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DOCTRINE OF THE PIVOT
Bible Study Notes | 2/10/84 | R. B. Thieme, Jr.

Posted on 02/01/2009 3:03:06 AM PST by Cvengr

A. Definition.

1. The pivot is defined as the accumulation of mature believers living in a client nation or under civil government in a specific geographical location.

2. While a pivot is composed primarily of mature believers, it may also include those positive believers whose momentum has carried them into spiritual adulthood.

3. Technically, the pivot may include all believers who have fulfilled the principle of virtue first as their first priority in the plan of God.

4. Believers in the pivot stand out in contrast to believers living in the cosmic system, whose arrogance from motivational arrogance results in self-righteous, crusader arrogance. (The cosmic system in the author's vocabulary, is the worldly system. KOSMOS meaning order, is opposite of CHAOS meaning disorder. The Scriptural use of the Greek word KOSMOS is used in 2 fashions in Scripture. One describes a system of order independent of faith in Christ, which we frequently call the worldly system. The other may be used in a system through faith in Christ, such as in John 3:16.)

a. These believers are apostate, recognized by their platitudes, their self-righteousness, their crusader arrogance, their distortion of doctrine and disorientation to reality, and they are potential revolutionists. A certain number of believers are even mentally ill from arrogance.

b. You can also recognize the shrinking of the pivot by the social action and civil disobedience advocated and practiced by believers.

5. The true Christian influence in the national entity is spiritual. The believer's civil responsibility is defined under the laws of divine establishment, as in Rom 13:1-10.

6. Christianity must never be the state, though religion always tries to be the state, (e.g., Arab countries like Iran and Syria). The influence of Christianity is not produced by influencing with Christian principles, but by growing in grace and establishing a pivot that has invisible historical impact.

7. We believe in and advocate the separation of church and state for the true function of freedom and the fulfillment of human volition in the angelic conflict. We support the state and establishment, but we are not the establishment. The influence of the church must be spiritual.

8. This does not imply that Christian should not serve in government. It does imply that believers in government service must abide by the laws of divine establishment, and must never seek to force Christianity on others. People must accept Christ by their own personal consent. Christianity must not be the state.

9. In a client nation, there must be enough freedom for evangelism, conversion, spiritual growth, evangelism, and missionary activity.

10. There has always been a pivot somewhere, though there has not always been a client nation. Four great pivots were formed in the eighteenth century in Holland, Britain, America, and North Germany. All these pivots had great missionary activity.

B. The Pivot and the Client Nation.

1. The Gentile client nation to God is not a Christian nation, but a national entity in which civil government recognizes the establishment principles found in Codex #1 and #3.

a. There is no such thing as a Christian nation, which would mean that every person in the nation must be a Christian. This has never existed and never will.

b. But there is such a thing as a client nation to God. A client nation is simply a national entity in which the civil government recognizes establishment principles of freedom, including privacy and the sacredness of property and life.

2. The client nation to God contains a pivot of mature believers, who as invisible heroes provide the prosperity of that nation through the principle of blessing by association. That blessing is generally completely invisible to the general public.

3. The prosperity and blessing in a client nation does not occur through activism, but through those believers who execute the protocol plan of God.

4. The pivot of mature believers establishes the client nation and guarantees its perpetuation in every generation.

5. If the pivot declines, then the client nation declines and is eventually destroyed through the administration of the five cycles of discipline of Lev 26.

6. A client nation has enough freedom in that nation to provide for extensive evangelism without government interference or federal persecution. From this evangelism comes a cadre for the pivot. But not all believers enter this cadre and execute the plan of God. A good pivot is perhaps 20% of all believers.

7. One of the greatest enemies to spiritual influence in a nation are believers in the cosmic system. They become apostate through life in Satan's cosmic system. These apostate believers become potential revolutions through civil disobedience. They become fanatical crusaders, disrupting the freedom and rights of others through social action.

8. There are at least five general characteristics of the client nation.

a. There must be a civil government with a policy based on the laws of divine establishment. This is summarized in Rom 13:1-10 and codices #1 and #3 of the Mosaic Law. The very existence of a civil government precludes a Christian nation.

b. The function of evangelism occurs in several ways.

