WHAT IF EVERY CHURCH IN AMERICA HEARD AN "ELECTION SERMON" THIS SUNDAY?

America’s Founders freely intermingled Christian teachings and values with their civic elections. An early example of this was the establishment of the “Election Sermon” in New England in 1633. This statute provided that each year, at the time of the annual election of the governor and his assistants, a minister would be appointed to preach an “Election Sermon.”

This was a major event, attended by both religious and civic leaders. After the delivery of the sermon, it was then printed and distributed throughout the colony. This tradition spread and continued for over two-hundred years. In 1860, the noted lawyer and historian, John Wingate Thornton, wrote,

The annual “Election Sermon”—a perpetual memorial, continued down through the generations from century to century—still bears witness that our fathers ever began their civil year and its responsibilities with an appeal to Heaven, and recognized Christian morality as the only basis of good laws (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 47).

The Johnson Amendment is Out of Sync with America’s Founding

Yes, in early America it was considered a duty of Christian ministers to bring Christian values to bear upon politics and civic elections. The Johnson Amendment, passed in 1954, that prohibits nonprofits, including churches, from “participating” or “intervening” in elections is completely out of sync with America’s founding generation.

One of the nation’s most prominent Founders, John Witherspoon, was a man of deep faith and an ordained minister from Scotland. As a “dissenting Protestant,” he spent time in prison for refusing to compromise his faith. A brilliant scholar, he was eventually released and emigrated to America where he become president of the College of New Jersey.

In America, he also became a member of the Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and he helped draft the Articles of Confederation. It was Witherspoon who authored the many calls for prayer and fasting that were published by the Congresses during the Revolutionary War.

Witherspoon and every other Founder would have considered it preposterous to think that he, a minister of the Gospel, could not bring his moral values to bear on an election. He wrote,

God, grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable, and that unjust attempts to destroy the one, may in the issue tend to the support and establishment of both (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 154).

Christian Influence Considered Necessary for the Success of the Nation

Yes, The Founders wanted ministers of the Gospel to bring their message to bear upon the nation. This is why George Washington, after becoming commander-in-chief, appointed Christian chaplains throughout his army. This is why chaplains were appointed to Congress and continued the tradition, established by the Continental Congresses, of beginning each day's proceedings with prayer. The early chaplains also conducted Sunday services in the House Chamber every other week.

John Marshall, who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801-1835, made the Supreme Court facilities available to a local congregation for their Sunday gatherings. So, on Sunday morning, the singing of Christian hymns and the preaching of God’s Word could be heard ringing through the chambers of both the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court. This was neither surprising nor offensive to anyone, for it fit perfectly within the mindset of the founding generation.

Washington and all the Founders knew that the success of the Constitutional Republic they had formed hinged on the moral character of its citizens and their ability to govern themselves according to Christian values. This is why President John Adams, in a 1798 address to the officers of the Massachusetts Militia, declared,

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious [Christian] people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 173).

The Founders did not believe there could be liberty apart from virtue, or freedom apart from morality. They were convinced that only Christianity offered the moral and intellectual underpinnings that would preserve the nation they had brought into existence. 

They refused to "officially" endorse any particular creed or denomination, but they absolutely wanted ministers of the Gospel to be free to declare Gospel truth. As William Novak says, “The founders did not believe the constitutional government they were erecting could survive without Hebrew-Christian faith.”

It’s Time for a Courageous Stand

Preaching an “Election Sermon” is the prerogative—and perhaps duty--of every minister and pastor in America. Not the promotion of a political party, but bringing the truth of God to bear on the issues of the day. Even with the Johnson Amendment in place, you have a First Amendment right, not only to preach the Gospel, but to express your personal opinion from the pulpit or any other location. In the meantime, the Johnson Amendment should be removed as it is totally out of sync with tradtional American values of Faith and Freedom.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s book, Pilgrims and Patriots, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. Eddie also conducts “America Reawakening” events in which he documents how America was birthed out of a great Spiritual awakening and explains why we should expect another Great Awakening in our day.

