Thy Will Be Done: When All Nations Call God Blessed

Nearly 30 years ago Ron Kirk’s teaching and writing transformed my life and family and laid a Biblical-reasoning foundation for our ministry (New Hope Uganda) that is impacting thousands. This new book takes the reasoning and life-application of Biblical principles to a new level. If only God’s people would read and learn and apply—for the sake of the children, for transforming the generations to come!

Jay Dangers, Founder and Director,


New Hope Uganda: Bringing the Fatherhood of God to the Fatherless

Thy Will Be Done paints an impressive canvas for the prospects for the world, based upon a multilayered study of the foundations of the United States—of the republic’s origins and Biblical principles. The vision is uncompromising and compassionate in its call, placing the individual citizen in overlapping circles of family, church, and civic communities. An educator at heart, Ron Kirk unfolds a national history almost like a curriculum scope and sequence for the redeemed person; a grammar of personal responsibility fitted into a story of freedom, as the creature obeys his Creator in every part of his life.

Mike T. Sugimoto

Professor of Asian Studies, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA

It is a sad paradox that Christians regularly pray the Lord’s Prayer, that God’s will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven, but they then demonstrate absolutely no inclination whatsoever to believe that such a prayer could, or even should, be answered. In this powerful book, Ronald Kirk proposes that Christians actually believe the Gospel! And that we would then live like it in every aspect of life. That we would yearn to see Christ’s blessings flow as far as the curse is found. Gratefully recommended.

George Grant

Author, Educator, Founder of Green Meadow Study Center and Franklin Classical School. Pastor of Parish Presbyterian Church, Franklin, TN

The Church in America has been drifting for several decades—away from orthodox views of the Christian faith in favor of postmodern ideas about God and life. The future of the Church for our children and grandchildren is much in doubt. Yet, God has always preserved His remnant to show the way back. Such is the case with Thy Will Be Done, from Ron Kirk. I so much appreciate Ron’s work here and I want to say that this resource should be in every Church library and indeed in every Christian home. Ron points out how important Psalm 110 is to the Christian faith, as used in the New Testament numerous times! If you see the great theological importance of this matter alone, you will have been richly rewarded far beyond the cost of the book. Yet there is so much more that will bless you for years to come.

Dan Smithwick, Founder and President,

Nehemiah Institute and Premier Worldview Center, Lexington, KY

In these days when personal morality and revered institutions seem to be collapsing all around us, it can be a real benefit to spend some time considering how a truly godly society would function. Ronald Kirk’s Biblically guided imaginary journey touches every sphere of human life—home, church, civil government, productive enterprise, and others. Thy Will Be Done: When All Nations Call God Blessed presents not a distant millennial kingdom, but the beginnings of the Kingdom of God in life today.

It is Kirk’s stated belief that the spiritual decline of some very liberal denominations began with withdrawal from the world and refusal to fully engage in public affairs—and with lost individuals in our communities. But what if each of us did commit to being salt and light, what would our communities look like then? That is the engaging premise of this book, something that every Christian should consider.

William J. Murray


Chairman, Religious Freedom Coalition, Washington, DC

Thy Will Be Done: When All Nations Call God Blessed focuses on the heart of our Mission. The Great Commission must be our supreme ambition. Christ’s last Command must be our first concern.

Ronald Kirk’s study on the practical implications of comprehensively applying the Lordship of Christ to all areas of life will inform, inspire, and involve its readers in seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

There is nothing more important. We must love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and we must love our neighbour as ourselves. This requires making disciples of all nations and teaching obedience to all that the Lord has commanded.

May we be faithful in working for world Evangelisation and Biblical Reformation. May God be merciful to grant us a Heaven sent Spiritual Revival. We pray and work towards the day when God’s Will is done on earth and when all nations call Him blessed.

Peter Hammond, Author, Missionary, Founder and Director,

Frontline Fellowship, Christian Action, and The Reformation Society, Cape Town, South Africa

Christian history documents the unfolding answer to Christ’s kingdom prayer as His people have taken the Bible seriously. As fellow students and representatives of America’s Christian liberty will, I commend Ron Kirk’s Thy Will Be Done. It summarizes the Biblical view and its legacy as he treats a broad range of subjects and at the same time illuminates the simple set of underlying Biblical principles that make a Christian society possible.