(1) Through those with the spiritual gift of evangelism.

(2) Through the teaching of the pastor-teacher when he covers passages which teach the Gospel.

(3) Through believers as ambassadors for Christ who personally witness for Christ.

(4) Through reading some literature or Scripture with the Gospel message.

(5) We who evangelize must recognize the freedom of others. Freedom means privacy. No one has the right to coerce any physical movement for salvation, which is a violation of privacy as well as being erroneous. Our job is to communicate the lucidity and perspicacity the Gospel, not to force, beg, or plead. We leave people with the information. They must then use their volition. It is wrong for Christians to pressure people. Also, there must not be any government pressure to disallow any practice of Christianity in public.

c. There is the establishment of the autonomous local church in which believers practice separation of church and state.

(1) To the extent that local churches form into denominations, to that extent the client nation principle is being destroyed. Denominations are the enemy of the client nation.

(2) Local churches should not connect with other churches to form denominations or spheres of influence. They should not become involved in any movement which seeks to unite church and state.

d. There is a vigorous and dynamic Bible teaching which emphasizes the mystery doctrine and the protocol plan. However, such vigor and dynamics does not imply that the pastor-teacher is scintillating and spectacular in the presentation of his message, as is true of the evangelist. The dynamics come from the Holy Spirit, not from the one communicating the Word of God.

e. There is vigorous missionary activity to other nations. Missionaries must function under the indigenous principle, and must avoid interfering in the political activities of foreign governments.

C. The History of the Geopolitical Advance of the Pivot.

1. The Dispensation of Israel.

a. The first client nation to God was Israel. The dispensation of Israel was built around four different client nations. Between B.C. 1440 and A.D. 70, God called out a new racial species in order to form the first in a series of Jewish client nations. Blessing was related to those nations. Many Old Testament books reveal Israel's impact on history.

b. The four different nations were:

(1) The United Kingdom.

(2) The Northern Kingdom.

(3) The Southern Kingdom.

(4) Judah.

c. The administration of the fifth cycle of discipline to each of the four client nations was as follows.

(1) Assyria administered the fifth cycle of discipline to the Northern Kingdom in B.C. 721.

(2) The Chaldeans administered the fifth cycle of discipline to the Southern Kingdom in B.C. 586.

(3) The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and took over Palestine in 70 A.D. That was the end of all Jewish client nations, and the beginning of the times of the Gentiles.

2. The Times of the Gentiles.

a. During these times of the Gentiles, no Jewish nation can be a client nation to God, not until the Second Advent of Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of the four unconditional covenants to Israel.

b. The first Gentile client nation to God was S.P.Q.R., i.e., the Senate and the People of Rome, which we call the Roman Empire. This was the first and in many ways the greatest Gentile client nation to God.

(1) When the Roman Empire reached its peak with a large pivot, there was the golden age of the Antonine Caesars, 96 - 192 A.D. The historian Gibbon called this period the "golden age of humanity."

(2) The period of the Antonine Caesars was a time of dictatorship, and yet a time of the most fantastic blessing. This proves that the issue is not the type of government, but the pivot of believers.

c. Other great Gentile client nations of the past include the Goths, the Franks, the Swiss under Calvin and Zwingli, Scotland under Patrick, Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus, parts of Germany under Luther, France under the Huguenots, Great Britain, Brandenberg Prussia under Frederick the Great.

D. The Pivot Principle.

1. In essence, a small pivot means a declining Gentile client nation. An enlarged pivot means a wonderful, prosperous, and blessed client nation.

2. The pivot is a remnant of mature believers who live in a client nation. They have advanced through the three stages of spiritual adulthood.

3. The spinoff is made up of believers who have entered reversionism and are living in Satan's cosmic system. Negative volition to doctrine and resultant reversionism produces the spinoff.

4. When the pivot is too small in any generation, there are great disasters; some are economic, some military, some policy. When the spinoff of cosmic involvement becomes too great, that generation is destroyed. If there is no response to the four cycles of discipline, God eventually removes that client nation from history. Rev 17-18 teaches this under the principle of evil one destroying evil two.

