Kathy's Bible StudyCourtesy Of Firequill Publications email: FireQuill@cox.net

On January 21, 1776, a Virginia pastor named John Peter Muhlenburg concluded his message from Ecclesiastes chapter 3, which speaks of there being a time and purpose for everything, including peace and war.  As he closed his message with a prayer, Muhlenburg removed his clerical robe to disclose that he was wearing the dress uniform of an officer in the Continental Army.

Muhlenburg then marched to the rear of the building, directed the drum to beat for recruits and asked who was willing to join him in the battle for freedom.  That day, nearly 300 men enlisted with him; they would become the Eighth Virginia Brigade.

You know, according to David Barton, founder of WallBuilders.com, the preachers in the American colonies were hated by the British who claimed that if it had not been for the preachers, America would have continued being “a happy British colony.”  As such, the British began destroying churches, trying to shut up the pastors who were stirring the revolution.

The pastors were the movers and the shakers of the American Revolution.

I believe it’s time for that to happen again.

As we approach our nation’s Independence Day, 2010, many of our cherished freedoms are disappearing and our religious freedoms are under attack.  And so I am urging pastors and church leaders everywhere to recommit to instructing their congregations of our rich Judeo-Christian heritage and the price that was paid by the men and women of this young nation.

The church must lead America back to God.

This Sunday, July 4, I want to urge all pastors to honor our nation, our military and our fallen heroes.  Much of our nation has forgotten the lessons of our history, but the church must never forget.

Let’s look back in history again for a moment.  John Peter Muhlenburg’s brother, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, was also a pastor in New York City.  For a while, Frederick disagreed with what his brother had done on that fateful January morning.  But when British troops marched into the city in 1777 and defiled his church, his outlook quickly changed.  He was soon chin-deep in involvement.  Frederick went on to become the speaker of the House in Pennsylvania, the first ever speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a signer of the Bill of Rights.

Pastors were at the forefront in the battle for freedom.  That is why America was a moral and ethical land.  Look at the 16 Congressional proclamations for prayer and fasting during the Revolution to see the open exaltation of Jesus Christ and the quoting of Scripture.  This is our history, my friends, and we must celebrate it and make it known to others.

Let’s close by looking to John Adams, founder and second U.S. President, to see what he said about the importance of July 4.  On July 3, 1776, Mr. Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, saying:

“You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this mighty revolution, and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man. … It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this Continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

Our founders never forgot the importance of honoring God, even on July 4! May God’s people also never forget the price of freedom and may we never lose our resolve to proclaim that Jesus Christ inspired this nation into existence.  The church must lead in this effort or I fear it will be all but forgotten.