The First Peril

The Republic of the United States of America, 
Her creation and first "Great Struggle" for survival.

The Revolutionary War

George Washington - "Son of the Republic, look and learn."

     George Washington was an ordinary man who had been raised up by Providence and prepared by Providence to be the protector and defender of his country. He was a deeply humble man who knew God. He would give in service to God and country almost his entire adult life. His self-sacrifice and strong moral Christian character are traits that we respect and admire even down to present day. Washington had a complete trust in God and God’s divine plan for himself and for his country. For his trust in God and petitions in prayer “he was shown great favor by God. As Daniel of old was shown the destiny of the planet Earth, so was Washington shown the destiny of our country.” To help him in fulfillment of God’s plan for America, Washington was given special divine graces. While Washington faced many challenges in life, they would help shape and groom him for the challenges that lay ahead. He had a destiny to fulfill and, for whatever God’s reason, he had decided that this one is mine. Washington had his flaws and was not the most adept for the task for which he was chosen, but he had the wisdom and the will to meet God’s needs. …
     He would remain “bulletproof” through the French Indian War, multiple assassination attempts and throughout all of the battles of the Revolutionary War. Washington had a destiny to fulfill, which was to help bring a new Republic, “under God,” into existence. It was all part of God’s divine plan to create a Republic for his children (its citizens) to learn to honor in prayer and in action their God, “his land and the Union.” And divine plans are never deterred by the hand of man. Washington, through sheer strength of character, was able to shepherd the country through its military struggles with Britain. His personal moral character was so well respected that his presence and guidance in presiding over the Constitutional Convention [Miracle at Philadelphia] and serving the country as her first president provided the needed stability at a volatile time in American history; especially when many were concerned about kingship. It was fortunate for the United States and the world that God rose up and protected such a man. For if Washington had not remained “bulletproof” under God’s protection and guidance, the history of the world today would be very different indeed. It is almost unfathomable to consider, but there really was no one else in the colonies at the time, other than George Washington, who could have shepherded the fragile young Republic into existence as he did. - Download Chapter - PDF

Excerpt: The Indian Prophecy - “I am a Chief and ruler of many tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the Great Lakes, and to the far Blue Mountains. I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man’s blood mixed with the streams of our forest that I first beheld this chief [Washington].” - Download - PDF

Excerpt: Boston - “The reflection on my situation, and that of this army, produce an unhappy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know the predicament we are in, on a thousand accounts; fewer still will believe, if any disaster happens to these lines, from what cause if flows. I have often thought how much happier I should have been, if, instead of accepting the command under such circumstances, I had taken my musket on my shoulder and enter the ranks, or, if I had justified the measure to posterity and my own conscience, have retired to the back country and lived in a wigwam. ...If I shall be able to raise superior to these and many other difficulties which might be enumerated, I shall most religiously believe that the finger of Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of our enemies; for surely if we get well through this month, it must be for want of their knowing our disadvantages we labor under.” -  Download - PDF

Excerpt: Son of the Republic - “I do not know whether it was owing to the anxiety of my mind, or what, but this afternoon , as I was sitting at this table engaged in preparing a dispatch, something in the apartment seemed to disturb me. Looking up, I beheld standing opposite me a singularly beautiful female. So astonished was I—for I had given strict orders not to be disturbed—that it was some moments before I found language to inquire the cause of her presence. A second, third and even a fourth time did I repeat the question, but received no other answer from my mysterious visitor than a slight raising of her eyes. By this time I felt strange sensations spreading through me. I would have risen but the riveted gaze of the being before me rendered volition impossible. I essayed once more to address her, but my tongue had become powerless. Even thought itself presently became paralyzed.” - Download - PDF 

Excerpt: Washington’s dream forewarned him of his impending death - Mrs. Washington …wrote to a kinswoman in New Kent, Virginia, September 1799, “At midsummer the General had a dream so deeply impressed on his mind that he could not shake it off for several days. He dreamed that he and I were sitting in the summer-house, conversing about the happy life we had spend, and looking forward to many more years on the earth, when suddenly there was a great light all around us, and an almost invisible figure of a sweet angel stood by my side and whispered in my ear. …” -  Download - PDF

Thomas Paine and his Prophetic Dream

     Thomas Paine was a man of words, whose writings sparked passions for freedom on both sides of the Atlantic. He had recently emigrated to America, under encouragement from Benjamin Franklin, when he had a dream of the forth coming Revolutionary War. His vivid dream of war made a very strong impression on him. It was published in the Pennsylvania Magazine in June of 1775, under the title “The Dream Interpreted.” Thomas Paine’s dream would have a tremendous influence on his writings and the destiny of a nation. Through his dream, he saw the struggle with England and America’s greatness after the war, which he so eloquently put into words. How coincidental for Thomas Paine to run into a stranger on an infrequently traveled trail in the woods, who could so profoundly interpret his prophetic dream which would become his fate and life’s work ....
     Perhaps it is because he was born in England, not America, or his later criticism of George Washington. Whatever the reason, the United States was blessed to have Thomas Paine and his writings at such a critical time in American history. It is not a stretch to say, that if there were no Thomas Paine, there may not have been a United States of America.  - Download Chapter - PDF

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     The Second Continental Congress was under tremendous pressure to issue a document declaring independence. Congress needed a document to formally announce to the world their reason for separation from England. On the domestic front, with war underway Congress needed to justify their decisions to the States and the new Continental Army, who risked their lives fighting the British. Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys had taken Fort Ticonderoga in New York and American forces had abandoned their siege of Quebec retreating back to the states. General Thomas seized Dorchester Heights threatening British forces in Boston.  The British navy forces attacked Charleston with counter attacks from Fort Moultrie. It was a turbulent time filled with uncertainty. The delegates were handling many jobs working from morning to night, John Adams noted, “we were all in haste. Congress was impatient.” Nervously, Benjamin Rush leaned over, and whispered to John Adams, if he thought the Colonies could succeed in a war with Great Britain. Adams simply responded, “Yes,” “'if we fear God and repent our sins.”