5. When divine judgment falls on a nation, the pivot is secure. The pivot is always preserved, even though it also shares in the difficulties of the disaster. However, unbelievers and reversionists are wiped out.

6. While the pivot is secure, the spinoff is always destroyed by historical catastrophe. This is how God administers the sin unto death to reversionists. Historical disaster separates the pivot from the spinoff.

7. If the pivot is too small and the spinoff is too large, then the nation is destroyed. But if the nation is destroyed, the pivot is preserved through the disaster, Isa 28:5-6.

8. By destroying the great spinoff of reversionists, the Lord protects future generations of history from evil, reversionism, apostasy, and tyranny. The spinoff is destroyed so that the nation will have breathing room for future generations.

9. Historical crisis and disaster is the means of cleansing a nation from the spinoff of evil. A great spinoff will destroy a nation unless God intervenes with historical disaster to eliminate that cancer. Either the spinoff must go or the nation must go.

10. The divine destruction of the spinoff is therefore comparable to a national rebound. With the infection of reversionism destroyed, the nation takes on new life and continues.

11. If large enough, the pivot is the means of delivering a nation under discipline, either from or through the historical disaster. The example is Judah in 701 B.C. during the Sennacherib invasion. The consistent ministry of Isaiah turned the tide in Judah. When all the establishment means of deliverance fail, response to Bible teaching is the last hope.

12. If the pivot is large enough, not only is the client nation delivered from historical disaster, but a large pivot of mature believers means great blessing by association to the client nation and to all nations around it.

E. Why is a client nation destroyed? Hosea 4:1-6. Hos 4:1-6 is perhaps the most lucid of all the passages on the fifth cycle of discipline (to the Northern Kingdom) and how a client nation is destroyed.

1. Verse 1, "Hear the doctrine of the Lord, you citizens of Israel, because the Lord has a court case against the citizens of the nation; because there is nothing of doctrine being taught, there is nothing of grace being applied, and there is no knowledge of God in the nation." This is a call for positive volition toward doctrine as taught by prophet and priest.

2. Verse 2, "Instead, there is lying and deceiving [lack of virtue], there is both murder and stealing and rape [criminality], plus unrestrained violence."

a. The rise in criminality comes from two sources: moral and immoral degeneration.

b. The Hebrew idiom "blood reaches out and touches blood" means unrestrained violence.

3. Verse 3, "For this cause, the land shall mourn; consequently, everyone who lives in it shall lose strength along with the animals of the field; both the birds of the sky and the fish of the lakes are taken away." One of the signs of degeneration is cruelty to animals.

4. Verse 4, "Yet let no one contend [blame others for the judgment] and let no one impugn God, for you people are like those who contend with the priest [communicator of doctrine]."

5. Verse 5, "Therefore, you have stumbled by day [failure to apply doctrine in the daily life]; furthermore, the prophet will stumble with you by night [apostate teaching in night classes]. Then I will destroy your mother [nation]."

6. Verse 6, "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge of doctrine. Because you have rejected doctrine, I will reject you from being a priest nation [client nation]; since you have neglected the doctrine of your God, I will neglect your children [next generation was enslaved]."

7. The same subject is found in Isa 28:1-13.

8. When the believer fails, the nation fails.

9. When the believer advances to maturity and joins the pivot in any generation, though that pivot will not be recorded in the pages of history, it will be recorded forever in heaven.

10. Part of escrow blessings to a mature believer is personal, national, and international impact. Rev 3:12, "The winner, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God [permanent historical record in heaven of all mature believers who had an impact on history as a part of the pivot]; furthermore, he will never vanish from history, in fact, I will emblazon on him the title of my God, the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem [coat of arms of winner] which will descend from heaven [satellite city], also from God a new title [new aristocracy for eternity]."

F. The United States of America, a Client Nation.

1. Before it became a nation, the United States of America was already under client nation status as a part of the Anglo-Saxon pivot. As a colony, the United States was already in client nation status.

2. On 4 July 1776, a document was written: The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.

"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that to secure these rights, governments are institutions among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . . .

"But when a long train of abuses, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce us to absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such a government and to provide new guards for their future security . . .

