THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE LIE EVER FOISTED ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

What is happening to America? Another tragic mass shooting occurred this weekend at a shopping mall in Allen, Texas, just a few miles from where Sue and I live in Grapevine. How many more tragedies must be suffered before we wake up to what is really happening? We are in the midst of a spiritual and moral battle for the soul of this nation. We are in a war of good vs. evil. We are in a war of God’s way vs. man’s way. 

The Root of the Problem

We are suffering because as a nation we have turned against the very principles of faith and morality on which this nation was founded. It can be said of America what Alexander Solzhenitsyn said in explaining why 60 million had perished under Marxist rule in his home country of Russia.  He said, “I could not put it more accurately than to repeat, ‘Men have forgotten God,’ that is why all this has happened.”

In the past sixty years, prayer and Bible reading have been outlawed in our schools. Ten commandment displays have been removed. Liberals and secularists decided that children should not be exposed to prayer, Bible verses, and moral laws such as “Thou shalt not kill.” Instead, they are taught that there are no moral laws or objective truths to which they must adhere. They are told that they are free to create their own moral world of right and wrong with no fear of Divine retribution.

This anti-Christian activism is based on what is, perhaps, the most destructive lie ever foisted on the American populace. The lie is that America's Founders secularized the American system and banned expressions of faith from the public square when they implemented the First Amendment. Nothing could be further from the truth!

What the Founders banned was a national, state church, which is what the nations of Europe had known since Constantine. They knew from experience that such coercive faith does not produce real Christians. They had learned that faith, imposed by civil government, can never produce a moral and virtuous people, and such a people, they believed, would be necessary for a free and stable nation.

America’s Founders were also aware of the history of spiritual awakenings in Colonial America, including the big one, the Great Awakening, which had impacted all of them. They had seen the populace morally transformed by that Awakening. They believed such an organic faith of the people to be true to real Christianity and capable of producing the kind of national morality necessary for a peaceful and prosperous society.

The Founders are Clear on the Key for National Stability

In the quotes below, remember that when the Founders use the word "religion," they are referring to Christianity. Christianity was their religion. Without exception, they believed that only a moral and virtuous people could maintain the Republic that had formed. And notice that they consistently couple "morality" with "religion" for they believed that morality could not be had without religion.

This is why, two weeks before signing the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote to his cousin, Zabdiel Adams, a minister of the Gospel, and said,

Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 164).

Twenty-two years later in 1798, Adams gave a speech to the officers of the Massachusetts Militia in which he clearly stated his belief that only a Christian morality could maintain the free Republic he had helped establish. He said,

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 people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 164),

We now have a generation that, in the words of Adams, is “unbridled by morality and religion.” The blame must be laid at the feet of far-Left extremists who have done everything in their power to purge America of her Christian roots. Because of this loss of morality, our nation is becoming chaotic and our liberties are rapidly slipping away, as many push for more government control.

Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphia physician, member of the Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, warned of this, saying,

The only foundation for a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 163).

George Washington gave the same warning in his 1796 Farewell address after serving two terms as the nation’s first president. He urged the new nation to maintain "religion" and "morality," which he called "indispensable" supports for national prosperity. Interestingly, he did not say that religion should be "tolerated," but that it is "indispensable" for the life of the nation.

He also warned against the false supposition, entertained by so many today, that morality can maintained apart from religion [Christianity]. He called religion and morality “the great pillars of human happiness” and then said,

And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion [Christianity]. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle (Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America, 165).

Thomas Jefferson was so impressed with Washington’s speech that he made it required reading at the University of Virginia, which he had founded. This should not be surprising for despite his questioning of certain aspects of Christian doctrine, Jefferson was convinced that only by embracing the moral teachings of Jesus and the New Testament could a nation enjoy both stability and freedom.

This is why John Dickinson, chairman of the committee that produced the Articles of Confederation, warned that “when states lose their liberty, this calamity is generally owing to a decay of virtue.” And commenting on this fact, Michael Novak is correct in declaring,

Far from having a hostility toward religion, the Founders counted on religion [Christianity] for the underlying philosophy of the republic, its supporting ethic, and its reliable source of rejuvenation (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 171).

