Explore the critical relationship between church and state as Tony Perkins examines the intent behind the First Amendment and its implications on modern governance. Through inspiring anecdotes and historical contexts, this episode calls listeners to engage actively in the spiritual and civic realms by praying, voting, and standing for biblical truths. Gain insight into the profound impact of our founding fathers’ faith and the ongoing mission to uphold America’s spiritual foundations.
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From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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Welcome to this special Independence Day edition of Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in. 249 years ago, the United States declared its independence from Great Britain in the midst of a war for liberty. Against all odds, just over 3 million colonists took on and defeated what was the most powerful military force in the world at that time. They secured not only their freedom, but the future of a new nation. Today, nearly two and a half centuries later, we’re still in a battle for freedom. But this battle is of a different kind. Thankfully, it’s not being fought with swords, muskets, and cannons. It’s a battle older than war itself, a spiritual struggle for our faith, our families, and our freedom. Coming up on this special edition of Washington Watch, we’ll feature highlights from FRC’s God and Government series, which launched earlier this year on our Stand Firm app. Well, we can’t cover all 13 sessions today. We’ll touch on some of the most important topics, including America’s Christian heritage. Yes, we were founded a nation on Christian principles. We’ll talk about the relationship between church and state and what we’re called to do once we understand God’s design for government. So on this Independence Day, our hope is that more Americans will rediscover the true foundation of our nation and that today’s program will equip and inspire you for the mission we all share, to restore and rebuild the foundations of this great country. Now, if you happen to miss any part of today’s broadcast, you can catch it later at TonyPerkins.com. So for 30 years, I’ve taught a course on God and government. It’s a course that was born out of my own journey through scripture and just studying history, American history. And then I combined it with real world experience in the public policy arena. And that journey for me began as a state representative and has continued over the last two decades as president of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. Along the way, I’ve had the privilege of watching some of my students go on to serve in a variety of roles from local school boards to city councils, state legislatures, Congress, and even to hold the speaker’s gavel in the US House of Representatives. So earlier this year, Family Research Council took the heart of what I had been teaching and turned it into a 13 session video course designed to equip even more Christ followers with a solid Bible-based understanding of God’s design for government. We had to get this message out because it’s not being taught in our schools. And unfortunately, many of the pulpits are not teaching our citizenship responsibilities. So this course combines biblical principles with the Christian history of our nation. But what’s unique about it is that it also brings in practical application for engaging in civil government. It’s available now on the Stand Firm app, and it’s a great resource for parents, students, pastors, and anyone who wants to make a lasting difference for the Lord by standing for biblical truth in the public square. So today, in honor of Independence Day, I want to share a few excerpts from the series, beginning with session four, which explores the Christian history of the United States. In this segment, I revisit the revolutionary period and the powerful role of sermons delivered from Americans’ pulpits. These messages not only shaped the convictions of our founders, they helped everyday Americans make sense of their moment in history. Here’s a portion of what I shared in that session. Now, these sermons not only taught us you know, the personal salvation through Jesus Christ, but they also taught how to address the temporal issues that would lead to national prosperity for God’s people. And all the events, no matter how mundane or how random they might be, were… patterned from scripture. They wanted to know how they fit into scripture. So the sermons were not just theological, far removed messages, but they were practical, how to, what does this mean? What do I do with it? How then shall we live? That was the messages that were being preached in that time. And so this is why the pulpit was considered the single most powerful element of the war for independence. It’s because people wanted to know, they wanted to know if God’s blessing was going to be on their activities. This was not a rebellion. This was not the French Revolution. This was totally different than the French Revolution. And those that would try to conflate the two are sadly mistaken if not intentionally being driven because ours was seeking out ordered liberty under the sovereignty of God. And that’s what the pastors were preaching and it had a profound impact on colonial America. Now let’s look just quickly at the signers of the Declaration. In 1776, there were 56 men. All of the delegates in 1787 were professing members of Trinitarian Christian denominations. And in fact, let me quote Ben Franklin when they were debating at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He said, to that kind providence, we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend or, and this was coming out of the war for independence, which they succeeded in. And they said, you know, have we forgotten that powerful friend or do we imagine we no longer need his assistance? because they certainly needed him when they were the underdog in their fight for freedom. I have lived, sir, a long time. And the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this and I also believe that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our partial local interest. Our projects will be confounded and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future generations. They understood the word of God. And the word of God, and probably Benjamin Franklin was probably one of the least religious of the group, but he