WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:05.910 So happy 250th birthday. Yeah, praise the Lord. 00:08.550 --> 00:13.110 You know, we're trying to put a special emphasis this morning on the whole thing because it only 00:13.110 --> 00:18.670 happens 250 years and so we're going to have to wait for this to happen again. 00:22.150 --> 00:29.530 But there's so many people who say this country was not founded on Judeo-Christian principles. 00:29.530 --> 00:31.930 It was not founded as a Christian nation, etc. 00:32.910 --> 00:35.590 Our universities are pushing that really, really hard. 00:36.070 --> 00:39.370 So we thought, well, we're going to push back on that a little bit this morning. 00:40.210 --> 00:51.150 Here is the first prayer of the Continental Congress, September 7th, 1774, at 9 a.m. 00:53.010 --> 00:55.170 Oh, Lord, our Heavenly Father. 00:56.550 --> 00:58.830 Sure doesn't sound like Islam, does it? 01:00.910 --> 01:07.290 High and mighty King of kings and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers 01:07.290 --> 01:12.970 on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the kingdoms, empires, 01:13.330 --> 01:13.930 and governments. 01:15.970 --> 01:17.650 Look down in mercy. 01:17.650 --> 01:26.530 We beseech thee on these, our American states, who have fled to thee, not from thee, to thee, 01:27.710 --> 01:33.710 from the wrath of the oppressor and throne themselves on thy gracious protection, desiring 01:33.710 --> 01:39.030 to be henceforth dependent only on thee. 01:41.130 --> 01:45.230 To thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause. 01:46.190 --> 01:56.830 To thee do they now look up for that countenance and support which thou alone canst give. 01:57.370 --> 01:58.850 We'll jump down to the second paragraph. 01:59.690 --> 02:04.950 Be thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the counsels of this honorable assembly. 02:05.290 --> 02:06.550 This is the first Congress. 02:07.750 --> 02:09.030 Asking for God's wisdom. 02:09.770 --> 02:14.810 Enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation, that the scene of 02:14.810 --> 02:20.010 blood may be speedily closed, that order, harmony, and peace may be effectually restored, 02:20.710 --> 02:26.550 and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. 02:27.490 --> 02:30.450 Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds. 02:30.750 --> 02:37.630 Shower down on them and the millions they here represent such temporal blessings as thou 02:37.630 --> 02:43.610 seeest expedient for them in this world, and crown them with everlasting glory in 02:43.610 --> 02:44.430 the world to come. 02:45.230 --> 02:55.070 All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, thy Son, and our Saviour. 03:01.040 --> 03:09.020 They founded this nation on the basis of Christianity and called for God to use it 03:09.020 --> 03:10.760 and flow in it and flow through it. 03:11.740 --> 03:15.640 And this nation has been a lighthouse to the world. 03:16.680 --> 03:22.580 In fact, one little fact that, of course, the news media will never share. 03:25.380 --> 03:31.000 We... I think Mary is the one who got the information from Robbie Dawkins. 03:31.240 --> 03:35.520 He is a missionary to the Muslim world and that realm over there. 03:36.620 --> 03:42.040 One of the things that was happening over there that we were not informed of, 03:43.640 --> 03:53.320 that President Trump responded to was the Christians were in Iran and in that part 03:53.320 --> 04:01.020 of the world were begging and asking for America to step in and stop it because 04:01.020 --> 04:08.540 according to the numbers that the missionaries put out and Robbie put them online, 04:08.540 --> 04:18.080 a minimum of 30,000 Christians in Iran have been killed in the last, I'll just say year, 04:18.200 --> 04:21.120 I think it's less, it's like last six or eight months. 04:22.420 --> 04:25.080 They were slaughtering them wholesale. 04:26.780 --> 04:31.840 Minimum of 30,000, they have estimates up over 50,000 Christians 04:33.580 --> 04:37.700 and they were begging for the United States to step in 04:37.700 --> 04:39.600 because nobody else would do it. 04:42.880 --> 04:44.100 See, that's America. 04:45.560 --> 04:50.440 Of course, we get painted as dirt because, well, we have no business over there. 04:51.700 --> 04:53.740 It's like a modern day crusade. 04:55.160 --> 04:57.340 Somebody's got to go in and shut the thing down. 04:58.300 --> 05:03.000 I mean, if we were being slaughtered in this country, wouldn't we pray 05:03.000 --> 05:04.580 that someone come and rescue us? 05:06.000 --> 05:11.360 So it's thank God for the Christian founding of this nation. 05:12.280 --> 05:16.100 I want to touch something else real quick here. 05:16.200 --> 05:17.260 We're showing during prayer. 05:19.440 --> 05:21.440 I'm going to take the time to show it again. 05:22.100 --> 05:29.660 It's a video by Paul Harvey that talks about the 56 signers of the Constitution 05:30.660 --> 05:36.340 because we have usually a very flowered view of what happened to these people. 05:37.060 --> 05:39.980 And I want to apply it in a very specific way. 05:40.160 --> 05:44.240 Dale, by the way, has his new book out in the four-year Courageous Christianity 05:44.880 --> 05:49.420 which goes right hand in hand with everything that we're going to talk about 05:49.420 --> 05:51.060 or we're going to touch right now. 05:55.850 --> 05:57.770 Mary said it in prayer, I'm going to say it again. 05:57.970 --> 06:02.210 For anything good to take place, somebody has to sacrifice. 06:04.030 --> 06:05.870 That's just the way this world runs. 06:06.770 --> 06:07.330 It's the way it is. 06:07.910 --> 06:11.510 For any good to come out of your family, somebody has got to sacrifice. 06:12.790 --> 06:13.870 Typically mom and dad. 06:14.810 --> 06:21.410 And when mom and dad are not willing to sacrifice, then one runs, they split. 06:21.710 --> 06:22.250 Things happen. 06:23.470 --> 06:28.930 For anything good to come out of the kingdom or for the kingdom on this earth, 06:28.930 --> 06:32.030 God's looking at us to sacrifice. 06:35.050 --> 06:37.850 That's a popular subject. Apparently you didn't know that. 06:37.950 --> 06:38.690 Nobody's amenning. 06:43.230 --> 06:46.930 The Bible emphasizes sacrificing for the kingdom of God 06:46.930 --> 06:50.110 as a core aspect of discipleship. 06:52.610 --> 06:55.150 So we can figure out of where disciples are not 06:55.150 --> 06:57.210 by are we sacrificing for the kingdom. 06:58.050 --> 07:02.970 This involves prioritizing God above personal comfort, 07:03.750 --> 07:07.910 possessions, relationship, and even life itself. 07:09.350 --> 07:13.230 In other words, you have to throw the syncristic world view out. 07:13.570 --> 07:17.890 You can't be in syncretism and be sacrificing for the kingdom 07:17.890 --> 07:19.630 because syncretism is just the opposite. 07:19.910 --> 07:23.790 We prioritize our personal comfort, possessions, relationships, 07:24.130 --> 07:25.730 and even life itself. 07:26.730 --> 07:28.650 That's the priority in syncretism. 07:29.110 --> 07:33.990 In the kingdom, we sacrifice these things, 07:34.170 --> 07:38.330 often described as an offering of a living sacrifice, 07:39.070 --> 07:42.790 denying self or giving up what hinders full commitment to Christ. 07:43.590 --> 07:46.150 Jesus modeled the ultimate sacrifice. 07:49.230 --> 07:52.570 Sacrificing for the kingdom isn't about earning salvation, 07:52.570 --> 07:55.830 which is by grace through Christ once for all sacrifice, 07:56.610 --> 08:03.210 but responding to what Jesus did with wholehearted devotions. 08:04.250 --> 08:13.790 It may involve time, resources, relationships, comfort, or even reputation. 08:15.150 --> 08:18.670 The New Testament frames this as joyful and worthwhile 08:18.670 --> 08:25.050 because the kingdom's value far exceeds the cost of our sacrifices. 08:27.730 --> 08:28.630 That's good. 08:30.110 --> 08:37.290 This is a dated video, so if it looks a little bit older, 08:37.590 --> 08:38.730 that's what the deal is. 08:39.230 --> 08:41.290 Information is still absolutely relevant. 08:42.050 --> 08:44.110 As you know, Paul Harvey is not with us anymore. 08:44.110 --> 08:50.870 But he lays out, you know, we kind of look at the founders of this nation 08:50.870 --> 08:59.310 and the people who signed that declaration in some kind of glorious, wonderful. 09:00.190 --> 09:03.390 It was awesome for them to do that mindset. 09:03.830 --> 09:09.990 We don't have a clue what was sacrificed to found this land, 09:10.930 --> 09:15.810 if for no other reason, for the spread of gospel throughout the world, 09:16.310 --> 09:23.270 for the saving of the rest of the Christians in Iran who haven't been killed yet. 09:24.210 --> 09:27.510 Did you know that right now they are going door to day? 09:27.690 --> 09:30.090 They is Islam, the Muslims, that military. 09:30.650 --> 09:35.930 They are going to door to door in Nigeria, house to house, 09:36.870 --> 09:39.090 finding the Christians, dragging them out, 09:39.690 --> 09:43.530 and now their favorite thing is they are digging big holes 09:43.530 --> 09:46.650 and either they kill them and drop them in the hole and bury them 09:46.650 --> 09:48.450 or they have been burying them alive. 09:50.290 --> 09:52.310 Pile them in the hole and cover them with dirt, 09:54.390 --> 09:55.810 because they won't deny Christ. 10:02.220 --> 10:03.960 And we are worried about tithing. 10:08.040 --> 10:10.260 It kind of puts it in perspective, doesn't it? 10:10.260 --> 10:12.360 Watch this video, this is really good. 10:26.630 --> 10:30.370 Americans the how and the why of our beloved Republic 10:30.370 --> 10:34.290 are so much better known and understood than the who. 10:35.010 --> 10:38.390 The United States of America was born in 1776, 10:38.630 --> 10:41.990 but it was conceived 169 years before that. 10:42.530 --> 10:45.910 The earliest settlers had watered the new world with much sweat. 10:46.650 --> 10:50.190 They had built substantial holdings for themselves, for their families, 10:50.190 --> 10:54.470 and when the time came to separate themselves from a tyranny and ocean away, 10:55.070 --> 10:58.970 at best it meant starting all over again after the ravages of war. 11:00.630 --> 11:02.270 Researching what you are about to hear 11:02.270 --> 11:08.170 gave a whole new dimension to my reverence for our nation's first citizens. 11:09.150 --> 11:13.070 All others of the world's revolutions before and since 11:13.070 --> 11:15.970 were initiated by men who had nothing to lose. 11:16.710 --> 11:17.710 Nothing to lose. 11:19.030 --> 11:21.890 Our founders had everything to lose. 11:22.290 --> 11:23.530 And nothing to gain. 11:25.150 --> 11:26.770 Except one thing. 11:37.420 --> 11:39.320 Hello Americans, I'm Paul Harvey. 11:40.420 --> 11:42.520 You remember the cherry tree fiction, 11:43.340 --> 11:47.340 a long time after you have forgotten the more earth-shaking history-making episodes 11:47.340 --> 11:48.620 in the life of George Washington. 11:49.120 --> 11:53.240 You have misplaced in your memory the details of Ben Franklin's statesmanship, 11:53.240 --> 11:55.460 but you remember his flying a kite. 11:56.100 --> 11:58.480 Joyce Kilmer was a great military hero. 11:59.160 --> 12:03.380 But the only thing you personally recall about him is his poetic tribute to trees. 12:04.700 --> 12:08.260 Maybe of this current decade that which will be remembered best 12:08.260 --> 12:12.160 will not be its wars and its moon rockets or its crumbling frontiers 12:12.160 --> 12:13.720 or the giants who lived and died. 12:13.880 --> 12:17.040 Maybe all that will survive to linger in the day-by-day vocabulary 12:17.040 --> 12:21.240 of generations yet unborn may be the... 12:21.240 --> 12:27.620 the songs of a Memphis minstrel or the reincarnation of electric automobiles. 12:29.360 --> 12:31.720 But for any eve of the 4th of July, 12:33.420 --> 12:36.880 I, Paul Harvey, do herewith bequeath unto you something to remember. 12:38.700 --> 12:42.960 You may not be able to quote one line from the Declaration of Independence at this moment. 12:44.420 --> 12:47.440 Henceforth, you'll always be able to quote at least one line. 12:48.760 --> 12:51.920 It's in the last paragraph where you will recall when I remind you 12:51.920 --> 12:57.160 it says we mutually pledged to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 12:59.120 --> 13:02.780 In the Pennsylvania State House that's now called Independence Hall in Philadelphia, 13:03.700 --> 13:07.100 the best men from each of the colonies sat down together. 13:07.760 --> 13:10.680 This was a very fortunate hour in our nation's history. 13:10.800 --> 13:14.040 One of those rare occasions in the lives of men when we had greatness to spare. 13:14.040 --> 13:18.500 These were men of means, well educated, 24 were lawyers and jurists. 13:19.480 --> 13:22.240 Nine were farmers, owners of large plantations. 13:23.260 --> 13:27.020 On June 11, a committee sat down to draw up a Declaration of Independence 13:27.020 --> 13:30.300 where we were going to tell the British Fatherland no more rule by red coats. 13:30.560 --> 13:35.280 Below the dam, a ruthless foreign rule, a stream of freedom was running shallow and muddy. 13:35.820 --> 13:39.220 And we were going to like a fuse to dynamite that dam. 13:40.020 --> 13:46.720 This pact, as Burke later put it, was a partnership between the living and the dead and the yet unborn. 13:47.780 --> 13:52.720 There was no bigotry, there was no demagoguery in this group, all had shared hardships. 13:54.500 --> 13:57.960 Jefferson finished a draft of the document in 17 days. 13:58.400 --> 14:01.320 Congress adopted it in July in so much as familiar history. 14:01.580 --> 14:06.680 But now, King George III had denounced all rebels in America as traitors, 14:06.680 --> 14:08.960 punishment for treason was hanging. 