     A draft committee of was formed to work on the declaration of separation “Declaration of Independence” document. They first met on June 11th, 1776 to work on the basic structure and tenet of the document. The Five delegates chosen for the draft committee were John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman and Benjamin Franklin. Franklin missed a number of the meetings due to a bout of the gout. Two on the draft committee, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were very close friends. Being an astute politician, John Adams asked his friend Thomas Jefferson to write the draft of the declaration. John Adams wrote to Jefferson listing the reasons he should write the document, “you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second—I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are much otherwise. Reason third—You can write ten times better than I can.” 

Excerpt: John Adams - July 1st, 1776 - “Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgement approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence for ever!” Download - PDF

Excerpt: The Fourth of July, 1776 - The Speech of the Unknown - “Sign—and not only for yourselves, but for all ages. For that parchment will be the Text-book of Freedom—the Bible of the rights of man forever!” Download - PDF 

Benjamin Rush’s Dream

“'What book is that in your hands?’ said I to my son Richard a few nights ago in a dream. "It is the history of the United States," said he. “Shall I read a page of it to you?” “No, no,” said I. “I believe in the truth of no history but in that which is contained in the Old and New Testaments.” “But, sir,” said my son, “this page relates to your friend Mr. Adams.” “Let me see it then,” said I. I read it with great pleasure and herewith send you a copy of it. 

1809. Among the most extraordinary events of this year was the renewal of the friendship and intercourse between Mr. John Adams and Mr. Jefferson, the two ex-Presidents of the United States. They met for the first time in the Congress of 1775. Their principles of liberty, their ardent attachment to their country and their views of the importance and probable issue of the struggle with Great Britain in which they were engaged being exactly the same ...They met in England during the war while each of them held commission of honor and trust at two of the first courts of Europe, and spent many happy hours together in reviewing the difficulties and success of their respective negotiations. A difference of opinion upon the objects and issue of the French Revolution...

Many precious aphorisms [truths], the result of observation, experience, and profound reflection, it is said, are contained in these letters. It is to be hoped the world will be favored with a sight of them (Adams-Jefferson letters) when they can neither injure nor displease any persons or families whose ancestors’ follies or crimes were mentioned in them. These gentlemen sunk into the grave nearly at the same time (hours of each other on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of Independence), full of years and rich in the gratitude and praises of their country, and to their numerous merits and honors posterity has added that they were rival friends.” - Download - PDF 

Excerpt: John Adams letter - “Your prophecy, my dear friend, has not become history as yet. I have no resentment of animosity against the gentleman and abhor the idea of blackening his character or transmitting him in odious colors to posterity. But I write with difficulty and am afraid of diffusing myself in too many correspondences. If I should receive a letter from him however I should not fail to acknowledge and answer it.” -  Link to Text - Web Site

The War of 1812 - A War that should not be forgotten

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Excerpt: Andrew Jackson wrote – Regarding the battle of New Orleans, "It appears that the unerring hand of Providence shielded my men from the shower of balls, bombs and rockets, when every ball and bomb from our guns carried with them a mission of death."

Excerpt: Save that Parchment - Dolly Madison -  “We have had a battle or skirmish near Bladensburg, and I am still here within sound of the cannon! Mr. Madison comes not; may God protect him! Two messengers covered with dust, come to bid me fly; but I wait for him” Download - PDF   

 Excerpt: Book Washington Weather - “On the morning of August 25, Washington was still burning. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the British soldiers continued to set fires and destroy ammunition supplies and defenses around the city. As the soldiers spread fire and destruction throughout the city, the early afternoon sky began to darken and lightning and thunder signaled the approach of a thunderstorm. As the storm neared the city, the winds began to increase dramatically and then built into a “frightening roar.” A severe thunderstorm was bearing down on Washington, and with it was a tornado.

The tornado tore through the center of Washington and directly into the British occupation. Buildings were lifted off of their foundations and dashed to bits. Other buildings were blown down or lost their roofs. Feather beds were sucked out of homes and scattered about. Trees were uprooted, fences were blown down, and the heavy chain bridge across the Potomac River was buckled and rendered useless. A few British cannons were picked up by the winds and thrown through the air. The collapsing buildings and flying debris killed several British soldiers. Many of the soldiers did not have time to take cover from the winds and they laid face down in the streets. One account describes how a British officer on horseback did not dismount and the winds slammed both horse and rider violently to the ground.

The winds subsided quickly, but the rain fell in torrents for two hours. ...Fortunately, the heavy rain quenched most of the flames and prevented Washington from continuing to burn.” Only by extreme coincidence or the hand of Providence were many federal buildings and the White House saved from further destruction. “The burning was delayed ....and finally prevented by a tremendous tornado which passed over the city and for a while completely dispersed the British column, the soldiers seeking refuge where they could, and several being buried in the ruins of the falling buildings.” The fierce storm and torrential downpour dumped two inches of rain which helped extinguish the fire. “After the storm, the British Army regrouped on Capitol Hill, still a bit shaken by the harsh weather. They decided to leave the city that evening.”

Excerpt: The Star-Spangled Banner  -  “And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!” Download - PDF  

The Star-Spangled Banner, by Francis Scott Key, USAF Reserve - Play - MP3

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Why did God protect Andrew Jackson?

