10/30/2019

PREFACE TO THE BOOK "1726"

Commenting on the demise of nations in world history, Carl Sandburg, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, wrote,
When a nation goes down, or a society perishes, one condition may always be found; they forgot where they came from. They lost sight of what had brought them along.
That statement captures my deepest desires concerning this, my latest book. America is sick spiritually, socially, morally, and politically; and a basic cause of this sickness is that we, as a nation, have forgotten where we came from. 

In creating the official seal for the nation, America's Founders chose to inscribe the Latin words, Annuit Coepits, meaning, “He Smiled on Our Beginnings.” I have written this book to remind America of her godly beginnings and to highlight how far we, as a nation, have strayed from those beginnings.
The vision for this book unfolded quite suddenly and unexpectedly. This past summer I sensed a stirring in my heart to republish America’s Revival Heritage with a new chapter on how the Great Awakening impacted slavery and marked the beginning of its demise in America.
America’s Revival Heritage, you may recall, was the first book that emerged out of a 7-hour encounter with the Lord in 2010 in which my hope for America was renewed and I saw for the first time that the Great Awakening had a direct bearing on the founding of this nation.
In response to this new directive, I read through America’s Revival Heritage and made notes where edits should be made based on more recent research. I also began the new chapter on slavery and was deeply stirred by the research and writing I was doing on the topic.
In that first encounter with the Lord in 2010, I saw that there was a direct bearing of the First Great Awakening on the founding of the nation. Now, I was seeing that the Awakening also had a direct bearing on the ending of slavery in America. It was out of the Great Awakening that the spiritual and moral forces were unleashed that brought about slavery’s demise in this land.
As I worked on this new project with great excitement, I read that the New York Times had begun what it called the “1619 Project” in commemoration of the first African slaves being brought to Colonial America 400 years ago in 1619. Their stated mission was to argue that America was defined by 1619 rather than by 1776. They are insisting that America is racist and corrupt at its very core, and in need of fundamental change.
My response was, “No!” “America was not defined by 1619.” “America was defined by 1726.” 1726, of course, was the year the Great Awakening began. 1776 would never have happened apart from 1726. Slavery would never have been obliterated as it was apart from 1726.
As I continued researching and writing, I finally concluded that a new book was emerging. At that point, I realized that this was not the 2nd edition of America’s Revival Heritage, but a new book that I would call 1726.
I pray that God will use this book to awaken American citizens to their godly heritage. I pray that He will also use it to awaken the American church to its vital role in the nation's future by contending for another Great Awakening across the land.
Eddie Hyatt, Author
Look for the book on Amazon and at www.eddiehyatt.com after November 12.

10/03/2019

WHAT JUDGE TAMMY KEMP DID WAS BOTH GODLY AND AMERICAN

TO THE "FREEDOM FROM RELIGION FOUNDATION "AND OTHER CRITICS: 

No! Judge Tammy Kemp did not violate the First Amendment by hugging Amber Guyger and giving her a Bible.
In case you have not heard the story; in a Dallas courtroom, Amber Guyger had just been found guilty of murder and given a ten-year sentence. The brother of the dead man asked to speak to Guyger, a former policewoman. He proceeded to speak forgiveness to her and encouraged her to receive Christ.
He then asked permission to hug Guyger and Judge Kemp gave the OK. The two came together in a very emotional embrace and sobs could be heard throughout the courtroom. Judge Kemp then came down from her seat and gave Guyger a Bible, hugged her, told her to read John 3:16, and prayed with her.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation did not like Judge Kemp’s actions, claiming it violated the separation of church and state. They, however, have chosen to be ignorant of the fact that the phrase “separation of church and state” does not exist in the U.S. Constitution. They are also willingly ignorant about the following facts concerning the Bible and America’s history.
Facts About the Bible and America’s History
1.     The First Continental Congress opened on September 5, 1774 with an extended time of Bible reading and prayer. Bible reading and prayer continued to be an important part of their proceedings.
2.      George Washington, America’s 1st president, said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” He set in motion a tradition by insisting on taking the presidential oath of office with his hand on a Bible (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 137).
3.     The first English Bible printed in America in 1782 included a recommendation from Congress, saying “we recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States and hereby authorize him [the publisher] to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.”
4.       In 1787 Benjamin Franklin called the Constitutional Convention to prayer and quoted from the Gospels and then the Psalms, saying, “We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 144).
5.       A ten-year study to discover where America’s founders got their ideas for the nation's founding documents, found that by far the single most cited authority in their writings was the Bible (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 163).
6.       Andrew Jackson, America’s 7th president, said of the Bible, “That book, sir, is the rock on which our Republic rests.”
7.       Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, said, “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book.
8.       Theodore Roosevelt, America’s 26th president, said of the Bible, “No other book of any kind ever written in English has ever so affected the whole life of a people.”
No Basis for Their Criticism
The claim by the FFRF that Judge Kemp violated the First Amendment is based on a shallow and biased interpretation. The First Amendment was put in place to ban Congress from ever creating an official, state church as had been the case in Europe since the time of Constantine. Nothing more! This was made clear, when the day after ratifying the First Amendment, those same founders proclaimed a national Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving.
Joseph Story, the highly acclaimed Supreme Court justice who served for 34 years from 1811-1845, said of the First Amendment, “We are not to attribute this prohibition to an indifference in religion, and especially to Christianity, which none could hold in more reverence than the framers of the Constitution” (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 153).
The First Amendment gurantees freedom of religion, not freedom from religion, What Judge Kemp did was both godly and American. We should be applauding her and holding her up as an example for other public officials. 