14:10.420 --> 14:17.500 The names now so familiar to you from the several signatures on that Declaration of Independence, 14:17.980 --> 14:21.400 the names were kept secret for six months, 14:21.800 --> 14:27.520 for each knew the full meaning of that magnificent last paragraph 14:27.520 --> 14:33.500 in which his signature pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. 14:35.120 --> 14:37.880 Fifty-six men placed their names beneath that pledge. 14:38.720 --> 14:44.260 Fifty-six men knew when they signed that they were risking everything. 14:45.540 --> 14:50.640 They knew if they won this fight, the best they could expect would be years of hardship and a struggling nation. 14:51.420 --> 14:54.860 And if they lost, they'd face a hangman's rope. 14:55.940 --> 14:57.300 But they signed the pledge. 14:58.820 --> 15:01.820 And here is the documented fate of that Gallant Fifty-six. 15:04.860 --> 15:07.740 Carter Braxton of Virginia, wealthy planter, trader, 15:08.020 --> 15:11.080 saw his ships swept from the seas to pay his debts. 15:11.420 --> 15:14.900 He lost his home and all of his properties and died in rags. 15:16.060 --> 15:18.560 Thomas Lynch Jr., who signed that pledge, 15:18.740 --> 15:21.240 was a third-generation rice grower, aristocrat, 15:21.320 --> 15:25.200 large plantation owner after he signed his health failed, 15:25.200 --> 15:30.820 his wife and he set out for France to regain his failing health. 15:30.980 --> 15:33.200 Their ship never got to France, was never heard from again. 15:34.100 --> 15:37.660 Thomas McKean of Delaware was so harassed by the enemy 15:37.660 --> 15:41.480 that he was forced to move his family five times in five months. 15:41.780 --> 15:45.940 He served in Congress without pay, his family in poverty and in hiding. 15:47.280 --> 15:52.760 Vandals looted the properties of Ellery and Clymer and Hall and Gwinnett and Walton and Hayward 15:52.760 --> 15:54.240 and Rutledge and Middleton. 15:54.860 --> 16:00.040 Thomas Nelson Jr. of Virginia raised $2 million on his own signature 16:00.040 --> 16:02.920 to provision our allies, the French fleet. 16:03.460 --> 16:07.760 After the war, he personally paid back the loans, wiped out his entire estate 16:08.420 --> 16:10.560 and he was never reimbursed by his government. 16:11.580 --> 16:15.760 In the final battle for Yorktown, he, Nelson, urged General Washington 16:15.760 --> 16:20.000 to fire on his Nelson's own home, which was occupied by Cornwallis. 16:20.000 --> 16:21.140 It was destroyed. 16:21.720 --> 16:27.760 Thomas Nelson Jr. had pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. 16:29.800 --> 16:34.040 The Hessians seized the home of Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey. 16:35.180 --> 16:39.200 Francis Lewis had his home and everything destroyed, his wife imprisoned. 16:39.920 --> 16:41.020 She died within a few months. 16:42.060 --> 16:46.020 Richard Stockton, who signed that declaration, was captured and mistreated. 16:46.720 --> 16:51.720 His health broken to the extent that he died at 51, his estate was pillaged. 16:52.320 --> 16:55.400 Thomas Hayward Jr. was captured when Charleston fell. 16:56.020 --> 17:00.560 John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside while she was dying. 17:01.540 --> 17:04.200 Their 13 children fled in all directions for their lives. 17:04.920 --> 17:06.900 His fields and grist mill were laid waste. 17:07.260 --> 17:11.560 For more than a year, he lived in forests and caves and returned home after the war 17:11.560 --> 17:15.220 to find his wife dead, his children gone, his properties gone. 17:15.220 --> 17:18.920 And he died a few weeks later of exhaustion and a broken heart. 17:19.960 --> 17:24.040 Lewis Morris saw his land destroyed, his family scattered. 17:25.160 --> 17:28.420 Philip Livingston died within a few months from the hardships of the war. 17:29.660 --> 17:34.800 John Hancock, history remembers best due to a quirk of fate rather than anything he stood for. 17:34.940 --> 17:40.140 That great sweeping signature attesting to his vanity. Towers over the others. 17:40.560 --> 17:42.740 One of the wealthiest men in New England. 17:43.620 --> 17:47.080 And yet he stood outside Boston one terrible night of the war. 17:48.140 --> 17:49.260 And he said, 17:50.420 --> 17:58.080 Burn Boston, though it makes John Hancock a beggar, if the public good requires it. 17:59.900 --> 18:02.400 So he too lived up to the pledge. 18:05.080 --> 18:08.180 Of the 56, few were long to survive. 18:08.660 --> 18:11.340 Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. 18:11.340 --> 18:15.040 Twelve had their homes from Rhode Island to Charleston. 18:15.200 --> 18:18.300 Sacked, looted, occupied by the enemy or burned. 18:18.880 --> 18:20.900 Two lost their sons in the army. 18:21.180 --> 18:22.300 One had two sons captured. 18:22.840 --> 18:27.720 Nine of the 56 died in the war from its hardships or from its more merciful bullets. 18:29.520 --> 18:38.540 I don't know what impression you had had of the men who met that summer in Philadelphia. 18:38.540 --> 18:42.440 But I think it's important that we remember this about them. 18:42.540 --> 18:44.180 They were not poor men. 18:44.720 --> 18:46.700 They were not wild-eyed pirates. 18:47.620 --> 18:48.840 These were men of means. 18:49.220 --> 18:50.520 They were rich men, most of them. 18:51.380 --> 18:54.520 And had enjoyed much ease and luxury in their personal living. 18:55.420 --> 18:56.900 Not hungry men. 18:57.680 --> 18:59.380 Certainly not terrorists. 18:59.900 --> 19:01.860 Not irresponsible, malcontents. 19:02.820 --> 19:04.420 Not fanatical incendiaries. 19:05.620 --> 19:08.180 These men were prosperous men. 19:08.180 --> 19:10.320 Wealthy landowners. 19:10.640 --> 19:13.440 They were substantially secure in their prosperity. 19:13.720 --> 19:15.320 They had everything to lose. 19:17.400 --> 19:21.280 But they considered liberty, and this is as much as I shall say of it. 19:22.300 --> 19:27.200 They had learned that liberty is so much more important than security. 19:27.980 --> 19:33.320 That they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. 19:34.120 --> 19:36.600 And they fulfilled their pledge. 19:38.180 --> 19:39.200 And they paid the price. 19:40.940 --> 19:42.140 And freedom was born. 19:48.870 --> 19:52.370 I pray the trend in the youngest generation continues to grow. 19:53.450 --> 19:56.910 And return back to some realms of patriotism. 19:57.470 --> 20:00.630 Because we had a slump for a number of years in this country. 20:00.910 --> 20:04.050 And we have a whole group of people. 20:04.230 --> 20:05.850 I won't put ages to it. 20:05.930 --> 20:08.310 But they're not the old people, and they're not the youngest people. 20:09.210 --> 20:10.930 They fit in between some place. 20:10.930 --> 20:20.710 Where even the Christians want nothing to do with making sure this country stays a godly nation. 20:20.910 --> 20:23.430 It's like it's beneath them spiritually. 20:23.650 --> 20:26.530 I'm too spiritual to get involved in that stupidity. 20:27.310 --> 20:32.850 And what we don't realize, those people, through their blood and their sacrifice, 20:33.990 --> 20:39.070 made it possible for us to have the spiritual freedom we have. 20:40.930 --> 20:44.050 And without it, we wouldn't have it. 20:44.350 --> 20:46.910 And if we don't cherish it, we will lose it. 20:49.670 --> 20:53.670 Islam is actively after this nation right now. 20:54.870 --> 20:59.690 And in numerous places, it's already flexed its muscles. 21:02.110 --> 21:10.590 And this isn't going to end well if we don't take serious the reason they laid it all down. 21:10.590 --> 21:12.710 And be willing to support that. 21:13.610 --> 21:17.070 So how many of you... 21:17.070 --> 21:18.770 Most of us, I think, no Dale. 21:18.950 --> 21:20.950 How many of you have never heard of Dale Worthington? 21:21.830 --> 21:22.090 Anybody? 21:23.230 --> 21:24.310 Oh, there's a few of you. 21:24.530 --> 21:26.710 Okay. Well, let me briefly introduce him. 21:28.210 --> 21:30.130 Dale and Sue have become good friends. 21:30.990 --> 21:36.070 And he is one of the chaplains to the state capital in St. Paul. 21:36.070 --> 21:41.330 And has worked there for years and years trying to keep the Christian influence there. 21:42.050 --> 21:44.510 We've partnered with them for Restore Minnesota, 21:44.730 --> 21:51.290 which again is trying to restore godly values and righteousness back to this state, 21:51.410 --> 21:53.050 which is so desperately needed. 21:54.290 --> 21:58.070 And he is continually... 21:58.690 --> 22:03.570 He just came back from numerous places where now this Restore Minnesota 22:03.570 --> 22:07.330 and the principles of it are spreading in this nation. 22:08.090 --> 22:11.290 So it's an honor to not only have him. 22:11.530 --> 22:13.970 He's kind of... he comes here often enough. 22:14.210 --> 22:15.850 He runs the cat team here. 22:16.810 --> 22:19.430 I would talk about Todd and Deeta a bit, but they're not here. 22:19.610 --> 22:21.130 So, well, snooze you lose. 22:23.690 --> 22:29.890 But he comes often and is laboring hard with he and his wife to get things done. 22:29.890 --> 22:33.710 And you know what? There was 56 men who signed the Constitution. 22:34.330 --> 22:39.950 There were 56 families, many wives who paid the price with the men. 22:40.790 --> 22:43.390 You can't be in the ministry and the wife gets off scot-free. 22:43.930 --> 22:44.990 She's in the ministry too. 22:45.510 --> 22:49.090 And you can't put your name to things and stand for God 22:49.090 --> 22:51.230 and the wife gets off scot-free. 22:51.390 --> 22:53.790 So thank you, Sue, for supporting him. 22:54.450 --> 22:54.850 Dale, come. 22:55.570 --> 22:57.950 We're going to let you take us someplace this morning. 23:06.560 --> 23:07.200 How's that? 23:08.460 --> 23:11.780 I got the inside button. I always say, you know, so I got one of the two. 23:12.360 --> 23:14.100 It's great to see you. It's great to be with you. 23:14.720 --> 23:16.920 Mama Sally, it's awfully good to see you. 23:17.280 --> 23:18.080 Ken, yeah. 23:19.840 --> 23:21.240 You knew I had to do that. 23:22.080 --> 23:23.800 To those of you who are online, welcome. 23:25.380 --> 23:27.500 Why do those 56 men do that? 23:29.680 --> 23:34.440 Why would they, with all of their comfort, with all of their wealth, 23:34.440 --> 23:38.840 with all of their security, why were they willing to do that? 23:39.540 --> 23:41.140 That's what we're going to talk a little bit about today. 23:42.540 --> 23:44.800 Yes, it's our 250th. 23:45.060 --> 23:51.280 If you were not aware of that, you've been under a rock for about, you know, 10 months. 23:52.240 --> 23:57.120 I mean, everything for this last year has been preparing us for what happened yesterday. 23:57.760 --> 23:59.020 I'm not talking about the storm, 23:59.020 --> 24:04.760 but about the celebration of America's 250th birthday. 24:06.420 --> 24:10.160 Few nations in the history of the world last 250 years, 24:10.520 --> 24:12.880 particularly under the same constitution. 24:13.100 --> 24:18.420 Our constitution is the longest living constitution in history and that concurrently. 24:19.120 --> 24:21.340 There's something significant about that. 24:21.460 --> 24:26.860 There's something significant about why those 56 put everything on the line. 24:26.860 --> 24:29.820 And that's kind of what I've been asked to give us a little bit about, 24:30.080 --> 24:32.480 so we can talk about celebrating America. 24:33.000 --> 24:36.480 That's a little bit different idea than what we've been dealing with for about the last six years. 24:37.680 --> 24:40.540 In fact, some of you here, some of you online, might be, 24:40.700 --> 24:42.480 I want to celebrate this thing? 24:44.780 --> 24:48.600 Pastor Vern mentioned that soon I've been doing some traveling. 24:50.240 --> 24:52.000 It has been, it's been weird for us. 24:52.100 --> 24:55.320 I mean, because we're never gone outside of Minnesota 24:55.320 --> 24:58.720 as much as we have been gone over the last two months or so. 24:59.180 --> 25:03.820 Been to Washington D.C. twice, meeting with some certain key people while we're in D.C. 25:05.500 --> 25:09.620 Then we were at a conference that we got to share at in Ohio. 25:10.640 --> 25:14.840 We were in South Dakota speaking to some groups throughout South Dakota. 25:15.240 --> 25:18.060 This last week, Friday morning, we got home. 25:18.460 --> 25:20.080 But we were gone from last... 25:20.080 --> 25:23.120 After I preached down in New Preg, you know, a couple hours from here, 25:23.120 --> 25:25.120 after I preached in New Preg last Sunday, we got on a plane. 25:25.300 --> 25:26.440 We were in Tennessee all week. 25:27.840 --> 25:30.580 And doing exactly what Pastor Vern was talking about. 25:30.920 --> 25:36.780 That is people in different pockets of the country are starting to get awakened to the idea 25:36.780 --> 25:41.520 that it's us, it's us, the church. 25:43.120 --> 25:47.580 It's the body of Christ that needs to wake up out of complacency 25:47.940 --> 25:51.200 and then take that and go into action mode 25:51.200 --> 25:54.120 based on the gospel, not just based on human emotion 25:54.120 --> 25:57.000 or some sort of human drive. 25:57.420 --> 25:58.960 But what's a gospel? 25:59.140 --> 26:00.760 What I want to be able to demonstrate to you today 26:00.760 --> 26:04.620 is because of the gospel, those 56 men signed that document. 26:04.780 --> 26:05.620 It's because of the gospel. 26:06.580 --> 26:08.060 It wasn't because of politics. 26:09.780 --> 26:10.740 No, that's right. 26:11.300 --> 26:14.200 Now, you're saying, yep, and I'm hearing the... 26:14.960 --> 26:16.420 What documentation do we have? 26:16.520 --> 26:18.160 Because we probably need to look at that a little bit. 26:18.160 --> 26:22.140 What led to them bringing in Pastor Jacob Duchet 26:22.140 --> 26:23.540 to pray that prayer? 