The Way Forward from Here

Fast forward to 2023 and we find ourselves with a government that is openly hostile to the Christian faith. We have an administration that plants its agents in Christian churches to spy on them and their activities. We have people in government who believe more government is the solution to every problem and believe the church should be under the power of the state. This is totally antithetical to the vision of the Founders. It is a very serious time.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” It is time to reject this destructive lie of the Left that has been used to silence Christian voices in the public arena, and is leading to societal chaos. Let your voice be heard and join me and thousands of others in praying for another Great Awakening to sweep across this land.

Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt is the author of 1726: The Year that Defined America from which the above article was derived. His books are available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. 

AN AMAZING 416-YEAR-OLD PROPHECY CONCERING GOD'S PLAN FOR AMERICA

It was April 29, 1607. Around 100 weary Englishmen disembarked at Cape Henry, Virginia after a 4-month voyage across the Atlantic. Their first act was to gather around a 7-foot oak cross they had brought from England to pray and dedicate the land of their new home to God. During the dedicatory prayer, their chaplain, Rev. Robert Hunt, suddenly declared, “From these very shores the gospel will go forth, not only to this New World, but to all the world.” (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 37).

Thirteen years later in 1620, the Pilgrims arrived in New England also with a missionary vision. The common belief that they were fleeing persecution is only one side of the coin. There was also a proactive vision that was pulling them forward. In the Mayflower Compact they clearly stated that they had come to the New World for two reasons: (1) the glory of God and (2) the advancement of the Christian faith.

Twenty-three years later, in 1643, with thousands of new immigrants having settled in New England and new towns having sprung up, the United Colonies of New England was formed. They too had a missionary vision. In the opening of their constitution, they clearly stated why they had all come to this land. They said,

Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the Liberties of the Gospel in purity and peace (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 31).

This missionary vision deepened as a result of the Great Awakening (1726-70) and became a part of the American psyche, profoundly impacting America’s founding generation. America’s founders, even the most nonreligious, were impacted and envisioned a land of religious liberty from which the gospel would go forth to the ends of the earth, just as Hunt had declared.  

In 1756, for example, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to George Whitefield, the most famous preacher of the Great Awakening, proposing that they partner together in founding a new colony on the American frontier in the area of present day Ohio. Franklin included a missionary reason for founding the new colony, saying,

Might it not greatly facilitate the introduction of pure religion among the heathen, if we could, by such a colony, show them a better sample of Christians than they commonly see (Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America, 137).

George Washington also had a missionary vision. This is made clear in a prayer journal he kept in his twenties. One entry reads, “Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ” (Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America, 132).

His missionary vision was also obvious in a 1779 meeting with chiefs from the Delaware American Indian tribe. The chiefs were seeking greater cooperation with the new American government and had brought some of their youth to be trained in American schools. Washington cordially greeted them, calling them “Brothers,” and then said, “You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ.” (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 172).

Thomas Jefferson closed all official documents with the caption, “In the Year of Our Lord, Christ.” As president, he negotiated a federal treaty with the Kaskaskia Native American tribe, which made federal funds available to pay for a Christian missionary to work with the tribe and for the building of a Christian church in which the they would worship. Jefferson also said,

Of all the systems of morality that have come under my observation, none appear so pure to me as that of Jesus (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 150).

John Hancock served as president of the Continental Congress and his signature on the Declaration of Independence is the largest and most prominent. He too had a passion for missions. While serving as governor of Massachusetts, he proclaimed a Day of Prayer in which he exhorted the people to pray for,

The spreading of the true religion of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, in its purity and power, among all the people of the earth (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 173).

In the 19^th century, the passion for evangelism and missions mushroomed and America became the greatest missionary-sending nation in the history of Christendom. Many missionary societies were formed for the sole purpose of sending out both home and foreign missionaries. In his Autobiography, the famous evangelist, Charles G. Finney, tells how he was initially sent forth to labor for souls by a “Female Missionary Society.”

The French sociologist, Alexis de Tocqueville, visited America in 1831 and was astounded by the passion for missions he saw everywhere. He wrote.

I have known of societies formed by the Americans to send out ministers of the Gospel in the new Western states, to found schools and churches there, lest religion should be suffered to die away in those remote settlements, and the rising states be less fitted to enjoy free institutions than the people from whom they came (Hyatt, 1726: The Year thatDefined America, 167).