I JUST VOTED AND I TIMOTHY 2:1-4 GUIDED MY VOTE

I never wanted to get into politics, and for me this is not about poltics. This is about saving the American Republic that is in danger of being destroyed by self-serving politicians and intellectual elites who look down their noses at the rest of the populace as they rewrite America's history and seek to purge every vestige of Christianity from our culture. But God!!!

Click this link to watch the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thw9b4wQeP8&feature=youtu.be

WHY I AM NOT AFRAID OF WITCHES, HEXES AND CURSES

A well-known witch attended services in the church Sue and I were planting and leading in eastern Canada. Several people came to me concerned about the presence of this witch. They wondered if she was trying to work some spell or sorcery on our fledgling congregation.

Several of us met together to pray about the situation. While praying I saw a vision of smoke (representing the devil) and then a wind (representing the Spirit of God) that came along and blew the smoke away. The smoke had no substance or strength with which to resist the wind. It was suddenly gone. 

At the very same time another person saw a similar vision and then a powerful, prophetic word came forth that gave me a new perspective on the devil. God said, My power is so far surpassing any power possessed by the devil, he is not worthy of the attention you are giving him.

 God seemed perturbed with us for giving so much time and attention to the devil.

Satan is a Defeated Foe

When it comes to spiritual warfare, we must realize that there was a tremendous shift that took place at the cross, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Satan was not annihilated but he was stripped of his authority. He is like a 5-star general who is court-martialed, stripped of his authority and drummed out of the army.

The general still exists but no longer has any authority. If, however, the general puts on his uniform with all his military medals, he will be able to exercise authority over those who do not know the truth. But for those who know the truth, even a private can tell the former general to “get lost.” So it is with even the newest babe in Christ.

The overwhelming victory of Christ over Satan is delineated by Paul in Ephesians 1:15-23. He speaks of Christ being raised from the dead by the mighty power of God and then being seated at His right hand in the heavenly places. The “right hand” in Scripture is symbolic of authority and power. Psalm 98:1, for example, says of God, His right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory. When Paul says that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God, he is saying that Jesus is seated at the pinnacle of the universe, in the place of ultimate authority and power.

This place where Christ is seated is far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come (Eph. 1:21). It doesn’t matter what kind of principality or power it may be–even Satan himself–the place where Christ is seated is far above them all.

And here is what is incredible! Paul says that the same power that raised Jesus from dead and seated Him in that place of ultimate authority, far above any power possessed by the devil, is now at work in you and me. No wonder Satan trembles at the child of God who knows his/her position and authority in Christ.

T.L. Osborn Understood Satan’s Defeat

I heard the elder statesman of modern, miracle evangelism, the late Dr. T.L. Osborn, tell about a miracle crusade his ministry sponsored in Africa. Among the many thousands that had gathered in the open air were hundreds of witch doctors who had come there with their fetishes to cast curses and spells on the foreign preacher.

Before going on the platform, the supporting pastors wanted to lay hands on him and pray for his protection from the devil. T. L. emphatically refused their prayer. He said, “I would not insult my Lord in that way.” T. L. focused his attention on preaching the good news of Jesus that day and many came to Christ and many were miraculously set free from all kinds of illnesses and bondages. And some Christian pastors realized that they did not have to be afraid of the devil.

This New and Better Covenant

Even under the Old Covenant the enemies of God could not cast spells and curses on His people. Balak hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel but after seven attempts he had to admit he could not do it. How shall I curse whom God has not cursed . . . there is no sorcery against Jacob and no divination against Israel, Balaam declared (Numbers 23:8, 23).

If this were true under the Old Covenant, how much more under this new and better covenant based in the shed blood of Jesus Christ! Listen to the words of Jesus in response to the Seventy who returned rejoicing because they had discovered, Even the demons are subject to us in your name (Luke 10:17). Jesus replied,

I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven. Behold I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:18-19).