understood it. He understood the language, the currency of the day, and it clearly was a biblical understanding of God. And God was not far removed. This is not the words of a deist who would say, God put this thing in order and left. He recognizes that God is the one who gave them favor to be established as a nation. Now, let me go to some of the state constitutions, okay? So we kind of get a sense of what those documents say. Again, these things are placed in writing, and they’re there for the historical record. And for those that would want to just kind of sweep them away, say, oh, well, that’s old. It’s a statement of principle, it’s a statement of focus, it’s a statement of priority. Various state constitutions, again, there’s many of the 13 you can look at. Pennsylvania, the frame of government section 10, this is what it says, and each member of the legislature before he takes a seat shall make and subscribe the following declaration. Okay, before they could take their seat in the state legislature, this is what they had to say. I do believe in one God, the creator and the governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the scripture of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration. I don’t think many churches would even do that for membership. But that was the oath of office that had to be taken. Delaware’s Constitution, which was framed in 1776, says, Everyone appointed to public office must say, I do profess faith in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son, and the Holy Ghost, on God and blessed forevermore. And I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments be given by divine inspiration. That’s in the Constitution. South Carolina, the Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed and is hereby constituted and declared to be the established religion of the state. No person shall be eligible to a seat in the Senate unless he be of the Protestant religion. So the US Supreme Court, more evidence. In 1892, the US Supreme Court determined in the case the Church of the Holy Trinity versus the United States that America was a Christian nation from its earliest days. The court opinion delivered by Justice Josiah Brewer was an exhaustive study of the historical and legal evidence for America’s Christian heritage. So after examining hundreds of court cases, state constitutions, and other historical documents, the court came to the following conclusion. This is it. Quote, our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. And in this sense, and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian. This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of the continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation. We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. 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. That was the Supreme Court of the United States. There’s other evidence. Let me give you, I’ve got 10 of them, and I’m sure there’s more, this is not exhaustive. Number one, the Ten Commandments hang over the head of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. If Christianity played no role in our government or in our justice, then why would we have the Ten Commandments hanging over the head of the Chief Justice? Second, In the House and Senate chambers appear the words in God we trust. Third, in the rotundas, the figure of the crucified Christ. Fourth, on the walls of the Capitol Dome, these words appear, the New Testament according to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Fifth, on the great seal of the United States is inscribed the phrase God. It’s in Latin. It means God has smiled on our undertaking. And six, under the seal and the phrase of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, this nation under God. Seventh, President Eliot of Harvard chose Micah 6-8 for the walls of the nation’s library. Quote, he has showed thee, O man, what is good and what did God require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. The eighth, the Lawmaker’s Library quotes the Psalmist acknowledgement of the beauty and order of creation. Psalm 19.1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Ninth, engraved on the metal cap atop of Washington Monument are the words praise be to God. In fact, when the sun comes up in the east, the first place that the sun shines on the District of Columbia is that metal, that aluminum cap with the words praise be to God. That’s by design. That can only be the highest building in the District of Columbia. Lining the walls of the stairwell are numerous Bible verses. Search the scriptures, holiness to the Lord, train up a child in the way that they should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. And then 10th, the Liberty Bell, which is in Philadelphia, is inscribed with Leviticus 25.10, proclaim liberty throughout all the land and to all the inhabitants thereof. The history is very clear that this nation was not founded to be an agnostic nation. It was not founded to be a Muslim nation. was not founded to be anything other than a nation built upon the truths and principles of God’s Word as a nation that would honor Him and be the recipient of His blessing. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and that demands a nation which will operate according to God’s word, by his word, according to those principles. And this is God’s design for government.
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The family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure. That’s why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
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Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation’s capital, FRC continues to champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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FRC is one of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north. And I shudder to think had they not been here that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
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The Family Research Council is key. It’s one of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
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It’s just a wonderful parachurch organization that doesn’t seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the Holy Scriptures.
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FRC is not going to be whooped. You know, we’re going to fight. We’re going to take a stand.