26:24.740 --> 26:27.180 I remember when former Senator Dan Hall, 26:27.600 --> 26:29.960 while he was Senator from Burnsville, 26:30.520 --> 26:32.740 here in our Minnesota State Capitol, 26:32.940 --> 26:35.180 opened up on the opening day of legislation. 26:35.760 --> 26:38.060 He was asked to give the opening prayer 26:38.060 --> 26:41.380 and he said, instead of me just praying, 26:41.660 --> 26:44.920 I'm going to read the first official prayer 26:46.220 --> 26:47.920 and he read that whole prayer. 26:49.340 --> 26:51.480 He closed it off just as it says 26:51.480 --> 26:54.140 in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, amen. 26:55.620 --> 26:57.320 And as soon as he did that, 26:58.320 --> 27:00.560 pandemonium from the president's podium 27:00.560 --> 27:03.420 and from a particular senator sitting right there, 27:03.500 --> 27:04.880 because I was there, 27:05.760 --> 27:10.300 jumped up and it all broke loose 27:10.300 --> 27:13.320 because he dared name the name Jesus Christ 27:13.320 --> 27:14.260 in our State House. 27:15.420 --> 27:18.140 Now, enough of you have heard us 27:18.140 --> 27:19.660 give lots of presentations here 27:19.660 --> 27:21.280 on that particular issue. 27:21.380 --> 27:22.800 I'm not going to go into detail about that, 27:23.120 --> 27:26.320 but here's one thing that is very intriguing to me 27:27.320 --> 27:30.380 and that is, as Sue and I were with 27:30.380 --> 27:33.200 a number of people in those three states I mentioned 27:33.900 --> 27:36.040 outside of D.C., but when we were in Ohio, 27:36.520 --> 27:37.980 South Dakota and in Tennessee. 27:39.940 --> 27:41.960 If you know anything about those states, 27:41.960 --> 27:46.080 one of the key questions people from those states asked is 27:46.080 --> 27:50.080 what are we doing bringing in somebody from Minnesota 27:50.080 --> 27:51.060 to talk to us? 27:56.130 --> 27:57.550 Would you have a question? 28:00.070 --> 28:04.090 And it was because, for a number of reasons, 28:04.510 --> 28:08.030 but we got a presentation on the three W's 28:08.450 --> 28:12.670 being worshipers, watchmen and warriors. 28:13.890 --> 28:16.190 And primarily it was the watchmen piece 28:16.670 --> 28:18.150 that they were asking about 28:18.670 --> 28:20.650 because, for instance, Tennessee right now 28:21.430 --> 28:23.410 they're only about 15 years behind Minnesota. 28:24.790 --> 28:27.950 And they needed to hear that Pastor Vernon was talking about 28:27.950 --> 28:30.410 the Islamic influence here in Minnesota, 28:30.810 --> 28:33.350 the Islamic Republic takeover of Minnesota 28:33.350 --> 28:35.570 and it's not just Islam, it's communism. 28:36.690 --> 28:38.650 It's called the red-green-blue axis. 28:38.830 --> 28:40.010 We just don't have time to go into it. 28:40.010 --> 28:41.810 It's communism, Islam and globalism. 28:42.650 --> 28:45.250 And here's what I discovered while we're traveling 28:45.250 --> 28:48.070 in places like the free state of South Dakota. 28:50.090 --> 28:51.670 And why they're asking the question, 28:51.830 --> 28:54.430 why would we bring somebody from Minnesota into South Dakota? 28:57.810 --> 29:00.310 They're not under the same religious cloud 29:00.840 --> 29:02.530 of oppression that we are here in Minnesota. 29:03.670 --> 29:06.330 You've heard my wife give her a talk on identity 29:06.330 --> 29:08.830 and she talks about an encounter with God that she had 29:08.830 --> 29:11.850 and this religious cloud of oppression, the spiritual cloud. 29:12.330 --> 29:15.190 I experienced what she was talking about 29:15.190 --> 29:17.890 because while in all of those states 29:17.890 --> 29:20.950 I would get every now and again, I would check 29:20.950 --> 29:23.730 what was going on back here in Minnesota 29:23.730 --> 29:27.310 and I'd go to some of the primary sources 29:27.830 --> 29:29.250 like the Star and Sickle. 29:30.290 --> 29:32.170 Some of you know it as the Star Tribune. 29:37.470 --> 29:41.910 Every article, every article on the front page 29:41.910 --> 29:46.550 was about something negative, something wrong, something bad 29:46.550 --> 29:48.430 and I started going back saying, 29:48.790 --> 29:52.010 when is the last time, when is the last time 29:52.010 --> 29:54.530 there has been anything on the front page 29:54.530 --> 29:58.230 that would give any sense of encouragement or lifting up 29:58.230 --> 30:01.170 and what continues to happen as we continue 30:01.170 --> 30:03.070 to read that stuff if you do 30:03.070 --> 30:07.170 or as you continue to plug into mainstream media 30:07.170 --> 30:11.510 if you do, you need to know 30:11.510 --> 30:14.810 that you are being programmed to be held down 30:14.810 --> 30:18.870 and it's obvious when you're not here 30:18.870 --> 30:21.950 when you're in another state in this United States 30:21.950 --> 30:23.310 that's not doing that. 30:24.970 --> 30:27.170 So the question would be why here? 30:28.030 --> 30:30.170 Well anybody who's ever seen the book 30:30.170 --> 30:33.650 Minnesota The Revival State from 1860 to 1960 30:34.170 --> 30:36.990 understands that Minnesota is meant to lead 30:36.990 --> 30:39.390 the revival that Pastor Verne is talking about. 30:39.690 --> 30:40.850 It's supposed to come down through Canada 30:40.850 --> 30:42.650 just over the border from northern Minnesota 30:43.170 --> 30:45.970 and it's supposed to feed the rest of the nation 30:45.970 --> 30:49.450 so we are the primary target in many ways 30:50.430 --> 30:53.170 of our spiritual enemy who's got a grip 30:53.170 --> 30:54.570 on this state for a while. 30:54.990 --> 30:56.890 I mean this state held the headquarters 30:56.890 --> 30:59.070 for the American Communist Party 30:59.070 --> 31:00.590 up in the Iron Range for years. 31:01.590 --> 31:03.130 Now look, this is not political. 31:03.330 --> 31:04.790 This is spiritual. Some of you are saying 31:04.790 --> 31:06.350 I thought I came to church this morning. 31:06.850 --> 31:07.890 Welcome to church! 31:10.090 --> 31:13.130 This is not political because the heart 31:13.130 --> 31:16.030 of communism is atheism 31:16.030 --> 31:18.070 as we would call God. 31:18.190 --> 31:20.470 In fact, I would call it replacement God 31:21.070 --> 31:23.150 because for communism God is government 31:23.150 --> 31:24.980 and government will dictate everything 31:25.640 --> 31:26.660 about your life. 31:28.080 --> 31:29.700 They'll tell you where you go to school 31:29.700 --> 31:30.920 if you get to go to school. 31:31.540 --> 31:32.980 It will dictate where you live. 31:33.140 --> 31:34.540 It will dictate where you even get a car 31:34.540 --> 31:36.560 and if you get a car, you might wait for 10 years 31:36.560 --> 31:38.600 after you put your down payment before you get your car. 31:39.380 --> 31:42.080 They'll tell you virtually everything about your life 31:42.080 --> 31:43.720 and how do we know some of that? 31:44.220 --> 31:46.060 All right, I'm going to say 31:46.060 --> 31:47.780 a really naughty word right now. 31:49.680 --> 31:50.080 FIFA. 31:51.720 --> 31:52.840 Now some of you... 31:53.280 --> 31:54.460 World Cup soccer. 31:54.660 --> 31:56.440 All of you know I played football and baseball. 31:56.640 --> 31:57.860 Soccer was not my thing. 31:58.980 --> 32:01.500 I want to say soccer is not even a sport. 32:01.860 --> 32:02.760 That's not good. 32:03.500 --> 32:05.320 It's the world's number one sport. 32:05.680 --> 32:06.940 And I've got to support it now 32:06.940 --> 32:08.400 because my granddaughter is playing 32:08.400 --> 32:09.320 and she's really good. 32:11.300 --> 32:12.800 So for me it wasn't a sport 32:12.800 --> 32:13.840 because that's something... 32:13.840 --> 32:16.420 I can't even call them two left feet 32:16.420 --> 32:17.760 because some people can play with left feet. 32:18.860 --> 32:21.740 But the whole world is coming to the United States 32:21.740 --> 32:23.660 and guess what the world is saying 32:23.660 --> 32:25.060 about the United States? 32:25.580 --> 32:27.340 That, what you see on the screen, 32:27.760 --> 32:28.940 they're saying we had no idea. 32:29.500 --> 32:31.340 This isn't what we were taught in our countries. 32:31.780 --> 32:33.220 We were taught about this about America 32:33.220 --> 32:34.880 and that about America and this about... 32:34.880 --> 32:36.860 and then they come here and say, that's not true at all. 32:37.740 --> 32:39.400 They're saying, my God, 32:39.500 --> 32:40.420 I'm going to the grocery stores. 32:40.520 --> 32:41.540 I've never seen so much food. 32:42.000 --> 32:43.240 I've never seen so many aisles. 32:44.840 --> 32:47.940 Gasoline stations where gas is under $7 a gallon. 32:49.400 --> 32:51.040 You can go from state to state 32:51.040 --> 32:52.320 and nobody asks questions about it. 32:53.040 --> 32:53.320 Yeah. 32:55.020 --> 32:56.260 The country is beautiful. 32:56.780 --> 32:59.640 And then you've got freedom here that we don't have. 33:00.100 --> 33:02.460 And the world is discovering 33:02.800 --> 33:05.040 what many of us have forgotten. 33:05.680 --> 33:05.960 Yeah. 33:06.200 --> 33:09.820 And many of us tend to take for granted 33:09.820 --> 33:12.760 and then we live under this cloud 33:12.760 --> 33:16.200 of all the information of how bad it is, 33:16.400 --> 33:18.080 how bad we are. 33:18.360 --> 33:20.120 And we've got to apologize for this 33:20.120 --> 33:21.240 and apologize for that. 33:23.700 --> 33:24.180 Look, 33:25.460 --> 33:27.760 if you think I'm ever going to apologize 33:27.760 --> 33:29.160 for the color of my skin, 33:33.430 --> 33:35.650 that would be like slapping God in the face 33:35.650 --> 33:36.690 because it's his mistake. 33:41.100 --> 33:43.760 And if our friend Kendall Qualls was here 33:45.300 --> 33:47.620 or Christopher Brooks, who lives in Isanti, 33:48.180 --> 33:51.760 or other men of color, Dominique Sims, 33:51.940 --> 33:53.080 some of you don't even know Dominique. 33:53.080 --> 33:54.160 We were with Dominique yesterday. 33:55.640 --> 33:57.860 Black men love the Lord. 34:02.250 --> 34:04.690 Did God make a mistake because they're black? 34:05.390 --> 34:05.910 No. 34:06.850 --> 34:09.690 So we've got to be careful what we buy into, folks. 34:10.850 --> 34:12.690 Okay, I probably should get moving on 34:12.690 --> 34:14.530 because I haven't gotten into my presentation yet. 34:15.490 --> 34:17.410 Vern told me I had to be done by 4.30. 34:22.230 --> 34:23.330 Pastor Igor says, 34:23.330 --> 34:25.650 but my kids eat a lot earlier than that 34:25.650 --> 34:26.830 so I'll get moving with her, ain't it? 34:28.430 --> 34:29.910 The Ukrainian Jesus. 34:34.730 --> 34:36.610 I see this a lot of Igor and Tanya. 34:40.370 --> 34:41.710 It's so much fun right now. 34:41.830 --> 34:42.770 I have the mic and he doesn't. 34:43.670 --> 34:44.150 Okay. 34:48.810 --> 34:51.330 When in the course of human events 34:52.370 --> 34:54.170 it becomes necessary 34:54.170 --> 34:57.970 for one people to dissolve the political bands 34:57.970 --> 35:00.270 which have connected them with another 35:01.050 --> 35:03.630 and to assume among the powers of the earth 35:03.830 --> 35:05.830 the separate and equal station 35:05.830 --> 35:09.770 to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them 35:10.950 --> 35:15.150 a decent respect to the opinions of mankind 35:16.030 --> 35:19.070 requires that they should declare the causes 35:19.070 --> 35:21.470 which impel them to the separation. 35:23.270 --> 35:26.170 We hold these truths 35:29.090 --> 35:30.010 truths 35:31.070 --> 35:33.610 we hold these truths 35:35.350 --> 35:37.390 to be self-evident 35:37.390 --> 35:40.850 as my friend, former congresswoman from Ohio, Bobby Kuhn says 35:40.850 --> 35:43.750 or as any idiot would understand. 35:44.010 --> 35:45.090 That's how he describes it. 35:46.810 --> 35:50.490 All men are created equal 35:50.490 --> 35:54.310 and all are endowed by their Creator. 35:54.970 --> 35:56.370 Not the government. 35:58.210 --> 35:59.030 All men. 36:00.130 --> 36:01.670 See it wasn't just about America 36:01.670 --> 36:06.170 it was a statement about all men, all women everywhere. 36:07.310 --> 36:10.110 That's the key unique driving force 36:10.110 --> 36:11.330 of the Declaration of Independence. 36:11.750 --> 36:13.830 It was the first historical document 36:14.070 --> 36:15.530 that gave recognition 36:15.530 --> 36:18.010 that every human being on the planet 36:18.010 --> 36:20.610 is endowed by our Creator 36:20.610 --> 36:23.410 with certain unalienable rights 36:23.410 --> 36:25.790 and among those, not exclusive all of them 36:25.790 --> 36:28.810 but among those are life, liberty 36:28.810 --> 36:30.490 and the pursuit of happiness 36:30.750 --> 36:33.830 and that governments are instituted among men 36:33.830 --> 36:36.770 to secure those rights. 36:41.360 --> 36:44.440 Deriving their just powers 36:45.940 --> 36:50.080 from the consent of the governed. 36:53.550 --> 36:55.650 Yeah, I know it's correct. I just read it. 36:55.690 --> 36:57.790 Yeah, I'm just kidding. 36:58.790 --> 37:00.170 Yeah, just kidding. 37:00.990 --> 37:03.870 So, where did this come from? 37:05.670 --> 37:06.870 What drove this? 37:09.070 --> 37:11.670 Who instigated this whole pursuit 37:11.670 --> 37:14.670 for independence, for freedom? 37:15.190 --> 37:17.090 And guys, I don't know if you can put this 37:17.090 --> 37:18.450 on the screen back there. 37:18.510 --> 37:19.410 Oh, there you go. Thank you. 37:19.610 --> 37:20.770 That way I don't have to just keep 37:20.770 --> 37:22.470 flipping my head around, but that helps me too. 37:22.630 --> 37:22.910 Thanks. 37:23.710 --> 37:24.550 But who instigated? 37:24.650 --> 37:25.630 Who started this whole thing? 37:25.750 --> 37:26.510 How did this happen? 37:26.970 --> 37:31.290 Well, it started by pastors in the church. 