This article was derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's book, Pilgrims and Patriots, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. Dr. Hyatt is passionate about recovering America's true Christian heritage in spiritual awakening and seeing another natiional, spiriutal awakening in this generation. Inquires for speaking engagements can be sent to dreddiehyatt@gmail.com.

10/02/2019

YOU CAN DO YOURSELF A FAVOR BY PRAYING FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP

And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace (Jeremiah 29:7).
The above words to the captive Jews in Babylon must have been a hard pill to swallow. God instructs them to pray for the peace of the city that is home to the people who have slaughtered their fellow Israelites, burned their city, and carried them away captive. The Hebrew word for “peace” in this passage is shalom and it carried meanings of peace, prosperity, and general well-being.
God, however, makes it clear, that in giving this command, He is concerned for their own well-being. They will do themselves a favor by praying for the shalom of Babylon; for if there is peace in Babylon, they will share in that peace. If, however, there is war, bloodshed, and famine, they will also share in the suffering.
In a similar way, we will do ourselves and our families a favor when we pray for President Trump and for the shalom of America. If he is successful in his goal to “make America great again,” every American will benefit. If, however, the nation is plunged into a recession and societal chaos—or even a civil war—we will all suffer. 
Paul made a similar appeal to Timothy who was in the pagan city of Ephesus at the time of writing. He wrote,
Therefore I exhort first of all that prayers, supplications, and giving of thanks be made for all people, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:1-4).
The Greek word for king, basileus, was used for the emperor in Rome as well as for lesser rulers. When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy in the pagan, idolatrous city of Ephesus, the wicked Nero was ruling in Rome.
Paul says that the goal of such prayer for governement leaders is that we might lead a “quiet and peaceable” life. The phrase "quiet and peaceable" is translated from the Greek words heremon and hesuchion. In his Word Studies in the New Testament, Marvin Vincent says that heremon “denotes quiet arising from the absence of outward disturbance” and that hesuchion is “tranquility arising from within.” Together, they express the same idea as the Old Testament shalom.
Timothy and the believers in Ephesus are to pray for kings and all that are in authority for the same reason the captive Jews were to pray for the city of Babylon. They will be doing themselves a favor. If there is peace and prosperity in Ephesus and the Empire, Timothy and the believers in Ephesus will share in that peace and prosperity.
The same is true in America today, and would be true even if Hillary Clinton were president. Such prayer transcends politics. Prayer is a powerful force and we, as Christians, have a responsibility to pray for presidents, prime ministers, and governement officials of any and every political persuasion. 

Paul then delineates another great benefit as a result of praying for civil leaders, and it has to do with the freedom to spread the good news of Jesus. This is expressed in the phrase, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
When a society is at peace and experiencing the shalom of heaven, roads and communication systems are maintained. Hostility toward Christians tend to subside because of God's favor, and this opens the way for the free flow of the Gospel to all the world. This is good and acceptable in God’s sight, says Paul, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:3-4).

These passages clearly show that we are to pray for civil leaders even if we vehemently disagree with them and their policies. Those who hate President Trump and are bent on bringing him down are in violation of a clear Biblical principle. If they succeed, they will hurt themselves and do irreparable damage to the nation. So, do yourself, your family, and the nation a favor: Pray for President Trump and for God's shalom across America.

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the founder of "America's Reawakening" and has written extensively on America's spiritual birth out of the Great Awakening. Dr. Pat Roberson calls his book, Pilgrims and Patriots, "a must read!" His books are available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. To schedule a speaking engagement, send an email to dreddiehyatt@gmail.com.