Mark 16:15, “And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

Patriots From the Pulpit

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America cut its spiritual teeth on the powerful preaching and exemplary examples of men of the Black Robe Regiment. We need them as much now as we did then.

The time has come again for the church leaders to assume their rightful role as leaders of the community and make a stand for freedom. The entire Christian community must now unite in opposition to the erosion of our founding principles and return this nation back to the divinely inspired constitutional precepts and values that facilitated America’s rise to greatness. This article is very inspirational and educational.

By Moira Crooks

“The ministers of the Revolution were, like their Puritan predecessors, bold and fearless in the cause of their country. No class of men contributed more to carry forward the Revolution and to achieve our independence than did the ministers. . . . By their prayers, patriotic sermons, and services [they] rendered the highest assistance to the civil government, the army, and the country.” – B. F. Morris, HISTORIAN, 1864

The stirring words from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Concord Hymn” read: “By the rude bridge that arched the flood,/ Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,/ Here once the embattled farmers stood,/ And fired the shot heard round the world.” Most of us are still aware that those embattled farmers won for us the freedoms we too often take for granted today.

But how many of us are aware of the extent to which faith motivated those farmers to leave their families and homes and risk their lives for a cause that most would have considered hopeless at the time? How many are aware of the extent to which preachers actively participated in our War for Independence — and not just rhetorically from the pulpit, though the great sermons on behalf of the freedom fight provoked many parishioners to action? How many are familiar with the phrase “Black Regiment”?

That phrase encapsulates what Colonial America possessed in its War for Independence that is sadly lacking in our country today. The Black Regiment is a moniker that was given to the patriot-preachers of Colonial America. They were called the “Black Regiment” owing to the fact that so many of them had a propensity to wear long, black robes in the pulpit. According to historian/educator Reverend Wayne Sedlak, in his article “The Black Regiment Led the Fight in Our War for Independence”:

It was British sympathizer Peter Oliver, who actually first used the name “Black Regiment.” He complained that such clergymen were invariably at the heart of the revolutionary disturbances. He tied their influence to such colonial leaders as Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others of prominence in the cause. He quotes colonial leadership in its quest to gain the voice of the clergy. In one instance, he disparagingly cites a public plea of James Otis who sought the help of the clergy in a particular manner:

“Mr. Otis, understanding the Foibles of human Nature advanced one shrewd position which seldom fails to promote popular Commotions, that ‘it was necessary to secure the black Regiment.’ These were his Words and his meaning was to engage ye dissenting Clergy on his Side…. Where better could he fly for aid than to the Horns of the Altar?… This order of Men … like their Predecessors of 1641 … have been unceasingly sounding the Yell of Rebellion in the Ears of an ignorant and deluded People.”

So influential were the patriot-pulpits of Colonial America that it was said by Prime Minister Horace Walpole in the British Parliament, “Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson.” In fact, America’s War for Independence was often referenced in Parliament as “the Presbyterian Revolt.” And during the Revolutionary War, British troops often made colonial churches military targets. Churches were torched, ransacked, and pillaged.

These patriot-preachers were staunchly patriotic, seriously independent, and steadfastly courageous. They were found in almost all of the various Protestant denominations at the time: Baptist, Presbyterian, Congregational, Anglican, Lutheran, German Reformed, etc.

Their Sunday sermons — more than Patrick Henry’s oratory, Samuel Adams’ and James Warren’s “Committees of Correspondence,” or Thomas Paine’s “Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots” — inspired, educated, and motivated the colonists to resist the tyranny of the British Crown, and fight for their freedom and independence.

Without the Black Regiment, there is absolutely no doubt that we would still be a Crown colony, with no Declaration of Independence, no U.S. Constitution, no Bill of Rights, and little liberty.

The exploits of the Black Regiment are legendary. When General George Washington asked Lutheran pastor John Peter Muhlenberg to raise a regiment of volunteers, Muhlenberg gladly agreed. Before marching off to join Washington’s army, he delivered a powerful sermon from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 that concluded with these words: “The Bible tells us there is a time for all things and there is a time to preach and a time to pray, but the time for me to preach has passed away, and there is a time to fight, and that time has come now.

Now is the time to fight! Call for recruits! Sound the drums!” Then Muhlenberg took off his clerical robe to reveal the uniform of a Virginia colonel. Grabbing his musket from behind the pulpit, he donned his colonel’s hat and marched off to war. And as he did, more than 300 of his male congregants followed him.

Muhlenberg’s brother quotes John Peter as saying, “You may say that as a clergyman nothing can excuse my conduct. I am a clergyman, it is true, but I am a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as any man. I am called by my country to its defense. The cause is just and noble. Were I a Bishop … I should obey without hesitation; and as far am I from thinking that I am wrong, I am convinced it is my duty so to do — a duty I owe to my God and my Country.”

Remember, too, it was Pastor Jonas Clark and his congregants at the Church of Lexington who comprised that initial body of brave colonists called Minutemen. These were the men, you will recall, who withstood British troops advancing on Concord to confiscate the colonists’ firearms and arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock, and fired “the shot heard round the world.”

The “Supreme Knight” and great martyr of Presbyterianism was Pastor James Caldwell of the Presbyterian church of Elizabethtown (present-day Elizabeth), New Jersey. He was called the “Rebel High Priest” and the “Fighting Chaplain.” He is most famous for the story “Give ’em Watts!” It is said that at the Springfield engagement, when the militia ran out of wadding for their muskets, Parson Caldwell galloped to the Presbyterian church and returned with an armload of hymnbooks, threw them to the ground, and exclaimed, “Now, boys, give ’em Watts! Give ’em Watts!” — a reference to the famous hymn writer, Isaac Watts.

Not an easy path: Presbyterian minister James Caldwell, who gained fame during the battle of Springfield, New Jersey, when he gathered Watts hymnals from a church for use as rifle wadding and shouted to the troops as he handed them out, “put Watts into them,” was killed in the war, as was his wife.

Caldwell so angered British commanders that they made martyrs of both him and his wife. General Knyphausen’s expedition took Elizabethtown in 1780, burning Caldwell’s church and shooting his wife. Later Caldwell himself was shot. (Source: Humphrey, Nationalism and Religion in America, 1924)

Then there was the Baptist, Joab Houghton, of New Jersey. Houghton was in the Hopewell Baptist Meeting-house at worship when he received the first information of Concord and Lexington, and of the retreat of the British to Boston with heavy losses. His great-grandson gave the following eloquent description of the way he treated the tidings:

Stilling the breathless messenger, he sat quietly through the services, and when they were ended, he passed out, and mounting the great stone block in front of the meeting-house, he beckoned to the people to stop. Men and women paused to hear, curious to know what so unusual a sequel to the service of the day could mean.