37:32.590 --> 37:34.770 The United States of America 37:34.770 --> 37:39.030 was founded by Christ-centered pastors 37:40.850 --> 37:42.110 and their congregations. 37:42.110 --> 37:45.530 And it was what they taught those men 37:45.530 --> 37:46.910 who showed up in Philadelphia. 37:47.270 --> 37:49.470 It's the study that those men did 37:49.470 --> 37:52.470 under those pastors and under the universities 37:52.470 --> 37:56.230 like Harvard, which was a Christ-centered 37:56.230 --> 37:57.430 university at the time, 37:57.850 --> 37:59.550 Yale, which was a Christ-centered 37:59.550 --> 38:00.750 university at the time. 38:04.520 --> 38:06.220 It's what they learned about the scriptures 38:07.060 --> 38:09.240 that caused them to move forward here. 38:11.080 --> 38:13.740 So here's a little history just real quick. 38:15.380 --> 38:17.260 And I'm just bullet points. 38:18.200 --> 38:20.120 1215, we get this document called 38:20.120 --> 38:20.820 the Magna Carta. 38:21.240 --> 38:22.120 What was the Magna Carta? 38:22.480 --> 38:26.180 The Magna Carta was the leaders in England 38:26.180 --> 38:27.960 pulling the king together in a little 38:27.960 --> 38:29.980 roundtable discussion and looking him 38:29.980 --> 38:31.220 in the eyes and saying, 38:31.540 --> 38:35.260 you only rule us because we let you. 38:36.740 --> 38:39.120 You don't have a divine right 38:39.120 --> 38:39.700 from God. 38:40.420 --> 38:41.960 You don't get to be our tyrant. 38:42.220 --> 38:43.640 You don't get to be our oppressor. 38:43.920 --> 38:45.620 You don't get to be the one who gives 38:45.620 --> 38:48.680 laws or be the one who determines 38:48.680 --> 38:50.620 which laws we all have to follow. 38:51.680 --> 38:53.000 We stop that now. 38:53.180 --> 38:54.520 This is a bold move in history. 38:54.640 --> 38:56.080 That had never happened because every king 38:56.080 --> 38:58.200 in history thought that they had the right 38:58.200 --> 39:00.280 to, here's what the law is. 39:00.560 --> 39:02.040 I'm the final say on the law. 39:02.180 --> 39:03.660 You will follow me or you die. 39:04.140 --> 39:05.980 And all these leaders in England came together 39:05.980 --> 39:08.420 and said, it stops here, stops now. 39:08.420 --> 39:11.460 That's Dale's short version of the Magna Carta. 39:11.900 --> 39:14.140 Which then, let's jump forward, 39:14.400 --> 39:16.840 because even in watching Paul Harvey, 39:17.260 --> 39:18.920 when he said 1776, 39:19.100 --> 39:21.300 when he said it goes back 169 years ago, 39:21.580 --> 39:22.600 what's he referring to? 39:22.980 --> 39:24.540 He's referring to Reverend Robert Hunt 39:24.540 --> 39:27.120 and landing at Cape Henry in 1607. 39:27.660 --> 39:28.900 We don't have time to go in all this, 39:28.960 --> 39:29.880 but we've spent a lot of time 39:29.880 --> 39:30.840 in other times I've been here 39:30.840 --> 39:31.940 talking about the event. 39:32.200 --> 39:33.320 But what happened in that event? 39:33.660 --> 39:34.620 When they came across, 39:34.800 --> 39:35.860 what was the first thing they did 39:35.860 --> 39:37.620 when they finally landed 39:37.620 --> 39:39.080 after a really tough trip? 39:39.560 --> 39:41.520 They did not plant the flag of England. 39:42.220 --> 39:44.620 They planted a cross at Cape Henry. 39:45.080 --> 39:47.580 And that cross is now still there under concrete 39:47.580 --> 39:49.840 because the wooden crosses kept getting destroyed 39:49.840 --> 39:51.200 so they have to keep putting a new one. 39:51.480 --> 39:54.080 But the key event, the very first thing that happened 39:54.080 --> 39:55.580 when the first people came from England 39:55.580 --> 39:57.700 is they hit their knees on the shore. 39:57.800 --> 39:58.700 They planted a cross 39:58.700 --> 40:02.080 and they prayed a prayer of dedication and covenant 40:02.080 --> 40:05.880 saying that we are completely dedicating this land 40:05.880 --> 40:07.360 to the Lordship of Jesus. 40:07.680 --> 40:10.500 We are making a covenant with God in heaven 40:10.500 --> 40:13.120 that we will be the ones to take his gospel 40:13.120 --> 40:17.460 of Jesus Christ to all of the inhabitants of this land 40:17.460 --> 40:20.180 and when others come here, 40:20.420 --> 40:21.480 we are going to tell them 40:21.480 --> 40:23.000 you're going to buy into that 40:23.000 --> 40:26.240 by not only taking the gospel to all of this land 40:26.240 --> 40:28.100 and remember, they're in Cape Henry. 40:28.480 --> 40:30.440 They had no idea how far north or south it went. 40:30.720 --> 40:32.880 They had no idea how far west it went. 40:33.140 --> 40:33.800 They had no clue. 40:36.360 --> 40:39.360 But they did say that this new land, 40:39.460 --> 40:40.860 here's our covenant with God. 40:41.360 --> 40:44.060 This new land would be the central place 40:44.060 --> 40:46.920 in the world along with England at the time 40:46.920 --> 40:49.480 to take the gospel to the whole world. 40:51.040 --> 40:54.080 That was the dedication that started this nation 40:54.080 --> 40:55.400 in 1607. 40:56.020 --> 40:59.040 That led to when the pilgrims came over 40:59.040 --> 41:00.740 in 1620 on the Mayflower 41:00.740 --> 41:02.300 and they were heading to Virginia 41:02.740 --> 41:03.840 and they got off course 41:03.840 --> 41:05.680 because of the time of year they came 41:05.680 --> 41:06.880 because of the currents and all that. 41:07.280 --> 41:09.800 And they only missed Virginia by something like 600 miles 41:09.800 --> 41:10.900 just slightly. 41:11.460 --> 41:12.800 And they ended up at Plymouth Rock. 41:12.940 --> 41:13.620 They're up in Massachusetts. 41:14.300 --> 41:15.900 But before they get off the boat, 41:16.060 --> 41:19.360 they create a document under Governor William Bradford 41:19.360 --> 41:21.140 who, when he was a teenager, 41:21.580 --> 41:23.000 he was the one who screwed the mansion 41:23.000 --> 41:25.900 who was protecting those who were studying the Bible 41:25.900 --> 41:28.960 illegally because it wasn't the official King James. 41:30.080 --> 41:31.260 And so King James was that. 41:31.480 --> 41:33.440 So he'd be hiding to let them know 41:33.440 --> 41:35.420 if the King's men were coming. 41:35.560 --> 41:36.400 Now he's grown up. 41:36.740 --> 41:37.360 He's an adult. 41:37.680 --> 41:39.320 He'd been raised under John Robinson 41:39.320 --> 41:40.380 when they were in the Netherlands. 41:40.760 --> 41:42.380 They get over here to the United States 41:42.380 --> 41:44.160 and he says before we get off the boat, 41:44.380 --> 41:46.400 we're gonna form this Mayflower compact 41:46.400 --> 41:48.120 and in the Mayflower compact it says 41:48.120 --> 41:51.620 we are forming a civil body politic. 41:52.200 --> 41:53.280 We're forming a government. 41:54.880 --> 41:58.160 And this government is meant to bring glory to God, 41:58.680 --> 41:59.360 honor the King, 41:59.640 --> 42:01.460 and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. 42:02.520 --> 42:03.760 That's what the Mayflower compact... 42:03.760 --> 42:04.340 I know I'm shouting. 42:04.540 --> 42:05.200 I just get excited. 42:07.460 --> 42:09.040 This stuff pumps me up. 42:09.080 --> 42:09.780 I don't know if it pumps you up. 42:10.020 --> 42:12.240 If nothing else, you will leave awake today. 42:16.660 --> 42:18.100 But that's the Mayflower compact. 42:18.560 --> 42:20.440 Mayflower compact was to acknowledge 42:20.440 --> 42:22.800 the centrality of Jesus Christ 42:22.800 --> 42:25.960 for this nation and our politics, 42:26.380 --> 42:26.940 our government. 42:27.660 --> 42:28.560 And many of you, 42:28.780 --> 42:30.040 and I saw enough hands go up 42:30.040 --> 42:31.380 that you need to understand 42:31.980 --> 42:34.360 when we talk about politics in church. 42:34.960 --> 42:36.940 And I know politics comes from the Latin. 42:38.200 --> 42:39.660 Polly meaning many 42:39.660 --> 42:41.760 and tics meaning blood-sucking insects. 42:44.920 --> 42:46.120 We get that. 42:47.420 --> 42:50.300 But what it really is supposed to mean 42:50.300 --> 42:51.840 is effective governance. 42:52.460 --> 42:54.180 So God created government 42:54.180 --> 42:57.620 and politics is effectively doing government. 42:59.280 --> 43:00.200 Unless you're in Minnesota. 43:00.500 --> 43:00.800 No. 43:01.920 --> 43:03.780 Where we've got to fight for that to happen again. 43:04.620 --> 43:05.520 I'm going to get to that. 43:06.820 --> 43:08.760 I just gave you a precursor 43:08.760 --> 43:09.360 of where we're going. 43:10.160 --> 43:12.480 Now, the Articles of Confederation 43:12.480 --> 43:13.160 with John Winthrop, 43:13.300 --> 43:15.240 when he came across on the Arabella in 1643, 43:15.760 --> 43:16.280 I'm going to get to that 43:16.280 --> 43:17.580 a little bit more in detail here shortly. 43:18.160 --> 43:20.860 But it was when those folks in New England 43:20.860 --> 43:22.500 started to put in the colonies and grow, 43:22.860 --> 43:24.840 it was the clergy of New England. 43:25.820 --> 43:28.380 It keeps going off and on that screen up there. 43:28.460 --> 43:29.120 Just letting you guys know. 43:29.280 --> 43:31.400 So as a clergy of New England 43:31.400 --> 43:33.720 that instigated this whole pursuit for freedom 43:33.720 --> 43:36.660 throughout and they did it more than 100 years 43:36.660 --> 43:38.300 before the War for Independence. 43:39.320 --> 43:40.180 What you think about that? 43:41.900 --> 43:43.800 The messaging for freedom. 43:44.660 --> 43:47.840 The messaging for not necessarily separation 43:48.820 --> 43:51.760 but the idea of the royal charters. 43:51.900 --> 43:54.580 The concept that the king signed off on 43:54.580 --> 43:57.580 was the experiment in self-government 43:57.580 --> 44:00.120 not just being under a crown over there 44:00.120 --> 44:02.320 but we're going to regulate ourselves 44:02.320 --> 44:05.100 and we're going to do it under scriptural terms. 44:06.020 --> 44:08.120 Because they're not doing it over there. 44:08.320 --> 44:08.980 And when they're over there 44:08.980 --> 44:10.460 it wasn't just England, it was anywhere in Europe. 44:11.240 --> 44:12.580 Because there was this combination 44:12.580 --> 44:14.920 of the church and the government 44:14.920 --> 44:17.020 that was a very unholy alliance 44:17.020 --> 44:19.300 and we were not going to create something like that. 44:19.420 --> 44:20.580 They were going to create something new. 44:20.860 --> 44:22.400 But the pastors were setting this 44:22.400 --> 44:24.960 more than 100 years before the War for Independence. 44:26.260 --> 44:29.600 Four of the most influential thought leaders 44:29.600 --> 44:31.520 four of the six most influential thought leaders 44:31.520 --> 44:34.500 in that era from 100 years before 44:34.500 --> 44:35.700 all the way up to the founding era 44:35.700 --> 44:37.100 four of them were pastors. 44:37.300 --> 44:37.980 They were preachers. 44:39.400 --> 44:41.760 They actually used the Bible 44:42.720 --> 44:44.760 to speak to cultural issues. 44:44.960 --> 44:45.760 Can you imagine that? 44:46.040 --> 44:46.580 See you can. 44:46.720 --> 44:48.280 You've got a pastor who's got guts to do that. 44:52.590 --> 44:54.010 I don't say, yeah, two of them. 44:55.130 --> 44:55.810 Three of them? 44:55.950 --> 44:56.950 Okay, Pastor Mary, yep. 44:57.570 --> 44:57.870 Okay. 45:01.840 --> 45:03.260 Why do I say it took guts? 45:03.580 --> 45:04.720 Because in today's climate 45:04.720 --> 45:07.180 over 86% of the pastors in the United States 45:07.180 --> 45:09.180 will not teach their congregations 45:09.180 --> 45:10.940 what the Bible says about cultural issues. 45:12.620 --> 45:14.540 Because they're afraid they're going to offend somebody. 45:15.000 --> 45:17.080 They're afraid of what check is going to walk out the door 45:17.080 --> 45:18.420 because they're going to offend some Republican 45:18.420 --> 45:20.760 or some Democrat for speaking biblical truth. 45:20.760 --> 45:22.220 Let them leave. 45:24.220 --> 45:29.100 You don't sacrifice truth for emotional response. 45:30.600 --> 45:32.080 And you certainly don't do it 45:32.080 --> 45:33.880 because you have more fear of your church board 45:33.880 --> 45:34.920 than you have fear of the Lord. 45:36.060 --> 45:38.680 That is a dilemma in the United States today. 45:40.020 --> 45:41.180 See, that's part of the problem that we had 45:41.180 --> 45:42.560 while we were this week in Tennessee. 45:43.220 --> 45:45.160 Tennessee has been so... 45:45.160 --> 45:46.520 it's not just in the Bible Belt. 45:46.660 --> 45:48.140 It's the buckle. 45:48.740 --> 45:50.900 I mean, when you think of Tennessee, right? 45:51.400 --> 45:52.580 Here's what happens, though. 45:53.280 --> 45:56.160 You get really complacent as a Christian. 45:57.540 --> 45:59.220 It's always been Christian. 45:59.980 --> 46:01.980 So it always will be Christian. 46:02.640 --> 46:04.700 And don't look at the fact that the same 46:04.700 --> 46:06.460 communists in Islamist jihadists 46:06.460 --> 46:07.720 who've taken over Minnesota 46:07.720 --> 46:09.640 are now taking over Chattanooga, 46:09.780 --> 46:11.360 Memphis, Knoxville and Nashville. 46:12.720 --> 46:14.840 Don't look at the fact that they're taking over Texas. 46:16.980 --> 46:18.560 So we got to understand 46:18.560 --> 46:22.640 we are in a war spiritually 46:22.640 --> 46:24.740 and it's a war of ideologies. 46:24.880 --> 46:26.480 What's the primary ideology? 46:27.080 --> 46:29.380 Is Christ Lord or is he not? 46:29.540 --> 46:30.320 That's the ideology. 46:30.740 --> 46:32.160 We're not going to go pick into each one 46:32.160 --> 46:33.480 of the individual ideologies 46:33.480 --> 46:34.460 in which each one pushes 46:34.460 --> 46:37.040 because of all the major ideologies 46:37.040 --> 46:38.420 and they all hate each other. 46:38.560 --> 46:39.880 The one thing they unify on is 46:39.880 --> 46:41.020 the friend of my friend... 46:41.020 --> 46:43.820 The friend of my friend is... 46:46.380 --> 46:47.700 Anyway, if I hate him, 46:47.760 --> 46:48.640 they hate him, we're friends. 