The 19th century became known as “The Great Century of Protestant Missions” as many thousands of missionaries went forth into all the world. This passion for missions was so prevalent that it caught the attention of the nation’s highest court.

In the 1892 ruling, Church of the Holy Trinity vs The United States, the nation’s highest court declared America to be a “Christian nation.” Among the reasons listed for their conclusion, was the missionary vision that permeated the nation’s churches and the nation itself. They wrote,

The gigantic missionary associations, with general support, and aiming to establish Christian missions in every quarter of the globe. These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 170).

It seems clear that God raised up America to be a place from which His word would flow forth to the ends of the earth. I wonder, however, if we have lost our rai·son d'être. Has a me-centered gospel diverted us from our calling to take the gospel to all creation? Has the Great Commission become the Great Omission of the American Church?

Yes, 416 years ago, on the windswept shores of Cape Henry, a small group of immigrants birthed a great missionary vision for a new nation. My prayer is that God will send another Great Awakening across this land that will revive the sleeping churches and reawaken the missionary vision that has been such a vital part of this nation’s history. 

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is a church historian, revivalist, and Bible teacher. This article was derived from his book 1726: The Year that Defined America, available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehyatt.com. He is the founder of the "1726 Project" whose purpose is to educate the American populace about America's birth out of a great, spiritual awakening.

RESURRECTION LIFE AND POWER FOR YOU

 

The Resurrection of Jesus has present ongoing ramifications for every person who puts their faith in Him. Jesus made this clear in his interaction with Mary and Martha at the tomb of their brother, Lazarus.

When they chided Jesus for not coming four days earlier and healing their brother, Jesus replied, You brother will rise again (John 11:23). Martha replied, I know he will rise again in the last day at the resurrection. Jesus then said, I Am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live (John 11:25).

With these words, Jesus made clear that the resurrection is more than a past or future event. Resurrection life and power has been personified in Him. He is the resurrection and the life. 

Paul understood this and in Ephesians 1:15-23 he makes clear that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now welling in the one who believes in Him. In Philippians 3:10 Paul says that his consming desire in life is to, Know Him and the power of His resurrection. 

The Greek word translated "know" in this passage is ginosko and it implies a knolwdge based on a relationship between the knower and the object known. This is in contrast to oida, which is a knowledge that is mere cognitive infromation. By using ginisko, Paul makes clear that wants to live and walk in the resurretion power of Jesus Christ.

I Learn this Truth in Dramatic Fashion

Sue and I will be married forty-seven years in May of this year, and about two years into our life and ministry together, we lost everything. We lost our place to live. We lost the place where we were having meetings for the congregation we were planting in eastern Canada. Everything was gone. The God-given vision and mandate died.

In the midst of this devastation, we sat on a park bench with two friends lifting our hearts to God in prayer. I remember their 5-year-old daughter, Cara, sitting with us and praying in tongues.

Suddenly, out of my innermost being, those rivers of living water that Jesus spoke about in John 7:37-39 began to flow, and I began praying in tongues. I realize that we charismatics have learned to pray in tongues on cue—at the drop of a hat. Such prayers, however, are usually from the neck up and powerless.

This was prayer that I could feel flowing out of my spirit. And all the time I was praying, I could hear the words, “Don’t be afraid of death because I Am the Resurrection.” I immediately recognized these as the words that Jesus spoke to Martha just before he raised her brother from the dead (John 11:25).

I knew that the Lord was telling me not to fear the death of the vision and mandate He had given. I knew He was telling me that it would be brought back to life, not by my scheming and planning, but by His resurrection life and power.

A resurrection did occur in our lives and ministry. A yielding to God, a determination not to quit, a step of obedience, and resurrection power flowed forth. The ministry that came forth was not the same as before; for it came forth in His resurrection power and in ways we could never have planned or strategized.

There are many kinds of death that we may experience: the death of a relationship, the death of a career, the death of a vision or dream. If you have experienced death in any area of life, I encourage you to put your life in the hands of Him who declared, “I Am the resurrection!” Victory will come forth out of defeat. Life will emerge out of death. Success will arise out of failure. His words still ring true, “Don’t be afraid of death for I Am the Resurrection.”

Will America Have a Resurrection?

Many believe that America’s best days are over and that no national revival is in her future, but only continued moral, spiritual, and political decline. That was my belief until twelve years ago when I experienced a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with the Lord that upended my thinking in this regard.