Stephen McDowell


President, Providence Foundation and Biblical Worldview University, Charlottesville, VA

This book takes the phrase Thy Kingdom come and applies it to every nook and cranny of modern day life, compelling every reader to re-assess how to apply God’s truth to our lives, community, church, and nation.

Brad Dacus


President, Pacific Justice Institute, Sacramento and Santa Ana, CA

Ron Kirk has produced in Thy Will Be Done a panorama of the Kingdom of God. He invites you to ascend with him to higher ground and there to observe the Kingdom, in all its complexity and simplicity, as a whole whose parts each contribute to the blessedness of God’s grace and goodness. He is an able and reliable guide for the grand tour of life lived in Christ. Look within this book for guidance in Biblically directed living upon a simple set of Biblical principles and be eternally blessed.

Carole Adams


President, Foundation for American Christian Education and

Founder, StoneBridge School, Chesapeake, VA

The vision Ron Kirk displays in these pages is no mirage. For more than a decade I have personally known Ron and his dear wife Christina and their five children. Ron is the kind of man it would take to write such a book. Herein is a vision of maturing Christians who produce maturing Christian culture which in turn radiates with increasing clarity the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. As we mature, a greater and clearer witness shines out to our neighbors, whom we love by genuine Christian life lived each day in every station and endeavor of human life God hands us. In this book you will find food for your soul, encouragement for your heart, challenge, and sometimes kind rebuke. Here is a book worth your time and worthy of giving to others. Every reader will find here substantial and weighty though eminently readable fare. Pastors and teachers, you will find herein a bag of good seed that will settle and grow in your own hearts, and give you plenty to sow in those who hear you. Ron’s work may become a classic. I pray God will use it to His own glory and the edification of His Church. May it add to that River of the Water of Life that brings blessing and life to the world for which God gave His only begotten Son!

Eugene C. Clingman, Executive Administrator,


International Church Council Project: www.ChurchCouncil.org. Winona, MO

How is it that we have tens of millions of Christians in this country, yet the nation continues to slide further into a moral morass? Ron Kirk’s new book, Thy Will Be Done, helps answer the question. And it shows how we can get back on track, using the Word of God as our guide.

Jerry Newcombe, Truth-in-Action Ministries, Co-host, Truth that Transforms,

Coral Ridge, FL. Author, The Book that Made America

Kirk makes an ambitious offering to give his readers a comprehensive introduction to a Christian worldview applied to all areas of life. He simplifies for the layman just how to reconstruct their personal life according to Biblical principles and then how to apply those same theological truths to family, church, and community in a positive advancement of God’s Kingdom on earth.

Brian Godawa, Hollywood Worldviews, and Word Pictures

Author, Myth Became Fact: Storytelling, Imagination, and Apologetics in the Bible

When the Western church was confronted with modernism in the early twentieth century, it responded by properly defending the fundamentals of the faith. Unfortunately the defense of the fundamentals quickly became the emphasis on what certain churchmen deemed as essential and, before long, the de-emphasis of all else as a distraction from the gospel message. Such a shift, in fact played into the hands of the modernists by excluding the application of Scripture to many areas. The message of the church became smaller and largely personal, first of all in its followers and then naturally in the eyes of its critics. A minimal Christian message and footprint resulted. Ron Kirk’s book serves to encourage a greater application of the faith, a maximal Christian message, a full-orbed perspective of the implications of a faith that speaks to all of life and thought.

Mark Rushdoony


President, Chalcedon Foundation, Vallecito, CA

The two most important questions for which we humans seek answers are these: 1) What is God like? and 2) What is the goal of His activity in the world? What will the world resemble when indeed God answers the prayer Jesus told us to pray in Mathew 6:10, Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven? How will we know when that prayer has been answered? For years this has been of particular interest to me in the jurisdictions of the family and the church, which, along with the civil government, make up God’s three ordained institutions. I am convinced there are clear, knowable, and understandable answers to those two questions.

Ronald Kirk has undertaken the monumental task of examining question No. 2 in detail, not simply in the family or the church, but in every area of human endeavor. What will business, the sciences, the arts, education, philanthropy, recreation, civil government, and national foreign policy all look like when God’s will is done on the earth? Based on a wealth of experience as an educator and a theologian, Ron has written a sweeping magnum opus to answer that question.