"We therefore acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind: enemies in war, and in peace, friends.

"We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for rectitude of our intention, do, in the name of and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved of all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved, and that as free and independent states they have the full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent states may have a right to do.

"And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

3. From that day on we have been a nation; but before 1776 we were already under client nation status with a 200-year old Anglo-Saxon pivot.

G. History of the Pivot and Client Nations from the Eighteenth Century to the Present.

1. In modern history, the eighteenth century was one of the greatest periods of radical change. It began with the death of Louis XIV in 1715, and terminated with the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

2. This century cannot be understood from the standpoint of the pivot apart from Louis XIV, whose reign and policy in the seventeenth century shaped the course of Europe for over 100 years, and the course of everything, including the industrial revolution down to this moment.

a. Louis XIV was called the Sun King. He was a very arrogant person. He ruled France under the concept: "I am the State."

b. Louis XIV was a rabid advocate of the divine right of kings. It was he who first wrote, "kings are absolute lords. To them belong, naturally, the full and free disposal of all property of their subjects, whether they be churchmen or laymen." He also said, "God has given kings to men and He has willed that they alone should review their conduct."

c. Louis XIV ruled for half a century, from 1643 to 1715. He started out under the brilliant administration of Cardinal Mazarin, who died in 1661 (Richelieu died in 1642), after which Louis took over the reign of the government. He not only impoverished France through many arrogant, useless wars, but in 1685 he did one thing that changed the course of history and brought in the Anglo-Saxon pivot.

d. In 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes. Up to that point, France had been a client nation due to the presence of the Huguenots, the French Calvinists who, as the middle class, had brought the most phenomenal prosperity to France.

e. But in his terrible arrogance, Louis renounced the Edict of Nantes and began a persecution. Those Huguenots who were not killed left France for several places: Prussia, which became a client nation; Holland, for the Dutch Republic was a client nation; England; and the United States. Charleston, South Carolina was the home of the Huguenots in America; from there they branched out through the Carolinas.

3. The Reformation was another major factor in the development of the eighteenth century pivot. In effect, it began in 1517 when Martin Luther published 95 theses and nailed them to the door of the castle church at Wittenberg. That was the beginning of the Reformation, out of which came new pivots and new client nations: the pivot in the Netherlands resulted in the rise of the Dutch Republic, the pivot in France was made up of the Huguenots, the pivot in Sweden thrived under Gustavus Adolphus, the pivot in northern Germany under Frederick William the Great Elector, and the pivot in England under Cromwell and the wonderful protectorate he provided which was continued under the rule of William and Mary of Orange.

4. The English colonies saw the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon pivot in this hemisphere. To this day, the pivot has only existed in our northern hemisphere; it has never existed south of the Rio Grande.

5. So the eighteenth century was a cauldron, a time of great wars, the rise of great generals, great battles, and it was all terminated by the Treaty of Utrecht.

a. In America, the War of Spanish Succession was called Queen Anne's War; it made a definite contribution to the beginning of our fantastic client nation.

b. From the War of Austrian Succession, great leaders emerged, like Frederick the Great; in America it was called the King George's War.

c. The Seven Years War was here called the French and Indian War.

d. The French Revolution terminated with the rise of Napoleon.

e. All these wars made fantastic contributions to history, not only militarily, but also to the rise of the Renaissance and the beginning of the industrial revolution.

6. The eighteenth century saw the beginning of inventions which effected the rise of the industrial revolution. Hargraves invented the spinning jenny, Cartwright the power loom, James Watt the steam engine.

7. In 1730, at Oxford University, three men held a prayer meeting: John and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield, from which grew a fantastic pivot. As a result, the eighteenth century was the beginning of client nations from a great pivot of mature believers in England, the United States, northern Germany, and Holland.

8. The eighteenth century ended dramatically with the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and a new map of Europe emerged under Metternich. Russia received Poland, Finland, and Bessarabia; Sweden got Norway; Belgium and the Dutch provinces tried to unite into one kingdom (which didn't work) called the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Prussia received half of Saxony, part of the Rhineland; Austria was given the eastern side of the Adriatic: Lombardy, Venetia, and upper Italy. Russia, Prussia and Austria formed the "Holy Alliance," one of the greatest threats ever. For under the command of Alexander of Russia, this Holy Alliance planned to invade the United States, which would have been disastrous!