It occurred one hot, July Saturday afternoon as I began a two-hour drive from Tulsa to Kingfisher, Oklahoma to speak for friends in the church they pastored in that town. As I pulled onto the highway, and without any expectation of any such thing happening, I suddenly was enveloped in God’s presence.

At the same time, my heart and mind began to be flooded with thoughts of hope and faith that America “could” experience another Great Awakening that would revive and renew the churches of America, impact our culture, and stem the tide of secularism, immorality, and false religion that is flooding our land.

I had studied revivals in history including American revivals such as the First and Second Great Awakenings. I had, however, given up hope of America ever seeing another such Awakening. But now, my heart was being filled with fresh faith and hope for another Great Awakening. This experience continued for at least seven hours in my vehicle and then in my hotel room.

Out of that Divine encounter, I also saw for the first time that the Great Awakening had a direct bearing on the founding of this nation. Without the First Great Awakening (1726-1770), there would have been no United States of America as we have known it.

Over the next few months, as I prayerfully wrote and did further reading and research, I began to see something I had not seen before. Not only was this nation birthed out of Spiritual Awakening, but God had preserved her through national spiritual awakenings coming at crucial times in our history.

As a result of this Divine encounter, I continue today praying in hope and faith for God’s resurrection life and power to be manifest once again across this land in another Great Awakening. I hope you will catch the vision and join me and thousands of others who are praying this same prayer.

 Out of the Divine encounter described above, have come books by Dr. Eddie Hyatt such as America’s Revival Heritage, 1726: The Year that Defined America, and Abolitionist Founding Fathers. These are available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehyatt.com.

DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Praying the Lord's Prayer in the Power of the Holy Spirit

The horrific murders at Christian Covenant School in Nashville are another stark reminder of the presence of evil in our world. It is a reminder that we must be diligent to pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer, “Deliver us from evil.”

In 50 years of following the Lord and seeking to understand His ways, I have found that the Holy Spirit will apply this prayer of Jesus through us with dramatic results. Sue and I discovered this in the first year of our marriage.

 

Sue and I Delivered Through Prayer in the Spirit

During the first year of our marriage, we were at a home prayer meeting and as everyone was kneeling around the room in prayer, one woman began to pray fervently in the Spirit, i.e., in other tongues. For reasons I did not understand, her prayer had a powerful impact on me, and I began to weep as I knelt at my chair in prayer.

 

Before we departed that evening, I said to this woman, “I felt that you were praying for me tonight.” She replied, “Yes, I felt I was praying for you and Sue.”

 

We learned why a short while later. On our way home, while crossing a 4-lane thoroughfare in our little Volkswagen Bug, I suddenly heard Sue scream, “Look out! Look out!” I turned and saw the nose of an 18-wheeler, going at a high rate of speed, filling the window of our little Bug and then I heard the crashing sound of crunching metal.

 

Thankfully, we were hit toward the rear of the car, spinning us around into another vehicle that was pointing in the opposite direction. We came within inches of death for it is hard to see how we could have survived if we had been hit broadside. I have no doubt that prayer in the Spirit saved us from the devil’s evil intentions that night.

 

Missionary Delivered Through Prayer in the Spirit

In the early 20th century, William Burton, a missionary to Africa, was stricken down with a tropical fever while travelling through the Congo. His friends decided he would not live and sadly left him semi-conscious at a village and continued on their journey.

 

Two hours later they were shocked when he caught up with them completely well. “What happened?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied, “But after you left, I felt something warm flowing through my body. I suddenly discovered I was well and decided to catch up with you.”

 

Around two years later, Burton was the guest speaker at a missionary convention in his home country of England and learned “the rest of the story.” After a meeting in which he told this story of his healing in the heart of Africa, a little woman came to him and said, “Brother Burton, do you keep a journal?” He replied, “Yes.”

 

She went on to tell how one day in prayer she was moved by the Holy Spirit to pray in other tongues and as she prayed she saw him stricken down. She said, “I continued to cry out to the Lord in other tongues until I saw you rise up and go on your way.” They compared their notes and the same time she was praying in England; he was healed in Africa.