At the first words a silence, stern as death, fell over all. The Sabbath quiet of the hour and of the place was deepened into a terrible solemnity. He told them all the story of the cowardly murder at Lexington by the royal troops; the heroic vengeance following hard upon it; the retreat of Percy; the gathering of the children of the Pilgrims round the beleaguered hills of Boston. Then pausing, and looking over the silent throng, he said slowly: “Men of New Jersey, the red coats are murdering our brethren of New England! Who follows me to Boston?” And every man of that audience stepped out into line, and answered, “I!” There was not a coward nor a traitor in old Hopewell Baptist Meeting-house that day. [Source: Cathcart, The Baptists and the American Revolution, 1876]

These were not the acts of wild-eyed fanatics; they were the acts of men of deep and abiding faith and conviction. Their understanding of the principles of both Natural and Revealed Law was so proficient, so thorough, and so sagacious that their conscience would let them do nothing else. Hear the wise counsel of the notable colonial preacher Reverend Samuel West (1730-1807):

Our obligation to promote the public good extends as much to the opposing every exertion of arbitrary power that is injurious to the state as it does to the submitting to good and wholesome laws. No man, therefore, can be a good member of the community that is not as zealous to oppose tyranny, as he is ready to obey magistracy.

Reverend West went on to say: “If magistrates are ministers of God only because the law of God and reason points out the necessity of such an institution for the good of mankind, it follows, that whenever they pursue measures directly destructive of the public good, they cease being God’s ministers, they forfeit their right to obedience from the subject, they become the pests of society, and the community is under the strongest obligation of duty both to God and to its own members, to resist and oppose them, which will be so far from resisting the ordinance of God that it will be strictly obeying his commands.”

This was the spirit of 1776; this was the preaching that built a free and independent nation; this is what Colonial America had that, by and large, America does not have today. In the thinking and preaching of the Black Regiment, freedom and independence were precious gifts of God, not to be trampled underfoot by men; human authority was limited and subject to proper divine parameters; and the mind of man was never to be enslaved by any master, save Christ Himself.

Membership in the Black Regiment was unofficial and without human oversight. Preachers of the black robes were young and old, loud and soft-spoken, rough and gentle, urban and rural. They differed on secondary doctrines and never surrendered their theological distinctiveness. Yet they formed an irresistible and indefatigable army that neither King George nor the demons of hell could stop.

As one reads the colonial history of the United States, one must be struck with the observation that the American people, on the whole, seemed to appreciate the courage and independence of their preachers. Even America’s early political leaders shared in this appreciation.

For instance, John Adams once remarked, “It is the duty of the clergy to accommodate their discourses to the times, to preach against such sins as are most prevalent, and recommend such virtues as are most wanted. For example, if exorbitant ambition and venality are predominant, ought they not to warn their hearers against those vices? If public spirit is much wanted, should they not inculcate this great virtue? If the rights and duties of Christian magistrates and subjects are disputed, should they not explain them, show their nature, ends, limitations, and restrictions, how muchsoever it may move the gall of Massachusetts?”

The problem today is that America’s preachers have taken off the black robes and put on yellow ones. Where is the preaching against prevalent sins? Where is the spiritual, scriptural explanation concerning the rights and duties, or limitations and restrictions of civil magistrates from America’s pulpits today?

The famed 19th-century revivalist Charles G. Finney had some trenchant words on this subject. He said,

If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.

It was the patriot-pulpit that delivered America from bondage. This is the fighting heritage of America’s pastors and preachers. So, what has happened? What has happened to that fighting spirit that once existed, almost universally, throughout America’s Christian denominations? How have preachers become so timid, so shy, and so cowardly that they will stand apathetic and mute as America faces the destruction of its liberties? Where are the preachers to explain, expound, and extrapolate the principles of liberty from the Word of God? Where are the pastors who take Ezekiel 34 to heart?

It is the timid pulpit, on the part of those who do or should know, that is helping to deliver America to the brink of destruction and judgment. The America that our founding fathers and countless millions have fought and died for is under attack. Not by some foreign aggressor but from an ideological mindset and post modern worldview. We have lost our moral compass and are in danger of losing our liberties and freedoms.

The sermons Americans frequently hear today deal with prosperity theology and entertainment evangelism. This milquetoast preaching makes it hard to find Christian men who even have control of their children, much less the courage and resolve to stand against the onslaught of socialism, and, yes, fascism that is swallowing America whole.

America cut its spiritual teeth on the powerful preaching and exemplary examples of men of the Black Robe Regiment. We need them as much now as we did then. The time has come again for the church leaders to assume their rightful roll as leaders of the community and make a stand for freedom. The entire Christian community must now unite in opposition to the erosion of our founding principals and return this nation back to the divinely inspired constitutional precepts and values that facilitated Americas rise to greatness.

I believe that the only thing needed for God to send another Great Awakening upon our nation and for us to reclaim our liberty and independence is for men of God in the pulpits to return to the traditions of those of the Black Robe Regiment. They need to become champions of freedom, sounding the call to resist tyranny and defend American liberty.

Homeschool: Renewing American Society

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This audio message effectively details the benefits of returning to the biblical and constitutional tradition and heritage of homeschooling our children.

Homeschooling is an essential component of renewing and maintaining our American republic, functioning under biblical and constitutional principles as a bastion of free, self governing citizens under God.

By Dr. W. David Gamble

Running Time 24 Minutes

 

Flames That Threaten America

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This sermon considers some of the conditions that are threatening America’s future. The nation is on fire and there must be a remnant of God’s people to answer the bell and fight these fires before it’s too late.

By Tim Patrick

Isaiah 9:18-9:21

How many of you have ever been near a fire that was raging uncontrollably? This is a scary sight. I can recall at least two such occasions in my life. One occurred when I was a boy. A fire burned about 20 acres of pasture land on our family farm. We had to fight that fire. It was a scary scene. The other occasion was the time I found a neighbor and fellow church member’s home burning. The house burned to the ground before the fire department could get to the fire. I have also read stories of fire fighters who have fought forest fires out west and in America’s northwest. Sometimes those fire fighters lost their lives in such blazes. Fire is a frightening thing.

