Our Christian U.S. Constitution Conference

HIS-story with Dr. Eidsmoe
By: John

You have heard the saying, "getting an earful". Probably most often in a negative sense. Well I'm going to use it in the positive to refer to what I received last Friday and Saturday(Oct. 21 & 22). And through that earful I received a brain-full of knowledge from men who have their brains full of Godly wisdom and knowledge of history. These men were Dan Ford and John Eidsmoe, the speakers at "Our Christian U.S. Constitution" conference, which was hosted by Brian Ervin and the Five Lakes Fellowship. The goal of this conference was to give God's people a better knowledge of our Christian heritage, and, at least for myself, it did just that.
The first speaker of the first evening of the conference was John Eidsmoe(voice from back of mind-
"It's Dr. John Eidsmoe to you buddy!") Yes, Dr. John Eidsmoe. He is also a retired Lt. Colonel of the Air Force, a Colonel and Chaplain in Alabama's Defense Force, and a teacher of Constitutional Law at Thomas Goode Jones School of Law. He also could go by the titles "Pastor," "Professor," "Attorney," and "author". Of his slightly less serious accomplishments, Dr. Eidsmoe is a 3rd degree black belt in Tai Kwan Do, and an avid skier and horseback rider.
But I digress. Back to the conference. In all of his lectures Dr. Eidsmoe dealt with law, going from what is the true origin of law in his first lecture, to how we can restore the standard of law in our nations republic.
The first lecture on Friday evening was as I said previously a historical look at the Origins of Law. He showed the different views of law's origins that men have had, including that of John Locke, whose opinion our founding fathers most agreed with. Once Dr. Eidsmoe had set Law's origins, he traced it through History from ancient civilizations, (which he showed were quite developed, ruining the evolutionistst theory), to the time of Christ. The most refreshing thing about this lecture was the way Dr. Eidsmoe always brought everything back to showing how God is the Maker of Law, not the state, and that there ARE absolutes in law.
After a just-as-wonderful lecture by historian Dan Ford, (see Joshua's report below) we closed up the evening with a Q & A time.
Both Mr. Ford and Dr. Eidsmoe were asked some very intriguing questions, and both gave us another load of knowledge with their detailed answers. Some most enjoyable one-on-one opportunities with the speakers were available afterward, as all picked up and headed home around the early hour of 11 PM.
Now it is not easy to sleep with a full brain and so there was a large number of droopy eyelids and coffee sipping Saturday morning as we began the second day of the conference. Dan Ford started us off with another excellent speech. I just love the way he whisks around
those documents to show us our great Christian heritage! His lecture prefaced Dr. Eidsmoe's following one, very nicely. Dr. Eidsmoe went back into history again, especially showing the mindsets of the crusaders and conquistadors, and how it influenced the revolution and western America. He then came forward to show the Biblical basis of our own Constitution that our Founders believed in.
Taking in a lot of info makes one hungry, and on behalf of my family, a BIG thank you to the Eddy Family for providing a sumptuous lunch for us before we dove into the final stretch of lectures.
After Mr. Ford gave his final lecture, Dr. Eidsmoe spoke on how the Ten Commandments were the moral foundation of law. Ironic isn't it, that the judges that are supposed to be upholding the Law and the Ten Commandments instead throw any symbol of the Ten Commandments away from Law Courts and punish those who try to honor the true law! Dr. Eidsmoe showed that until today the Ten Commandments have been recognized as the basis of laws. He also refuted the myth that the founders were primarily Deists (actually only about 3 out of all). He showed how the Bible was the most quoted book of the signers and Christian men like Blackstone were next. Also given was the Five-fold formula for freedom which our Founding Fathers firmly believed in.
In his final two lectures Dr. Eidsmoe spoke on how the Constitution is being infiltrated by this world's humanistic philosophy, and stretched to mean things it does not. Also on how we are to "Restore the Republic". It is our duty as Christians to stand up for what is right according to God. We need to fight as our fathers did to free ourselves from those who call evil good and righteousness bad.
So, if I had to summarize this conference in Five words or less? Well first I would say that that is really impossible, but to take a shot at it – "HIS-story is Very Important!" We need to have vision for the future; for the future of our families, God's Church, and our Nation, And in the words of Mr. Rushdoony, "An interest in the past shows a concern for the future."
In conclusion I would like to thank the DeLadurantey and Ervin families for organizing this conference. Doing so shows that you are interested in HIS-story and have a plan for the future. To Mr. Ford and Dr. Eidsmoe, Thank you for coming and sharing your brain full of knowledge. May God bless you both. Thank you to the Eddy and Marshall families for opening your homes to those who had to travel a long distance. May the Lord bless the earfuls we received so we may tell others and start a reformation in our country!