He does so with a precision, clarity, and attention to detail that is amazing. Again and again as questions came into my mind, Ron answered them in the next paragraph. His work is balanced, positive, and concise. Sadly, not all Christians have either the positive view of the future that Ron holds, nor his firm belief in the sovereignty of God. However, I found his picture of the world under the righteous rule of Jesus Christ to be, frankly, very encouraging. Prepare yourself for an intellectual spiritual feast!

Robert Andrews, Gospel Parenting, Rice, WA


Educator and Author of The Family: God’s Weapon for Victory

Ronald Kirk has acquired a deep foundation of useful knowledge over a wide range of important topics; and he has the unique ability to apply that knowledge with wisdom evidencing a truly Reformed Christian Worldview. In Thy Will be Done, he has communicated cogently the results of his studies, giving us many insights which present his inspired vision of how we ought to conduct ourselves individually, as family leaders, as church members, and as citizens to restore God’s Kingdom on earth in all areas of life. I recommend this book most highly.

Kendall Thurston

Murphys, CA

In Thy Will Be Done, Ronald Kirk hopes to pique the imagination of all those called of God toward the realization of Christ’s purpose for men. As one whose imagination has been suitably piqued by reading this book, I wholeheartedly commend this crafted approach to Biblically directed living to all who have prayed and meant the words of The Lord’s Prayer.

Neil McKinlay


Australian PCA Pastor and armed forces chaplain. Author, From Mason to Minister

Too many Christians think compartmentally instead of in an integrated manner. The fact is, God thinks something about everything. It, therefore, behooves His children to seek to discern our Father’s thoughts about everything. I do not think that whether the reader agrees with Mr. Kirk’s conclusions on every matter is the most important issue. If reading this book drives us to the Scriptures and our knees to learn to think God’s thoughts after Him, it will have served a supremely great purpose.

Errol Hale


Pastor, Grace Bible Church, Moorpark, CA

Ron Kirk has presented us with a vision for what the future will be like when Christians come to appreciate the full significance of God’s plan for this world. Thy Will Be Done paints a picture of what this world could, and some day will, become. It also shows us the steps involved in making the transition from what we see around us today to a truly God-honoring world. It is a roadmap, a Biblically based and sure guide for all who would honor God by putting their hands to the task of building that kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth.

Lou Poumakis


Author of Faith on Earth?, Boynton Beach, FL

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<< Table of Contents

THY WILL BE DONE

When All Nations Call God Blessed

by Ronald W. Kirk

* * *

Copyright 2013 by Ronald W. Kirk

Published 2018 by Nordskog Publishing Inc. at Smashwords

ePub ISBN: 978-1-946497-04-8 Kindle ISBN: 978-1-946497-05-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013951312

Managing Editor and Production: Desta Garrett

Cover: Aaron Ford, digicomdesigns.com

E-Book Production: Michelle Shelfer, benediction.biz

Copyright Notice: Unless otherwise indicated, all quoted Scripture taken from the

New King James Version®. Copyright 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Some verses paraphrased by author.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy,

recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.

Published by

Nordskog Publishing, Inc.

2716 Sailor Avenue, Ventura, California 93001, USA

1-805-642-2070 • 1-805-276-5129

NordskogPublishing.com

MEMBER

Christian Small Publishers Association

* * *

<< Table of Contents

Dedication

To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Among my fellows, to my pastor, friend, and mentor,


the late Christopher Rory Hoops;


to John Patterson Ford for his long-time friendship and support;

to Martin G. Selbrede for his brilliant contributions


to my life and his tenacious friendship;


to Jerry and Gail Nordskog,


wise and the best of Christian friends;


and most of all


to my beautiful, patient, and faithful wife


Christina.