In the Bible, we find wickedness compared to a fire. We understand the analogy. Isaiah used such a comparison. Look at Is. 9:18-20. “For wickedness burns as the fire; It shall devour the briers and thorns, And kindle in the thickets of the forest; They shall mount up like rising smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts The land is burned up, And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother.” The reason I use this text is because we celebrate independence day this week. However, I wonder how long this will continue. I see wickedness burning like a flame across America.

Join me in making the comparison. Isaiah had witnessed the corruption and degradation of the Israelite people. He had seen the jaws of sinful pride sink her teeth into this great people. As he witnessed her downfall he described what he
saw as burning like a fire. I believe that the same fires which destroyed Israel may well be flickering in the background in America. Let’s examine God’s word and think about the comparison for a few moments.

I want to share a simple outline tonight. I want to examine four conditions that were present when God judged the nation of Israel. These conditions were present when the fires of judgment were ignited. We will pull these principles directly from the text.

1. The first condition was a people filled with pride. Look at verses 9 & 10. The people “say in pride and arrogance of heart: The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.” (NKJV) God was sending judgment on the Israelite people. They made two mistakes. First, they ignored the cause of the calamities. Second, they arrogantly boasted that they would rebuild. It is as if they thought they did not need God.

The Bible says “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Prov. 16:18 NKJV) The Bible tells us “God is opposed to the proud.” (I Pet. 5:5 NKJV). “A man’s pride shall bring him low.” (Prov. 29:23 NKJV)

Illustration: I once read a story about a little frog that wanted to go south for the winter. It was too far to hop and he did not have wings to fly. Two birds felt sorry for the frog and together they came up with a plan. The birds would hold each end of a stick in their beaks, the frog would clamp down on the stick with his mouth and the birds would carry him to his destination. The sky was clear and everything seemed hopeful for the frog and his two new found friends. Two farmers were standing in a field and saw the birds carrying the frog. One said to the other, “That was a brilliant idea, I wonder who came up with the plan.” The frog couldn’t keep his mouth shut and he said, “I-I-I-I-I-I”. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut. However, his pride got the best of him.

(Contributed by Robert Travis )

Illustration: In 1972, America had a young swimmer named Mark Spitz who predicted he would win five gold medals at the Olympics. He came home with none. His pride stood in his way.

As I look at America I see an extremely proud people. We are proud of being Americans but we are also arrogant toward other people in our world. In addition, we are blind when bad things happen to us. We wander along showing little concern for the tragedies that strike us.

Listen to what Abraham Lincoln said of us almost 150 years ago. “We’ve grown in numbers and wealth and power as no other nation has grown. We’ve vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” (p. 80, as quoted in America, Return to God; edited by Thomas Wang)

2. A second condition was internal confusion. Look at verse 16. “For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.” This concept is repeated in verse 19. “No man shall spare his brother.” This refers to anarchy. Thus, there was poor leadership from their national leaders, confusion and anarchy among the people.

Illustration: Dr. James Dobson has said, “We are involved in nothing less than a civil war of values, a collision between two ways of seeing life. This is not an issue of two alternatives from which to choose, but a life and death struggle. One value system is going to predominate. One is going to rule the country.” (James Dobson as quoted in America, Return to God; edited by Thomas Wang; p. 97)

3. A third condition was ignoring warning signs. When conditions are ripe for a forest fire, our forestry officials will issue warnings concerning the danger. They will discourage people from burning trash, building camp fires or the like. When people neglect those warnings and build fires they are flirting with danger. Look at verse 13. “For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.” I believe, by and large, we have gotten to the place where we do not heed the warnings of God’s judgment.

If God is consistent, in his dealings with America, the way he has always been consistent throughout history, he will warn us of approaching judgment. In speaking of the end of the age, Jesus spoke of the warning signs we should notice. He said, before God judges He will warn of the approaching judgment. Jesus said the times before His second coming would include warnings. He reminds us to keep our eyes on the fig tree, which is Israel. When it begins to blossom you know the end is near.

Israel is the historical miracle in world civilization. She had been extinct as a nation for over 1,900 years, ever since Titus and the Roman legions marched into Jerusalem in 70 AD and nearly obliterated the Jewish people, forcing them out of their own country. The people were slaughtered and Israel died as a nation that day. But she was born again in one day. Isaiah predicted it would happen. On May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again. David Ben Gurion signed the Declaration of Independence. Jesus said when the fig tree buds the kingdom is at hand.

(Contributed by James O. Davis, Co-Founder/President Global Pastors Network)

Illustration: This happened in Nazi Germany. People tried to warn them what was happening. A man named Martin Niemoller tried to warn the people. He saw the warning signs on the horizon. Listen to what he said:

“First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.”

4. A fourth condition was a progressive worsening of wickedness. Notice verse 18. “For wickedness burns as the fire; It shall devour the briers and thorns, and kindle in the thickets of the forest; They shall mount up like rising smoke.”

Illustration: When my boys were small I would often carry them camping. I remember teaching them how to start a camp fire. We would take dried grass, twigs, paper and the like for our kindling. Once we got those items burning we would move to sticks and progressively move to larger items until we were able to place logs on the fire.

Illustration: In 1947, sociologist and historian Dr. Carle Zimmerman studied the deterioration and ultimate disintegration of various cultures. He found that in each society the disintegration of the culture was preceded by the disintegration of the family. He discovered 11 common elements that were always present. Let me mention five of those eleven common elements:
1) An increase in rapid, easy and “faultless” divorce.
2) Fewer children, and less respect for parents and parenthood.
3) A break down of most inhibitions against adultery.
4) The rapid rise and spread of juvenile delinquency.
5) Common acceptance of all forms of sexual perversion.
(Carle Zimmerman, Family and Civilization, (New York: Harper and Brothers) 1947. pp 776-77)

What can we do?
1. We can pray and ask God to send revival.
Illustration: In January 1996 Rev. Joe Wright prayed a prayer in the Kansas Senate that should stir us. It should stir us to pray. This prayer inflamed many liberals but it was the truth. Listen to his prayer.
“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good’, but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that,
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism;
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem;
We have abused power and called it politics;
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will and to openly ask these things in the name of your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

2. We can get involved in reshaping our nation.
Illustration: A man by the name of Richard Hogue said something about our involvement that we need to heed.
“If our country survives, and I realize that’s a big IF, it will be because there is an awakening in the lives of committed Christians across our nation who finally begin to realize that it is not only their opportunity but also their absolute responsibility to be intricately involved in the political process of our country and to use that involvement to turn this nation once again to the Lord. For much too long we have allowed our government to grow farther and farther away from the direction that God has always demanded our nation to take.