The Conclusion of the Matter

Yes, we should pray every day the prayer Jesus taught us; that our family, friends, communities, and nation would be delivered from evil. I have no doubt that much tragedy can be avoided if we pray this prayer, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

 

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done,

On earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

(Matthew 6:9-13)

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is an author, revivalist, and Bible teacher. His books are avaialble from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehaytt.com. His book, 1726: The Year that Defined America, shows the important role of prayer in America's founding generation.

THE LINK BETWEEN CONSECRATION AND THE FIRE OF GOD FALLING IN OUR MIDST

I recently found myself awake in the middle of the night praying for a “Mount Carmel” sort of revival in our day. As I revisited the story of the fire of God falling from heaven on Elijah’s sacrifice on Mount Carmel, two characteristics stood out as vital for the church in America today: (1) Consecration and (1) Confrontation. 

Eliah Confronts King Ahab and the False Prophets of Baal

In I Kings 18 we have the story of Elijah confronting Ahab and challenging his prophets of Baal to a duel on Mount Carmel. Ahab accepted the challenge and assembled the 450 prophets of Baal and the people of Israel to Mount Carmel.

Elijah began by confronting the people with their duplicity and compromise. He asked, “How long will you falter between two opinions?” He then challenged, “If the LORD is God, serve Him, but if Baal, follow him.”

Elijah then laid down the mechanics of the duel. He and the prophets of Baal would each offer a sacrifice to their god and the god that answered by fire would be the God that Israel would serve. The people agreed.

Fire is often used in Scripture to symbolize the awe-inspiring presence of God. God appeared to Moses in a fiery burning bush. He led the children of Israel with a cloud by day and A pillar of fire by night. Tongues of fire sat upon the heads of the 120 who were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Hebrews 12:29 says, Our God is a consuming fire. This is how “fire” is being used in this passage.

The prophets of Baal went first and one thing we learn about Baal worship is that it was very emotional and demonstrative. The prophets of Baal prayed, danced around their altar, shouted, and prophesied all day, but nothing happened. No fire fell on their sacrifice. Religious hype is a poor substitute for the real awe-inspiring presence and power of God.

Elijah Repairs the Altar of the Lord

When Elijah’s time came to pray, his first act was that he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down (I Kings 18:30). It was broken down because the Israelites had compromised their faith. They had mixed the worship of Yahweh with the worship of Baal. They had become religious pluralists—multiculturalists.

An altar is a place of consecration—a place of sacrifice where one is given completely over to God. Consecration was absent in Israel. They had broken the First Commandment wherein God had said, You shall have no other gods before me . . . you shall not bow down before them or serve them (Exodus 20:2-5).

In a similar way, the altar in American Christianity is broken down and in desperate need of repair. Like ancient Israel, many Christians in America have compromised their faith. They may not have bowed before a pagan shrine, but they have bowed to the gods and goddesses of cultural approval, social trends, and personal expediency.

In Elijah’s situation, the fire, did not fall until after the altar of the LORD was repaired. The fire of God is not going to fall on the American church until we repair the altar of the LORD that is broken down. And “repairing the altar of the Lord” must begin with God’s people, as II Chronicles 7:14 so clearly lays out.

 If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

As we consecrate our lives anew to Him, we position ourselves to see the awe-inspiring presence of God manifest in our churches once again. When the fire of God fell on Mount Carmel, the people fell on their faces, crying out, “The LORD, He is God!” It can happen again!

A Personal Testimony of the Power of Consecration

My dad was a good Christian man who daily prayed, read his Bible, took his family to church several times per week, and tithed. However, he was lacking in consecration and only a prayer of consecration would bring the fire of God from heaven and the healing miracle that he would need.

Dad was working as a farm hand in west Texas when my older brother, Pete, who was seven years old was run over by a farm tractor. It was 1947 and I was three weeks old. Dad rushed Pete to the nearest hospital as blood and water bubbled out of his nose, mouth, eyes, and ears.

Three doctors examined him and said, “He probably won’t live more than ten minutes.” They explained that even apart from x-rays, they knew that Pete had a broken rib that had punctured a lung, which was the cause of the fluids coming out all his passages.

They wheeled Pete away and Dad was left alone in the small waiting room of the small-town hospital. There all alone he was confronted about his disobedience. His mind was suddenly consumed with the fact that for five years he had ignored the growing sense of God’s call to fulltime ministry. Having only a fourth-grade education and being a poor farm hand, it seemed impossible, and he had told no one.