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     Andrew Jackson’s life symbolizes the rugged individualism (and at times reckless behavior) that God produced in many men of the post Revolutionary War era. He was one of the most unruly, ornery, quarrelsome, and stubborn, least educated men ever to serve as President of the United States. Yet in contrast, he was also a deeply religious man of faith, biblical faith instilled in him by his mother from an early age. Credited with starting the Democratic Party [Jackson Democrats], he was a legend in his own time, appropriately nicknamed “Old Hickory” for his toughness. With all his good traits, and bad [hot-tempered, foul language, duels, fights, battles, “The Trail of Tears”], he had a divine hand of protection on his shoulder throughout his life, especially during his job as President.

     By divine intercession, Jackson’s life was spared on January 30, 1835. He was attending a funeral with his cabinet members in the capital building, when an assassin by the name of Richard Lawrence pulled a gun, and at point blank range, fired at Jackson. After the pistol failed to fire, he pulled a second pistol, and that pistol too, failed to fire. Lawrence was soon subdued, after being beat over the head, and shoulders, by Andrew Jackson’s cane. After the incident, police tested both of Richard Lawrence’s pistols, and they worked fine.

     Besides the attempted Presidential assassination, Andrew Jackson escaped death on numerous occasions. Captured as a courier during the Revolutionary War, at the age of thirteen, Jackson survived a sword wound from a British officer for refusing to clean his boots. He survived only to nearly starved to death as a prisoner of war. He survived a duel with Colonel Waitstill Avery in 1795. He won a duel with Charles Dickinson in 1806, fought over slanderous remarks about his wife. In the war of 1812, he survived the Battle of Talladega in 1813. He took a bullet to the chest in a gun fight in the fall 1813 with the Benton brothers in Nashville Tennessee. He nearly bled to death after the bullet shattered two ribs, and missed his heart, by inches. In 1814, he survived the Battle of Emuckfau, Enotocopco, and Battle of the Horseshoe. After being appointed as Major General of United States, he was assigned to defend, and won, the famous battle of New Orleans in 1815, against British forces. He survived battles in the First & Second Seminole War 1817-1818. With all the close calls in his life, the larger question to be asked is why did God protect Andrew Jackson?  - Download Chapter - PDF

Jackson to Secretary of War James Monroe regarding the Battle of New Orleans.
“Heaven, to be sure, has interposed most wonderfully in our behalf, and I am filled with gratitude, when I look back to what we have escaped.”

 Jackson to Robert Hays regarding the Battle of New Orleans.
“It appears that the unerring hand of Providence shielded my men from the shower of balls, bombs, and rockets when every ball and bomb from our guns carried with them a mission of death.”

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Manifest Destiny - From Sea to Shinning Sea

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Excerpt: William Gilpin, Governor of Colorado Territory, 1846 - From nothing we have become 20,000,000. From nothing we are grown to be in agriculture, in commerce, in civilization, and in natural strength, the first among nations existing or in history. So much is our destiny so far; up to this point - transacted, accomplished, certain, and not to be disputed. From this threshold we read the future. The untransacted destiny of the American field is to subdue the continent - to rush over the vast field to the Pacific Ocean - to animate the many hundred millions of its people, and to cheer them upward - to set the principle of self-government at work - to agitate these herculean masses - to establish a new order in human affairs - to set free the enslaved - to regenerate superannuated nations - to change darkness into light - to stir up the sleep of a hundred centuries - to teach old nations a new civilization - to confirm the destiny of the human race - to carry the career of mankind to its culminating point - to cause stagnant people to be reborn - to perfect science - to emblazon history with the conquest of peace - to shed a new and resplendent glory upon mankind - to unite the world in one social family - to dissolve the spell of tyranny and exalt charity - to absolve the curse that weights down humanity, and to shed blessings round the world. Divine task! immortal mission! Let us tread fast and joyfully the open trail before us. Let every American heart open wide for patriotism to glow undimmed, and confide with religious faith in the sublime and prodigious destiny of his well-loved country!

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The Second Peril

The Republic of the United States of America, 
Her second "Great Struggle" for survival.

The Civil War

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The Crack in the Liberty Bell - a prophetic marker in time!

     Only by the divine hand of Providence or extreme coincidence could an ordinary bell made to honor the Quaker religious beliefs in God go on to become a worldwide symbol of Liberty and Freedom. While the Liberty Bell remains a symbol of the Liberties and Freedoms we cherish as a nation, few understand its history, religious background, or profound implications for the destiny of the country and perhaps the world. From the biblical inscription on its side, to its evacuation by wagon, breakdown and transfer in the center of Bethlehem and secure storage in Zion during the war, to its crack at high noon in celebration of George Washington’s birthday, it would appear that God had a plan for the bell and the country. And those gifts of Liberty and Freedom, gifts from God that rang out on July 8th of 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and the “Miracle at Philadelphia” from the Liberty Bell still reverberate to our present day. However, if we as a nation do not come to terms with God’s hand in our country’s history, then we stumble blindly into the future potentially to our peril.  …
     The gift of Liberty, and Freedom, that rang out from Independence Hall was truly a revolutionary idea in the recorded history of mankind. Forged into the Liberty Bell, and preserved in time, was a God given message that the rights of man, and blessings of Liberty come from God, not from man, or government. The truth of God’s Word that rang out across the land, “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” was a message not just for the United States, but for the entire world. Even today, over two hundred and fifty years after the Liberty Bell rang out its first glory-breathed tones, Liberty still remains a revolutionary, and dangerous idea, in most countries around the world. Especially in Democracies, and in countries suffering under the yoke of oppression. As it was in the day the Liberty Bell was first hoisted up in the Independence Hall steeple, the United States stands alone as the last vestige of human Liberty left on the face of the earth. A refuge of safety, where Liberty is recognized as a gift from God, where the rights of man come from God, not from government, and where government [based on the Old and New Testament] is instituted among men to protect those rights. ... - Download Chapter - PDF