9. Out of this great eighteenth century pivot came the beginning of the greatest missionary activity of all time, with such missionaries as William Carey, Henry Martin, Reginald Hebert, Adoniram Judson, John Scutter in India, Robert Morrison, Dr. Nevius, Hudson Taylor, Peter Parket in China, Dr. James Hepburn, Samuel Brown, Gido Werbecht, Capt L.L. James in Japan, Dr. H.G. Underwood and John Ross in Korea, Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons, Dr. C.W. Van Dyke and Eli Smith in Beirut; Keith Falconder and Samuel Zweemer in Arabia; Robert Moffat, John Crop, John Redman, Alexander McKay, Thomas McComer, George Grenville, Henry Rich, Adolphus Good, Mary Schlesser and Samuel Crowthar and Livingston all in Africa, Capt Allen Gardner in Tierra Del Fuego, David Trumball and H.B. Pratt in Columbia, and L.L. Legters in Mexico.

10. First came the wars, then the pivots, then the missionaries. The wars readjusted history, setting the stage for missionary thrusts. The French lost India to the British. With British rule came the missionaries. The same occurred in Africa. Those nations who succeeded in controlling parts of Africa sent some of the greatest missionaries in history.

11. This same eighteenth century saw great changes in culture and the arts. In the field of music came Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart. Great artists included Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainesborough, Goya, and Hogarth. Great writers included Alexander Pope, who became the exponent of neoclassicism in English literature, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, John Boswell, and Oliver Goldsmith.

12. All the eighteenth century's cultural, spiritual, and historical changes pointed to one great pivot. The so-called "holy club of Oxford" started it all.

a. From George Whitfield came Selenas Countess Huntington; the Moravian Brethren were under Count Zinzendorf; Spangenberg went to Pennsylvania; Dober and Nichemann went to St. Thomas, and Christian David went to Greenland. Augustus Montague Toplady became one of the great men involved in that pivot of 1740-1778.

b. Others included John Newton, William Calper, John and Isaac Milner, Henry Venn, Hannah Moore, Robert Rakes, John Howard, William Wilburforce, Grenville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, William Carey, Henry Martin, and Robert Morrison.

c. Though these are all just names to you, in God's books, these are the great men of history! Some came close but missed the boat, e.g., Immanuel Kant. He was so close, yet he failed.

13. The Holy Alliance and the Monroe doctrine.

a. During the Congress of Vienna, Metternich authored a League of Nations in Europe. It was led by Czar Alexander of Russia, Emperor Francis I of Austria, King Frederick William III of Prussia, and later Ferdinand VII of Spain was added, making it a quadruple alliance. It formed one of the greatest attacks this hemisphere has ever sustained.

b. The objective of this League was the maintenance of the Catholic religion plus peace and order in Europe. However, this occurred during the time of absolute monarchies and the suppression of all political freedoms.

c. One of the agenda items of the Holy Alliance was to retrieve the colonies Spain had lost, and therefore to invade this hemisphere. At that time, James Monroe was our President. His Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, was one of the best in our history.

d. On behalf of President Monroe, Adams wrote an answer to that invasion before it began: "If the Holy Alliance subdues Spanish America, the ultimate result of the undertaking will be not to set up a standard of Spain, but to portion out this continent for themselves."

e. So Adams recognized immediately the evil that would come out of this. For example, Russia might have taken California, Peru, and Chile, and the Pacific Ocean would have become a Russian lake.

f. This crisis resulted in a speech given to Congress by President Monroe on 2 December 1823, written by John Quincy Adams. "We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to amicable relationships existing between the United States and European powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety." In other words, "we'll fight!" As a result, they never invaded.

g. The result was that, in this hemisphere, there were fifteen independent republics involving fifteen million people which emerged from the ruins of the Spanish Empire, to include: Colombia, Venezuela, Equador, Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, etc. h. Prior to this Monroe doctrine, in September 1821, Czar Alexander of Russia had claimed the entire Pacific coast for the Russians, for he planned to take over this hemisphere.

i. The Monroe doctrine is the last time the United States has had a clear foreign policy. That policy made it possible for this hemisphere to remain in a state of semi-isolation, so that not only could a pivot be formed, but also so that millions of people throughout the world could find eternal salvation through faith in Christ. For we sent out more missionaries than anyone in the world, with the exception of England. And we developed a fantastic pivot in this country! So that the Anglo-Saxon pivot eventually received its strength from the United States of America.

