Blog 4: Fire and Brimstone

If all of you wish to live in eternal paradise with the Father then you had better mark my words carefully. Many of us stray from the righteous course not by our actions first but by our very sick and immoral thoughts. May it be lust or greed or gluttony or envy or any other sinful whim; they all condemn us to the eternal flames long before we act on these ideas. For our mind must be a citadel that only admirable, excellent, and God worthy thoughts may enter. Many of us defile them with the corrupt though which lead us on a path to hold hands with Lucifer for all eternity! Once the Old Boy has ye in his grasp he will tell you to lead others down your path too. You will become his agent here dragging many if not to act in a horrible manner to think horrible things which are just as bad if not worse than the action. For an outward act can soon be reprimanded and forgotten, but if allowed to fester like a untreated wound a corrupt thought can infect the whole mind at which time it is too late to save that soul from eternal damnation! The Devil will surely rejoice for every malevolent or corrupt thought just as much as he will rejoice when one commits the act of murder or theft. For the evil one is no fool and knows these corruptions of our mind is no different than if we are to act them out. Our gracious Savior warned us of such devious fancies in our mind and if ye wish to keep the flames of hell from licking at your bootstraps then God willing keep the filth that Lucifer hurls up  away from your head and strengthen your mind with the scriptures to bolster your defenses lest ye wish the Devil drag you to his decrepit domain.   

Blog 3: Squanto

Squanto was a member of the Patuxet tribe which is a subdivision of the Wampanoag Confederacy. In 1614, he was kidnapped by a lieutenant of John Smith who tried to sell Squanto into slavery in Spain. Local friars aided Squanto in making his way to England where he picked up the language which would make him a vital link in the New World. Squanto, who had been working for John Slany in England, made it back to his homelands in 1619 only to find much of his tribe had been wiped out by European diseases. Instead of his familiar people, he found the pilgrims who had just been through a rough winter in the New World. Squanto was able to communicate with them, and show them how to cultivate the land. Furthermore, he taught them how to catch wild game and fish. Perhaps his most detrimental skill was to open up peace negotiations with the Wampanoag (Massasoit) tribes which would last many decades past Squanto's lifetime. Sadly enough, Squanto was distrusted near the end of his life by both the Massasoit and Plymouth settlers, and he died from illness at the age of 42. Despite this, Governor William Bradford remarked that his death was a "great loss" and that Squanto wished that Bradford would pray to God to accept him. This being significant because at the time most Europeans regarded the Native Americans as savages and wouldn't pay any homage to one unless they had done something extremely special such as Squanto.  

Blog 2: The voyage of the Mayflower

Everyone knows about the Pilgrims coming over from England on the Mayflower, and getting blown off course. However, if you look in to the story of their journey a little deeper some intriguing details emerge. For instance, few know of the Speedwell which was a second ship that was supposed to be traveling with the Mayflower to the New World. Unfortunately, the Speedwell had leaking problems twice that delayed the voyage by about a month. It was then decided that the Mayflower would make the voyage alone which was a risky proposition back in the day because there wasn't a national guard to save you in the case of a shipwreck. Once they were on their way finally, many passenger attest to the ironic story about a belligerent sailor. The story goes that the sailor would laugh and swear at the sea sick passengers, and he would say that when they die he was going to throw them over board and take their stuff. Fate would have it that the sailor got sick himself, and was the first to be thrown over board. Finally, one other interesting tidbit was the near death of John Howland. During one of the furious tempests the Mayflower encountered on her voyage, Howland was blown overboard. He managed to hang on to a part of the ship though until he was rescued by the crew. Howland's descendants include the likes of Presidents FDR and the Bushes, actor Humphrey Bogart, and the founder of the Mormons Joseph Smith.