46:49.240 --> 46:50.720 I don't know why I can't remember this. 46:51.100 --> 46:52.760 That's the first time I've stumbled on that one. 46:58.040 --> 46:59.940 I can't remember why I did that. 47:00.020 --> 47:02.440 Anyway, but that's what's going on in the country. 47:05.220 --> 47:06.620 That's what's going on in Minnesota. 47:07.120 --> 47:10.040 That's the spiritual nature of our battle. 47:11.720 --> 47:13.140 Who are these six? 47:13.660 --> 47:14.960 Reverend Thomas Hooker, 47:16.480 --> 47:17.900 Reverend Roger Williams, 47:18.260 --> 47:19.700 John Wise, Jonathan Mayhew, 47:19.780 --> 47:21.040 Richard Bland and Benjamin Franklin. 47:22.820 --> 47:24.760 Hooker is from Connecticut 47:25.340 --> 47:27.720 and he based a lot of this. 47:27.940 --> 47:29.680 He wrote the Constitution for Connecticut 47:29.680 --> 47:31.540 and everything he did came from 47:31.540 --> 47:33.400 reading the gospel, from studying scriptures. 47:33.980 --> 47:35.340 Roger Williams, Rhode Island, 47:36.180 --> 47:37.300 and he was famous... 47:37.300 --> 47:38.920 I just don't have time to go in all six of these. 47:38.920 --> 47:40.540 At some point, maybe we'll do a whole workshop 47:40.540 --> 47:41.320 on something like this. 47:41.540 --> 47:43.060 John Wise, pastor in Massachusetts. 47:43.280 --> 47:44.440 I'll show you Massachusetts. 47:45.860 --> 47:47.020 Mayhew was up in Massachusetts. 47:47.280 --> 47:50.980 Richard Bland was a statesman in Virginia, 47:51.480 --> 47:52.480 cousin to Thomas Jefferson. 47:53.120 --> 47:54.760 The guy wrote brilliantly and again 47:54.760 --> 47:57.300 what drove his writing as a statesman 47:57.300 --> 47:58.120 was the scriptures. 47:58.660 --> 47:59.600 And then Benjamin Franklin. 48:00.140 --> 48:02.460 Anybody seen the movie Great Awakening yet? 48:03.200 --> 48:04.000 A few of you have. 48:04.000 --> 48:05.260 I'd recommend you go see it. 48:05.260 --> 48:07.700 It's a very well done movie 48:07.700 --> 48:09.920 on preacher George Whitfield 48:09.920 --> 48:12.120 coming from England a number of times. 48:12.240 --> 48:13.720 Coming into America being a big part 48:13.720 --> 48:14.840 of the Great Awakening 48:14.840 --> 48:17.860 because Great Awakening starts with prayer 48:17.860 --> 48:19.720 and Bible study 48:19.720 --> 48:21.320 and proclaiming the gospel. 48:21.880 --> 48:23.680 And when people wake up 48:23.680 --> 48:25.800 and the Lord gets a hold of their lives 48:25.800 --> 48:26.580 things change. 48:28.040 --> 48:29.480 And they change culturally. 48:31.860 --> 48:33.540 And Benjamin Franklin 48:34.300 --> 48:35.900 was at the heart of that. 48:36.180 --> 48:37.900 In fact, a lot of people don't even know 48:37.900 --> 48:40.500 that Benjamin Franklin started a Christian college 48:40.500 --> 48:42.260 because he's supposed to be our big deist. 48:42.640 --> 48:42.820 Yeah. 48:43.440 --> 48:43.720 Right? 48:45.680 --> 48:48.400 So what these guys all had together 48:48.400 --> 48:49.780 what they contributed together 48:49.780 --> 48:51.860 here are at least six things 48:51.860 --> 48:53.700 and you can probably see any better than I can 48:53.700 --> 48:55.260 because I've got this big light 48:55.260 --> 48:56.720 that is shining right in my eyes. 48:57.060 --> 48:58.000 So let me get to where I can... 48:58.000 --> 49:01.100 So you got government by consent of the governed. 49:01.100 --> 49:02.600 You've got religious liberty 49:02.600 --> 49:03.820 and the liberty of conscience. 49:04.780 --> 49:06.960 You've got biblical limits on civil rulers. 49:07.420 --> 49:09.020 You've got a blank screen again. 49:09.820 --> 49:10.340 Um... 49:10.340 --> 49:10.760 Okay. 49:12.080 --> 49:14.760 You've got constitutional government grounded in law 49:14.760 --> 49:16.380 rather than on arbitrary power. 49:16.760 --> 49:18.780 You've got practical statesmanship, diplomacy 49:18.780 --> 49:20.100 and national unity. 49:20.820 --> 49:22.720 You know, we had pretty good national unity 49:22.720 --> 49:23.800 up until 2008. 49:25.540 --> 49:27.280 I'm going to stop on that one right there 49:27.280 --> 49:28.380 because we don't have time for that 49:28.380 --> 49:30.420 but you can imagine where I'm going. 49:30.800 --> 49:32.840 I mean, what changed in 2008? 49:33.380 --> 49:35.540 A conviction that liberty requires 49:35.540 --> 49:37.880 virtue, morality 49:37.880 --> 49:39.780 and accountability under a higher law. 49:40.320 --> 49:41.260 That's when we look at 49:41.260 --> 49:43.620 among these rights are life, liberty 49:43.620 --> 49:44.780 and the pursuit of happiness. 49:45.580 --> 49:47.100 If you don't understand 49:47.100 --> 49:49.480 how they were speaking back then 49:49.480 --> 49:51.880 you don't understand that the pursuit of happiness 49:51.880 --> 49:53.980 has absolutely nothing to do 49:53.980 --> 49:56.420 with what you do to increase your holdings 49:56.420 --> 49:57.700 your assets, your checkbook. 49:57.700 --> 49:58.180 Amen. 50:01.680 --> 50:04.100 The focal point of pursuit of happiness 50:04.100 --> 50:06.420 is based on what Jesus calls 50:06.420 --> 50:08.040 here's what makes a person happy 50:08.040 --> 50:10.440 read the sermon on the mount 50:10.440 --> 50:12.400 start in Matthew chapter 5 50:12.400 --> 50:14.640 where it says happy are those 50:14.640 --> 50:15.100 who 50:16.260 --> 50:18.680 and none of it has to do with your checkbook. 50:18.820 --> 50:19.540 Now, I 50:20.400 --> 50:22.420 don't want to jump on the other side of the ditch 50:22.420 --> 50:23.600 I pray to God 50:23.600 --> 50:25.820 that he will prosper all of you mightily 50:25.820 --> 50:27.620 there's nothing scriptually against that 50:27.620 --> 50:30.000 I wish that every one of you 50:30.000 --> 50:31.240 were millionaires and multi... 50:31.240 --> 50:32.700 I wish all of you worked for Elon Musk 50:34.060 --> 50:34.460 because 50:35.440 --> 50:37.720 if you did you'd all be multi-millionaires right now 50:37.720 --> 50:39.220 even if you're the janitor 50:43.470 --> 50:44.470 I want you to hear 50:44.470 --> 50:46.470 the duplicity of the left 50:46.470 --> 50:48.290 the duplicity of the left is 50:48.290 --> 50:50.410 the people at the top make way too much money 50:50.410 --> 50:52.410 so we have to raise minimum wage laws 50:52.410 --> 50:53.810 so everybody gets paid fair 50:54.190 --> 50:55.910 and you got to take money from the rich guy 50:55.910 --> 50:57.430 to give it to the poor guy 50:57.430 --> 50:59.170 and eventually we can all be poor together 50:59.170 --> 51:00.950 because poor people can't help poor people 51:00.950 --> 51:01.470 right 51:02.610 --> 51:05.550 and Elon Musk just blew their argument out of the water 51:05.550 --> 51:06.710 and because they said 51:06.710 --> 51:08.370 he just became the first trillionaire 51:08.370 --> 51:10.290 we can never let another guy become a trillionaire 51:10.290 --> 51:12.650 he did it by creating hundreds 51:12.650 --> 51:14.270 of multi-millionaires 51:14.270 --> 51:16.530 isn't that what you guys have been asking for? 51:16.910 --> 51:17.210 yeah 51:18.770 --> 51:20.510 but they don't want to go there because 51:20.510 --> 51:22.030 it proves our point 51:22.030 --> 51:28.410 I wish I had time 51:30.250 --> 51:31.470 okay, John Wise 51:31.470 --> 51:33.470 John Wise became known 51:33.470 --> 51:34.990 as the father of democracy 51:34.990 --> 51:37.450 some of the principles that we get from John Wise 51:37.450 --> 51:38.890 is taxation 51:38.890 --> 51:40.590 without representation 51:40.590 --> 51:41.970 is tyranny 51:43.230 --> 51:45.050 now for those of you who would read through 51:45.050 --> 51:46.170 the whole Declaration of Independence 51:46.170 --> 51:48.190 you'll discover that the whole idea of taxation 51:48.190 --> 51:50.390 without representation is like 51:50.390 --> 51:51.810 item number 17 51:52.130 --> 51:54.430 out of 27 or 28 51:54.430 --> 51:55.450 specific offenses 51:55.450 --> 51:56.230 I mean if you 51:56.230 --> 51:58.530 you want to get offended 51:58.530 --> 52:00.350 read what offended these guys 52:00.350 --> 52:01.690 read what the king did 52:01.690 --> 52:03.710 and for Wise, now again 52:03.710 --> 52:05.730 this guy is living 100 years before 52:05.730 --> 52:06.970 he's back in 1687 52:06.970 --> 52:10.530 and he's talking about taxation without representation 52:10.530 --> 52:11.490 is tyranny 52:12.810 --> 52:13.950 we live in Minnesota 52:13.950 --> 52:16.210 taxation with representation is tyranny 52:22.450 --> 52:23.490 which just means 52:23.490 --> 52:25.130 we've got to get righteous people in the office 52:25.130 --> 52:26.130 so we can fix this 52:26.870 --> 52:28.130 Proverbs 29, 2 52:28.130 --> 52:29.870 when the righteous rule the people rejoice 52:29.870 --> 52:31.430 when the wicked rule the people groan 52:31.430 --> 52:33.430 when righteous people are in office 52:33.430 --> 52:34.830 they won't steal your money 52:40.450 --> 52:41.470 Consent of the govern 52:41.780 --> 52:44.090 is the basis of biblical government 52:45.070 --> 52:45.910 John Wise 52:46.390 --> 52:47.490 100 years before 52:47.970 --> 52:49.030 where did he get that? 52:49.170 --> 52:51.170 you ever heard of an old testament guy named Saul 52:51.790 --> 52:53.430 when Israel said we want a king 52:53.430 --> 52:55.630 and Samuel says you don't want a king 52:55.630 --> 52:56.450 yeah we want a king 52:56.450 --> 52:58.190 and they go to God and say God 52:59.550 --> 53:01.450 we're removing you from being king 53:02.150 --> 53:03.590 because we want a human king 53:03.590 --> 53:04.990 like everybody else 53:04.990 --> 53:06.710 we want to be like everybody else 53:06.710 --> 53:08.630 how stupid is that? 53:09.290 --> 53:10.870 how many parents are in the room 53:10.870 --> 53:13.350 and how many of you love it when your kids say 53:13.350 --> 53:15.210 everybody else has one of those 53:17.250 --> 53:18.710 well good for them 53:18.710 --> 53:20.550 I'm happy for them 53:24.930 --> 53:25.790 and in our day 53:25.790 --> 53:26.510 I think it was 53:26.510 --> 53:28.330 if they all go jump off a bridge 53:28.330 --> 53:29.610 you're going to jump off the bridge with them 53:31.090 --> 53:32.770 if they're all going to go play in the freeway 53:32.770 --> 53:33.530 you're going to play in the freeway 53:33.530 --> 53:36.150 I mean this is how 53:36.150 --> 53:37.530 our parents treated us 53:39.150 --> 53:41.110 they didn't say oh really honey 53:41.110 --> 53:42.090 everybody's got one 53:42.090 --> 53:43.010 then let's get you three 53:43.810 --> 53:44.290 you know 53:51.440 --> 53:52.160 the kings 53:52.700 --> 53:53.920 still had to be under the pressure 53:53.920 --> 53:58.860 There is a principle that the people of Israel said we will follow you because the people could depose their kings. 53:59.780 --> 54:08.580 And so as you study the Old Testament come in the New Testament, even in the New Testament leaders, they had to be governed by the people 54:09.200 --> 54:16.660 or they would become tyrannical oppressors like the Caesars of Rome over Israel, like certain Greek leaders. 54:17.240 --> 54:19.400 And you know I don't want to go there because I'm Greek, I'm half Greek. 54:19.400 --> 54:22.140 But you know, they were nasty. 54:23.300 --> 54:26.860 Okay? So the biblical principle is consent by the governed. 54:27.480 --> 54:31.740 And all men are equal and endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights. 54:31.960 --> 54:33.660 And I've already beaten that one. 54:34.120 --> 54:39.380 So if you go to John Wise's hometown of Ipswich, Massachusetts, you go to their home page today. 54:39.900 --> 54:42.900 This is their seal. This is on their home page right now, today. 54:43.900 --> 54:46.580 The birthplace of American independence. Look at the date. 54:48.300 --> 54:52.000 1687, a full hundred years before our Constitution was signed. 54:55.130 --> 55:00.370 And it's because men like John Wise, Mayhew and the others kept preaching about 55:00.370 --> 55:06.570 here's what the Bible says about living under a government and freedom by the consent of the governed. 55:06.990 --> 55:10.170 And they established that and they kept drilling this in and drilling this in. 55:11.080 --> 55:17.870 And so you finally get to later on in our declaration after all of the grievances. 55:21.170 --> 55:25.150 And nor have we been wanting inattentions to our British brethren. 55:25.610 --> 55:29.810 We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature 55:29.810 --> 55:35.250 to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. 55:37.830 --> 55:41.890 That's just really fancy language for saying they want to steal the freedoms that we're entitled to. 55:43.770 --> 55:51.770 We have reminded them of the circumstances of our immigration and settlement here. 55:51.990 --> 55:56.150 That's a direct quote from the declaration. What are they talking about? 55:56.430 --> 55:58.990 What were those circumstances to which they were referring? 55:59.430 --> 56:03.230 And that was the fact that they envisioned from the beginning 56:03.230 --> 56:06.010 a Christian nation and an end to tyranny. 56:06.710 --> 56:11.550 That we would live under the reign of Christ through a human established government 56:11.550 --> 56:15.910 that would function under biblical principles throughout all the land 56:15.910 --> 56:20.890 and the people would follow biblical morality because even John Adams said 56:20.890 --> 56:24.470 the Constitution is only for a moral and virtuous people. 56:24.950 --> 56:28.910 It is unfit for any other. How are we doing today? 56:30.550 --> 56:33.790 What's happened to the idea of morality and virtue today? 56:34.270 --> 56:38.910 How much do we see people wanting to follow our Constitution today? 56:40.030 --> 56:41.850 When Sue and I had the last two trips, we were in DC. 56:42.430 --> 56:45.190 We went to the National Archives. We got to see the originals. 