14. What's the status of the pivot today? How stands the United States of America now?

a. We see the same historical trends occurring as in the eighteenth century. Again, Russia has plans to take over the United States and make the Pacific Ocean a Russian lake.

b. Popular among fundamentalist Christians today is Christian activism and civil disobedience. We see a decline in interest in Bible doctrine. Therefore, we see a failure to send out the right kind of missionaries, a failure to form a large enough pivot, and disaster will inevitably result.

15. Application to the Believer.

a. There are two things the believer must never do when he is depressed by history.

1. Feel sorry for himself.

2. Justify his nation when its on its way down under divine discipline.

b. The believer takes responsibility for his own decisions. If he makes bad decisions, that contributes to the overall failure of the client nation.

H. History of the Pivots.

1. Paul's prayer of Eph 1:15ff anticipated that Rome would become the first Gentile client nation. As he traveled, he was always looking for a pivot. Finally, he found it in the Roman Province of Asia, with Ephesus as its capital, the "holy city" for the next few centuries. This motivated his prayer in Eph 1:15ff. Rev 2-3 mentions seven of those churches in Asia.

a. However, Paul's prayer is effectual for the pivot as it spreads around the globe throughout the Church Age.

b. This first pivot, headquartered in Ephesus, can be called the Aegean pivot as it spread to Greece, Cyprus, Crete, Northern Africa, and Rome.

2. The second pivot was the pivot around the Roman Sea, under the one hundred year reign of the Antonine Caesars. The Mediterranean Sea became a Roman lake.

3. The third great pivot was eighteenth century Western European civilization, as evidenced in the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the four great pivots in Germany, France, Holland, and England.

4. The fourth was the Atlantic pivot of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

a. It began with the Age of Discovery and Columbus. Then came the colonization of the western hemisphere, South Africa, other parts of Africa, and India. This was the great period of the British Empire, whose influence caused stability throughout the world.

b. The core of it all was the Anglo-Saxon pivot, mainly found in England and the United States. But today the Anglo-Saxon pivot has run out of gas! It is dying here, and is practically non-existent in England.

5. In the twenty-first century, if the Rapture doesn't occur, the pivot will move to the Pacific basin.

a. The Pacific was already great at the beginning of this twentieth century. It saw one of the greatest revivals ever in Korea in 1905 under Presbyterian missionaries.

b. Today we see many signs that point to the Pacific Basin as the next pivot center.

6. Just as the barbarians invaded the Roman Empire in its decline and were often evangelized, with many becoming strong believers; so today we see the invasion of the peoples of the East, as it were, coming to the United States to be evangelized.

7. We are on our way out today. We are constantly leaning toward decadent Europe, which is gone. Our missionary thrust should be toward the Pacific.

I. The Need for a Pivot.

1. The demand for power always exceeds the need for power in human history.

a. In any organization, there's always legitimate power and authority. But the demand always exceeds the need.

b. The slots for legitimate authority requires relatively few people. But outside of legitimate authority is always the arrogant who demand power, who demand to be recognized.

c. Many manifestations of arrogance today point to this demand for impact syndrome. When you add arrogance to demand for power, the result is violence.

2. Excess of power beyond the demand results in conflict for power.

3. The conflict for power results in two destructive categories in history.

a. The self-destruction of a nation from enemies within.

b. The overt destruction of a nation from enemies without, i.e., warfare and conquest.

4. The self-destruction of a nation results from a maximum number of wrong decisions from a position of weakness, plus the arrogance involved in the struggle for power.

5. The overt destruction of a nation results from failure to see the necessity for and the proper support for both the military establishment and law enforcement. Law enforcement is our only protection from enemies within (criminals), and the military is our only protection from enemies without.