We Must Know the Truth

With all the talk about witches, curses and hexes, it makes me wonder if the church in general knows the truth of Satan’s defeat. Too many Christians, it would seem, see God and Satan as almost equals, with God having a slight edge.

This, however, is a blatant lie that Satan, a created being, perpetrates on the unlearned and naïve. Satan was absolutely vanquished by the death and resurrection of Jesus. His defeat was absolute and final. He was not annihilated but stripped of all rights and authority.

This was clearly demonstrated by Jesus on resurrection morning when he walked out of the tomb and triumphantly declared, All authority is given unto Me in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:19). If Jesus has all authority, how much does that leave the devil? Satan knows that he is whipped. God knows it. It is now time that the church discover this fact.

Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt is the author of 1726: The Year that Defined America, which documents how a Great Awakening gave birth to the United States of America and unleashed the spiritual and moral forces that ended slavery on this continenet. His books are available from Amazon and his website at https://eddiehyatt.com. 

3 CHRISTIAN CONVICTIONS THAT WILL DETERMINE HOW I VOTE ON NOVEMBER 6

These Convictions Will Help Chart America's Divine Destiny

In a few days, on November 6, millions of Americans will go to the polls to vote in one of the most important elections of our lifetime. As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility, not only to pray for our country, but to vote for those candidates who will best reflect the values that Jesus Christ brought to this world.

America’s Founders, though flawed like all human beings, understood the importance of seeking to the emulate the values of Jesus as revealed in the Gospels and the New Testament. This is what led George Washington to declare,

The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 174).

When I walk into the voting booth on November 6, I will not be voting as a Democrat or Republican. I will not be voting on looks or personality. I will cast my votes based on values and convictions that have been shaped by a life-long study of the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament.

Here are 3 Christian convictions that will determine how I vote on November 6. 

1. Jesus is Lord

2. Life is Sacred

3. Family Matters

Conviction #1

Jesus is Lord

Whose moral values do you want to live under? Marx? Mohammed? Buddha? Darwin? Soros? Sanders? Hollywood? America’s Founders had a clear answer.

In a letter to the governors of the various states at the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington included an “earnest prayer” that the citizens of the new nation would seek to pattern their lives after Jesus Christ. He wrote,

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in His holy protection; that he would incline the hearts of the citizens to entertain a brotherly affection for one another . . . and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of His example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 134).

Every Founder, even the most irreligious, agreed with Washington that the teachings of Jesus Christ held the key for social and political stability in the nation they had formed. Thomas Jefferson, for example, stated, “Of all the systems of morality that have come under my observations, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus.” His commitment to the teachings of Christ is, no doubt, why he ended every official presidential document with the words, “In the year of our Lord Christ.”

Benjamin Franklin, another supposed irreligious Founder, stated, "The moral and religious system which Jesus Christ transmitted to us is the best the world has ever seen or can see." When the noted Deist, Thomas Paine, sent Franklin a manuscript copy of The Age of Reason, in which he attacked historic Christianity, Franklin refused to print it. In very strong language he suggested to Paine that he burn the manuscript and then said, “If men are this wicked with religion [Christianity], what would they be if without it” (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 142).

For the founding generation, Jesus was the archetype model for morality for all humanity. They may have disagreed on doctrine and adhered to different churches and denominations, but all agreed that Jesus stood in a class all alone as a moral teacher and guide.

So pervasive was this commitment to Jesus among the founding generation that Jonathan Trumbull, a British-appointed governor in New England, wrote to his superiors in England, “If you ask an American who is his master, he will tell you he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ” (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 119).

The Founders were unanimous in their belief that only a virtuous, tolerant and moral people could maintain the liberties enshrined in the founding documents. They were also unanimous in the belief that such morality and tolerance could only be derived from Jesus Christ and the teachings He brought to the world. This belief led John Adams to declare,

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . .  Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious [Christian] people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 173).

