America - The Way Things Used To Be

Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”

Psalm 33 has much to say about the Gentile nations!

(Psalm 33:5) "The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love."

(Psalm 33:8) "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him."

(Psalm 33:10) "The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples."

(Psalm 33:12-19) "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine."

(Proverbs 14:34) "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."

I. America was Established on the Foundation of Christian Principles

A. Murray Hornsby “97% of the Founding Fathers were practicing Christians and exercised their faith in public office, at work, at home, and had it taught to their children in their schools. 187 of the first 200 colleges in America were Christian, Bible teaching institutions (including Yale, Princeton, and Harvard). Entrance in Harvard required strong knowledge of the Bible “ SOURCE: Murray Hornsby “Our History and Faith in God, American Heritage Alliance.

B. Stephen McDowell, “10% of all political writings in the Founding Era were preserved in the form of sermons.” SOURCE: Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell, America’s Providential History, (Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 1989), 122.

C. THE WORDS of our FOUNDING FATHERS

1. George Washington. "It is impossible to rightly govern without God and the Bible"

2. John Adams. 2nd Pres of the US. "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."

3. Patrick Henry. "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was grounded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity and freedom of worship here."

4. Noah Webster. (Dictionary, school primers). "Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for yourselves rulers, ‘just men who rule in the fear of God.' . . .If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands and elect bad men to make and administer the laws."

D. THE ACTIONS of our FOUNDING FATHERS

1. First Act of the Congress under the Constitution - elect a chaplain

2. Second act of the Congress was to approve the printing of 20,000 Bibles for the Indians.

3. THOMAS JEFFERSON - In a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians, Congress provided for a church building and a Christian chaplain. President Jefferson signed the bill into law.

4. Founders authorized the printing of Bibles with tax dollars

5. Founders provided for chaplains for various branches of government AND the military.

6. General George Washington demanded that his officers and enlisted men attend church service whenever they were not in battle.

7. Presidents and congress routinely called for days of prayer, and fasting as well as days of national thanksgiving.

8. References to God and quotes from the Bible appear throughout their writing, speeches and laws.

9. Many states required Christian faith as a pre-requisite for holding elected office.

10. School children were taught to read from the Bible and public education taught Christian doctrine up until about 50 years ago.

SOURCE: Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell, America’s Providential History, 183

E. SECULARISTS TODAY must either IGNORE these truths or DISTORT THEM

1. Revisionist History. Classrooms. Textbooks. Hollywood.

2. Read this article by David Barton. http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=112

F. AMERICA has been blessed because of our GODLY HERITAGE. George Washington feared that we would LOSE this moral foundation. Washington’s Farewell Address: Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Washington%27s_Farewell_Address