Excerpt: The inscription on the side of Independence Hall Bell from Leviticus 25:10, “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof:” was missing an important part of the verse relating to the number 50, and slavery. The full Bible verse reads:

“And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; [proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: KJV] it shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be to you; in it you shall neither sow, nor reap what grows of itself, nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat what it yields out of the field. ‘In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. ...You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God. ‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and perform them; so you will dwell in the land securely.’” Leviticus 25:10-13, 17-18 RSV

Beyond the odd coincidence of the timing in the death of Adams, and Jefferson, exactly on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, most citizens took little notice. … John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of the United States, made note of the “strange and very striking coincidence” of his fathers, and Jeffersons, passing. He considered very strange indeed that his father, and author of the Declaration if Independence, should have died on the documents 50th anniversary, considered biblically a Jubilee Year for the new Republic. “The time, the manner, the coincidence with the decease of Jefferson, are visible, and palpable marks, of Divine” he wrote in his diary.

Excerpt: On April 6th of 2001, “a man wielding a ...[hand-held sledgehammer] struck the Liberty Bell at least four times... leaving an imprint on the lip of the ...symbol of freedom.” A local student recounted to the AP reporter, “I just seen a man yelling out ’God lives on!’ then he just started banging on the Liberty Bell.” The man who attacked the bell at the Independence Hall Pavilion was Mitchell Guilliatt, a self-described wanderer from Nebraska. At his court hearing, he said he was motivated by the words on the bell. In ringing the Liberty Bell announcing ’God lives on!,’ Mitchell was proclaiming the source of the country’s blessing of Liberty, and Freedom. …Mitchell said, “we are all one body in Christ and God is the judge over all of us.” Guilliatt’s ringing of the Liberty Bell, announcing “God lives on” to the country was in April of the same year that the attack on the World Trade Centers, and Pentagon occurred. It was on a Friday which immediately preceded Holy Week, and Easter. In spring, specifically the month of April is considered a time of rebirth. Perhaps the real message to the country was that the United States needs a rebirth in the Son of the living God, from whom the blessings of Liberty and Freedom flow.

The Normandy Liberty Bell, an exact laser scaned replica of the Liberty Bell - Play - SFW

Liberty Bell presentation (To be added) - Play - Video

John C. Calhoun's Dream of George Washington - Overnight changed his heart to Pro-Union and delayed secession?

    John C. Calhoun was one of the south’s most articulate, and outspoken proponents of slavery, states rights, and nullification of federal law. He opposed the Tariff Act of 1828, and openly advocated that southern states could nullify federal law. This earned him the nickname, “Arch Nullifier.” Over his outspoken position on nullification and secession, President Andrew Jackson threatened to have him hung for treason. Later in his career, almost over night, he changed his political position from pro-secession to Pro-Union. Calhoun worked hard for a compromise that would support both slavery, and Union. He was so serious, seldom seen to laugh or smile that he was nicknamed the “cast iron man.” Fortunate for the country, Calhoun's political change of heart, delayed southern secession long enough for Abraham Lincoln to make it into office. 

Excerpt: The Spotted Hand, An Anecdote of John C. Calhoun - “At a late hour last night, as I was sitting in my room writing, engaged in writing, I was astonished by the entrance of a visitor, who, without a word, took a seat opposite me at my table. This surprised me, as I had given particular orders to the servant that I should on no account be disturbed. The manner in which the intruder entered, so perfectly self-possessed, taking his seat opposite me without a word, as though my room and all within it belonged to him, excited in me as much surprise as indignation.”  Download - PDF 

General Joshua Chamberlain's 20th Maine at Gettysburg

     Joshua L. Chamberlain’s life was of the substance from which legends are made; a number of books and movies are a credit to his achievements. His life’s story was that of a man with immense optimism and determination, surrendering to what he felt was a divine calling to join the Civil War. He answered Lincoln’s call for troops and left his wife, children and teaching position at Bowdoin College to join the war effort. He is best known for the Civil War battle of Little Round Top. The Maine 20th was led to the battle by the Ghost of George Washington on horseback. Through an odd set of coincidences, the Maine 20th rushed in to secure Little Round Top, a strategic point left unattended by the Union Forces. As the battle of Gettysburg raged and as the Civil War’s outcome hung in the balance, the Maine 20th held their position. Outnumbered, with many dead and out of ammunition, Chamberlain ordered a last ditch bayonet charge against the Confederate troops, securing a win for the Union Forces. Close to death on a number of occasions, he regained his health, only to rejoin the military action for many more important battles during the Civil War.  - Download Chapter - PDF

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The Battle Hymn of the Republic - The Song that saved the Union

     When Julia Ward Howe first awoke, early morning of November 21, 1861, the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic arranged themselves in her mind. In a darkened room, trying not to wake her children, she scratched down the verses to the poem, knowing something of importance had just happened. The words she scrawled on an old sheet of paper, Lincoln would later say was “the song that saved the Union.” The Battle Hymn of the Republic was a divinely inspired masterpiece of poetry on God and country, which could not have come at better a time for the Union. The Civil War was not going well for the North, many battles had been lost, morale had slumped and recruitment numbers were running low. The poem soon became a motivating song sung by the Union troops in glory to God. One other song sung by the North, and less controversial to the South was The Battle Cry of Freedom. Those on the Confederate side sang, God Save the South and The Bonnie Blue Flag song. The South hated the Union’s battle hymn song, because it inferred that God was on the side of the North.. ...
     Through out the years, there has been much heated debate over words in The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The words in the song have elicited strong feelings in many camps. The song is considered offensive to many Southerners, it is offensive to some Christians, but it is especially offensive to many secular non-religious, and anti-religious groups. The song has been labeled a fighting song, hate song, pro-war, Calvinist religious song or militaristic Christian and too many more inflammatory names to list. Entirely missed, by those offended by the words in the song was the point of the song, and situation the country was in at the time the song first emerged. While history has credited Julia Ward Howe with The Battle Hymn of the Republic, she did not write the poem. She simply recorded on paper the words that were given to her. ... She was an instrument used by God at the time, for His own purpose. - Download Chapter - PDF

The Battle Hymn of the Republic, by William Steffe, U.S. Army Band - Play - MP3

The Third Peril

The Republic of the United States of America, 
Her third "Great Struggle" for survival.