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And again, we don’t retreat. You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, D.C., a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender. And we will never be silent. Hello friends, this is Tony Perkins. And you know what? We just finished our 21 day family Bible challenge through the book of Matthew. And if you joined us, I pray that it has already borne fruit in your life and in your home as you place the Lord and his word at the center of your home. Now, our journey through the Bible doesn’t end here, though. The challenge was a part of our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. And from here, we’re going to cover the rest of the New Testament. And now that we’ve finished the book of Matthew, let me ask you, would you consider joining us for the rest of the journey through the Word of God? In 10 to 15 minutes a day, you’ll see how the good news of Jesus transformed the lives of common people, people just like you and me, and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. I invite you to continue the journey with me and discover the life enriching power of the word of God. Visit frc.org slash Bible for a reading plan. That’s frc.org slash Bible to learn more. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks so much for joining us. The website, TonyPerkins.com. All right, today, in honor of Independence Day, we’re broadcasting content from FRC’s 13-session God and Government series. And by the way, you can get access to the entire course on FRC’s Stand Firm app. If you don’t have the app, text APP to 67742, and I’ll send you a link. In this next part… i go into the relationship between church and state what does the separation between church and state really mean what was the intent and we’ll begin with where the phrase came from so we’re going to look at at this issue is the this phrase of the separation of church and state now We kind of dismissed earlier where that came from. It’s not in the Constitution. It’s not in the Declaration of Independence. In fact, it’s not in any government document other than some court cases that have appealed to it. It was originally in a letter that Thomas Jefferson sent to a group of Baptists. It was the Danbury Connecticut Baptist. Now, Let me read a portion of that letter to you. Now, the Baptists at the time were a small, small religious sect. They were not very big, and they did not have a lot of influence. So they were concerned, as Jefferson was positioning himself, they did not want to be taxed to pay for another church. They didn’t want to be, you know, they just wanted their own rights, right? They wanted to be left alone. And so Jefferson writes this letter, and he says, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that the act of the whole American people, which declared that their legislature should, quote, make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state. So he’s talking about the free exercise clause and the establishment clause, which is the First Amendment. And he says, I see this as a wall of separation between the church and the state. Well, that has become an entire legal issue. theory, if not doctrine, that has made its way into a lot of government policies. And it should be stated that Jefferson, when the Constitution was written, now he did draft the Declaration of Independence, but he wasn’t even here when the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written. He was in France. So he’s not an authority on the meaning of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. In fact, A number of years ago, I went with a member of Congress. Members of Congress have special privileges at the National Archives building. And I was able to go into the archives, into what they call the vault, where uncirculated documents are. And I was able to go in and actually hold, I had a sneeze guard on, a little plastic stuff on it, but actually hold and see the markup of the Bill of Rights that came over from the House to the Senate. And In that there were, there was not 10 originally, there was a couple that didn’t make it, but the first amendment, which became the first amendment, it wasn’t in the original until the Senate took it up, was that it also provided for the rights of conscience. and religious freedom. And those were separate from freedom of speech, from the press, and from right of assembly. And so they were all merged together to create the First Amendment in one. But when they came over from the House, the number one issue was rights of conscience and religious freedom. So this was top of mind for the founders to make sure that when we settled the Bill of Rights, enumerating what the Constitution did to assure people that the freedom of religion would continue and that the government would not be a national government. So that was the real issue there because at the time, there were a number of state churches and that had already been established. And there were nine of the 13 colonies had state churches. And so there was just, the idea was they didn’t want a national church, a federal church, that all the colonies would then have to support. So that was really the issue there was a national church. It was not the influence of Christianity in government. So what does the First Amendment actually say? Well, this is what it says. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the peaceful people peacefully to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances. So what does it prohibit? Well, it prohibits a state-sponsored church. That’s an establishment clause. That means the federal government cannot establish a church, a national denomination, a national church. It also prohibits, so there’s two parts to the First Amendment as it pertains to religion. There is the establishment, which is for the government, and then there’s the free exercise clause. That means that the government cannot restrict religious liberties. Now, what were the historical purposes behind this? Well, as I said, it was a desire to establish a church free of government interference and no state church. Really, the reason, part of the reason for the pilgrims and others coming over, as we talked about religious freedom, but it was also to, they wanted separation of church and state. They didn’t want the state and the church to be merged, just like in England, and we’re watching it today. where the church becomes a useful tool of the government. And so what happens is you have a church that becomes corrupt, and then government becomes corrupt because the church has lost its prophetic voice. So we want separation. We want separation. We do not want a state church. But what they’re really saying is they want the separation of government from God. meaning God’s principles and God’s word. That we cannot live with because all of creation, all nations, whether they acknowledge it or not, are under the authority of God. That was an excerpt from FRC’s God and Government series as you are tuned in to a special Independence Day edition of Washington Watch. All right, you can find out more about our God and Government course by downloading the StandFirm app. It’s all posted there. Go to the App Store, download the StandFirm app, or text APP to 67742, and you’ll have access to our God and Government course. All right, don’t go away. On the other side of the break, we come back with more of our God and Government series.