He intuitively knew what he had to do. Stepping into a nearby restroom, he raised his right hand to heaven, and said, “Lord, I’m ready.” That was it; a three-word prayer!  It was, however, a prayer of consecration and the fire of God fell. Suddenly, the gift of faith dropped into his heart, and as he put it, “I knew that I knew that Pete was OK.”

Although he had to wait for an hour before any news was brought to him about Pete, his heart and mind were at perfect rest and peace. Eventually, one of the doctors emerged and said, “Mr. Hyatt, there has been a higher power here tonight.” He went on, “We know your son had a broken rib and punctured lung, but we have completed the x-rays, the bleeding has stopped, and he doesn’t have a broken bone in his body.”

A nurse who attended the same church as my parents was Pete’s attending nurse. She gave a testimony at church that she had never felt the tangible power and presence of God as she felt in Pete’s room. 

My dad went on to be a successful pastor in the Assemblies of God and presided over some very powerful revivals, including the one in which I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, some twenty-five years later. The fire of God fell when he repaired the altar of the Lord in his life.

Concluding Prayer

Yes, we need a Mount Carmel sort of revival in this generation. We need a revival of consecration that will bring the fire of God from heaven once again. The prayer and song, “Send the Fire,” by William Booth, cofounder of the Salvation Army, expresses the heart of every person longing for such heaven-sent revival.

God of Elijah hear our cry, send the fire. 

And make us fit to live or die, send the fire today.

To burn up every trace of sin, to bring the light and glory in. 

The revolution now begin, send the fire today.

To make our weak hearts strong and brave, send the fire. 

To live a dying world to save, send the fire today. 

Oh see us on Your altar lay, we give our lives to You today. 
So crown the offering now we pray, send the fire today.

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the founder of the "1726 Project" and author of 1726: The Year that Defined America, which documents America's birth out of a great, spiritual awakening. His books are available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehhyatt.com. 

4 SIMPLE FACTS FOR ANSWERING THE "1619 PROJECT" NARRATIVE

How could Frederick Douglass, who launched such powerful verbal attacks against slavery and slaveholders, hold America's founders in such high esteem, calling them "brave men," and saying, "It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men." The answer is that he understood "context," which the creators of the "1619 Project" either do not know or have purposefully ignored. 

The “1619 Project” claims that 1619, when the first African slaves were brought to this land, was the true founding of America, not 1776. According to this narrative, America’s founders were evil slaveholders who founded the country to protect slavery and their own wealth. America was forever defined by slavery and is racist and corrupt at its very core.

Backed by federal and corporate funding, the New York Times' “1619 Project” is being implemented in public schools and corporate settings throughout America. This is tragic for this teaching is producing a generation that despises and hates America. Proponents are using this twisted history to groom a generation for the fundamental transformation of America into a socialist/Marxist state.  

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who spent eight year in a Soviet labor camp, said, “To destroy a people you must first sever their roots.” This is the goal of the “1619 Project”—to destroy the America of Washington, Madison, Jefferson, Lincoln, and King. They are doing this by rewriting America’s history and severing her from her roots of faith and freedom.

Slavery is certainly a blight on America's history, but the 1619 narrative is a distortion of the facts. Here are 4 simple facts that show the “1619 Project” to be a total farce.

Fact #1
Slavery Was Not Unique to America

The propagators of this teaching would have us think that slavery is unique with America. However, slavery has been practiced by many peoples and civilizations for thousands of years. Slavery was being practiced in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and many parts of the world when the first African slaves were brought to America in 1619.

This is why the late Dr. Walter E. Williams, who was Professor of Economics at George Mason University, said that slavery in America was neither odd nor strange. He pointed out that at the beginning of the nineteenth century, “An estimated three-quarters of all people alive were trapped in bondage against their will either in some form of slavery or serfdom” (Hyatt, America’s Revival Heritage 2nd Edition, 89).

Williams pointed out that what was unique about slavery in America was both the brevity of its existence and the moral outrage that arose against it. The late historians, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Eugene Genovese, agreed, saying,

Europeans [and Americans] did not outdo others in enslaving people or treating slaves viciously. They outdid others by creating a Christian civilization that eventually stirred moral condemnation of slavery and roused mass movements against it (Hyatt, America’s Revival Heritage 2nd Edition, 57).