56:47.710 --> 56:49.650 Man, it stirs you. 56:51.970 --> 56:54.610 And they're in these protected cases. 56:54.610 --> 57:02.090 The declaration is fading in ink. 57:05.270 --> 57:07.630 It's up to us to make sure it doesn't fade in reality. 57:11.300 --> 57:13.220 Boy, I hadn't thought about that one. Thanks, Dean. 57:14.620 --> 57:16.560 I hadn't thought about that until right now. 57:16.760 --> 57:19.020 So maybe that's a word of knowledge? I don't know. 57:19.440 --> 57:21.440 So this is what they're envisioning. 57:21.960 --> 57:23.640 All right. Click. 57:24.460 --> 57:27.200 Now it's not clicking, guys. Give me the next slide, please. 57:27.200 --> 57:28.580 Since this is not working. 57:29.720 --> 57:32.600 Okay. So what is meant by the term Christian nation? 57:33.280 --> 57:38.400 Okay. A nation ruled by law based on the teachings of the Bible 57:38.400 --> 57:41.680 and the Judeo-Christian ethic. That's what we're talking about. 57:41.760 --> 57:45.540 We're not talking about creating a theocracy from the standpoint of saying 57:45.540 --> 57:49.560 we have a human being in office in any level 57:49.560 --> 57:53.300 and that person now becomes the spokesperson for God 57:53.300 --> 57:55.720 and we all acquiesce to that person. 57:56.260 --> 57:56.720 No. 57:57.540 --> 57:58.680 We don't have that here. 58:00.420 --> 58:03.420 I don't care what you think about Donald Trump. 58:03.960 --> 58:06.100 I don't care what you think or thought about Joe Biden. 58:06.420 --> 58:08.940 I don't care what you think or thought about Trump before. 58:09.380 --> 58:14.380 I don't care what you think about Barack Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan. 58:14.840 --> 58:18.540 I don't care. None of them were the spokesperson for God. 58:19.020 --> 58:22.240 And most of us say, really, you're going to tell me that? 58:22.240 --> 58:23.720 Like, that's a revelation? 58:25.680 --> 58:27.560 Thank you. Some of you... 58:34.550 --> 58:36.510 Where we screw up is 58:38.890 --> 58:40.450 we put somebody in office 58:40.450 --> 58:43.770 and we don't just judge them by their policies. 58:44.490 --> 58:48.010 We judge them to their likeability factor. 58:49.450 --> 58:51.390 Which has nothing to do with their policies. 58:52.630 --> 58:53.230 Necessarily. 58:55.510 --> 58:57.690 Donald Trump, 80-year-old, 58:58.270 --> 59:00.750 rough, gruff, Queens, New Yorker. 59:00.990 --> 59:02.810 He's like a Cyrus or a Jehu. 59:03.230 --> 59:06.390 He is a bull in a china shop, kind of a guy. 59:06.830 --> 59:09.410 And Minnesota nice hates that. 59:11.410 --> 59:12.210 Don't like the... 59:12.210 --> 59:14.630 And it's not just Minnesota. It's picked up around the... 59:14.630 --> 59:16.150 People don't like the personality. 59:16.710 --> 59:17.730 And I say, you know what? 59:18.390 --> 59:21.190 My mother, God rest her soul. 59:21.270 --> 59:23.130 She was 89 when she passed away a few years ago. 59:23.130 --> 59:26.410 And she was a Brooklyn, New Yorker, 59:26.450 --> 59:27.410 transplanted to California. 59:29.190 --> 59:30.590 I get New York. 59:31.350 --> 59:33.630 If Donald Trump was a woman, he'd be my mother. 59:37.490 --> 59:39.430 You can't go on personality. 59:41.050 --> 59:42.470 You go on that. 59:45.070 --> 59:45.770 Ouch. 59:49.670 --> 59:51.670 The royal charters. 59:52.870 --> 59:54.930 If you study the royal charters, 59:55.030 --> 59:57.690 that's what the documents were that the king signed 59:57.690 --> 59:59.610 when he sent these people from England. 59:59.710 --> 01:00:00.530 And they came to America. 01:00:00.950 --> 01:00:02.800 Virtually all of the royal charters 01:00:03.190 --> 01:00:05.570 commended them for going to start 01:00:05.570 --> 01:00:07.930 Christ-centered communities. 01:00:09.610 --> 01:00:11.730 Go read the charters yourself. 01:00:11.730 --> 01:00:14.590 And the biggest reason, and when you read through 01:00:14.590 --> 01:00:19.530 all of the 27 reasons why they wanted independence 01:00:19.530 --> 01:00:22.890 is because the king broke the charters. 01:00:23.770 --> 01:00:26.510 And he did it to the point of putting troops 01:00:26.510 --> 01:00:29.190 on the ground here, taking over people's homes, 01:00:29.530 --> 01:00:34.850 killing people, robbing, raping, pillaging. 01:00:36.790 --> 01:00:39.630 This was not a bunch of rebels 01:00:39.630 --> 01:00:42.990 standing up to fight because they disliked somebody. 01:00:43.390 --> 01:00:45.230 This were people fighting for their lives 01:00:45.230 --> 01:00:47.010 in a war of self-defense. 01:00:48.850 --> 01:00:51.030 You're not going to get that from the school system. 01:00:53.310 --> 01:00:57.090 But they made it clear specifically 01:00:57.090 --> 01:00:59.610 because they said, we've got to let the world know 01:00:59.610 --> 01:01:00.870 why would we do this? 01:01:01.710 --> 01:01:04.230 Here are the specific reasons, okay? 01:01:06.870 --> 01:01:08.730 Mayfire Compact, we've already done that one. 01:01:08.730 --> 01:01:10.430 Well, I don't know why this is doing that, 01:01:10.530 --> 01:01:11.790 but here you go. 01:01:12.530 --> 01:01:15.270 How about the United Confederation of New England colonies? 01:01:15.730 --> 01:01:18.050 This goes back to what I said earlier 01:01:18.050 --> 01:01:20.510 about Jonathan Winthrop on the Arabella 01:01:20.510 --> 01:01:23.090 and the Articles of Confederation of 1643. 01:01:23.750 --> 01:01:25.070 And here's what they said. 01:01:25.350 --> 01:01:26.790 Because remember, this is under that 01:01:26.790 --> 01:01:29.110 declaration statement of we've reminded them 01:01:29.110 --> 01:01:31.190 of our immigration, why we came, 01:01:31.490 --> 01:01:32.850 and here's what they wrote. 01:01:33.030 --> 01:01:35.830 Here's what the people who came with Winthrop 01:01:35.830 --> 01:01:37.250 wrote from New England. 01:01:37.250 --> 01:01:40.090 Whereas, we all came into these parts of America 01:01:40.090 --> 01:01:43.590 with one and the same end and aim. 01:01:43.850 --> 01:01:47.090 Here's our purpose. Here's why we gave it all up there. 01:01:47.570 --> 01:01:49.510 Here's why we came here. We came to do this. 01:01:50.210 --> 01:01:52.890 Namely, to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ 01:01:52.890 --> 01:01:55.050 and to enjoy the liberties of the gospel 01:01:55.050 --> 01:01:56.510 in purity with peace. 01:01:57.530 --> 01:01:59.270 This is why we came. 01:01:59.770 --> 01:02:02.490 This is why we established our communities. 01:02:03.050 --> 01:02:04.570 This is just how we want to live. 01:02:04.570 --> 01:02:07.030 We want to live under the Lordship of Jesus 01:02:07.030 --> 01:02:08.770 and we just want to live in peace and security 01:02:08.770 --> 01:02:10.490 and harmony with ourselves 01:02:10.490 --> 01:02:13.590 and, oh, by the way, with whoever else is here. 01:02:16.890 --> 01:02:19.490 It was Roger Williams early on 01:02:19.490 --> 01:02:22.070 that made the case, okay, if we go into some land 01:02:22.070 --> 01:02:24.650 and there's somebody else that lives there, 01:02:24.950 --> 01:02:26.410 we're not just going to take it from them. 01:02:26.750 --> 01:02:28.970 We want to live side by side and cohabit with them. 01:02:29.350 --> 01:02:31.810 And if we need more land, 01:02:31.950 --> 01:02:33.690 we will pay them a fair price for it. 01:02:37.070 --> 01:02:38.490 That was how they did it. 01:02:42.250 --> 01:02:45.130 And when Pennsylvania came along 01:02:46.570 --> 01:02:49.490 and William Penn, in the founding of Pennsylvania, 01:02:50.110 --> 01:02:51.550 one of the first things they did is say, 01:02:51.570 --> 01:02:53.430 okay, we're going to abolish slavery. 01:02:54.470 --> 01:02:55.890 That was one of the first moves, 01:02:56.070 --> 01:02:57.230 was to abolish slavery. 01:02:58.790 --> 01:03:01.970 And they actually put a law in Pennsylvania 01:03:01.970 --> 01:03:03.970 and then went to two or three other states 01:03:03.970 --> 01:03:06.270 and by the time the news got to King George, 01:03:06.270 --> 01:03:08.890 he said, I'm the one who gets to determine 01:03:08.890 --> 01:03:09.950 what the legal laws are. 01:03:10.250 --> 01:03:11.650 Those are not legal laws. 01:03:11.750 --> 01:03:12.470 You can't do that. 01:03:12.550 --> 01:03:14.430 You must have slavery. 01:03:15.830 --> 01:03:18.790 It was the king, not the guys living in America, 01:03:18.790 --> 01:03:20.650 that perpetuated slavery. 01:03:20.910 --> 01:03:22.750 So for all those who might be online 01:03:22.750 --> 01:03:25.590 pushing for reparations, ask England. 01:03:26.310 --> 01:03:27.190 It's their fault. 01:03:29.390 --> 01:03:30.670 Go back to the king. 01:03:31.530 --> 01:03:33.230 It's not what our people wanted. 01:03:40.650 --> 01:03:43.390 King George III was to Americans 01:03:43.390 --> 01:03:46.190 what Pharaoh was to the ancient Hebrew people. 01:03:46.710 --> 01:03:49.030 I want you to think about that. 01:03:49.550 --> 01:03:51.730 I want you to think about what Moses and Aaron 01:03:51.730 --> 01:03:53.290 and the Hebrew people had to go through 01:03:53.290 --> 01:03:54.470 with the Pharaoh of Egypt 01:03:54.470 --> 01:03:55.750 before they were finally set free. 01:03:57.450 --> 01:03:59.570 And in the minds of the leaders of them, 01:03:59.910 --> 01:04:02.330 their analogy was King George 01:04:02.330 --> 01:04:04.270 is as bad as that Pharaoh. 01:04:05.150 --> 01:04:08.970 It was a spiritual liberation 01:04:08.970 --> 01:04:10.390 that they were looking for. 01:04:10.750 --> 01:04:14.110 And spiritual liberation leads to physical liberation. 01:04:14.490 --> 01:04:16.970 And now you get set free from something 01:04:16.970 --> 01:04:20.010 so you then have the liberty to go pursue something different. 01:04:20.490 --> 01:04:23.770 But you've got to be freed from the enslavement, 01:04:23.890 --> 01:04:25.390 from the oppression, from the tyranny, 01:04:25.390 --> 01:04:27.370 and that's what caused them to act 01:04:27.370 --> 01:04:30.170 because they kept dealing with all kinds of stuff. 01:04:30.290 --> 01:04:32.090 Now, you can't read that. 01:04:32.290 --> 01:04:33.110 I can't read that. 01:04:34.990 --> 01:04:36.370 Over here I can read it. 01:04:36.990 --> 01:04:39.230 So forgive me that side of the room 01:04:39.230 --> 01:04:40.390 with my back to you. 01:04:41.330 --> 01:04:42.870 I just stuck up here, 01:04:43.710 --> 01:04:45.070 started in 1764. 01:04:46.090 --> 01:04:47.790 And up to 1775, 01:04:48.530 --> 01:04:50.130 different things that the King of England 01:04:50.130 --> 01:04:53.290 put in place to encroach upon 01:04:53.290 --> 01:04:56.190 and enhance his tyrannical 01:04:56.190 --> 01:04:58.970 taxation and other operations 01:04:58.970 --> 01:05:00.770 against the American colonists 01:05:00.770 --> 01:05:03.450 simply because he was acting like pharaoh, 01:05:03.810 --> 01:05:05.590 sticking his thumb on the people 01:05:05.590 --> 01:05:08.010 saying you will remain under my control. 01:05:08.370 --> 01:05:10.550 So there was a sugar act in 1764, 01:05:10.730 --> 01:05:12.830 the currency act of 1764, 01:05:13.230 --> 01:05:15.490 the stamp act of 65, the quartering act, 01:05:15.610 --> 01:05:17.090 the Decoratory Act, the Townshed Act, 01:05:17.430 --> 01:05:19.050 the Boston Massacre, T Act, 01:05:19.530 --> 01:05:21.490 coercive acts, the shot heard around the world 01:05:21.490 --> 01:05:23.850 and the declaration of causes and necessities 01:05:23.850 --> 01:05:24.770 of taking up arms. 01:05:26.250 --> 01:05:27.990 And you're wondering, what are all these acts? 01:05:27.990 --> 01:05:29.570 We've got a whole course that we teach that, 01:05:29.650 --> 01:05:30.330 we just can't do it here. 01:05:30.690 --> 01:05:33.250 But these were the things that kept putting you 01:05:34.250 --> 01:05:35.910 under greater oppression 01:05:35.910 --> 01:05:38.250 from some government bureaucrat 01:05:38.250 --> 01:05:40.770 that reported and the King said 01:05:40.770 --> 01:05:41.950 this is how it's going to be, 01:05:42.190 --> 01:05:44.530 we've got to keep those people under control. 01:05:44.850 --> 01:05:47.250 They are too free, they are getting too prosperous, 01:05:47.610 --> 01:05:49.070 they are becoming a threat to us 01:05:49.070 --> 01:05:51.170 because they don't need my kingship. 01:05:51.990 --> 01:05:54.130 And so I need to remind them 01:05:54.130 --> 01:05:56.250 that they are under my kingship 01:05:56.250 --> 01:05:57.750 and I'm not going to give them any more freedom. 01:05:57.990 --> 01:05:59.750 In fact, I'm going to start taking their rights away from them. 01:06:00.730 --> 01:06:02.430 That's what was going on with these things. 01:06:02.990 --> 01:06:04.970 And the people of America said, 01:06:05.010 --> 01:06:05.890 what is going on? 01:06:06.390 --> 01:06:09.050 And finally, a year before our Declaration of Independence, 01:06:11.730 --> 01:06:13.430 John Dickinson from Pennsylvania 01:06:13.430 --> 01:06:14.990 and Thomas Jefferson 01:06:14.990 --> 01:06:16.930 wrote that document, 01:06:17.410 --> 01:06:19.490 the necessity, the declaration 01:06:19.490 --> 01:06:20.910 of the causes 01:06:20.910 --> 01:06:23.790 and necessity for taking up arms. 01:06:24.070 --> 01:06:25.470 This was the Declaration of Independence 01:06:25.470 --> 01:06:27.150 a year before the Declaration of Independence 01:06:27.150 --> 01:06:28.950 that was telling the people of America 01:06:29.330 --> 01:06:31.010 it's getting way out of hand 01:06:31.010 --> 01:06:32.910 we are writing to you as the leaders 01:06:32.910 --> 01:06:34.770 of all of these different colonies 01:06:35.410 --> 01:06:37.370 get armed, get ready. 01:06:39.010 --> 01:06:41.470 And right now if you need to act physically, 01:06:42.010 --> 01:06:44.310 do it. That was what they were doing back then. 01:06:48.450 --> 01:06:49.950 That's why we have a second amendment. 