34
  60. Darkness over the land – Matthew 27:45
  61. Buried in a rich man’s tomb – Matthew 27:57-60

Professor Peter Stoner used these claims as an exercise in probability. If we used only eight items in this list, …”We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power.” If we increased that number to forty eight prophecies, …”We find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10 to the 157th power.” *******

All this to say that using the suppositions of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace, and or any other scientific method is an incomplete assessment of the truthfulness of the Bible, or the proper yardstick to judge any book. Your revelations in scripture are scientific where it applies to science, but how would Darwin’s method be meaningful across all time, beyond time, and to all subjects?

Human beings are not present to all time, therefore, is it possible that modernism falls apart due to lack of presence to observe, test, and record the conditions of reproducible experiments and their results? Will You forgive these judgments based on our infinitesimal comprehension of time, or the concept that time is a creature under Your control?

Ultimately, modernism has taught us that we are a chance, therefore, not subject to the moral laws of any deity. If we are the beginning, then we are then end. If all morals are subject to the forces of evolution, then all values are the determination of each human being.  There are no distinctions between lightness and darkness, cruelty and love; there is only survival of the fittest. The ends justify the means.

Mercifully, You are the Alpha and the Omega. You are not offended by our quest to understand the universe. We know love because You have demonstrated love through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. We know hate because we have experienced the absence of Your presence. We have worth built on the stability that we are declared worthy by the King of the Universe. That worth will go on after modernism, fundamentalism, or any ‘ism’ is no more. 

Lord, we thank You that our society wrestled with the question of origins in the Scopes Monkey trial. In spite of its upheaval in the world of education, we have still remained a people. Will You give us the grace to continue to wrestle with our existential questions in the future? Will You bring Your Presence to all students in Minnesota? 

1Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2“Who is this that obscures my plans

with words without knowledge?

3Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

4“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6On what were its footings set,

or who laid its cornerstone—

7while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted for joy?****

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bell_Riley

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

***http://faithful-nation.com/2017/07/14/william-bell-riley-and-fundamentalist-anti-semitism/

****http://biblehub.com/niv/job/38.htm

***** Rivers in the Desert; History of Negev. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1969, p33.

****** Albright, William F. Archaeology and the Religions of Israel. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1956, p1.

******* McDowell, Josh. Evidence that Demands a Verdict.Nashville, Atlanta, London, Vancouver: Thomas Nelson, 1979.

 

 

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20th Century, Agriculture, government, Governors, History, Intercession, Judgment & Counter-Judgment Cycle, Minnesota, omnipresent history, Politics, Republican, Uncategorized

Christianson Becomes Governor

Unknown

January 6, 1925

“Theodore Christianson takes office as the state’s 21st governor.” *

Sorry Lord! Christianson is another Minnesota Governor that I have no recollection of, but I come prepared with a brief backstory below.

“Theodore Christianson, the twenty-first governor of Minnesota, was born in Lac Qui Parle Township, Minnesota on September 12, 1885. His education was attained at the University of Minnesota, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1906 and a law degree in 1909. After establishing a successful legal practice in Dawson, Christianson became the owner and publisher of the Dawson Sentinel. He entered politics in 1915, serving as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, a position he held ten years. He next secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor by a popular vote in November 1924. He was reelected to a second term in 1926, and to a third term in 1928. During his tenure, a crime commission was formed, as well as a commission of administration and finance. Also, state expenditures were reduced; taxes were controlled; and state government was restructured. After completing his term, Christianson left office on January 6, 1931. He continued to stay politically active, serving as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a position he held from 1933 to 1937. Governor Theodore Christianson passed away on December 9, 1948, and was buried in the Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.**

Governor Christianson, a.k.a. “Tightwad Ted”,  was a very fiscally conservative Republican who limited the power of government in favor of the individual. In this era, there were many fears about the insider capitalism of Wall Street, and the destabilizing reactions of sabre rattling socialists. He gave mostly agrarian Minnesotans a chance to regroup and recoup after the personal and property losses of WWI. (Those who lost sons to the war also lost heirs to their farms, as well as their most capable and loyal farm hands.)

So, here we give You thanks for “Tightwad Ted”. We thank You for his accountability and respect for the resources of Minnesotans. Theres a ‘time to scatter and a time to gather’ and we pause to remember Governor Christianson as a man who gave respite and a return to normalcy and simplicity to his constituents. Will You bless his heirs, both familial and governmental, who accept that there is season that the most reasonable course forward is to tighten the belt? 

In this, we give You honor for taking us through seasons scarcity and plenty. We thank You for the eternal promise to be our Jehovah Jireh. We ask Your forgiveness where we have forgotten You; either through the sins of easy living, or sins of destitution. Have mercy on Minnesotans’ past, present, and future failure to give You and our neighbors the free gift of gratitude. Amen.

Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30:8,9 NASB

PS. Will You continue to forgive the cycle of judgment & counter-judgment between the parties and political groups of this age? Perhaps the Republicans forgot Your principles of community because it came through a Socialist  or DFL messenger? Maybe the Socialists and Democrats failed Republicans and Your urgings to personal responsibility through lumping them in with Wall Street, and assumptions that they were against Main Street? Will You forgive all the judgments and counter-judgments of these parties committed then as well as their fruits poisoning the present? Will You make us a State of “tightwads” with our disparaging thoughts, words, and hearts against our neighbor?

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

**https://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_minnesota/col2-content/main-content-list/title_christianson_theodore.html

 

 

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20th Century, eugenics, Fascism, Health, History, Intercession, Judgment & Counter-Judgment Cycle, Medicine, Minnesota, omnipresent history, Science, Uncategorized

Minnesota Eugenics Society Forms 1923

Charles-F-Dight-letter-to-Hitler

1923

“In the early 1920s, Charles Fremont Dight, a physician in Minneapolis, launched a crusade to bring the eugenics movement to Minnesota. He combined the moral philosophy of eugenics with socialism and espoused that the state should administer reproduction of mentally handicapped individuals. His main lines of approach included eugenics education, changes in marriage laws, and the segregation and sterilization of what he called “defective” individuals. Dight organized the Minnesota Eugenics Society in 1923 and began campaigning for a sterilization law.” *

England was the birthplace of eugenics, and Charles Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton, the movement’s father. The term became the name of a progressive project of improving the human species by controlling genetic selection. He aimed to apply the creed of “survival of the fittest” to the human race. Think of it, perhaps, as an attempt to create human thoroughbreds.

American progressives founded or led many organizations like Dight’s during this era: Eugenics Record Office, National Conference on Race Betterment, the American Breeders Association, New York Zoological Society, and the Human Betterment Foundation. Leaders of the movement included: Harry Laughlin, Charles Davenport, Leon Whitney, Madison Grant, Paul Popenoe, Eugene Gosney, Margaret Sanger,  and progressive philanthropist Clarence Gamble. As a brief example of the severity of this movement were Mr. Laughlin’s call for mass sterilization of 10% of the population of the US.** 

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. We recognize that Dr. Dight sought to improve our state through advocating for eugenics. We recognize that he sought the betterment of his fellow Minnesotan through work in medicine, socialist politics, and as an educator at Hamline and the University of Minnesota. We give You thanks for his heart to bless others, and minimize disease and suffering.

That said, we recognize the limitations, firstly, of any political system to bring lasting change to our State. Humanistic politics cannot touch the heart and spirit of human beings, but it can mostly control external behaviors. Will You forgive our faith in the progressivism of this era instead of You? Will You forgive the idea that behavior modification does not necessitate a change of heart? Will You forgive our misbelief that compliance equals agreement, but taken to its extremes is an agent that fractures human souls and spirits?

Next, we have simultaneously believed in the goodness of the rule of man and have stood in opposition to the rule of man in our espousal of socialism.  We negated the wisdom of Madison, Adams, and Jefferson that our rights are unalienable. That means that a human being has no power to alienate, dispose of by surrender, barter, or gift the rights given by the Ancient of Days.**** Will You forgive the sins of dualism during this era with our attempts to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously? More importantly, will You forgive this affront to Your parental rights and value of every human being?

As a citizen of Minnesota, and a child of G-d, I disavow the judgmental, cursing misbeliefs of Dight. I disavow his national socialist (Nazi) medicine empathies that science can create a “master race” through eugenics, and that such control would be beneficial. I disavow Dight’s letter to Hitler praising his efforts to “stamp out mental inferiority”.*** Will You take the sins within these root untruths that have cursed our State for nearly 100 years up, out, and onto the Cross of Christ? Will You bless genetic research that comports with Your values system?

Will You forgive our attempts to impeach You as the Sovereign of our civil, legal, and political authority of our society?Will You forgive our contemptuous dismissal of that which You have created as perfectly imperfect? Will You help us recognize that all genes, even broken, diseased, or “politically undesirable” ones have a purpose and worth in Your culture? Will You give us wisdom and humility as scientists as we attempt to genetically modify Your creation? Bless us in Minnesota to see that, perhaps, every gene bears Your fingerprints and is, therefore a bearer of “unalienable rights” and priceless worth?

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,… 1 Corinthians 1:27, 28 Berean Study Bible

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

**Dinesh D’Souza, The Big Lie (Washington DC: Regnery, 2017)pp151-155.

*** Read more on Dight and the ties between Progressivism, Socialism, and Fascism in this movement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fremont_Dight

http://praythroughhistory.com****http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/AmericanIdeal/yardstick/pr3.html

 

 

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20th Century, History, Intercession, Minnesota, omnipresent history, radio, Technology, Uncategorized

First Radio Station in Minnesota

Nov17-2

1922

“Minnesota has its first radio station, WLB—later KUOM—at the University of Minnesota.” *

As a background, I cite this article by Rebecca Toov posted January 13, 2016 on the University of Minnesota’s Archivist Blog.