The Last Great War

Your VOTE - "God cannot sustain this free and blessed country."

     In exercising your right to vote, you are, according to Samuel Adams, “executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is [you are] accountable to God and his country.” As a citizen, no matter what your country of origin or religion, you are the posterity of the country’s Christian Founding Fathers and patriots who earned the freedoms you enjoy at the expense of much blood and treasure. They considered Liberty and Freedom to be a gift from God, not from man or government. You the voter bear a far bigger responsibility than you may realize for the gift, of Liberty and Freedom you have inherited. ...
     The establishment of the United States as a country was an anomaly in history, which by all human foresight and calculation should not have happened. The country came into existence only because it had divine assistance. George Washington wrote and spoke endlessly about the hand of Providence [God] in the Revolutionary War and formation of the Republic, as did many of the Founding Fathers.  …
     What you have inherited and now bear responsibility for as a citizen and voter can best be described as God’s experiment in time. An experiment to see if a united people, under God, can self govern themselves as a country and abide by the Word and the Law of the Old and New Testament. You have been entrusted with a sacred trust for the stewardship of this country, you therefore bear some moral responsibility for the actions and decisions of those elected on your behalf. Use your vote wisely and “let not your children ‘have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you.” [Rev. Matthias Burnet, 1803] Because as Thomas Jefferson warned, “if a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”  - Download Chapter - PDF

      
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“Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage.”
— Herman Melville (1819–1891) Author, short story writer & poet

     The United States of America was established as a “republic,” not a “democracy,” contrary to the misinformed assertions of many Americans. A democracy was considered despotism, by the founding fathers as form of government, it was universally detested. John Adams stated his sentiments clearly when he said, “remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Alexander Hamilton said, “we are a republican government. Real liberty is never found in the despotism or in the extremes of democracy.” “Republican,” Thomas Jefferson warned us was “the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights [given by God, not government] of mankind.” 
     At the Constitutional Convention, James McHenry recorded that as members emerged from Independence Hall, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin, “Mr. Franklin what have you given us?” Franklin simply responded, “a republic, Madam, if you can keep it.” Among the founding fathers, there was no debate as to the form of government they labored so hard and sacrificed so much to establish.
     Yet today, most Americans, when asked what form of government we have in the United States, wrongly answer “democracy.” Even elected officials occupying the highest offices in the land, with an sworn oath to uphold the Constitution, say that we live in a democracy as well. Has the government we live under changed?  Words have meaning, and when we choose words, in describing the form of government that protects our God given liberties, and freedoms, words really do matter.    
     We need to ask this question; is the United States of America today, a “republic,” or a “democracy”? If the answer is a democracy, then as Vladimir Lenin stated, “socialism and democracy are inseparable” and we have now become a socialist state. If we live in a democracy, then the Founding Fathers fears of loosing the republic has finally come to pass. Then Samuel Adams words of distain were for our generation, the ones who lost the republic. “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.” - Download - PDF

 “Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.”

— Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Third President of the United States

Who will tell the children what God has done for America?
 

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Excerpt: William Samuel Johnson at Columbia University - “You this day, gentlemen, assume new characters, enter into new relations, and consequently incur new duties. You have, by the favor of Providence and the attention of your friends, received a public education, the purpose whereof hath been to qualify you the better to serve your Creator and your country. You have this day invited this audience to witness the progress you have made, the literary honors conferred upon you, and qualifications with which you are dismissed to take to your station in society .... 

Your first great duties, you are sensible, are those you owe to Heaven, to your Creator and Redeemer. Let these be ever present to your minds, and exemplified in your lives and conduct. Imprint deep upon your minds the principles of piety towards God, and a reverence and fear of His holy name. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and its consummation is everlasting felicity. Possess yourselves of just and elevated notions of the Divine character, attributes, and administration, and of the end and dignity of your own immortal nature as it stands related to Him ...

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Wake Up America! - "No Nation which has out grown it's God has lived to write the additional pages of history."

 

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Excerpt: Emma Willard - "The government of the United States is acknowledged by the wise and good of other nations, to be the most free, impartial and righteous government of the world; but all agree that for such a government to be sustained many years, the principles of truth and righteousness, taught in the Holy Scriptures, must be practiced. The rulers must govern in the fear of God, and the people obey the laws ... A nation cannot exist without religion. France tried that and failed. We were born a …Christian nation, and, as such, baptized in blood. Our position ought to be defined as that.  

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States were men were free.” “God has granted us the challenge to change our country and to make it better by moving it closer to the intentions of the men who invented it.”

 — Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) 40th President of the United States

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Have we put "In God We Trust" or God behind us as nation?

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“The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.”

— Sir Alex Fraser Tytler (1742-1813) Scottish jurist & historian (quote credited)

“If my people who are called by my name 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.”
— 2 Chronicles 7:14 RSV

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Sheperd Me, O God - Play - MP3

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The End - "If men will not be governed by God, they will be ruled by tyrants."

 

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Excerpt: Thomas Paine’s letter - “A thousand years hence (for I must indulge in a few thoughts) perhaps in less, America may be what England now is! The innocence of her character that won the hearts of all nations in her favor may sound like a romance, and her inimitable virtue as if it had never been. The ruins of that liberty which thousands bled for, or suffered to obtain, may just furnish materials for a village tale or extort a sigh from rustic sensibility, while the fashionable of that day, enveloped in dissipation, shall deride the principle and deny the fact. 