6. Inevitably, both overt and self-destructive concepts in a nation can be averted by only one thing, and that is a large pivot of mature believers.

7. As goes the believer, so goes the client nation. A large pivot means blessing for the United States; a small pivot means discipline and eventual destruction. We are at the crossroads now, at that point where the survival of this client nation depends on your attitude toward doctrine.

8. There are no tragedies in history. People and nations are the products of their own decisions, good or bad. A good decision as defined by the Scripture is:

a. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

b. Post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation, i.e., perception, metabolization, and application of the mystery doctrine for the Church Age.

(c) 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.


TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics; Theology
KEYWORDS: pivot
IMHO, recent current events and direction of their focus appear 'nutty'.

I've tried to make sense out of things like the homosexual movement, Jews against Israel, liberals who demand change, financial controllers who seek to rob the national and international coffers, socialists who identify with dictators, prominent US national leaders who lack basic management skills, but remain in the highest echelons of apparently competitive positions of power, and general lack of any zeal for a relationship with God on His terms.

The behavior of so many people doesn't appear to follow any one motive. Those which are followed and manifest, don't appear consistent. However, a definite trend is manifesting an unstable America, which in many senses is about as economically, politically, intellectually, militarily, and religiously stable from a worldly perspective as any time in our history.

It seems as though a spiritual domain exists in driving these absurd motives manifest in our national direction.

The above outline is one of several which came from Bible doctrinal study notes compiled over 20 years ago.

IMHO, this and the author's Doctrine of Freedom provide some keen observations and remarkable insight of trends we observe in America today.

There probably isn't a particular verse or chapter in Scripture which states the doctrines directly, but the doctrines are based upon a mature grasp of hundreds of Bible doctrines when applied as daily problem solving devices.

I share it here for others of like thinking as food to consider when public affairs seem to get even nuttier than what they have been.

Please forgive the formatting. The article is a simple set of notes in outline format. The HTML code inhibits tabs and spaces being used to format this in an outline. As soon as I learn the proper Ordered List and deprecated HTML code usable on FR, I'll attempt to reformat to improve legibility.

1 posted on 02/01/2009 3:03:06 AM PST by Cvengr
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To: Quix

You might find this interesting for historical studies.


2 posted on 02/01/2009 3:04:23 AM PST by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Cvengr

“The behavior of so many people doesn’t appear to follow any one motive”

It certainly does: social acceptance.

The power of social acceptance is actively reinforced by the media.

The fear of being excluded overrides all logic.

True doctrines are clear from the Bible, would you agree?


3 posted on 02/01/2009 3:25:30 AM PST by chuck_the_tv_out
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To: Cvengr
Goodness! Do you mind if I sum this whole thing up in one phrase?:

GOOD vs. EVIL

4 posted on 02/01/2009 5:26:11 AM PST by sirchtruth (Gravity Of The Situation...)
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To: Cvengr

Thanks.

And you, might find the last 3 posts here, interesting:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2175643/posts?page=110


5 posted on 02/01/2009 6:37:04 AM PST by Quix (LEADRs SAY FRM 1900 2 presnt: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2130557/posts?page=81#81)
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To: Cvengr

I think he’s essentially right.

Will share with our award winning history prof.

. . . who cares for a 22 year old son in diapers with a 2 year old mentality.


6 posted on 02/01/2009 6:51:40 AM PST by Quix (LEADRs SAY FRM 1900 2 presnt: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2130557/posts?page=81#81)
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To: Joya

PING

LONG BUT WORTHY READ WHEN YOU HAVE TIME.


7 posted on 02/01/2009 6:53:26 AM PST by Quix (LEADRs SAY FRM 1900 2 presnt: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2130557/posts?page=81#81)
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To: chuck_the_tv_out

Doctrine upon doctrine.

Faith upon faith.

Not all true doctrines are simply understood before preliminary doctrines are metabolized in our thinking.


8 posted on 02/01/2009 10:08:09 AM PST by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: sirchtruth

Doctrines of good and evil have a lot more basis in Scripture.