“In 1912, Professor Franklin Springer began experimenting with wireless telegraphy – the sending and receiving of coded messages through electromagnetic waves – in the laboratory of the Department of Electrical Engineering. By 1914, the department offered coursework in “Radio Signaling Apparatus” and “Radio Transmission” and regularly conducted broadcasting experiments using the wireless equipment.

Cyril M. Jansky, Jr. joined the department as an instructor in 1920 and obtained an experimental license to operate a radio station on campus under the call letters of 9XI in March of that year. Engineering students – the station operators – broadcasted daily market and weather reports, musical programs, and play-by-plays of home football games.

On January 13, 1922, the University station was granted a full license to operate under the call letters WLB. In 1925, space was afforded for a radio studio in a newly constructed Electrical Engineering building which was outfitted with furniture and equipment in 1926.” **

I begin this prayer in remembrance of those whom the world owes a debt of gratitude for their pioneering radio research: Guglielmo Marconi, Heinrich Hertz, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Lee de Forest, and Alexander Stepanovich Popov. I include and commend Franklin Springer and Cyril M. Jansky in this list for their impact on the communication of Minnesotans. I thank You today for the inspiration and perspiration of these Your creative children.  I see Your glory in their captivation and curiosity with Your inventions; frequency and the electromagnetic wave.

We thank You for the connections that KUOM provided in this era for Minnesotans. We thank You for this demonstration of the vistas of human relations that are unlocked with this single advancement in technology! Will You bless these men, their generations, and their creativity? Will You bless: the University of Minnesota, its’ Electrical Engineers, and future students inventing technologies for which we currently have no name? 

Receive eminence today in all frequencies! You daily surround us like the atmosphere, with bombarding us with wavelengths of faith, hope, and love. Yet, we have judged You because they are are as imperceptible to us as radio transmissions without a radio. Will you give us the gift of turning our radio on? May the citizens of this State forever tune into You so that we may send and receive Your signals!

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what G-d has prepared for those who love him”… 1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

**https://www.continuum.umn.edu/2016/01/radio-history/

 

 

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20th Century, Chicano, History, Intercession, Judgment & Counter-Judgment Cycle, Latino, Mexican-American, Minnesota, Uncategorized

Mexican Community Organization 1922

Unknown

1922

“Mexican-Americans in St. Paul form the Anahuac Society. The organization sponsors social events and encourages participation in community affairs and the celebration of traditional Mexican holidays.” *

Anahuac means “near the water” in Nahuatl, the ancient Aztec language spoken in Tenochtitlan, Mexico, so it is no surprise that it be transferred onto a home with many waters like Minnesota.** The Anáhuac Society established  in Saint Paul was meant to provide a solid foundation for Latinos to survive in a new environment, as well as an institutional basis for organizing.*** Anahuac is also a small town in Texas which claims “the first armed confrontation between Anglo-Texans and Mexican troops, on June 10-12, 1832.”***

Some of Saint Paul’s first Latinos likely were driven north during this era due to the unrest of the Mexican Revolution or Revolución Mexicana. The corruption of the Diaz administration was challenged by Madero and Pancho Villa. Mexicans who fled this conflict found work first in the sugar beet industry of Minnesota.

Let’s observe with You, Lord, and see where this prayer leads. We see a people displaced by war or revolt seeking a new way of life. We see a bold quest for freedom in spite of the rigors of farm labor.

Will You forgive the judgments made between groups during the Mexican Revolution, and their transference through these pioneers to Minnesota? All immigrants to Minnesota have carried our historical baggage here. We have viewed our neighbors and government through the lens of both our beliefs and misbeliefs shaped by the pains and experiences of our countries of origin. We give You our dirty glasses this day Lord, will You give us new eyes for those around us who have also overcome to reside in this place?

Will You remember the hearts of these new arrivals, and their commitment to stay and build community? Will You bless their progeny to see their wisdom? Will You bless those who have chosen to live here humbly in peace, even rather than be warriors in their homeland?

Will You bless the contributions of Latinos to our state, especially through generations of untiring work in agriculture? Will You remove the present day judgments of those who work with their hands in the field? Will You show us new solutions to the problems of guest workers and illegal immigrants?

We are drowning in judgment over the plight of guest workers and illegal immigrants in the present tense. We have refused, to often, to even hear the thoughts of our neighbor on the subject. Our Democratic friends have judged their Republican next door to be: racist, haters of brown people, and living in a bubble of white privilege. Our Republican friends may believe in the human rights of illegals, but that civil rights are belong only to citizens. They have judged their Democratic friends of being incapable of rationality, over emotional, and false accusers of those who love our laws and hate lawlessness. 

In any case, will You forgive us whether we are those who judge, or those who counter-judge our neighbor in Minnesota? We invite You to be our Judge and Justice for all Minnesotans. Will You make a place that is lawful and just for all nations who love Your laws of grace and truth?

“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.” ****  Proverbs 16:32

* http://www.mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidad_Anáhuac_México_Norte

**http://www.mnopedia.org/minnesotanos-latino-journeys-minnesota

***http://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/travel/weekend-getaways/article/Twenty-four-hours-in-Anahuac-in-August-11943198.php

 

 

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