At the same time we have yielded the control of our country to a godless, secular, humanistic philosophy that has absolutely zapped the strength and spiritual vitality America has always had. Never before, in the history of Christendom, have so many believers been willing to forfeit their liberty and freedom without even putting up a struggle. (Richard Hogue as quoted in America, Return to God; edited by Thomas Wang; p. 127)

Election Sermons Throughout History

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A huge archive of influential election day sermons. Study how preachers and elected officials re-enforced the importance of morality, integrity, character and biblical principles as high standards for all electoral candidates.

Wallbuilders

Curing America’s Eli Syndrome

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This sermon lays out the facts of where we are as a nation and how it is up to the church and God’s people to get us back on the right track. The attack on Christianity has turned into an all-out “take no prisoners” war. In order to get control over people and make everyone dependent on the government, Christianity has to go.

In order to have a successful socialist nation, you cannot have people who have a faith in a loving God that supplies all of our needs. That’s why the atheists, agnostics, progressives and now Muslims are attacking us on all sides.

By Tim Crooks

I am passionate about restoring America to its greatness. I want to see this country go back to being the nation of yesterday, one that worked hard, gave freely and invested in our future. I have been really thinking lately how I don’t want to be like Eli. Reading this, you are probably wondering who Eli is or at the very least wondering what a priest from Ancient Israel has to do with restoring our nation. In 1 Samuel 3:1-14, the bible gives us the story of a Jewish Priest named Eli. Eli did a great job of ministering to Samuel and raising him up to be a great prophet. Eli was so laser-focused on Samuel he ended up neglecting his own children. He did not give them enough guidance and they ended up, quite literally, going to hell.

As for me, I know I don’t want to spend so much time serving in church or at work that I fail my children and have them end up taking the same road Eli’s children did. In the same way, I am watching our nation also go the same way as Eli’s children. As a nation we are turning our backs on God, His laws, commandments and His love. We are becoming a pagan nation; one that is headed for destruction and ruin, and it will be self-inflicted. But, we can still turn this around, and avoid the destruction and ruin.

In this article, I want everyone to walk away understanding where we are now, how we got here, and what we can do to change the path we are on. Right now, we are on the path to socialism. It’s progressiveness these days, but it’s still just socialism. We are creating a dependency on government. We are over taxing the middle and rich classes and redistributing that money to the poor. The poor are being dumbed down, becoming dependent and losing what work skills needed to be self-sufficient. We are heading for socialized medicine and yet more taxes to cover those costs. There is more government regulation. As of right now, no one is for sure how many federal regulations there are, but it is estimated that there are over 8,000 of them.

At the same time, the attack on Christianity has turned into an all-out “take no prisoners” war. Why? It’s simple, really. In order to get control over people and make everyone dependent on the government, Christianity has to go. In order to have a successful socialist nation, you cannot have people who have a faith in a loving God that supplies all of our needs. That’s why the atheists, agnostics, liberal left progressives, and now Muslims are attacking us on all sides.

Everywhere we turn we are facing persecution for our beliefs. If you are a Christian Conservative in America, you will be called names like bigot, intolerant, hater, and many more I won’t mention here. True Christ followers are nothing like that. Christ followers are the most giving (time, talent and treasure) to help the poor, the fatherless, the widows and orphans, and nations devastated by wars, famines, droughts, etc.True Christ followers are not bigots, but love everyone, because God created us, not because we have to. True Christ followers do not hate people because of lifestyle choices, drug and alcohol addictions, and pornography addictions. True Christ followers take the path Jesus took – we hate the sin, but love the sinner.

We have been facing an epidemic of mass proportions in this country due to our lack of moral values in this nation. Our moral values should be dictated by the Bible, but are now dictated by Hollywood, the media, and politicians that cannot be faithful to their spouses. How can we trust leaders in public service, the media and movies if they can’t keep a promise to someone they love? Do you really think that they have our best interest in mind? We are strangers to these people, and they treat the common people like peasants.

The question I have been wondering for years is how did we get here? This is not an all-encompassing list, but our educational system, development of a promiscuous society, use of movies and television for the moral decay of families and the use of some music has helped bring us to this point. It didn’t just happen overnight. It’s been a well-thought out, planned attack going back at least fifty years or even longer. The removal of God and His Word from our schools began in the early 1960s. In the Engel v. Vitale case (1962), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-1 against New York’s “Regents’ prayer,” a “non-denominational” prayer which state education officials had composed for public schoolchildren to recite.

In 1951 the New York State Board of Regents (the State board of education) approved a 22-word “nondenominational prayer” for recitation each morning in the public schools of New York. It read: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country.” The Regents believed that the prayer could be a useful tool for the development of character and good citizenship among the students of the State of New York. The prayer was offered to the school boards in the State for their use, and participation in the “prayer-exercise” was voluntary. In New Hyde Park, New York, the Union Free School District No. 9 directed the local principal to have the prayer “said aloud by each class in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of the school day.”

The parents of ten pupils in the New Hyde Park schools objected to the prayer. They filed suit in a New York State court seeking a ban on the prayer, insisting that the use of this official prayer in the public schools was contrary to their own and their children’s beliefs, religions, or religious practices. The State appeals court upheld the use of the prayer, “so long as the schools did not compel any pupil to join in the prayer over his or his parents’ objection.” The Court found the New York Regents’ prayer to be unconstitutional.

Schools were originally created so that children could learn to read and write, but specifically to be able to read the Bible. The first book in the classroom was the Bible. It was central to a child’s education, not only for its content, but the way it was used to build skills. Students learned how to read using the Bible. Much of the school day was devoted to memorizing and reciting passages from it, and passages were copied to learn penmanship. Now, our educational system is set up to train children in the way they shouldn’t go, whether that is to become an atheist, agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or some other pagan religion, anything but Christianity. We have also been “dumbing down” our children the past couple of generations, especially since the federal government’s creation of the department of education.