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The Center for Biblical Worldview’s all-day workshops delves into the formation of a worldview, what it is, how it’s formed, when it’s formed, what that means to them personally and their churches and communities.
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My hope for people when they come to these worldview workshops is that they will come away better equipped to engage the people and the ideas that they’re living with and around. And our goal is to give people more confidence in the gospel and the fact that what God said to us actually is true, actually is the path to happiness and human flourishing for all of us, but also more confidence in their ability to have these conversations and help lead other people to the truth.
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for Bible-believing Christians to know what God’s Word says on these issues and to learn how they can apply it to their lives. And we believe that the more Christians that we equip, that’s how we’ll change the nation.
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Hey, fam, listen, Pastor Sammy here at Lighthouse Church, and I cannot tell you how equipping, how empowering, how… incredibly educating this conference has been. And so I just want to encourage anybody that either has not been part of or is thinking about hosting this event, certainly to pastors, leaders, even CEOs for that matter. This conference is lights out. Stand behind it myself. I can’t commend it enough. We’re going to be talking about this for some time to come.
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The culture is kind of squeezing in on us as God’s people, forcing those of us with biblical views to change those views or to suppress those views. It’s forcing us to engage with issues that we’ve never had to engage with. And so what this teaches us is what those issues are, what the Bible says about those issues, and then how we can critically engage our culture on these things in a way that is committed to biblical principles.
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Visit frc.org slash worldview for more information.
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This is Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins, and it’s Independence Day. This is a special July 4th edition of Washington Watch. And what we’re playing is part of FRC’s 13-session God and Government series. So if you’ve been inspired or encouraged by what you’ve heard so far, I invite you to explore the entire course on the StandFirm app. There’s so much more. uh that we cover in this 13 week session uh course and um it’s obviously more than we can fit in in today’s broadcast so go to the app store download the stand firm app all right for the second half of the program we’re jumping ahead to session 13 to focus on practical application after all the biblical insight and historical context the big question is now what What do we do with this knowledge? Well, in this next excerpt, I present the first of several action items, beginning with a story from my first general session as a state legislator back in 1997. Here’s what I shared. Now, having been a police officer and understanding the consequences of the breakdown of the family, I worked with a law professor at LSU to craft what became known as a covenant marriage law. It was designed to strengthen by option. People could choose it. They would get premarital counseling, and then they would be held to a stronger covenant relationship in marriage. They wouldn’t be able to easily walk away from it. And so I went to a number of pastors and said, would you come and testify on behalf of this bill in the legislature? Well, almost all of them waved me off and I said, we don’t get involved in politics. So I countered and said, will you come pray? They did. And they came and they sat in the back of the committee rooms when the bill was heard. And I could tell you story after story, miraculous moves of people’s hearts being changed, people being out of the room, and the bill actually passing from one chamber to the next. And that takes me to the final story, final day of the legislature. We were working late into the night. It was about 1 a.m. in the morning. And if the bill didn’t pass, this time it was dead. It wasn’t going anywhere. The opposition got up and they railed against the bill. And there was debate back and forth. People were praying. I was speaking on behalf of it. And someone called the question for a vote to be taken. And I was anticipating a lot of opposition as I looked at the vote tally behind the speaker’s dais where all of the record, the votes were recorded. And all of a sudden, all the lights turned green. Even the gentleman who had argued so viciously against the bill And after the vote was taken, it passed 105 to 0. I was amazed. And I went down to the man’s desk to see what had happened, why he changed his mind, and the coalition that he was leading. Well, he wasn’t there. I talked to his seatmate, who sat next to him at the desk. They said, oh, he went to get a Coke, and so I just voted his machine for him. Well, they thought all of the opposition had been resolved, and so everyone voted for the bill. That was the power of prayer. And it went on to be the first law that had been passed by a state in over 200 years that strengthened the institution of marriage. Arizona, Arkansas went on to follow Louisiana’s lead with that law. There are a number of incidents I could share with you about the power of prayer. And so as we conclude this time together, there are a number of takeaways, action steps that I could encourage you to take. But let me narrow it down to three simple, but powerfully proven things that you can do that I promise you will make an incredible difference. Pray, vote, and stand. And to talk more about prayer, let’s go back to a very special room in Washington, DC. The first action step is to pray. And we’re privileged to be in the Congressional Prayer Room in the US Capitol with this beautiful stained glass. And it’s a portrait of George Washington kneeling in prayer. In the snow of Valley