When we contemplate the fall of Empires and the extinction of nations of the ancient world, we see but little to excite our regret than the mouldering ruins of pompous palaces, magnificent monuments, lofty pyramids, and walls and towers of the most costly workmanship. But when the Empire of America shall fall, the subject for contemplative sorrow will be infinitely greater than crumbling brass or marble can inspire. It will not then be said, here stood a temple of vast antiquity, —here rose a Babel of invisible height, or there a palace of sumptuous extravagance; but here, ah painful thought! the noblest work of human wisdom, the grandest scene of human glory, the fair cause of freedom rose and fell! Read this and then ask if I forget America.”

Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville observations on America – “The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.” “In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country.”

“I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning.  I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. Americas is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great”

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America the Beautiful, written by Katharine Lee Bates, U.S. Navy Band - Play - MP3

History of the song American the Beautiful (to be added)… Download - PDF 

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Providentialism  Pre-Revolutionary War

The Republic of the United States of America, 
the Hand of God in Her Pre-Revolutionary War History.

The Bible goes to America

In Every Age, by Janet Sullivan Whitaker - Play - MP3

Did God stop the French Invasion of America in 1746?

 
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     In 1746, word spread that the French Armanda, a French fleet of 70 ships rapidly approached by way of the Atlantic Ocean. The menacing fleet, bristled with guns and carried 10,000 troops. Their orders:[recapture Nova Scotia & destroy Boston & New York] burn Boston to her foundations. …William Shirley, colonial Governor of Massachusetts proclaimed a Fast Day and all good citizens were to stop work, to fast and to gather in the meeting houses to pray for deliverance from the peril that approached.

     From the pulpit of the Old South Meeting-house Thomas Prince prayed before his congregation. The morning was clear and calm. People had walked to church through sunshine. “Deliver us from our enemy!” Prince implored. “Send thy tempest, Lord, upon the waters to the eastward! Raise Thy right hand. Scatter the ship of our tormentors and drive them hence. Sink their proud frigates beneath the power of Thy winds!”

    He had scarcely pronounced the words when the sun disappeared. All the church darkened. A wind shrieked so hard that the great church bell struck twice and the windows rattled. Thomas Prince paused in his prayer, both arms raised. “We hear thy voice, O Lord! We hear it! Thy breath is upon the waters of the eastward, even upon the deep. The bell tolls for the death of our enemies!” He bowed his head; when he looked up, tears streamed down is face. “Thine be the glory, Lord. Amen and amen!”

     The French attack never came. History bears witness to this fact: that a hurricane or sudden storm overcame the French fleet. Ships sank. Two thousand men died. Four thousand succumbed to a pestilential fever. The few remaining ships, half manned, limped off to the southward. There would be no French invasion of America! - Link to Web Site

Excerpt: A Ballad of the French Fleet - Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - A FLEET with flags arrayed Sailed from the port of Brest, And the Admiral’s ship displayed The signal: “Steer southwest.” For this Admiral D’Anville Had sworn by cross and crown To ravage with fire and steel Our helpless Boston Town. … Spread the tidings of dismay, I stood in the Old South, Saying humbly: “Let us pray! … The salvation of the Lord!” The heavens were black with cloud, The sea was white with hail, And ever more fierce and loud Blew the October gale. Like a potter’s vessel broke The great ships of the line; They were carried away as a smoke, Or sank like lead in the brine. O Lord! before thy path  They vanished and ceased to be, When thou didst walk in wrath With thine horses through the sea!- Download - PDF

Birth Certificate for the United States - The Cradle of Liberty

 
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Excerpt: The First Charter of Virginia - To the Glory of God - “JAMES, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, ... loving Subjects, have been humble Suitors unto us, that We would vouchsafe unto them our Licence, to make Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a colony of sundry of our People into that part of America commonly called VIRGINIA, and other parts and Territories in America, either appertaining unto us, or which are not now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or People, ...We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government: DO, by these our Letters Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble and well-intended Desires.”

Excerpt: Mayflower Compact - For the Glory of God - IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.

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The Sinking of the Spanish Armada

 

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     The Spanish Armada of 130 warships and 30,000 men, intending to invade England arrived at the English Channel. Against such an invincible fleet, "God blew and they were scattered,” thrown upon the rocks. The sinking of much the Spanish Armada on August 8, 1588, would change the power structure in Europe and would change the religious boundaries for Protestants and Catholics in North and South America. The Netherlands would finally gain their independence from Spain in 1648 with Treaty of Westphalia. It would be the Netherlands, years later at the end of the Revolutionary War, who would lend the United States funds to establish the Bank of North America. How fortuitous it was for the United States, that Britain had recently declared war on the Netherlands over an issue with shipping, and both countries now shared a common enemy, thus expediting the much need loan.

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The Miracle at the Battle of Lepanto
 

 

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     One of the largest battles in the Mediterranean occurred on October 7, 1571, off the coast of Greece. Around 275 Turkish ships squared off against 212 ships from the Holy League. The Holy League was a number of Catholic maritime countries brought together in self defense by Pope Pirus. Islamic forces had gained control of Mediterranean Sea and were burning and plundering cities and towns as far as Spain and France, killing and enslaving Christians. They now threatened Venice and Rome. As the battle for the survival of Europe hung in the balance, Don John of Austria led the Christian forces as citizens fasted and prayed the Rosary. During the battle, a sudden change in the direction of the wind favored the Christian fleet. Many miles away, before the battle had concluded, Pope Pirus in tears turned and said “The Christian fleet is victorious!" "It is not now a time to talk any more upon business; but to give thanks to God for the victory he has granted to the arms of the Christians." 

