Independence Day, July 4, 1994, may certainly be viewed as a defining date in the history of the modern advance of "Christian Polygamy". It was on that date that the very first TRUTH Tract had been published ---in the newspaper,
The Standard Bearer, which was predecessor to
TruthBearer.org. That first TRUTH Tract was titled,
"How Do You Know TRUTH?".
Seven years later, on July 4, 2001, on the
Friends and Fellowhelpers Email Listservs,
Mark the Founder of this ministry made the following post, in sharing the significance of this date.
May this be a blessing for all who read it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark the Founder, TruthBearer.org
To: FAF Listserv
Date: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 1:36 PM
Subject: July 4th! -- Also for our own Christian Polygamy history
Greetings in the love of the Lord!
Dear Friends and Fellowhelpers!
Today is July 4th!
In the United States, we "celebrate" this day as "Independence Day" as being the
date 225 years ago in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed.
For us, actually, it is also an historic date in the advance of Christian
Polygamy.
Namely, even as God was moving in and through many throughout the world in
seeing the polygyny of the patriarchs in the Scriptures, it was not until
USEABLE, DUPLICATABLE Scriptural argumentations were laid down before the masses
that any kind of a "movement" (as it were) of CHRISTIAN Polygamy could begin.
That's where the newspaper I used to publish, The Standard Bearer, comes into the matter of
history for us. This newspaper was the predecessor to the ministry of TRUTH
BEARER.
Seven years ago today, on July 4, 1994, the first issue of The Standard Bearer
newspaper was published and brought to 1000s of readers, including the very
first TRUTH Tract. It is in these TRUTH Tracts wherein which the first laying down
of USABLE, DUPLICATABLE argumentations of Christian Polygamy were brought to the
masses regularly. Over the months and years, these TRUTH Tracts went
beyond the mere referencing of polygynists like Abraham and David of whom many men throughout the world
were independently coming to realize.
These TRUTH Tracts, however, went
further than just referring to the polygynous patriarchs, instead also actually laying down
the further exegetical argumentations of which Christian Polygamy would advance
when bringing our understandings to other Christians. (For one example, it was
from the TRUTH Tract titled,
"THE TRUTH AND THE PARADOX", out of which the
first revelation of the "MIA" wife issue as being perceived as "FIRST wife" ---
regarding the "one wife" verses for bishops, elders, and deacons in 1_Timothy
3:2,12 and Titus 1:6 --- was first laid down in October 1995.)
And indeed, in February 1996, a reader of the newspaper here in Maine then took those argumentations they learned from the newspaper and created the absolute very first web-site of polygyny as a purportedly "Christian" non-mormon concept in February 1996. The reader of the newspaper showed it to me personally in March, 1996, and directly told me how they had just started it the month before. As such, in case it is ever observed as being purportedly claimed as of someone supposedly being on the WWW with it earlier than February 1996, they are flat-out lying. The very first web-site presenting and purporting itself as being non-mormon "Christian" began in February 1996. I saw it myself. And that site there was begun by a reader of the newspaper, The Standard Bearer, with their having learned the USEABLE and DUPLICATABLE Scriptural exegeses of Christian Polygamy from the TRUTH Tracts published therein.
The web-site of TRUTH BEARER came online on September 1, 1997 on the domain of
the newspaper.
http://TheStandardBearer.com/Acts2414/Exodus2110/TruthBearer/
"Old timers" among us will remember that as being the URL for the web-site. The new domain of http://TruthBearer.org was obtained the next
Summer, 1998, and made additionally "active" by January 1, 2000.
By 1998, non-Christian-Polygamy sites (News & Search & Christian Resource pages)
had begun to "mainstream" the use of the phrase "Christian Polygamy" by
UNSOLICITEDLY putting links on their sites to TRUTH BEARER as a topical resource
for the term, "Christian Polygamy". These other sites would link to TRUTH
BEARER but would use the term "Christian Polygamy", showing surfers on their
sites of this ministry as the RESOURCE. This is what led to the
"Becoming Mainstream" page now at
http://TruthBearer.org/media/mainstream/
This ministry had succeeded in getting the concept of "Christian" and "Polygamy"
as being a combined reference term now in the sort of "lexicon" of our English
language. Before then, the two words were deemed as a sort of
incompatible "oxymoron", a "contradiction in terms". But TRUTH BEARER
had now succeeded in it being seen as another "Christian theological view",
as another term in our "English language lexicon".
When TRUTH BEARER came online that first time back in 1997, there were only about four or
five other sites that had come online, being more denominationally focused in
their own denominational perspectives, except perhaps one very good intellectual one from England. A couple of those sites no longer exist today.