Under President Jimmy Carter, the federal government created the Department of Education. Since inception in the late 1970’s, American children’s test scores have steadily declined and America is not the best educated nation in the world anymore. Chances are, not many high school graduates could pass a basic 8th grade test administered in 1900.Yes, there may be more children in America getting educated in colleges now, but the overall intelligence of our younger generations are not as strong as previous generations. A degree on the wall isn’t nearly as important as what is really on the inside of the minds of the current generation, and the lack of knowledge of the basics has brought us to the point where many teenagers now cannot function without the use of technology.

In the early 1960’s, “The Pill”, for birth control was invented, which was one step further to the development of a promiscuous society. The pill doesn’t prevent conception, but literally makes the environment for the fertilized egg so inhospitable that it cannot possibly survive. The U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare defined abortion in 1963 as follows:

“All the measures which impair the viability of the zygote at any time between the instant of fertilization and the completing of labor constitute, in the strict sense, procedures for inducing abortion.”
(emphasis added)

Although 1.6 million surgical abortions take place each year in the U.S., Dr. Bogomir Kuhar, a pharmacist concerned about chemical abortion, has calculated that in combining all forms of induced abortion — the IUD, Depo-Provera, Norplant, surgical, and the Pill (and injectables, implants, and oral products that work in a similar fashion), between 9.6 and 13.4 million young lives are terminated in the U.S. alone each year.(Lawrence Roberge, The Cost of Abortion. La Grange, GA: Four Winds, 1995, p 7. )

Abortion, what I call infanticide, came about in 1973, and even though it is technically not legal in the United States, our government has allowed this to happen. Just these two issues have caused millions of American women to surrender their bodies, hearts and minds to a lifestyle that God had not meant for women. Sex has become so casual amongst strangers that social diseases have been running rampant for over 40 years.

The modern feminist movement was also born during this time. Feminists are in full support of both the pill and abortion because they believe it’s a woman’s right. They also hide the truths behind what the pill and abortion do to women, both physically and emotionally. If this movement really cared about women, they wouldn’t try changing the God created natural role for women, but would support the fact that God created women with skills only women possess, in God’s image.

Men also have been under scrutiny for the past 50 years or so. Once upon a time, men had role models like Andy Griffith, Ward Cleaver and plus other fathers in shows like Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, and The Waltons as role models. What have we had in the past 25 years? Shows full of dolts that cannot provide for their families and who seemingly don’t know how to function. Men are portrayed as dummies and their wives are always proving them wrong and chastising him. Examples are easy to find. Just look at Married With Children, The Simpsons, and The King of Queens to mention a few.

Even one of my favorite actors, Jim Belushi was in a show called According to Jim where his character was a dumb-downed buffoon that was always in trouble or coming up with hair-brained schemes to get himself out of the stupid situations he got into. What has this been teaching men over the last quarter of a century? We have learned that no matter what, we are just beer drinking, meat eating dummies that cannot function in society without our wives. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the relationship between a man and a woman is important; the most important relationship one will have outside one’s relationship with Jesus, but get real people. Husbands and wives are to submit to each other, we need to be the husbands and wives of Ephesians 5, not Al and Peg Bundy.

It’s not just television though; it’s in our movies as well. The amount of sex, violence, drug use, alcohol abuse and the use of foul language is affecting all of us that watch movies that contained too much of the above. Seems like movies today all have to have some type of hero that is going to save the world, but that hero isn’t Jesus. It’s Die Hard, Superman, Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Armageddon, and so on that have these “supernatural” humans that save the earth, and make you believe that God is not needed.

There was once in a time, back in the 1950’s and 1960’s that movie makers focused a lot on patriotic movies (think of movies that starred John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda, etc.), biblical based movies (Moses, 10 Commandments, Ben Hur, etc.) and just good plain old family entertainment movies from Disney. With the exception of the Kendrick Brothers (Facing The Giants, Fireproof, Courageous), and a few other positive movie influences are few and far between.

Lastly, most in our media have succumbed to the wishes of the progressive movement and support the anti-Christian hatred spread by socialists. Except for the weather, I just about cannot stand what is given to us as news anymore. I really don’t want the opinions of any newscaster, no matter how famous they are or how much money they make. I am not a dumb man, just give me the facts and let me form the opinions on my own. When the media feels like it has to tell us what our thoughts should be on topics, you know that socialism is knocking on America’s door. We need to return to having news anchors give us the facts of the story and not inject their personal or political agendas into the nightly news.

So, what are we going to do about this? Some may believe that America is too far gone to turn back now. I don’t believe that. This isn’t the Titanic, it’s America. God has blessed us, and though we are an imperfect nation, God is willing to help us turn this around. It is in our court now, the ball is in our hands and strength in numbers will succeed.

First, if you are an American citizen that can vote, we can start now by voting in those that really want to restore America, and vote out those worthless lifelong senators and representatives that have done nothing but lined their own pockets and screwed the American people over. We can send a strong message to the court systems throughout the nation; we won’t tolerate legislation from the bench. Follow the federal constitution; follow your state’s constitution. If they cannot follow those, we the people, your bosses will remove you from office and properly charge you with treason.

We need to demand that our federal government and state governments need to be downsized, stop spending money, and stop over-taxing the citizens of this great nation. It’s time to give business and industry more freedom, less regulation, less taxes and more incentive to build, expand and create jobs in this country. Put American pride back in American industry again. It’s not the government that creates jobs. Job creation is the result of hard working American people that start a business on an idea or invention that created this wonderful nation, and God blessed us for it.

It’s time to send the IRS packing. Take America to a flat tax of 5% with no deductions, no refunds. If the federal government cannot live on that money raised, better stop spending. Put more focus on securing our borders, providing a strong military and protect us. Give more power back to the states and let the states make more decisions on their own. Put education back where it belongs, in the hands of the states. No national healthcare, no national welfare, no national unemployment. Let the states provide for their citizens, not by giving handouts, but by helping pick people up on their feet, get them working, and instill American pride back into the citizens.

Next, term limits for Congress. Both the House and Senate serve 4 year terms, at a pay of $50,000 per year. Turn Walter Reed hospital into a dorm for them while Congress is in session. , if you want your own place, fine, pay for it yourself. No retirement paid out of our Social Security. The President’s salary should be reduced to $100,000, a two-term limit and no retirement plan.

Elected officials holding federal offices and their staff should not be allowed to invest in the stock market. If you are caught investing and conducting in insider trading, you get the same fate as Gordon Gecko in Wall Street; a prison sentence. You will be a felon with no chance of being pardoned. It’s time to send a message; you go to Washington to serve and work for the people, period.

