1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings (basilewn) and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity 1 Tim 2: 1,2 (Vineyard / GE Ladd – the kingdom already and not yet; the Holy Spirit came and is not done moving)
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities (Exousia) For there is no authority (Exousia) except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
Romans 13:1 (from 1832, spiritual, in the sense of ability) gifts / fruit of the Holy Spirit?
Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities (Exousia), to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed Titus 3:1 (Like 1 Peter 3: 15, Always being ready to make apologian)
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON’S mottos were, "Deeds, not Words"; and, "For God and my Country." Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. James 2: 17
George Washington's adopted daughter, having spent twenty years of her life in his presence, declared that one might as well question Washington's patriotism as question his Christianity. Certainly, no one questions his patriotism; so is it not rather ridiculous to question his Christianity? George Washington was a devout Episcopalian http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=127
The papers reported on the first inaugural activity:[O]n the morning of the day on which our illustrious President will be invested with his office, the bells will ring at nine o’clock, when the people may go up to the house of God and in a solemn manner commit the new government, with its important train of consequences, to the holy protection and blessing of the Most High. An early hour is prudently fixed for this peculiar act of devotion and . . . is designed wholly for prayer. 17
In that first-ever presidential address, Washington opened with a heartfelt prayer, explaining that . . . it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being Who rules over the universe, Who presides in the councils of nations, and Whose providential aids can supply every human defect – that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes. 19
Washington’s inaugural address was strongly religious, and he called his listeners to remember and acknowledge God:
In tendering this homage [act of worship] to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the U.S.
Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential Agency. . . . [and] we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious [favorable] smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained. 20
Having finished his address, Washington offered its closing prayer:
Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave – but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication [prayer] that . . . His Divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this government must
depend. 21
The next inaugural activities then began – activities arranged by Congress itself when the Senate directed:
That after the oath shall have been administered to the President, he – attended by the Vice-President and members of the Senate and House of Representatives – proceed to St. Paul’s Chapel to hear Divine service. 22
The House had approved the same resolution, 23 so the president and Congress thus went en masse to church as an official body. As affirmed by congressional records:
The President, the Vice-President, the Senate, and House of Representatives, &c., then proceeded to St. Paul’s Chapel, where Divine Service was performed by the chaplain of Congress. 24 www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=102750
Incredibly it was at the site of Ground Zero in the miracle church, St. Paul’s Chapel, that this nation was dedicated to God by first president George Washington & other leaders at his inauguration in 1789. The nation’s first government was formed in New York City before DC was formed.” www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/jonathan_Cahn_010312.aspx
ALMIGHTY God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in thy holy protection, that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplications, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
[Written at Newburg, June 8, 1783, and sent to the Governors of all the States. Published in the Army Navy Hymnal, 1942; written in 1783] www.episcopalnet.org/TRACTS/NovenaForUnitedStates.html
The Washington Monument’s 24th landing has a presentation made by Sunday School children from NY and PA in 1953 quoting Prov 10, 22 and Luke 18: 16. The cap has on all 4 sides “Laus Deo”, Latin for “Praise be to God”
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/mount_rushmore.html
“The teaching of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally . . . impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teaching were removed.” Teddy Roosevelt, 26th president, 1901-1909
LINCOLN
Our sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln, declared the Bible "the best gift God has given man." http://shop.wallbuilders.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Poster
2nd Inaugural Address, March 1865, re: N vs. S “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=284
Were the Founding Fathers Christians? It can be easily demonstrated that a very high percentage – in fact, the overwhelming majority – of Founding Fathers were Christians, but certainly not all of them were. Today, citizens are regularly told about the lesser religious Founders (such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine), but hear nothing about the prominent Christians among the Founders (for example, 29 of the 56 signers of the Declaration held what are today considered seminary or Bible school degrees, and many others of the signers were bold and outspoken in their personal Christian faith). Significantly, not one of the Founding Fathers was secular in his orientation; even Thomas Paine (certainly the least religious of the Founders) openly acknowledged God and announced his belief in his personal accountability to God, and he also directly advocated teaching creationism in the public school classroom (see “Thomas Paine Criticizes the Current Public School Science Curriculum”). Over 250 individuals are historically considered Founding Fathers (e.g., the signers of the Declaration, the signers of the Constitution, the framers of the Bill of Rights, leading state governors and generals in the Revolution, etc.), but typically critics list only the handful of the least religious from among the 250 to claim that all the Founders were deists or secular.
Isaiah 9: 10 "The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars."
“On 9/11, as the N. tower fell it sent debris and wreckage which struck and uprooted . . . a sycamore tree growing at Ground Zero.” 3 years later stone was brought from NY mountains; a cedar (erez / conifer / panacea) tree was planted in Nov 2003 at Ground Zero.
www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/jonathan_Cahn_010312.aspx