And by the end of the winter in 1998, as the ministry of TRUTH BEARER was
growing, it was no longer necessary or viable to continue the newspaper. As
such, The Standard Bearer ceased to be published thereafter March, 1998.
Indeed, TruthBearer.org has now gone far beyond the mere showing of Scriptural
exegeses of Christian Polygamy. Now, with the TRUTH BEARER Vision of
Love-Not-Force (first revealed on July 13, 1999), this ministry goes much
further than that, in teaching HOW to successfully persuade others of our Cause.
That is, we don't just teach that it IS Scriptural, but we go further in that we are teaching how to teach
and SUCCESSFULLY PERSUADE others that it is Scriptural and a valid option! This is,of course, all as part of the TRUTH BEARER Misson of
Bringing Christian Polygamy to the Churches.
O glory to God alone! Hallelujah!
Anyway, I said all that to say this.
"July 4" is also an historic date in our history of this "modern phenomenon" we
now know as "Christian Polygamy". It is also on this July 4th date that the
first issue of the The Standard Bearer first began the process of laying down
the original USEABLE and DUPLICATABLE Scriptural argumentations in the TRUTH Tracts, from which the "movement" (as it were) would advance. No doubt, The Spirit
of God was gently revealing to many other men around the world of the polygynist
truth of patriarchs such as Abraham, Isreal, and David. What was needed, though, was more than simply knowing about the patriarchs who were polygamous. What was needed in order for the "movement" (as it were) of Christian Polygamy to really begin was in having
the laying down of the USEABLE and DUPLICATABLE Scriptural exegeses and
argumentations with which to prove it, to do so beyond just the knowledge of such holy polygynists in the Scriptures. Proper exegesis and argumentation was needed. And that is the function which the TRUTH Tracts, as published in The Standard
Bearer, served.
And that is why the TRUTH Tracts have such a significant role in the history of the advance of Christian Polygamy. For, they provided the historic function of laying down the USEABLE and DUPLICATABLE Scriptural argumentations with which others could and did learn, copy, and pass on to others.
As such, we could rightly say that a defining moment, a key "starting point" of
the beginning of what would be the "movement" (as it were) of Christian Polygamy,
is when the first TRUTH Tract was published to the masses. And that occurred on
July 4, 1994, when the first TRUTH Tract ("How Do You Know TRUTH?") appeared in the first issue of The
Standard Bearer: July 4, 1994.
And indeed, that first TRUTH Tract itself even taught something about another
polygynist in the Scriptures, about whom most had not otherwise known previously.
Namely, that first TRUTH Tract itself even revealed that Moses himself, the very
author (mortally-speaking) of the first five books of the Old Testament
Scriptures, was a polygamist too! Even as most who were seeing the polygamy of patriarchs such as Abraham and David, most had otherwise not even previously realized that even Moses was a polygynist too, such as, for example, the same reader of the newspaper who later brought
what they learned from the newspaper to the www for the first time in February, 1996.
For the enjoyment of all, be sure to read the very
first TRUTH Tract, titled,
"How Do You Know TRUTH?".
No doubt, when reading that rather old writing, one can see that my writing skill at that time was not as literarily
qualitative as it would eventually grow to be later (in terms of article-writing
approaches, that is). :-) But the argumentation itself was certainly solid.
O the humble beginnings, eh? :-)
Anyway, this first TRUTH Tract does provide insight into the very first step
which would ultimately lead to others learning the USEABLE and DUPLICATABLE
Scriptural exegeses, as the "movement" (as it were) of Christian Polygamy would
thereafter grow. Glory be to the Lord alone!
When we ultimately achieve the TRUTH BEARER Agenda of de-criminalization of polygamy,
as we succeed in the TRUTH BEARER Mission of Bringing Christian Polygamy to the
Churches, we will be able to (and can do so now as well) look back at July 4,
1994 as our own additional "Independence Day" (as it were) in Christian
Polygamy to fondly remember, as a key historic date when the process of this all began for us!
Happy July 4th!
Happy "Independence Day" indeed!
Enjoy the first TRUTH Tract from July 4, 1994!
May the love of the Lord ever be with us!
YHWH bless...
---Mark
Founder
TRUTH BEARER
Acts 24:14
http://truthbearer.org
Continuing the Reformation...
Bringing Christian Polygamy to the Churches
© July 4, 2001, TruthBearer.org
P.O. Box 765, O.O.B., ME 04064
If you want to learn more about the "TRUTH BEARER Vision of love-not-force", then you will want to
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