* * *

Table of Contents

Praise

Dedication

Publisher’s Preface by Gerald Christian Nordskog

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Premise

Pietism

The Evangelical, Kingdom Necessity of Universal Christian Expressions

Liberty

Chapter 2: Liberty, Love, and Manners; Ethics, Justice, and Nobility

Morality and Liberty

Presumption Kills Liberty

Self-Restraint Establishes Liberty

The Place of Civil Authority

Nobility Required

Chapter 3: The Individual

Godly Individuality

Moral Responsibility

Evangelical Responsibility

Woman and Child

Expressions of Character

Learning and Action

Gifts, Calling, Preparation, and Expression

Heroism and Nobility

Chapter 4: The Family

The Place of the Family

Husband and Father

Wife and Mother

Children

Chapter 5: The Church

The Church in a Trinitarian World

The Church as Means and End—Both Are Essential

The Life of the Church

The Necessity of the Institutional Church

The Two Commandments of Christ

What the Organized Church Is Not

The Institutional Church Is of Central Importance

Critical Functions of the Institutional Church

Limits of Formal Church Authority

Legitimate Church Authority

Leaders of the Mature Church

The Educational Mission of the Organized Church

From the Pew to the World: Ministry by the Greater Church

The Church as College and as Family

Chapter 6: Work and Enterprise

Economic Activities Should Further the Gospel

America’s Example—Good and Bad

Diligence

The Dominion Mandate and Enterprise

Christian Economics 101

Business Is Relational and Moral

The Importance of Liberty in Business

The Lord’s Day

Pollution

The Middle Class

Capitalism

Dangers in Capitalism

Corporations

Labor Unions

Money

Usury

Nature and Stewardship

Chapter 7: The Sciences and the Arts

The Importance of Accomplishment

Accomplishment and the Gospel

Foundations of Accomplishment

Science

Biblical Science

Modern Science versus Theology

Art

The Learning Spiral

Chapter 8: Education and School

The Decline of Normal Christian Education

Godless Education and Its Christian Counterpart

Principle One: Individuality

Principle Two: Christian Self-Government

Principle Three: Christian Character

Principle Four: Stewardship

Principle Five: Appropriate Expressions

Principle Six: Reproduction

Principle Seven: Unity and Union

Key to Success

Training Up a Child

The Tripod of Education

Content—School Subjects

Discipline—Reproduce Scholarship and Skills

Paradigm Shift

Inspiration—Learning from the Best Examples

The Constituents of Education

Schools Relational, Not Institutional

Vocational Training, Seminaries, and Universities

Chapter 9: Tithing and Philanthropy

Collected Capital

Tithe

The Middle Class

Generosity Rather than Socialism

Orphans and Widows

Community Coercion in Philanthropy

Education and Philanthropy to Serve the Poor

The Body of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers, and the Organized Church

Larger Ministries and Missions

Informal Philanthropy and Ministry

Chapter 10: Rest, Recreation, and Pleasure

Recreation

Rest

What of Other Recreations?

Holidays

Entertainment

Amusement

Pleasure

Various Recreations and Pleasures

Chapter 11: A Christian, Constitutional, and Federal Republic

The Plight of Man in Society

The Holy Community—Liberty with Union

The Need for Civil Justice

The Form of the Christian Community

Covenant and Constitution

Local Self-Government

The Bane Democracy Represents

Representation and the Republic

Individual Responsibility to the Community

Federalism—the Key to Greater Spheres of Relational Government

Separation of Powers

Civil Government—Secular or Religious?

The Basis of Law—Man, Nature, or the Bible?

Chapter 12: The Neighborhood, Town, City, and Region

Private Property

The City, County, and Region

Utilities and Public Services

Public Philanthropy and the Civil Government

Militia

Chapter 13: The State, the Nation, and the Nations

Local Self-Government with Union in Greater Spheres

The Nation

Money

Taxation

Tariffs

War

Militia versus Standing Army

Defense Is Much More Than Armies

The Nations

Chapter 14: A Way of Life (Getting There from Here)

What the Kingdom Requires

What Hinders?

Growth

Final Thoughts

Selected Bibliography

About the Author

Invitation from the Publisher

Other Quality Books by Nordskog Publishing

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PUBLISHER'S PREFACE

(Jesus said unto His disciples): After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done even in earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9–10).1

And Jesus came, and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me, in heaven, and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the holy Ghost,
Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, until the end of the world, Amen (Matthew 28:18–20).

Dear Reader,


The Lord’s Prayer and The Great Commission are the focus and goal of this wonderful book by my long-time personal friend, Ronald W. Kirk, our Theology Editor, an astute, wise, and knowledgeable Christian educator and scholar.