Dan Ford's Conference Presentations
By: Joshua

Can you imagine holding in your hands a Bible that one of the Puritans or even John Knox had held and read 400 years ago, or handling a stone cuneiform tablet that used to be part of a wall in the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar's palace? Well, last Friday and Saturday my family and I, and about 100 other people had the opportunity to look at, read, and yes, touch, handle and hold these and many, many more amazing historic documents during the "Our Christian U.S. Constitution" conference. This was due entirely to the generosity of the honorable Mr. Dan Ford and his God given interest in historical documents.
Dan Ford resides in St. Louis Missouri, and has been an avid collector of artifacts and historic documents for the past fifteen years. During this time he has compiled an archive of original source materials ranging from ancient cuneiform tablets, parchments, and pottery to pamphlets, maps, books, private letters and public documents from the reformation to the colonial times. Mr. Ford specializes on the subjects of Christian, English, and American history, and as a group teacher and conference speaker for the last 10 years he has always shown in each of his presentations, the abundant evidence of our godly inheritance.
Mr. Ford's presentation on Friday was entitled "Understanding Our English Constitutional Inheritance," and a main point that Mr. Ford stressed throughout his presentation was, "God is the Author of all law." Starting with the mid 1500's and his favorite man of that time period- John Hooper, Mr. Ford worked his way down a long table stacked with documents and books, picking up and expounding on each artifact as he reached it. A few of the subjects Mr. Ford spoke about was the First Puritan Declaration of Christ and His Office," by John Hooper, the authorization of the King James Bible in 1604, the two kinds of separatists, the English Civil War and many other interesting documents and events.
One of the most intriguing and awe-inspiring artifacts was the original Geneva Bible that I have already mentioned as the one that the Puritans or John Knox would have read. To be able to hold and leaf through that leather bound volume of God's word and read the handwritten footnotes was truly a privilege.
Moving on from our English inheritance to our colonial American Inheritance, Mr. Ford started us off by presenting an early copy of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew on a sheep skin. From there he moved through Columbus and his passion to spread the dominion of Christ to the whole world, the colonization of America, John Eliot- the first missionary to the American Indians and Lex Rex- or the Law and the Prince. He also dealt with the oppressive acts of the British government on the American Colonies, the first written list of American rights, America's Magna Carta and the American Revolution, and the all important truth that America did and does have a King, and that King is God the King of Kings. These are only a few of the subjects Mr. Ford spoke on, but it would take a small book to put into writing everything Mr. Ford said and showed us, so now I will move on to his 3rd and final presentation of the conference.
In this session, which was titled "The Historic Principles of the Preamble," Mr. Ford started with the Preamble of our U.S. Constitution and went through it, putting the clause "Under God" after the various phrases and showing that this was the given understanding when the founders wrote the Constitution. Just a few of the points Mr. Ford touched on were; the fact that God is the origin of all just law, the Puritan model of Unity in Covenant under God, and that the Declaration of Independence created a Covenant Union of states. He also spoke about the colonies relying on Biblically based Laws, not the designs of men, the Puritan model of securing a peaceful commonwealth, the need to pass a framework for Godly Liberty down from generation to generation, and he ended by stressing the fact that God is in our "Christian Constitution." Amen! Mr. Ford. Thanks to your there is no doubt in my mind and probably the minds of everyone else that came and listened, that indeed we do have a Christian U.S. Constitution. Thank you Mr. Ford and may God bless you!

Following are some pictures that Grace captured during the conference.