I believe in the 1st amendment, so I will let Hollywood create what they want, even if I disagree with what they do. But, we the people can put a ban on movies by not going to see the movie, rent it or buy it. Same thing with television shows. If they put garbage out on television, we stop watching the show, write letters to the network and more importantly write letters to the sponsors, and let them know we will not purchase your products due to your support of this show or movie.

Businesses will change who they sponsor when we the people choose not to spend our money on their products. Once we get their attention, well you know how it works, money talks. We can get shows created like The Waltons, etc. again. There’s power in numbers and if we all pray to God to change the hearts of Washington and Hollywood, we can change the direction.

Same with music, I believe in the 1st amendment, but if some numbskull is going to put out garbage that supports violence, rape, drug or alcohol abuse, and violence toward children, stop buying their music. Start calling radio stations, asking them to stop playing the garbage. Send letters to the sponsors of the radio shows and let them know you will no longer buy their products. I love music, but let’s get real, there is too much junk out there that is bad, let’s focus on keeping it real, keeping it clean and putting God first again.

We need more positive influences like the Irish band U2. My wife introduced me their music years ago, and I have become a huge fan. They are a band of Christian men, spreading the Word that we can have heaven on this earth until Jesus comes again. They have a song that I love listening to; it’s called “The Hands That Built America”. It’s a wonderful song, very relaxing to listen to.

What strikes me funny is this – U2, a bunch of Irish-born musicians, understands what America is really about more than most Americans. Our founding fathers formed this nation, and it has become successful because we are a melting pot. Bono mentions that the hands that built America are; Russian, Sioux, Dutch, Hindu, Polish, Irish, German, Italian, Blacks, Chinese, Jews, Korean, Hispanic, Muslim and Indian. This is true, even though we are a Christian nation; God has used the whole world to build this great country.

Bono’s statement that really makes me think though is this one: Of all the promises, is this one we can keep? Of all the dreams is this one still out of reach?

Remember our heritage. Almost all of us, except for Native Americans, have ancestors that came to America. They didn’t come here for handouts and welfare. They came to escape socialism, monarchies, communists, anti-Christian atheists and ruthless dictators. They came to start families, worship God, and spread the gospel to the entire world. They made sacrifices to establish a home for future generations to live, love, thrive, survive and bless someone else. They laid their lives on the line to give us what we have today; we owe it to them to lay our lives on the line to keep what they passed down to us. They were the hands that built America.

We are standing at a crossroads here in America. Family is no longer regarded as the cornerstone of this country. It’s no wonder that this is happening in America. The decline of true Christianity has led us away from God; away from all that is good. As a whole, Americans have become like Eli in the Old Testament.

How have most Americans become like Eli? Eli was a priest, who focused on his student (Samuel), but did not give his children what they needed. Is this still happening now? Yes and at an alarming rate. How many family members and friends of yours have put their careers first in life? How many people have not gotten married so they could work on their careers? How many have given up their marriages and children for their careers? I can imagine you probably know at least 4-5 people who have done this. That is the “Eli Syndrome”, focusing on your work, not on what matters.

So, what does matter? In order for us to put our families first, we must follow this order; God must be first, our spouses second, our children third (family right after God), then our careers/ministries. That’s how we can do it. We restore the true family structure first.

We can all get back to the basics of this simply by starting in our homes. If each one of us focuses on our own families, raising our children properly, eliminating the garbage from our homes and put patriotism, faith, hope, and love back into our own families. We can put our nation back on the path to righteous and then, God will bless America again. Only then will this generation be able to answer Bono’s question by being “The Hands That Restored America”.

Christian Citizenship

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A powerful, no-holds-barred sermon on the duty and responsibility of Christian preachers and churches to participate and influence the political and social climates and conditions of our culture.

By Dave Kinney

Romans 13:1-13:7

What are our duties, responsibilities and rights in America? Why have so many Christians dropped out of sight and stepped back from speaking out on the major issues America faces today?

4 reasons why Christians have dropped out from the social issues plaguing our nation:
1. They see their involvement as “Social Gospel”. They say, “We can’t substitute culture for Calvary!” But isn’t Calvary for the culture?
2. They have given up hope. Isn’t that a hunker down mentality?
3. They Are Intimidated.
4. They see politics as dirty. They say, “Our kingdom is not this world.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses take this thinking! The great tennis player Serena Williams told reporters at Wimbledon last week that she was excited about Barrack Obama’s presidency. However, she won’t vote for anyone since she is a Jehovah’s Witness, and said “We don’t get involved in politics.”

So, why don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses vote? It’s because of their misinterpretation of John 17:14 where Jesus says of his followers, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

The ACLU has puffed up and blown us out of sight. The ACLU has accomplished a major goal – making Christians think we have no rights! Social tyrants and religious terrorists want us to sit down, shut down and stay in our little stain glass prisons!

If anyone of these points describes your thinking today, I ask, “Where do we get the answers to our problems?” Politicians? Humanist Atheists? Demonic philosophers? Muslims and terrorist? God forbid!

Get this – Australia Prime Minister John Howard finally had enough of being told what Australia should do by Muslims who want to live under Sharia Law! He spoke out last week on television saying, “Immigrants, not Australians must adapt. Take it or leave it. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak mainly English, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language! Most Australians believe in God.

This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don’t care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others. This is our country, our land, and our lifestyle, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our Christian beliefs, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom – the right to leave!”

1. Human Government Exists To Ordain Rulers.
Daniel 2:21, “As He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings.”
Romans 9:17, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Pontius Pilate washes his hands of the issue regarding Jesus and his pending death. As Jesus said in John 19:11, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given to you from above.”
Even under the wicked Roman government rule of the day of the Bible, Paul says, “If you resist the authority you resist the ordinance of God!”

2. Human Government’s Responsibilities.
To Restrain Evil. How many of you have heard the statement, “You can’t legislate morality”? This is absolutely true! There’s not a law on this earth that can make you moral! We’ve got this mixed up. For too long we’ve been trying to make government make us good! Only God can do that! Think of it this way; there’s not a law on this earth to make you love me, but there is a law to keep you from killing me!

KEY: We must get back to legislating against immorality!