01:06:52.470 --> 01:06:53.790 So that the government 01:06:53.790 --> 01:06:56.570 cannot do what the king was doing 01:06:56.570 --> 01:06:57.410 to the people. 01:07:02.630 --> 01:07:04.090 So that leaves us to 01:07:04.090 --> 01:07:04.990 two brothers. 01:07:06.950 --> 01:07:08.390 I love this story. 01:07:09.370 --> 01:07:10.390 Some of you have heard it. 01:07:10.870 --> 01:07:11.730 You get to hear it again. 01:07:13.010 --> 01:07:15.190 But this story I'm going to tell you, 01:07:15.450 --> 01:07:17.430 it reflects a lot of the 01:07:17.430 --> 01:07:20.370 mindset of what's going on today. 01:07:22.990 --> 01:07:24.050 So these two brothers, 01:07:24.250 --> 01:07:25.910 you've got John Peter Gabriel Muehlenberg 01:07:25.910 --> 01:07:27.650 and you've got Frederick Augustus Muehlenberg. 01:07:27.650 --> 01:07:29.870 They were born German family 01:07:29.870 --> 01:07:30.570 up in Pennsylvania. 01:07:31.890 --> 01:07:33.890 As they finally, as they grew, 01:07:34.270 --> 01:07:35.590 Augustus became a pastor 01:07:35.590 --> 01:07:37.710 at a church in New York. His younger brother 01:07:37.710 --> 01:07:39.990 became a pastor down in Virginia. 01:07:40.450 --> 01:07:41.730 He pastored in two different churches. 01:07:41.870 --> 01:07:43.130 One was an American speaking church. 01:07:43.210 --> 01:07:44.510 The other was a German speaking church. 01:07:45.730 --> 01:07:47.910 And Peter also got 01:07:47.910 --> 01:07:49.470 involved in local politics. 01:07:49.490 --> 01:07:52.310 Like the local assembly, even the state assembly. 01:07:52.930 --> 01:07:54.190 And Augustus said, 01:07:54.590 --> 01:07:55.410 you're a Christian. 01:07:55.410 --> 01:07:57.270 You don't belong in politics. 01:07:57.630 --> 01:07:59.470 You're a pastor. You're only supposed 01:07:59.470 --> 01:08:00.470 to be in the pulpit. 01:08:00.970 --> 01:08:02.250 What are you doing? 01:08:03.810 --> 01:08:05.670 And so you have these two brothers doing this. 01:08:08.970 --> 01:08:11.130 And they did, you know, verbally. 01:08:11.310 --> 01:08:12.550 They sparred because 01:08:13.170 --> 01:08:15.110 Peter was really engaged. 01:08:15.790 --> 01:08:17.270 And Augustus, you know, 01:08:17.350 --> 01:08:19.530 he just said, don't do that. 01:08:20.690 --> 01:08:21.630 That's not what 01:08:21.630 --> 01:08:24.090 we pulpit guys are supposed to do. 01:08:25.410 --> 01:08:26.970 We just preach the gospel. 01:08:27.830 --> 01:08:28.290 We don't practice. 01:08:31.690 --> 01:08:32.890 We just preach it. 01:08:33.930 --> 01:08:34.330 Well, 01:08:35.590 --> 01:08:36.870 Peter is known for 01:08:37.890 --> 01:08:39.410 being part of, and you see at the top, 01:08:39.570 --> 01:08:40.370 the black robe regimen. 01:08:41.250 --> 01:08:43.050 He preached a sermon on Ecclesiastes. 01:08:43.550 --> 01:08:45.430 And Ecclesiastes says there's a time for this, 01:08:45.570 --> 01:08:47.170 a time for that, a time for this, a time for that. 01:08:47.470 --> 01:08:49.270 And he gets to, there's a time for peace 01:08:49.270 --> 01:08:50.770 and there's a time for war. 01:08:51.030 --> 01:08:52.150 And then he stops. He says, 01:08:52.150 --> 01:08:54.490 and now is a time 01:08:54.490 --> 01:08:55.450 for war. 01:08:55.890 --> 01:08:58.310 And the reason why he was called part of the black robe regimen 01:08:58.310 --> 01:08:59.830 is the preachers wore black robes. 01:09:00.450 --> 01:09:02.390 And he took off his black robe 01:09:02.390 --> 01:09:03.510 and underneath the black robe, 01:09:03.670 --> 01:09:05.990 he was an officer in the Virginia 01:09:05.990 --> 01:09:07.550 militia. And he said, 01:09:07.650 --> 01:09:09.430 it is now time for war. 01:09:09.850 --> 01:09:12.110 And he marched down the center aisle. 01:09:12.990 --> 01:09:14.170 And instead of just 01:09:14.170 --> 01:09:15.790 being the 01:09:15.790 --> 01:09:17.950 pastor at the back shaking hands 01:09:17.950 --> 01:09:19.670 so he could hear, nice sermon, 01:09:19.670 --> 01:09:21.330 preacher. Nice sermon. 01:09:21.470 --> 01:09:22.630 Thank you very much. Good sermon. 01:09:22.910 --> 01:09:25.290 And which is about the last thing any of us preaching want to hear. 01:09:25.850 --> 01:09:27.030 We don't care if you think it's nicer. 01:09:27.150 --> 01:09:28.890 We just want to hear the truth and go practice it. 01:09:35.590 --> 01:09:35.950 So 01:09:36.690 --> 01:09:38.590 he's back there and he's not shaking hands. 01:09:38.730 --> 01:09:39.790 He's giving them a pen. He says, 01:09:39.990 --> 01:09:42.610 see that table go sign up. He recruited 300 men 01:09:42.610 --> 01:09:44.190 from that sermon to join the militia. 01:09:48.930 --> 01:09:50.210 He rose to the rank 01:09:50.210 --> 01:09:51.770 of Major General. I believe there was only 01:09:51.770 --> 01:09:53.350 26 that rose to that rank. 01:09:54.050 --> 01:09:56.030 I keep forgetting whether it was 26 or 19. 01:09:56.250 --> 01:09:57.870 But there are very few that rose to the rank 01:09:57.870 --> 01:09:59.650 of Major General in the 01:09:59.650 --> 01:10:01.370 Revolutionary War. And if you go to 01:10:01.370 --> 01:10:03.450 Washington D.C. today and you go into our capital 01:10:03.450 --> 01:10:05.650 building in the rotunda are eight 01:10:05.650 --> 01:10:07.590 huge murals. They're like 20 feet by 01:10:07.590 --> 01:10:09.570 40 feet. They're magnificent. I mean 01:10:09.570 --> 01:10:11.190 there's the actual Christian baptism 01:10:11.570 --> 01:10:13.430 of Pocahontas. Apparently 01:10:13.430 --> 01:10:14.370 Disney got it wrong. 01:10:19.090 --> 01:10:19.750 There's 01:10:20.370 --> 01:10:22.110 there's these eight beautiful 01:10:22.110 --> 01:10:24.150 and one is the surrender 01:10:24.150 --> 01:10:26.530 the final surrender of the 01:10:26.530 --> 01:10:28.610 Revolutionary War and sitting on one 01:10:28.610 --> 01:10:30.290 of the horses is Peter 01:10:30.290 --> 01:10:31.190 Muhlenberg. 01:10:33.070 --> 01:10:34.870 It's right there. It's 01:10:34.870 --> 01:10:35.170 gorgeous. 01:10:36.110 --> 01:10:38.210 I'm trying to build this up so some of you 01:10:38.210 --> 01:10:39.370 will actually go there. 01:10:39.370 --> 01:10:40.050 . 01:10:43.290 --> 01:10:45.430 All along the way during the Revolutionary 01:10:45.430 --> 01:10:47.230 War Augustus kept I mean he just 01:10:47.230 --> 01:10:48.910 riddled his brother for this kind of 01:10:48.910 --> 01:10:50.590 action until 01:10:51.350 --> 01:10:52.850 Augustus had to flee 01:10:53.890 --> 01:10:54.910 from New York 01:10:54.910 --> 01:10:57.090 because the British overtook New York 01:10:57.090 --> 01:10:59.130 he he had to go back he 01:10:59.130 --> 01:11:00.730 fled to Pennsylvania to active active 01:11:00.730 --> 01:11:02.890 his parents home and and he still 01:11:02.890 --> 01:11:04.410 held this we're not going to do this 01:11:04.410 --> 01:11:05.810 we're not going to be involved in politics 01:11:05.810 --> 01:11:07.810 until he found out the British burned 01:11:07.810 --> 01:11:08.530 down his church 01:11:13.230 --> 01:11:14.450 then he decided 01:11:14.450 --> 01:11:15.650 I better get involved in government 01:11:15.650 --> 01:11:17.710 and he worked his way up through the 01:11:17.710 --> 01:11:19.450 Pennsylvania House and he became America's 01:11:19.450 --> 01:11:21.450 first speaker of the House in Congress 01:11:25.060 --> 01:11:25.540 because 01:11:25.540 --> 01:11:26.780 Christians belonging government 01:11:28.080 --> 01:11:29.260 Christians are supposed to help 01:11:29.260 --> 01:11:31.560 lead the way not leave the way 01:11:34.680 --> 01:11:35.160 just 01:11:35.160 --> 01:11:35.680 one family 01:11:36.220 --> 01:11:37.680 so what are the 01:11:37.680 --> 01:11:39.340 We're threats to our freedom and liberty today. 01:11:40.480 --> 01:11:44.260 There's a few. There's secular humanism, which is atheism. 01:11:44.560 --> 01:11:48.600 We're good without God. We're just good people. We're so good. We're nice. 01:11:48.820 --> 01:11:50.840 And we're getting better, because evolution makes us better. 01:11:55.740 --> 01:11:59.900 Socialism, communism, Marxism, all the same thing. Government is God. 01:12:00.640 --> 01:12:04.340 Fascism, government is God in the person who's running it. 01:12:05.420 --> 01:12:07.800 Islam, Sharia, false God, Satan. 01:12:08.740 --> 01:12:14.000 Hello. Oh, we're all part of the same family, because we all come from Abraham. Wrong. 01:12:16.060 --> 01:12:20.020 Okay, that's another... I mean, some of you are at our Islamic presentation 01:12:20.020 --> 01:12:23.460 a couple of months back, whatever it was, and Shahram was here. 01:12:25.040 --> 01:12:29.880 I mean, you guys are... you're well-educated on this issue. 01:12:30.940 --> 01:12:34.760 Here's the biggest threat. Christians who don't show up to vote. 01:12:36.700 --> 01:12:39.840 That's our biggest threat. I'm serious. 01:12:40.740 --> 01:12:45.520 We had, I believe, in the last election here in Minnesota, 200,000 of one particular party 01:12:45.520 --> 01:12:49.340 didn't show up and vote, and Christians tend to flock towards that party more than the other 01:12:49.340 --> 01:12:52.160 because they still have a voice in that party. So let me be real clear. 01:12:52.580 --> 01:12:55.700 Democrats want nothing to do with God. Republicans still let you have a voice. 01:12:56.240 --> 01:12:58.780 I'm not here to push either party. I'm just letting you know that's the truth. 01:13:00.000 --> 01:13:06.720 I've watched since 2013 the political divide spread, and the political divide is not this political divide. 01:13:07.040 --> 01:13:10.800 It is a spiritual divide. One side wants nothing to do with God. 01:13:10.900 --> 01:13:16.900 They want to shut down Jesus. They want nothing to do with anything our founding fathers that I just told you. 01:13:16.920 --> 01:13:22.960 They want nothing to do with that. The Republicans at least... some of them. 01:13:23.320 --> 01:13:23.580 Yes. 01:13:25.340 --> 01:13:28.900 And you've heard me say it before. The Republican Party is a train wreck. 01:13:29.020 --> 01:13:30.440 It's a dumpster fire as a party. 01:13:31.780 --> 01:13:33.060 Democrat Party's Chernobyl. 01:13:40.080 --> 01:13:45.180 Look at the platforms. At least, at least understand that... 01:13:45.780 --> 01:13:49.580 Because we're coming up to midterms, folks. That's why I'm hammering on this. 01:13:51.840 --> 01:13:57.280 One of the reasons we ended up with the trifecta the other way that really messed us all up in 2023. 01:13:57.280 --> 01:14:01.280 It gave us the highest tax increase in the history of the state of Minnesota. 01:14:01.620 --> 01:14:07.280 It's caused over $500 million per year in business productivity to leave this state. 01:14:07.440 --> 01:14:10.560 And it's been replaced by those coming in for welfare. 01:14:11.760 --> 01:14:15.980 They spent the revenue, the surplus, $18 billion. 01:14:16.620 --> 01:14:22.320 They not only spent the $18 billion surplus, they overspent it by adding another $2.5 billion to it. 01:14:22.320 --> 01:14:27.020 Then they raised the budget. Then they increased taxes by 10%. 01:14:27.020 --> 01:14:32.580 And it's going to go up again because we who are working have to pay for those who aren't. 01:14:34.160 --> 01:14:36.600 Because those who are productive are leaving. 01:14:41.900 --> 01:14:43.620 But we're welcoming communities. 01:14:46.740 --> 01:14:51.080 Do you see the spiritual dilemma there? It's not that we don't welcome the strangers. 01:14:51.080 --> 01:14:52.640 It's not that we don't welcome the foreigner. 01:14:55.680 --> 01:15:00.340 But we have a constitutional and biblical way to handle that and we're not doing it that way here. 01:15:01.300 --> 01:15:05.640 They've taken a spiritual issue and they've put it into a political agenda 01:15:05.640 --> 01:15:13.380 because certain people just want power over your lives and we continue to give them power when we don't show up. 01:15:17.990 --> 01:15:20.510 Now, I know I'm speaking to the choir. 01:15:20.510 --> 01:15:23.270 But some of you have never heard me before and some of you are saying, 01:15:23.330 --> 01:15:25.530 thank God and I'll never listen to you again. That's okay. 01:15:26.170 --> 01:15:29.350 Some of you online, you're getting ready to write your email to Pastor Vern. 01:15:30.630 --> 01:15:33.510 So it's 1-800-CALL-VERN if you want it on the phone. 01:15:42.200 --> 01:15:44.300 Sometimes the truth just has to wake us up. 01:15:45.620 --> 01:15:50.380 And now the issue is how do we behave and how do we act once we hear it? 01:15:50.720 --> 01:15:53.260 And this is going to be a major way to go apply it. 01:15:53.260 --> 01:15:55.780 And I'm not telling you to go support a particular party, 01:15:56.040 --> 01:16:00.400 but I am asking you to go study the candidates that you get to vote for 01:16:00.400 --> 01:16:06.080 and identify the candidates that best represent the biblical values you were taught in this church. 01:16:06.880 --> 01:16:13.880 And if a candidate does not pass the test of the biblical values that are taught in this church, 01:16:14.300 --> 01:16:15.860 don't vote for them. 01:16:17.140 --> 01:16:21.740 Now, also, you're not going to find someone you agree with 100% of the time. 01:16:23.620 --> 01:16:26.880 There is an organization in here in Minnesota, I'm not going to name their names, 01:16:27.240 --> 01:16:30.420 but they continue to go and they eat their own. 01:16:30.820 --> 01:16:34.460 Their only target is the people in their own party, and here's why. 01:16:34.740 --> 01:16:37.940 Because they label them with a certain label in that party, 01:16:38.180 --> 01:16:39.460 and here's how you get the label. 01:16:39.940 --> 01:16:41.840 You don't agree with me 100% of the time. 01:16:41.840 --> 01:16:45.100 So if you don't agree with me 100% of the time, you're wrong. 01:16:47.990 --> 01:16:49.750 And that's how they present themselves. 01:16:51.970 --> 01:16:54.630 Do you agree with anybody 100% of the time? 01:16:58.050 --> 01:16:59.850 All the married people say, no. 01:17:06.530 --> 01:17:08.730 Single people say, really, that's not how marriage works? 