The crux of life is to pursue this prayer and this commissioning by our King Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, in our daily walk and life’s journey, in the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, and see what God can do in His perfect timing precept by precept in the days, years, and ages to come, until His will be done on earth as in heaven, with a matured and accomplished Church.

Do you want to know how disciples of our Master are to present our bodies a living sacrifice wholly unto the Lord to accomplish these worthy and heavenly purposes? (Romans 12:1; see also 1 Corinthians 6:13, 19–20). This is a guidebook to live by moment by moment.

As John Quincy Adams so aptly stated centuries ago:

Duty is ours; results are God’s.2

Tonight, as I stand on our lighthouse roof-balcony here in Ventura Keys, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, peering at the fireworks sparkling up into the cloudy night’s sky along our coastline, this Fourth of July Independence Day, I reflect upon these words from John Adams writing to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776, after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and about its future anniversaries:

[This] will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.... [It] will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival...commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty...from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.3

He further stated it may even be celebrated with displays of fireworks.

That day in America the people did proclaim their liberty and it rang throughout the entire world!—as the American Liberty Bell is inscribed: [P]roclaim liberty in the land to all the inhabitants thereof (Leviticus 25:10; see also 2 Corinthians 3:17).


The civilized nations of the world learned about civil-liberty-under-law from our country during our colonial and particularly our founding era and thereafter.

Also upon the signing of The Declaration of Independence in 1776 Samuel Adams proclaimed:

We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.4

John Quincy Adams proclaimed, July 4, 1837 on the sixty-first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence:

Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Saviour of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day. Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the Progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That is laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Saviour and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets 600 years before."5

I have celebrated annually observing fireworks displays, and the reading of and remembering of this great American document directed to the King of England, and shared with all of the world openly, listing our grievances and responses of patience and independence declared, this event eventually leading to the establishment of our honored and cherished United States Constitution. John Adams acknowledged in 1798 that,

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is totally inadequate for the government of any other.6

On the bicentennial of the Declaration, I chaired the Los Angeles City Schools’ Bicentennial Pageant as a volunteer appointed by the School Board, overseeing a large committee of educators and citizens (1975–1977). With the overall theme being the Spirit of ’76 in Education, it culminated in a huge Happy Birthday America" festival-celebration at the L.A. Coliseum, a packed stadium with a three-ring circus, songs, marching bands, prayers, and patriotic historical readings. That event was held on May 29, 1976, and was shown on TV July Fourth.7

As I stand this Independence Day overlooking the Ventura harbor, I contemplate what a drastic change America has undergone, and for the worse, since that Bicentennial, in our declining Los Angeles area and American nation, as we have largely forgotten God and His commandments. Many of the congregations of America have cloistered themselves in their pews within the four walls of their churches, and ignored the full mandate of the Great Commission, though they may assume they have fulfilled it with some evangelism.

We have much to learn and to re-learn from our Founding Fathers, who established our nation on Biblical laws and principles with great study of history and historical writings. Are we impotent, apathetic, lazy, and lukewarm Christians, brethren? For certain we are unknowledgeable about the Cultural (Dominion) Mandate and what Jesus meant in teaching and discipleship to the nations: that is, not just the important privilege of evangelism pronouncing the gospel of Christ, but propounding how cultures are to live and obey God’s ordained Laws in all they do as nations of the world.

Jesus answered him, saying, It is written That man shall not live by bread only, but by every Word of God (Luke 4:4).

For the whole Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable to teach, to convince, to correct, and to instruct in righteousness, That the man of God may be absolute, being made perfect unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

The Ten Commandments and the Two Greatest Commandments which summarize them—love God and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37–40)—are to be lived out fully as the Lord admonishes us for all people for all time and for all nations, until every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord (Philippians 2:10–11).

The Word says:

Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. Let us not therefore be weary of well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. While we have therefore time, let us do good unto all men, but especially unto them, which are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:7–10).

Now no chastising for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: but afterward, it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousness, unto them which are thereby exercised. Wherefore lift up your hands which hang down, and your weak knees, And make straight steps unto your feet, lest that which is halting, be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without the which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:11–14).

Our beloved nation is experiencing God’s remedial or perhaps full judgment. But we can return to the Cornerstone of America by returning to Christ our Lord and the Holy