The doctrine presented here regarding the “pivot” as Thieme expresses it, emphasizes the role of believers with respect to the divinely established institution of the nation, and especially in those nations which are ‘client nations’ of God.

This is a preliminary doctrine to one I’ll try to post later on the doctrine of freedom. I’ve been amazed at how accurately these doctrines help describe the wanton void in character and integrity we witness in many American political leaders. IMHO, the issue isn’t as much about liberal or conservative as it is a consequence of spiritual maturity through faith in Christ. The liberals might be further degenerate, but many conservatives are also on a wrong track exacerbating the national malaise.

Many of these doctrines had been developed in part by the Puritans and early settlers in the northeast, such as the doctrines of separation of church and state with original European roots.


9 posted on 02/01/2009 10:17:26 AM PST by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Cvengr
Doctrine upon doctrine.

Faith upon faith.


Mmm hmm. All of which should be from the Bible, would you agree?

This may be reasonable material, or may not, I am not sure, since it is very dense-looking, and I have a lot of work to do. I strongly suggest that a brief summary would help people decide whether to read

Not all true doctrines are simply understood before preliminary doctrines are metabolized in our thinking.

Yeah, to be honest that's not a cool way to be communicating. It seems weird, and if people think you're weird, you're not going to engage anyone. I've read the Bible many times, and having done so I feel that I have a good idea of the personality of people like Paul, for instance. And I just can't see Paul saying "doctrine of the pivots".

So, you know, it's good to be enthusiastic, and I'm sure you've got a lot to contribute, but I hope that maybe your next post can engage me better!

Good regards,
10 posted on 02/01/2009 10:26:53 AM PST by chuck_the_tv_out
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To: chuck_the_tv_out

By all means, Scripture is given to provide us a written form of His Word.

There are quite a few preliminary doctrines required before chewing meat.

Unfortunately, many of us have been scarred by worldly things and might not have continued in a daily intake of Bible doctrine, resulting in us not being prepared when we are at the right place at the right time to perform a good work through faith in Christ which He has provided for from eternity past.

With the newly placed Administration, it appears believers may want to get back to the basics and brush up quickly as they are likely to be tested in short order, whether they are prepared or not.

In regards to a summary, if the Cliff notes to a bible study as provided in the outline format aren’t direct enough, I’d recommend going on to another study.

The notes provided aren’t provided as edict. They are provided for those who enjoy Bible study and are students of history. Every doctrine must be inculcated into the spirit by God the Holy Spirit, not by man. Even with this stated, there is a sizable amount of study notes provided for the serious student who remains in faith through Christ to advance in the spiritual Christian walk with Christ.


11 posted on 02/01/2009 2:24:31 PM PST by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Cvengr

all sounds good, I agree. Just giving you some feedback from the point of view of someone who wasn’t familiar with your posts. God reigns!

Of course this new administration is very scary, with the obvious personality cult. When the beast comes it surely won’t be very different from this kind of situation. I have wondered if Romans 13:1 is applicable; “For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained [or ordered] of God.”. I have often thought that this passage was aimed particularly at the situation in Rome. And yet, it seems very general. They had personality cults in Rome of course


12 posted on 02/01/2009 2:35:07 PM PST by chuck_the_tv_out
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To: Cvengr; Quix; Joya

Thanks. Ping. Marking.


13 posted on 02/02/2009 9:19:53 PM PST by Joya (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: Joya; Cvengr

I really like this article.

I am sharing it with my colleague—the award winning history prof.

thanks so much.


14 posted on 02/02/2009 9:22:19 PM PST by Quix (LEADRs SAY FRM 1900 2 presnt: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2130557/posts?page=81#81)
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To: Cvengr; Joya

Thanks.

Reminder to self, look at this on day off.


15 posted on 02/23/2009 10:36:14 AM PST by Joya (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: All; Quix

Post 127 on different thread, referring to the fullness of the Gentiles,

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2192937/posts?page=127#127


16 posted on 02/26/2009 12:07:55 PM PST by Joya (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: Joya

Thanks.


17 posted on 02/26/2009 3:27:40 PM PST by Quix (POL Ldrs quotes fm1900 2 presnt: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2130557/posts?page=81#81)
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