     The battle dealt a deceive blow to Turkish navel power. They lost some 210 ships (130 captured, 80 sank) and 30,000 men (15,000 Christian slave rowers chained about their galleys were freed). The Holy League lost about 50 ships and around 4500 men. The Leagues miraculous victory was credited to the Virgin Mary and intercession by God on their behalf, know as the "miracle of the rosaries." While there would be other battles to fight, Lepanto was a pivotal battle that turned the course of history and saved Christianity in Europe. For it would have been nearly impossible for countries in Europe to spread Gospel to the Americas if they had deal with the continued threat of annihilation from Moslem invaders.

Excerpt: Lepanto - Poem by C. K. Chesterton -  …It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips, For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships. They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy, They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea, And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss, And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross, The cold queen of England is looking in the glass; The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass; From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun, And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun. …Before the high Kings' horses in the granite of Babylon. And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell, And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign … Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds, Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty. …Don John of Austria Has set his people free!...  -  Download - PDF

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Post-Columbian History
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Columbus - The Christ bearer comes to the Americas - 1492

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Excerpt: Columbus - “It was the Lord who put into my mind — I could feel His hand upon me — the fact that it was possible to sail from here to the Indies .... All who heard my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me... There is no question the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted be with marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures ...For the execution of the journey to the Indies I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of Isaiah had prophesied.... No-one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is pure in the name of the Holy service. ... the fact that the Gospel must still be preached to so many lands in such a short period of time  — this is what convinces me.”

Excerpt: Late Christmas Eve into early Christmas day, in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Santa Maria (Holy Mary) drifted on to a sandbar and coral reef and sank off the Santa Domingo (Holy Lord). The first settlement in the new world would be called La Navidad, or Christmas, in Spanish, built from timbers of the Santa Maria. ….

Excerpts: While many missionaries such as the Franciscans, Carmelites, Jesuits and Dominicans and explorers from Spain and Portugal had good intentions of spreading the word of the Gospel, some driven by greed and power clearly did not follow their Christian teachings. Against strict orders from Queen Isabel, many natives were enslaved for mining gold and silver. One mountain in the central Andes, “Carro Rico, which means “Rich Hill”, was a mountain of silver over two thousand feet high. It was the first real city of the New World, reaching 120,000 inhabitants by 1573. While the sliver deposit was known to the Inca, it was not touched. From the book Indian Givers, “The Inca emperor Huayna Capac first mined Carro Rico a generation before the Spanish arrived. ..The emperor stopped the operation, however, when a voice thundered out of the mountain saying: ‘Take no silver from this hill. It is destined for other owners.’” 

A continual wave of gold and silver from South America soon hit the European shores. By way of Spain, it soon found its way throughout Europe. Europe had been cut off of gold and sliver by the “Moslem merchants who monopolized the trade” from Africa’s “Gold Coast.” “Even though the silver and gold went into Spain, it did not stay there. From Spain the money spread throughout Europe.... Three-fifths of the bullion entering Spain from America immediately left Spain to pay debts.” “With so much money, the old system mutated into a true money economy in which large numbers of people could buy large amounts of goods, and private citizens could start their own hoards of coins.” Europe, flush with silver soon wanted luxury items such as silk, coffee, tea and spices from around the world. And along with the trade around the globe, also went the Gospel. From his book Indian Givers, Jack Weatherford writes:

“The silver from America made possible a world economy for the first time, as much of it was traded not only to the Ottomans but to the Chinese and East Indians. ... Europe’s prosperity boomed ...The Ottoman silver akce coin suddenly fell to half its former value before the end of 1584 in a bout of uncontrolled inflation. The coin lost it’s important place in the world trade and never regained it. Centuries of struggle between the Moslems and the Christian, American silver probably did more to undermine Islamic power for the next half a millennium than did any other single factor. ... To replace the Mediterranean trade of cloth, beads, leather, and metals upon which the Africans had become dependent , the Africans now had only one commodity that the Europeans wanted —slaves. For centures the African merchants had sold a small but steadly number of slaves to the Middle East, but with the decline of their traditional European trade and with the opening of America, the slave trade became a boom.

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Pre-Columbian History
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Joan of Arc Saved France

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     Joan of Arc is a well documented story of a young girl raised up by God, who saved France during the Hundred Years War with England. The Country had lost its pride, and her people, the will to fight. As a young girl, Joan, a devout Catholic, had visions of Saint Catherine, Margaret, and St. Michael the Archangel. They would talk to her, and give her instruction, and direction. As a teenager she could not read, or write, but was able to lead the French army to victory against the English invaders. In the course of 14 months, she was able restore much of her country back to French control. While the story of Joan of Arc from the 1400’s may not seem relevant to the American Revolution, which took place in the late 1700’s, there are many noteworthy connections, and parallels, especially to George Washington. Had God not raised up, and protected Joan of Arc, France would have likely ceased to exist as a country. If God had not reestablished France as a strong country, there would have been no French Indian war in America. If the war had never occurred, Washington would have never gotten his military training, and Britain would have not had to tax the colonies. Had Joan of Arc, through God’s assistance, not thrown off the yoke of British oppression, United States of America may have never existed as a country. - Download - PDF

Saint James the Moors Slayer saved Spain

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     By the year 714, Spain had been nearly conquered by the Moslem invaders. One of the most pivotal battles was the battle of Clavijo, fought in 834 AD. The night before the battle, Ramiro I of Leon is said to have had a dream of Saint James, who said that he would join them in battle the next day. The battle cry for Spain was “St James, we will reconquer Spain” and that he did. Witnessed by many, Saint James appeared on a white horse brandishing sword. So devastating was the battle, it is said that over 60,000 Moslems were left dead on the battle field. The supernatural assistance helped the Spanish in driving back the Moslems from Christian territory. Saint James [Santiago] became known as the “Moor-slayer” for his assistance in saving Christianity in Spain [Europe]. Saint James as Spain’s patron Saint, would appear in battle on a number occasions on the side of Spain in Europe, and later in South America.