Make no mistake about it! It was this commitment to Jesus as the archetype model for life and morality that made America a compassionate and tolerant nation. We are now, however, beginning to see the fruit of a nation rejecting Jesus Christ as its model for life and morality. We have sown the wind and are beginning to reap the whirlwind.

We are now seeing social and political divisiveness on a scale unknown by this generation. This has come about because the secularists of this nation, with the full support of one political party, have been on a crusade to remove all expressions of Christianity from the public life of the nation.

In rejecting the moral vision of Washington, Jefferson and Franklin, much of our nation is like a ship without a rudder, adrift on a sea of moral relativism. As a result, moral confusion reigns in our schools, colleges and public institutions. Acrimony and vindictiveness are on full display in the halls of Congress. With no transcendent, moral principle to guide our culture, each one does that which is right in his/her own eyes. What a recipe for moral chaos and social disaster!

Psalm 33:12, says, Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. America has been blessed because her Founders acknowledged Jesus Christ and His teachings as supreme. I cannot vote for any party or candidate that outright rejects the time-tested moral principles of Jesus for the subjective, erratic and unreliable creeds of modern secularism and multiculturalism.

My Christian conviction that "Jesus is Lord" will be a determining factor in how I vote on November 6.

Conviction #2

Life is Sacred

Jesus said, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

I will never forget the first time I saw an ultrasound image of a baby in the womb. I was stunned, and my response was, “That is a real living person!” Erica, who was about to have an abortion, was even more stunned when she saw the ultrasound of her unborn baby. She wrote,

I begged the nurse to let me see my baby; I felt that I had to see. As soon as I saw my child on the ultrasound I knew I couldn't do it. I saw the heart beating, and he moved his little hands (almost like a wave). I think God intervened and sent me a message that I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life.

These intuitive, common sense responses are confirmed by both the Bible and science. For example, Luke, the physician and author of the Third Gospel, records the very personal response of John the Baptist, while still in the womb, to the voice of Mary, the mother of Jesus, greeting his mother. He must have kicked for his mother, Elizabeth, said to Mary, For indeed as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy (Luke 1:44).

The hand of our Creator on our life from the moment of conception is vividly expressed in Psalm 119:13-16, which reads,

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Science confirms the Biblical record. After only 11 weeks in the womb the baby has a heartbeat and brainwaves and can kick. He/she squints, swallows and sucks their thumb. They are sensitive to heat, light, noise and all body systems are working.

After 20 weeks in the womb, babies are capable of experiencing pain, and that capability for pain increases with each passing day. Babies in the womb, therefore, experience excruciating pain during an abortion. They will seek to avoid the abortionist tools and will emit a “silent scream” as their tiny bodies are ripped apart.

Ninety-eight per cent of abortions are done for convenience and to end unwanted pregnancies. Such a contempt for life in the womb should not be part of a civilized society and will eventually lead to other forms of “legalized” murder.

My Christian conviction that life is sacred, even in the womb, will not allow me to vote for any candidate who would support snuffing out the life of unborn babies for mere convenience and birth control.

Conviction #3

Family Matters

I heard the veteran civil rights activist, Robert Woodson, declare that liberal social policies in America have accomplished what years of slavery and Jim Crow were unable to accomplish--the destruction of the black family. He and other black thinkers, such as Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell, trace the hopelessness and distress of the inner cities to the loss of fatherhood and the breakdown of the nuclear family. In a recent “Daily Signal” article, Williams wrote,

The No. 1 problem among blacks is the effects stemming from a very weak family structure. Children from fatherless homes are likelier to drop out of high school, die by suicide, have behavioral disorders, join gangs, commit crimes, and end up in prison. They are also likelier to live in poverty-stricken households.

Williams argues that the weak black family is NOT a legacy of slavery and gives statistics showing that the breakdown of the black family did not begin until after the 1960s. He blames this breakdown on the social welfare state created by clueless, left-wing politicians who think the government holds the key for every human need.