May I go on the record as saying it is high time we begin saying something good about police officers across this country! I ran across this editorial in the Sacramento Bee and I think it says it so well, “A police man is many things, a son, a brother, a father, an uncle. He is a protector in times of need and a comforter in times of sorrow. His job calls him to be a diplomat, psychologist, a lawyer and an inspiration. Too often, acts of heroism go unnoticed and the truth is buried under all the criticism.”

“A police officer is an ordinary guy who is called upon to do extra-ordinarily brave things for us. He is a man who faces a half crazed gunman in the streets, schools or shops, rescues lost children, challenges a mob and risks his neck more than we realize.
He is the reason why your home has not been burned or burglarized. Thank God for all the little boys who said they would be a policeman and they kept their promise.”

Folks, from the President of the United States to the police officer on the street, all are to be ministers of God, men and women of righteousness and protectors of freedom!

I have to say in all honesty; sometimes government must take life in order to protect life!

“Bear the sword in vain”

Exodus 20:13 “Thou shall not kill.”

“Kill” = murder, personal vengeance, premeditated taking of life.

Exodus 21:12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.”

Keep in mind that the codling of a murderer is really cruelty to society! If someone was about to take your families life, are you going to tell me that you’re going to say “Peace Brother!”

3. To Reward Good.

1 Peter 2:13, 14 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.”

4. To Promote Religious Freedom.

1st Amendment to the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

I will give anyone here an all expense vacation to Hawaii if they can find in the Constitution the phrase “Separation of Church and State”.

No national denomination to rule the religious thought in America! Listen, I’m just as afraid of a Baptist Pope as I am a Catholic Pope! The church is to preach the gospel and the government is to protect us from evil and tyranny. It’s that simple!

Life Point: The state is not the master of the church and the church is not the master of the state. The church is the conscience of the state and salt and light in society!

5 Duties For Every Christian Citizen:
a. Pay For Our Government. Customs and taxes are here to stay because they are the best way to pay the bills of government. But a nation is in trouble, it’s truly on its last leg, when half the nation thinks the other half should support them or when we get the idea that the government is a cow to be milked instead of a watchdog to be fed!

b. Pray For Our Government. 1 Timothy 2:1-3, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone; for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior.”

c. Praise Our Government. 1 Peter 2:17, “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” Some think it’s cool to destroy our flag. To that I say you’re wrong! We should praise our government for keeping us free from another terrorist attack since 9/11. For keeping us a free nation for 232 years and for standing up to evil dictators around the world.

d. Preach To Our Government. Listen, we need to be civil but not silent! The Bible is filled with examples when leaders and governments need to be preached to. For example:
• Elijah preached to king Ahab
• Eliazar preached to king Jehoshaphat
• Daniel preached to Nebuchadnezzar
• Moses preached to Pharaoh
• John the Baptist preached to Herod
• Jesus preached to Pontius Pilate
• Paul preached to King Agrippa

May I remind all of us, as long as our leaders are aborting the pre-born we should preach to them. As long as we have leaders trying to normalize sexual perversion we should preach to them. As long as we have Americans who cannot pray wherever they want, we need to keep preaching! We must continue to preach from the highest hill top whatever is morally wrong is not politically right!

e. Participate In Our Government. “Render taxes”. We have a government that our Founding Fathers envisioned all people would be involved. That’s why the Constitution says, “Of the people, by the people and for the people.” If we don’t vote, we are not participating. It is inconceivable that God would have ordained government and then have His people stay out of it! And if we stay out of it, then I ask – who does that leave running this country? Use your head!

Matthias Burnett, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Norwalk, preached on May 12, 1803, “Consider well the important trust which God has put into your hands. To God you are accountable for your rights and your ruler. Let not your children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and institutions which your fathers delivered to you.”

Samuel Adams on April 16, 1781 declared, “Let each citizen remember that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”

John Jay, Founding Father and appointed to the very first Supreme Court by President Washington said, “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”

Remember, as Christians, we participate not according to visionless policies, useless parties, godless people or purposeless politics. We participate according to God’s principles!

If all 180 million Christians in America took voting and speaking out seriously again, I believe we could turn this nation around in as little as 10 years!

Can America Return to God?

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An excellent sermon regarding the decline of our values and standards as a culture and as a nation. Over the past decade, the church has failed to be the “salt and light” it is called to be. The church will be held responsible and accountable for its failures. However, the church can lead America back from the brink of destruction if, and only if, a modern day remnant of “Black Robe Preachers” will rise to stand in the gap and preach the whole truth without fear.

By Mark Beaird

Text: I Chronicles 7:14

Britain’s King George III wrote the day’s activities in his diary: “July 4, 1776–Nothing happened today.”

Nothing happened? America was born that day, King George. Her birth marked an epoch in history for the cause of human freedom.

For 218 years, we have celebrated our independence–our own right to do as we please in governing our own lives. What a wonderful country we live in–despite all its faults and failures. What wonderful freedoms are offered to us as citizens of the USA.

One of those freedoms is what I want to talk about today–FREEDOM OF RELIGION. We can believe or worship anybody or anything we want with no one to tell us differently.

Many thousands of Christians around the world die for that right each and every year. Yet in America–a country established for that very right–many will not give God the time of day, much less their lives.

What has happened that made millions now celebrate the “Freedom from Religion” instead of the “Freedom of Religion?”

Many have tried and succeeded often in getting God kicked out of our schools, sporting events, public places and work places.

It is not the god of the Hindu, Muslims, it’s not the philosophy of reincarnation or the New Age, it’s not homosexuality or condom distribution they want out. It is Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. “Spiritualism” has taken the place of Christianity. Spiritualism puts self on the throne and religion in general. Christianity–the founding guide for America–is under attack.

In the April 1994 edition of Reader’s Digest, an article by former Secretary of Education William Bennett entitled “What Really Ails America” had this to say, “Today, much of society ridicules and mocks those who are serious about their faith. America’s only respectable form of bigotry is bigotry against religious people. And the only reason for hatred of religion is that it forces us to confront matters many would prefer to ignore.”

To a great extent our society has gotten what it wanted – A society without God. But what good has it done? Bennett goes on to say,
“Last year I compiled The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, a statistical portrait of American behavioral trends of the past three decades. Among the findings: Since 1960, while the gross domestic product has nearly tripled, violent crime has increased at least 560 percent. Divorces have more than doubled. The percentage of children in single-parent homes has tripled. And by the end of the decade 40 percent of all American births and 80 percent of minority births will occur out of wedlock.”