      The Gospel that James brought to Spain years earlier had dispersed throughout Spain and other parts of Europe. At the appointed time, it would be brought to New Spain [the Americas] under protection of Saint James and the Virgin Mary. The Spanish explorers and missionaries in reverence and gratitude to the divine hand that had saved them on numerous occasions from enslavement and destruction from the Moslems invaders would take the Gospel by boat to the New World.

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Constantine - In this sign conquer

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Excerpt: Constantine  - In 312 A.D., “Constantine was on his march against Maxentius, who had declared war against him, and was in Rome with an army much superior in numbers. The emperor [Constantine] had marched from Rhine, through Gaul, and was going to Rome by way of Verona. He passed the Alp, and was marching with part of his army toward Rome, when, a little before midday, he and those with him saw a bright cross of light in the clouds.” What they saw was a “flaming cross in the sky, and beneath it were the words, in Greek, “In this sign conquer.” He thereupon embraced Christianity.”  “In the night following, Christ appeared to him in his sleep. He had a cross in his hand, and commanded Constantine to have a standard made of it. Next morning the emperor gave orders for such a standard to be made, and called it the Labarum. It was a gilt pole with a cross-bar. The top of the pole was surmounted with a gold crown, set with precious stones, and in the midst a crown were two Greek letters, Chi and Ro (x, p)... From the cross-bar hung a purple veil, strangled and dazzling; the emperor selected fifty of his best men to carry and guard this banner.” He also had the soldiers paint the symbol of a cross on their shields. …

The surrender of Verona was the consequence. In spite of the overwhelming numbers of his enemy (an estimated 100,000 in Maxentius' army against 20,000 in Constantine's army) the emperor confidently marched forward to Rome. A vision had assured him that he should conquer in the sign of the Christ, and his warriors carried Christ's monogram on their shields, though the majority of them were pagans. The opposing forces met near the bridge over the Tiber called the Milvian Bridge, and here Maxentius' troops suffered a complete defeat, the tyrant himself losing his life in the Tiber (28 October, 312).  ….

If mankind ever needed a sign from God blessing the spread of Christianity, and the Gospel, they were given one on May 7th of 351. Shortly after Cyril had been installed as Archbishop of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, a luminous cross appeared in the sky over Jerusalem. “About nine in the morning, a vast luminous body, in the form of a cross, appeared in the heavens, just over the holy Golgotha, reaching as far as the holy Mount of Olivet (about two miles). This was not seen by one or two persons only, but by the whole city, and it continued for several hours, the light from it being more brilliant than that of the sun.” The sign in the sky was a miracle for all to see. It drove Jews, Pagans and Christians alike to churches in praise of Jesus Christ. The luminous cross over Jerusalem was taken as sign by those at the time of God’s approval of the spreading Gospel and expanding Christendom. As St Cyril wrote in his letter to Emperor Constantine, the cross in the sky was “being seen not by one or two only, but manifest with perfect clarity to the whole multitude of the city; not, as one might suppose, rushing swiftly past in fancy, but seen openly above the earth many hours in plain sight, and overcoming the beams of the sun with its dazzling rays.” “The whole city found in this phenomenon the truth of Christian doctrine, to which the heavens bore visible witness.”  

“So swiftly runs the word of God that though in several thousand years God was not known except among the Jews, now within the space of a few years, His word is concealed neither from the Indians in the East nor from the Britain’s in the West.”

— Arnobius of Sicca (284-305) writing from Bethlehem in 378 A.D.

Jesus said to his Apostles - "Oh foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken!"

 
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     “And he [Jesus] said to them, ‘O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.’ he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.”  Luke 24:25-31 RSV  

“Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”  Luke 24-44-48 RSV

     The prophet Malachi ~460 B.C. — “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me (John the Baptist), and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3:1 RSV  "Behold, I will send you Eli'jah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6 RSV

     The prophet Zechariah ~520 B.C. — “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass. I will cut off the chariot from E'phraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Zechariah 9:9-10 RSV“

     "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadadrim'mon in the plain of Megid'do. On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity." Zechariah 12:10-11, 13:1 RSV

     The prophet Jeremiah ~570 B.C. — "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'” Jeremiah 33:14-16 RSV “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jeremiah 31:31-33 RSV

     The prophet Daniel ~600 B.C. —  “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13:14 RSV

     The prophet Josiah ~625 B.C. — “And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josi'ah by name; and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and men's bones shall be burned upon you.'" 1 Kings 13:2 RSV

      The prophet Isaiah ~710 B.C. — “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman'u-el [God is with us].” Isaiah 7:13-14 RSV “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” Isaiah 9:6-7 RSV

     The prophet Micah ~750 B.C. “But you, O Bethlehem Eph'rathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And this shall be peace, when the Assyrian comes into our land and treads upon our soil, that we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men; Micah 5:2,4-5 RSV

     The prophet Hosea ~850 B.C. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” Hosea 11:1 RSV

     The prophet Nathan ~975 B.C. “I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son.”  2 Samuel 7:12b-14a RSV

     David ~1000 B.C. — “Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet-- I can count all my bones--they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots.” Psalms 22:16-18 RSV

      Moses (the Law Giver) ~1400 B.C. — “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.” Deuteronomy 18:18-19 RSV

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God Bless the USA - I'm Proud to be an American, written by Lee Greenwood, Anonymous - Play - MP3