I can attest to what Williams is saying from my own experience growing up in a rural area of NE Texas in the 1960s during segregation and Jim Crow. As a teenager, I worked in the fields alongside blacks chopping cotton, picking cotton and hauling hay. I remember them to be some of the happiest people I ever knew. Looking back, there is no question in my mind that the strong bonds of faith and family produced joy and mitigated the pain of segregation.

All of this confirms the fact that God created the human species to function in family units with a mother and father in a committed relationship called marriage. The environment produced by such a committed relationship between a man and a woman is the ideal setting for raising strong, healthy children who will become productive citizens.

This is borne out by the fact that when God sent His Son into this world to be born as a human being, He placed Him in a home with a mother and father. By doing so, He confirmed that such a home is the safest and most nurturing place for a child to be reared. Jesus affirmed this same truth of the family unit, when after a visit to Jerusalem with His parents at the age of twelve, He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them (Luke 2:51).

It was such families that made America great in the first place. Explorers and adventurers played a role in opening the continent, but everything changed in 1620 with the Pilgrims who began a great migration of families to the New World. They came by the tens of thousands—husbands, wives, children, pets and even livestock. Out of both purpose and necessity, they focused on building a new life for themselves and their children in the New World. They made America great.

The family unit is the basic social unit of any society and strong families are necessary for a strong and stable society. Destroy the family and you destroy the nation, and this is happening in America today.

I, therefore, cannot vote for any candidate or party that supports polices that undermine the natural, nuclear family established by God in Creation and affirmed by Jesus Christ.

Concluding Prayer

I write this, not out of ill will toward anyone, but out of a commitment to Jesus Christ and His kingdom. If you have not put your faith in Him, I urge you to do so now. Just say this prayer from your heart,

Lord Jesus, I give You my heart and life. I choose this day to follow You. Forgive me of my sins and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Amen!

Dr. Eddie Hyatt has documented America's spiritual birth out of the Great Awakening in his book, Pilgrims and Patriots, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. He also conducts "America Reawakening" events, a stirring PowerPoint presentation, based on his book, that includes a call for Christians to pray and believe for another Great Awakening across the land.

THE REAL REASON FOR THE RAGE AGAINST BRETT KAVANAUGH

Democrats are frantic in their attempts to smear and discredit Brett Kavanaugh. He has been accused of every sordid sin imaginable, but so far nothing has been corroborated. Why the seething rage?

The answer is simple. For decades, the secularist liberals of this nation have relied on the courts to advance their social/political agenda. This has included everything from banning prayer and Bible reading from the public schools in the 1960s to the legalizing of abortion in the 1970s and the legalizing of same-sex marriage in 2015.

Unable to enact their anti-Christian, liberal policies through the elected representatives of the people, modern secularists have found liberal justices willing to overreach their constitutional authority. These justices have legislated from the bench by ruling on social and moral issues that should have been left to the elected representatives of the people.

Abraham Lincoln described the American government as being “of the people, by the people and for the people.” In recent times it has become a government of five people in black robes, i.e., the Supreme Court majority.

The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court would mean a solid conservative majority of justices who believe justices should not legislate from the bench. They believe laws should be enacted by the representatives of the people and justices should merely interpret and apply those laws in individual cases.

This, of course, would be a major blow to the Left’s agenda to fundamentally transform this nation through the courts. They see their hope for power slipping away if Kavanaugh is confirmed. This is the real reason for the rage. Love of power!

As followers of Christ, we are not driven by a political agenda. We are taught to pray that His kingdom come, and His will be done in every situation (Matthew 6:10). That is my prayer for Judge Kavanaugh and this confirmation process. 

Dr. Eddie Hyatt has documented America's spiritual birth out of the Great Awakening in his book, Pilgrims and Patriots, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. He also conducts "America Reawakening"events, which is a stirring Powerpoint presentation based on his book and includes a call for Christians to pray and believe for another national, spiritual awakening.