01:17:08.870 --> 01:17:09.190 No! 01:17:09.190 --> 01:17:09.430 No! 01:17:14.730 --> 01:17:22.730 We need to stand up as biblical citizens in the nation God created. 01:17:22.830 --> 01:17:23.710 He created every nation. 01:17:24.470 --> 01:17:26.830 He doesn't love America more than he loves other nations. 01:17:27.910 --> 01:17:32.970 But we made a covenant with God at our founding that said we would be His light to the world. 01:17:33.610 --> 01:17:35.650 And up until recently, we have been. 01:17:35.650 --> 01:17:41.590 And the world is coming here saying, wow, all this stuff we've heard about you just ain't so. 01:17:42.790 --> 01:17:44.670 It's time for America to rise again. 01:17:44.970 --> 01:17:48.110 And the way America rises again is for Christians to rise again. 01:17:48.350 --> 01:17:52.910 And the way for Christians to rise again is for us to get down on our knees and submit to the Holy Spirit. 01:17:55.470 --> 01:17:59.870 And let that move us into what we do culturally. 01:18:00.410 --> 01:18:02.510 So please, I'm begging you. I am begging you. 01:18:04.790 --> 01:18:06.730 Do that. Show up and vote. 01:18:07.070 --> 01:18:10.790 But make sure you go talk to the people in your own spheres of influence. 01:18:11.070 --> 01:18:13.510 And when they say, eh, my vote doesn't count. 01:18:14.050 --> 01:18:18.850 Well, we wouldn't have had the dilemma we had in 2023 in a particular district here in Minnesota 01:18:18.850 --> 01:18:22.210 where the Christian conservative lost his seat. 01:18:22.870 --> 01:18:24.550 And it was a safe seat. 01:18:24.910 --> 01:18:26.250 But he lost his seat. 01:18:26.730 --> 01:18:28.710 And it went to the other side. We get the trifecta. 01:18:28.930 --> 01:18:30.850 He lost his seat by 28 votes. 01:18:30.850 --> 01:18:33.830 He showed up at church the following Sunday. 01:18:34.190 --> 01:18:36.010 And many people at his church said, 01:18:37.050 --> 01:18:37.930 What happened? 01:18:38.830 --> 01:18:39.950 You had such a lead. 01:18:40.270 --> 01:18:41.650 We all knew you were going to win. 01:18:42.070 --> 01:18:43.730 We knew it was so safe we didn't vote. 01:18:45.310 --> 01:18:47.090 And he lost by 28 votes. 01:18:48.210 --> 01:18:49.430 And we get what we got. 01:18:50.250 --> 01:18:52.270 Don't tell me your one vote doesn't count. 01:18:52.590 --> 01:18:54.350 One vote adds up to other votes. 01:18:54.490 --> 01:18:55.090 And they count. 01:18:57.530 --> 01:19:00.010 Now, again, I know I'm basically preaching the choir. 01:19:00.010 --> 01:19:01.610 And a few of you are just kind of saying, 01:19:01.730 --> 01:19:03.430 Wow, I hadn't thought about that one before. 01:19:04.350 --> 01:19:05.110 Here's what I wonder. 01:19:05.270 --> 01:19:07.050 Because we also get those Christians who say, 01:19:07.350 --> 01:19:08.170 Pastor, you love this one. 01:19:09.070 --> 01:19:12.050 God's in control. God's the one who puts kings on the throne, 01:19:12.210 --> 01:19:13.050 takes, you know, presidents. 01:19:13.650 --> 01:19:16.270 God is not in control. God's in charge. 01:19:16.610 --> 01:19:17.190 We're in partnership. 01:19:18.490 --> 01:19:19.330 We're in partnership. 01:19:19.770 --> 01:19:22.690 I wonder how many men and women of faith 01:19:22.690 --> 01:19:25.590 that God said this is my man for that seat 01:19:25.590 --> 01:19:28.150 never got elected because we didn't show up. 01:19:31.490 --> 01:19:33.630 That hit me like a ton of bricks earlier this week 01:19:33.630 --> 01:19:35.290 because I'd really never thought of that before 01:19:35.830 --> 01:19:38.070 because I hadn't thought about our partnership with the Lord. 01:19:39.130 --> 01:19:40.190 We're in partnership. 01:19:40.930 --> 01:19:42.510 So God ultimately is in charge, 01:19:42.790 --> 01:19:45.250 but he leaves some control up to what we do. 01:19:45.390 --> 01:19:46.230 We have responsibility. 01:19:46.970 --> 01:19:50.610 We have what our founders in here called duty. 01:19:53.350 --> 01:19:55.790 We had the opportunity this fall to put into office 01:19:55.790 --> 01:19:58.430 those who would follow what our founders gave us. 01:19:59.870 --> 01:20:02.510 We need to help them. We need to get to work. 01:20:02.810 --> 01:20:03.830 We need to show up. 01:20:05.650 --> 01:20:08.230 Our freedom, our children's freedom, 01:20:09.250 --> 01:20:11.010 our great-grandchildren's freedom 01:20:11.010 --> 01:20:12.870 is what we're fighting for. 01:20:13.330 --> 01:20:14.150 It's not about us. 01:20:14.690 --> 01:20:16.190 It wasn't about them. 01:20:17.450 --> 01:20:18.950 They made it when they said our lives, 01:20:19.150 --> 01:20:20.270 our fortunes, our sacred honor. 01:20:20.490 --> 01:20:22.770 It's because they included all the people 01:20:22.770 --> 01:20:24.030 that were going to be coming down the road. 01:20:24.030 --> 01:20:26.910 You and me, 250 years later. 01:20:27.730 --> 01:20:30.870 We are fighting for those following us. 01:20:34.250 --> 01:20:38.970 We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America 01:20:38.970 --> 01:20:40.390 and General Congress assembled, 01:20:41.110 --> 01:20:43.790 appealing to the supreme judge of the world 01:20:43.790 --> 01:20:46.090 for the rectitude of our intentions 01:20:46.090 --> 01:20:47.790 due in the name and by authority 01:20:47.790 --> 01:20:49.970 of the good people of these colonies, 01:20:50.530 --> 01:20:52.530 solemnly publish and declare 01:20:52.530 --> 01:20:55.790 that these united colonies are, 01:20:55.990 --> 01:20:58.010 and of a right ought to be, 01:20:59.810 --> 01:21:02.930 absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, 01:21:03.350 --> 01:21:05.910 and that all political connection 01:21:05.910 --> 01:21:08.770 between them and the state of Great Britain 01:21:08.770 --> 01:21:11.950 is and ought to be totally dissolved. 01:21:12.710 --> 01:21:15.030 And that as free and independent states, 01:21:15.570 --> 01:21:17.450 they have full power to levy war, 01:21:18.250 --> 01:21:21.450 conclude peace, contract alliances, 01:21:21.450 --> 01:21:23.170 establish commerce, 01:21:23.550 --> 01:21:26.430 and to do all other action things 01:21:26.430 --> 01:21:29.230 which independent states may do 01:21:29.230 --> 01:21:32.030 of their right. 01:21:32.730 --> 01:21:34.550 And for the support 01:21:36.650 --> 01:21:40.230 of this declaration... 01:21:40.230 --> 01:21:43.090 weren't a church who makes decorations all the time? 01:21:44.330 --> 01:21:45.550 Think about that. 01:21:47.390 --> 01:21:49.570 Support of this declaration 01:21:49.570 --> 01:21:52.250 with a firm reliance 01:21:52.250 --> 01:21:55.590 on the protection of divine providence. 01:21:55.790 --> 01:21:57.190 With a firm reliance 01:21:57.190 --> 01:21:59.590 on the protection of God Almighty 01:22:00.450 --> 01:22:03.370 who by the way is spelled out in the treaty of Paris 01:22:03.370 --> 01:22:05.670 as the undivided Holy Trinity. 01:22:08.230 --> 01:22:10.110 Our treaty when the war ended. 01:22:10.770 --> 01:22:11.570 Thank you for that real. 01:22:14.450 --> 01:22:16.810 Our treaty starts out by saying 01:22:16.810 --> 01:22:20.090 in the name of the most holy undivided Trinity 01:22:20.090 --> 01:22:23.390 and they set the agreement of peace 01:22:23.390 --> 01:22:25.910 because we're under the Trinity. 01:22:28.150 --> 01:22:30.490 We mutually pledge to each other 01:22:31.450 --> 01:22:34.990 our lives, our fortunes, 01:22:35.670 --> 01:22:36.750 our sacred honor. 01:22:37.750 --> 01:22:40.330 Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, 01:22:41.630 --> 01:22:45.410 we can and must do nothing less. 01:22:45.410 --> 01:22:46.490 Amen. 01:22:58.020 --> 01:23:01.400 Whatever you do, don't leave here 01:23:01.400 --> 01:23:03.260 saying that was about politics. 01:23:07.110 --> 01:23:09.370 Because if you still think it's about politics, 01:23:09.970 --> 01:23:10.830 you weren't listening. 01:23:11.870 --> 01:23:14.030 You had your mind already shut. 01:23:14.310 --> 01:23:16.190 This is one of those kind of services. 01:23:19.150 --> 01:23:21.410 We are fighting for the heart 01:23:21.410 --> 01:23:24.930 of the gospel, godliness, righteousness, 01:23:25.930 --> 01:23:27.330 godly morality, 01:23:28.010 --> 01:23:30.510 and the freedom to remain 01:23:31.380 --> 01:23:34.910 our lineages remain Christian in our own country. 01:23:36.090 --> 01:23:38.130 This is not about politics. 01:23:39.670 --> 01:23:42.190 Now, politics are affected by this. 01:23:43.290 --> 01:23:45.010 And that's the order it should be. 01:23:46.630 --> 01:23:50.250 The politics, the governing of a people, 01:23:50.250 --> 01:23:52.550 the governing of a nation, that's what politics 01:23:52.550 --> 01:23:55.430 basically stands for, is supposed to be under God, 01:23:55.570 --> 01:23:57.910 not God under the government. 01:23:59.670 --> 01:24:01.270 So, yeah, it affects it. 01:24:02.570 --> 01:24:06.210 But, you know, I had someone, Dale, 01:24:06.750 --> 01:24:08.610 had someone criticize me online 01:24:10.470 --> 01:24:13.950 for believing in the seven mountains of influence. 01:24:15.270 --> 01:24:17.350 I think most of us... 01:24:17.350 --> 01:24:19.710 if you don't know what the seven mountains of influence are, Google it. 01:24:20.590 --> 01:24:23.150 And it's like, well, typical, 01:24:24.390 --> 01:24:26.130 won't fill in the blanks, preacher, 01:24:27.080 --> 01:24:29.310 supporting the seven mountains of influence. 01:24:32.770 --> 01:24:34.010 Yeah, I do. 01:24:35.670 --> 01:24:40.610 Because Christianity is supposed to influence all the world. 01:24:43.030 --> 01:24:47.450 All of culture is supposed to be influenced by Christianity. 01:24:50.770 --> 01:24:56.510 Now, you remember the word Paul used in 1 Corinthians 14, 01:24:57.190 --> 01:25:00.470 the word idiot is not someone who is emotionally, 01:25:01.550 --> 01:25:04.930 mentally arrested or damaged or challenged. 01:25:05.890 --> 01:25:08.970 The word Paul used, which comes out of the Greek, 01:25:09.770 --> 01:25:16.730 is someone who is extremely ignorant and untrained. 01:25:18.170 --> 01:25:20.670 Paul used the word twice in 1 Corinthians 14, 01:25:20.850 --> 01:25:21.890 dealing with speaking in tongues, 01:25:23.530 --> 01:25:26.450 and applied it to the people who don't believe in it. 01:25:28.570 --> 01:25:32.430 Well, sometimes I like to use that word in reference to, 01:25:33.090 --> 01:25:34.410 you're a Christian, 01:25:35.610 --> 01:25:38.210 and you actually believe 01:25:39.450 --> 01:25:42.430 we're not supposed to influence this world, 01:25:42.430 --> 01:25:45.350 including the government we live under. 01:25:46.150 --> 01:25:48.490 We're not supposed to influence it for Jesus. 01:25:51.050 --> 01:25:54.970 You're the first Corinthians 14 kind of idiot. 01:25:57.170 --> 01:25:59.310 You are so unlearned, so ignorant, 01:26:00.530 --> 01:26:02.430 probably thinking you know it all. 01:26:03.130 --> 01:26:06.510 But you can't engage online because it just turns nasty. 01:26:06.890 --> 01:26:08.310 You just got to leave it alone and go, 01:26:08.310 --> 01:26:08.790 whatever. 01:26:10.590 --> 01:26:14.210 And all the other birds of a feather will flock together. 01:26:15.530 --> 01:26:17.730 That's right, these preachers nowadays. 01:26:18.510 --> 01:26:21.310 It's like, yep, that's me. 01:26:22.070 --> 01:26:24.450 I'm actually trying to influence the world for Jesus. 01:26:24.730 --> 01:26:25.470 Yep, I'll own it. 01:26:26.470 --> 01:26:27.170 That's me. 01:26:27.670 --> 01:26:29.470 All of it, the educational system, 01:26:29.870 --> 01:26:31.910 the government, entertainment, 01:26:32.990 --> 01:26:33.790 the whole works. 01:26:34.150 --> 01:26:36.030 I'm actually trying to do something. 01:26:37.190 --> 01:26:37.870 Guilty. 01:26:40.850 --> 01:26:43.970 So don't leave saying, well, I was just political mourning. 01:26:45.190 --> 01:26:46.310 Don't be an idiot. 01:26:49.950 --> 01:26:52.010 I mean, you can't leave here. 01:26:52.250 --> 01:26:54.390 Honestly, you can't leave here saying, 01:26:54.730 --> 01:26:55.910 well, that was about politics. 01:26:56.250 --> 01:26:58.850 That was about restoring our country 01:26:58.850 --> 01:27:02.570 and celebrating what our founding fathers put in place 01:27:03.070 --> 01:27:06.230 and restoring it back to why are we here 01:27:06.230 --> 01:27:10.490 for the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 01:27:11.230 --> 01:27:12.930 That's why this country was founded. 01:27:13.430 --> 01:27:14.870 That is not politics. 01:27:21.770 --> 01:27:25.830 So Lord, thank you for this beautiful, awesome country 01:27:25.830 --> 01:27:27.330 you've given to us. 01:27:29.570 --> 01:27:33.170 I pray every generation begins to see 01:27:33.170 --> 01:27:35.330 more and more and more 01:27:36.490 --> 01:27:38.310 how the things of God, 01:27:39.750 --> 01:27:43.290 like it says in your word, Lord, 01:27:43.970 --> 01:27:47.330 we have to at times defend the faith. 01:27:48.530 --> 01:27:51.290 Yes, there's times we proclaim the faith. 01:27:51.550 --> 01:27:53.930 There's times we spread the faith, the gospel. 01:27:54.630 --> 01:27:56.610 And then there's times we have to stand up 01:27:56.610 --> 01:27:59.470 and say, nope, we're defending today. 01:28:00.890 --> 01:28:05.710 Lord, turn the Christians of this nation. 01:28:05.710 --> 01:28:09.590 Wake them up out of their slumber, out of their sleep. 01:28:11.030 --> 01:28:15.610 Wake them up so that we actually defend 01:28:15.610 --> 01:28:17.750 the scriptural faith. 01:28:18.950 --> 01:28:20.930 And take a stand on it. 01:28:21.810 --> 01:28:24.550 And gain back the ground we've lost 01:28:24.550 --> 01:28:27.170 so the gospel again can be spread 01:28:27.710 --> 01:28:32.570 in an unhindered manner in Jesus' name. 01:28:33.730 --> 01:28:33.970 Amen. 01:28:33.970 --> 01:28:34.230 Amen.