Who Were the Pilgrims, Anyway?

My elementary school classrooms were always filled this time of year with pictures of austere-looking men in black hats and shoes with big buckles. The women in the pictures had white headdresses and aprons over their black dresses. These were the Pilgrims, we were told, who had crossed the ocean in a tiny ship to come to start America—definitely the condensed and inaccurate version.

I was shocked (and relieved) to discover that the people in black were not the Pilgrims but those who came later, the Puritans. The Pilgrims were a church from England, formed when they saw no hope for positive change in the Church of England. They were persecuted for believing that a person could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and for wanting to see “the churches of God revert to their ancient purity and recover their primitive order, liberty and beauty” (William Bradford)*, for believing that no one but Jesus could be the head of the church. They were “hounded, bullied, forced to pay assessments to the Church of England, clapped into prison on trumped up charges, and driven underground,” and “constantly spied upon”*. Finally, (to put it very simply) these “Separatists” had had enough and left England. The black-clad Puritans stayed and tried to “purify from within”*.

And surprise! The Pilgrims didn’t wear black, either! They wore colors such as plum red and emerald green!

*The Light and The Glory by Peter Marshall & David Manuel

Thanksgiving--A Community Celebration

In the U.S. we’ll soon be celebrating Thanksgiving, a special day originally set aside by our early settlers, the Pilgrims, to give thanks to God for providing their food and safety. (though not the original date) Many have (rightfully) complained that it has degenerated into “Turkey Day” or “Football Day”, though food and games were a large part of the original. The lament continues that Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time for families to get together—you know, like the Norman Rockwell painting. Wait! Where did that come from?

The Pilgrim’s celebration had nothing to do with family, except of course that they were thankful that any of their family members survived at all. It was a community celebration. The entire settlement came together, and they invited an Indian chief. Surprise! Massasoit came “ a day early with ninety Indians.” How would they feed them all? No problem, the Indians had brought “five dressed deer and more than a dozen fat wild turkeys.” They taught the pilgrim women how to make hoecakes, Indian pudding and popcorn! * The whole community brought food and there was plenty.

If each Pilgrim family had stayed around their own table, they would have missed the opportunity to thank God together with others who had gone through the same trials. They would have missed building valuable friendships with their neighbors (and another culture). And of course, they may have missed popcorn!

If you’ve been in the habit of keeping your Thanksgiving celebration in the “us 4 and no more” realm, I urge you to reconsider and include others from the church and the community. “But I don’t have enough chairs…” You can borrow some or even ask your guests to bring some. “But this is the only time I can be with my family…” Well, then that needs some work. Sure people often include those who are single--but don’t stop there. What about the couple who is far away from their family? Why not make room for them, too? “But they have each other…” Well, “us 2 and no more” isn’t healthy either.

Some of my best memories of Thanksgiving are of community gatherings. One year, when we had our house in Texas, we invited my parents and sister, and a family of three from church who brought along a hitchhiker they had picked up the day before! (I don't recommend picking up hitchhikers but the Lord used it.). Another year, a variety of us from our apartment building gathered to eat, pray and listen to my husband read about the original celebration. Don’t be isolated, celebrate together!

*The Light and The Glory by Peter Marshall & David Manuel

Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1,2

Generational Curses

Generational curses are blamed for everything these days. So often when I ask for healing prayer, if I mention the “G” word (genetic), or for no particular reason, the person praying will launch into praying against “generational curses”, the concept based on the second commandment, which says that since “God punishes the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generations,” any problem a person has results from some sin, known or unknown, that their ancestor committed. The remedy, according to the teaching's adherents, consists of anything from personally repenting of that sin to undergoing five-hour rituals to undo their ancestors' Masonic involvement. One person told me that someone who prayed for her discerned witchcraft in her family all the way back to the eleven hundreds—for which she had to repent. People mean well (I think) but I’m amazed at the angry responses to my pointing out what the scripture truly says.

The second commandment and several other passages in the Bible really do say that:

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, Exodus 20:5

So what’s the problem? God in his mercy and grace didn’t leave us there! Even as far back as Ezekiel’s time, God stopped passing the blame through the generations!

"Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father? Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. " Ezk 18:19-20

This entire chapter is clearly about individuals not bearing any guilt but their own. Ezekiel was looking forward to the day when Jesus would bear the curse of sin and death, including the generational curse, for us.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." Galatians 3:13

Hallelujah! Jesus has already done it!!! We who follow Jesus are no longer under the Law! Each person is only responsible to repent for his or her own sins and Jesus’ death and resurrection have won us forgiveness! We don’t need any rituals to “break off” such curses; the New Testament never even suggests such a thing! Even in the Old Testament, God had Ezekiel rebuke the Israelites for saying such a thing.

The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:" `The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son--both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. EZE 18:1-4

This is a very serious issue since the kinds of curses that people should be concerned about are the ones that come from trying to be justified by the Law (Mosaic).

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." GAL 3:10

But what about genetic diseases? I’m not a genetic scientist but I can be reasonably sure (and fervently hope) that if a person’s parent has a disease it’s not a sure thing that they will contract it also. If a person knows that a genetic tendency runs in their family they will do well to take precautions such as eating a healthy diet and exercising. I realize that this part is oversimplification but I do know that we who follow Jesus are not required by any curse to contract these things!!

Yes, sometimes curses do harass people for other reasons but that’s another matter. God no longer punishes the children for the sins of their fathers! We are FREE in Jesus!