These are not good things to get used to.

The United States leads the industrialized world in murder, rape and violent crime. At the same time, our elementary-school students rank at or near the bottom in tests of math and science skills. Since 1960, average SAT scores in our high schools have dropped 75 points.

In 1940, teachers identified the top problems in America’s schools as: talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise and running in the hall. In 1990, teachers listed drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, suicide, rape and assault.

These are not good things to get used to, either.

We have become inured to the cultural rot that is setting in. People are losing their capacity for shock, disgust and outrage. During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Damian Williams was filmed crushing an innocent man’s skull with a brick, while Henry Watson held the victim down.

When Williams was finished, he did a victory dance. Watson and William’s lawyers then built a legal defense on the premise that people cannot be held accountable for getting caught up in mob violence. (“I guess maybe they were in the wrong place at the wrong time”, one juror told the New York Times). When these men were acquitted on most counts, the sound you heard throughout the land was no outrage, but relief.

This is not a good thing to get used to. What is the answer?

Bennett concludes with these words, “Today we must carry on a new struggle for the country we love. We must push hard against an age that is pushing hard against us. If we have full employment and greater economic growth-if we have cities of gold and alabaster-but our children have not learned to walk in goodness, justice and mercy, then the American experiment, no matter how gilded, will have failed.”

“Do not surrender. Get mad. Get in the fight.” “Do not surrender. Get Mad. Get in the fight.”

How can we turn this nation back to God? Can it even be done? Yes! We can make a difference!

II Chronicles 7:14, “If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

I. IF MY PEOPLE WHICH ARE CALLED BY MY NAME…
A. There can be no “finger-pointing” when returning to God. He’s talking to us.
B. Judgment always begins at the House of God.

II. …WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE…
A. It is good to be a proud American as long as we can bow to God.
B. Prayer is never obsolete, outdated or too late.

III. …AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS…
A. We are notorious for repenting but not turning. Repentance means to turn.
B. Do we love evil too much to turn from it?

IV. …THEN I (GOD) WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN…
A. God is waiting to hear from us.
B. God longs for America to return to Him.

V. …AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN AND HEAL THEIR LAND…
A. Forgiveness awaits all who will turn.
B. Healing awaits all who turn.

Can America return to God? If America wants to – YES. Do we want to?

CONCLUSION
God has given us a great blessing in our country. It is a blessing worth preserving through prayer and devotion to God in the face of those who would want to tear it down. Unless we serve God we will live in bondage.

Christianity and patriotism have much in common. It is significant to note that:
Our patriotic hymn “My County, ’Tis of Thee”, was written by a Baptist clergyman, Samuel Francis Smith.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag was written in 1892 by a Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy.

The words, “In God We Trust,” carried on all of our coins, are traced to the efforts of the Rev. W.R. Watkinson of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania. his letter of concern, addressed to the Hon. S.P. Chase, was dated November 13, 1861.

Seven days later Mr. Chase wrote to James Pollock, Director of the U.S. Mint as follows: “No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. Will you cause a device to be prepared without delay with a motto expressing in the finest and tersest words possible, this national recognition.”

The president of the College of New Jersey, the Reverend John Witherspoon (Presbyterian) was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. He is too much forgotten in our history books: John Witherspoon had a far-reaching influence on democracy. He had personally taught several of the signers of the document, and nine of them were graduates of the little college over which he presided at Princeton.

When he took up his pen to put his name to the document, Witherspoon declared: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, a spark. We perceive it now before us. To hesitate is to consent to our own slavery. That noble instrument upon the table, that insures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house. He that will not respond to its accents, and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy of the name of free man. For my own part, of property I have some; of reputation, more. That reputation is staked, that property is pledged on the issue of this contest; and although these gray hairs must soon descent into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather they descent thither by the hand of the executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country.”

Bible Verses on Truth

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John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 8:32, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

Galatians 4:16, “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

Jeremiah 9:5, “Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.”

2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

John 3:21, “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

1 Peter 1:22, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

John 17:19, “And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Isaiah 59:15, “Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.”

2 Timothy 4:4, “..and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

John 1:17, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Isaiah 59:14, “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.”

2 John 1:2, “…because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.”

John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Isaiah 65:16, “So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.”

Proverbs 12:17, “Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.”

Psalm 119:160, “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”

2 Timothy 2:25, “Correcting his opponents with gentleness, God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.”

Ephesians 4:25, “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

1 Timothy 6:5, “And constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”

1 Timothy 3:15, “If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

John 18:37, “Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

John 14:17, “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Proverbs 12:19, “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”

Revelation 16:7, “And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”

2 Timothy 3:8, “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.”

1 Timothy 4:3, “Who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

1 Timothy 2:7, “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”

2 Thessalonians 2:10, “And with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

Ephesians 6:14, “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

1 Corinthians 13:6, “It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”

1 Corinthians 5:8, “Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Romans 2:8, “But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.”

John 5:33, “You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.”

John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Zechariah 8:16, “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace.”

Jeremiah 5:3, “O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.”

Proverbs 23:23, “Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.”

Psalm 145:18, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

Psalm 51:6, “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”

2 Thessalonians 2:12, “In order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

2 Corinthians 6:7, “By truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left…”

 

Bible Verses on Preaching

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Mark 16:15, “And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

1 Corinthians 1:21, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”

1 Corinthians 2:13, “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”

1 Corinthians 2:1-8, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. …”

2 Corinthians 3:12, “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”

2 Corinthians 2:14-16, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?”

James 4:17, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

1 Thessalonians 2:3-12, “For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. …”

Acts 8:27-38, “And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. …”

2 Timothy 4:1-2, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

1 Thessalonians 1:5, “Because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.”

Acts 8:5-12, “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. …”

Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Luke 8:1, “Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him.”

Luke 3:3, “And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Mark 6:12, “So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.”

Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Ezekiel 22:30, “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.”

Acts 8:9-13, “But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.”

Acts 2:14-41, “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy…”

 

Bible Verses on Leadership

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John 15:4,5; Jesus says, “Remain in me, and I remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branch. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Philippians 4:13; Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

John 17:26; Jesus says, “I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them.”

Matthew 11:28-30; Jesus says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, you will find rest for your soul. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

John 5:30; Jesus says, “By Myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is just, for I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me.”

Exodus 14:13,14; Moses said to his people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the Lord rescue you. The Egyptians that you see today will never be seen again.