Fact #2
America’s Founders Turned Against Slavery

Contrary to a thesis of the “1619 Project,” America’s founders turned against slavery at a time it was accepted and practiced in most of the world. The occasion for this anti-slavery movement was the Great Awakening, beginning in 1726, which spiritually and morally transformed colonial America. Dr. Thomas Sowell, who happens to be Black, has written of this, saying,

Slavery was just not an issue, not even among intellectuals, much less among political leaders, until the 18th century–and then it was an issue only in Western civilization. Among those who turned against slavery in the 18th century were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other American leaders. You could research all of 18th century Africa or Asia or the Middle East without finding any comparable rejection of slavery there (Hyatt, 1726: The Yearthat Defined America, 90).

For example, Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia, who was a founding father, member of the Continental Congress, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, helped form America’s first abolition society in his hometown. He called on the ministers of America to take a bold stand against slavery, saying, “Slavery is a Hydra sin and includes in it every violation of the precepts of the Laws and the Gospels” (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 101).

Benjamin Franklin called slavery "an atrocious debasement of human nature." Two years before the Constitutional Convention, liberated his two slaves and began advocating for abolition. He joined the abolition society in Philadelphia and later served as its president. 

George Washington, in a letter to Robert Morris, dated April 12, 1786, said, “There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery.” Before his death, he devised a personal plan to completely rid Mt. Vernon of slavery. In a conversation with John Bernard concerning abolition, Washington declared,

Not only do I pray for it, on the score of human dignity, but I can clearly foresee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our union by consolidating it in a common bond of principle (Hyatt, AbolitionistFounding Fathers, 42).

By the time of the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787, virtually every founder agreed with John Adams who declared,

Every measure of prudence ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States. I have throughout my whole life held the practice of slavery in abhorrence (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 101).

Yes, America’s founders were at the forefront of the fight to end slavery in the 18th century.

Fact #3
America’s Founding Documents Are Colorblind

Because of the Great Awakening and the antislavery sentiments it produced, there are no classifications based on race or skin color in America’s founding documents. The words “slave” and “slavery” are nowhere to be found. This was purposeful for James Madison said, “The Convention thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in men."

There is nothing in either the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution to indicate that the freedoms guaranteed therein do not apply to every individual. Indeed, from the beginning, abolitionists used the founding documents in their fight against slavery and inequality.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) understood this and in his stirring, I Have a Dream speech, he challenged America, not to dispense with her founding documents, but to live up to them. Speaking from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he declared,

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Then quoting from the Declaration of Independence, he proclaimed,

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America, 122).

Yes, America’s founding documents are colorblind even if her history has not been.

Fact #4
The Testimony of Frederick Douglass and Dr. King

Writing in 1963 from the Birmingham City Jail where he had been incarcerated, Dr. King expressed his conviction that his fight for civil rights would succeed because of America’s unique heritage. He wrote,

Our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America . . . We will win our freedom because the “sacred heritage” of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

Calling the country’s heritage “sacred” indicated that Dr. King believed there was something special and of God in America’s founding. He obviously considered the Jim Crow South where he lived and worked to be a sharp departure from America’s founding vision of faith and freedom.

Frederick Douglass (1816-1895), the former slave and passionate abolitionist, came to the same conclusion 100 years before Dr. King. In his early years, he felt he had no part in America, but after years of research he completely changed his thinking. In a July 4th speech in 1852, Douglass called the U.S. Constitution “a glorious liberty document,” and declared,

Fellow citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too—great enough to give fame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men.

The Conclusion of the Matter

Douglass called the founders “brave men” because they took a bold stand against slavery at a time it was accepted and practiced in most of the world. Dr. King called America’s heritage “sacred” for the same reason. But will we hear any of this from the proponents of the “1619 Project?”

Of course not! They are driven by a political agenda that requires them to highlight and exaggerate everything bad and evil in America’s past and ignore everything good and noble. Nonetheless, the 4 simple facts delineated above will completely demolish their narrative.  

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the founder of the “1726 Project,” which is dedicated to educating the American populace about the nation’s roots in faith and freedom. He is the author of several books on the topic, including 1726: TheYear that Defined America, from which this article was primarily derived, and available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehyatt.com.