Forge, when the American cause was hanging by a thread, eyewitnesses saw George Washington cry out to God. The words of Psalm 16-1 are enshrined in this stained glass, and it is the basis of our declaration of faith expressed in the national motto, Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. What Washington understood then is what we need to rediscover today. We desperately need the Lord to intervene, so we must humbly cry out to God. We need to pray for a nation that is fractured, that’s splintered and divided. The worst I’ve seen in my entire life. We need to pray that God, in His mercy, would unite us once again as a people. One nation under God, indivisible, as we declare in our pledge. With all the challenges and the threats that we’re experiencing as a nation, we need to pray in alignment with 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14. For the sake of America, we need to pray. Certainly, we need to pray for those who serve in government, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 2, that first of all, we are to pray for all people, but particularly for kings and all those in authority. Pray for your leaders. Pray that they would live in awe and reverence of God. that God would give them wisdom to lead and that they would be ethical and just in all of their dealings. And then God would bless and protect their families as they serve us. And we certainly need to pray for the election of godly leaders, whether at the federal, state, or local level. Prayer is vitally important. Without God providentially guiding and intervening, all is in vain. But with God, there is no challenge that we cannot meet and no problem that we cannot solve. So pray. All right, after the break, I’ll go over the remaining two action steps and share with you the dramatic story of Patriot Pastor Peter Muhlenberg. So stick around.
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Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
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Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
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There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
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This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
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And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
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Order today at embracethedesign.com.
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How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ and in all of life. Follow outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
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Welcome back to this special edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in on this Independence Day. We’ve been sharing content from FRC’s 13-session God and Government series. Well, to close out today’s special edition, we’re going to finish up with the last two action steps, the second being voting. It’s a simple act with a significant impact. When we vote, we help select those who represent us, who lead our government, make our laws, and protect our freedoms. So your vote makes a difference. In fact, every vote matters. And to illustrate this, I’ll share some examples in this last excerpt we have for you. So we’ll pick up from there. Now, some of you may remember back to the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore that was so close that people are still debating who won. 547 votes in Florida out of more than 105 million cast nationwide determined the outcome of that election. That’s significant. That election determined the president who would respond to the terrorist attacks on 9-11, and who would eventually choose two Supreme Court justices. Elections matter, and your vote, it counts. Senator Bernie Sanders won his first race in Burlington, Vermont, and he won by only 10 votes. Yet that win launched his political career. Not to be outdone, U.S. Congresswoman Miller Meeks won by six votes in 2020. Yet Virginia has one of the most compelling stories. Back in 2017, in their elections for their state assembly, Republicans had won 50 seats and the Democrats had won 49 seats out of 100. Control of the Virginia House of Commons came down to one race. When the votes were tallied out of the over 20,000 cast, guess what? It was exactly tied. So they determined the winner by drawing one of the two candidates’ names out of a bowl. Republican David Yancey won the draw, and the control of the legislature went to the Republicans. Wow. When I think of voting and the commitment to vote, I think of Founding Father Cesar Rodney from Delaware. He was the grandson of a minister, and Rodney was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, when they made states with their coins, his likeness can be found on the Delaware Quarter. It’s a rider at full gallop. You know what kind of horse it was? It was a quarter horse. Oh, save that for later. There’s a statue which proudly resides at the state capitol in Wilmington. There is a story behind that iconic image. The Delaware delegation was deadlocked, one in favor and the other opposed to independence. Now, word by express writer Reach Rodney, and even though he was suffering from asthma and skin cancer that was eating away at his face, He famously rode his horse all night through a driving rain and thunderstorms, an 80-mile journey from Dover to Philadelphia. Caesar Rodney arrived just in time, dramatically entering the room in muddy boots and spurs, a scarf partially covering his face, to cast the deciding vote for independence. If Caesar Rodney went to all of that trouble, the least we can do is vote. We’re here in the House chamber at the Louisiana Capitol where I served as a state legislator. And, you know, in the most recent presidential election, more than four out of 10 self-identified Christians did not vote. Now just imagine the difference those who sat on the sidelines could have made in some of the elections where the candidate who more closely aligned with biblical values lost for a lack of support while the other candidate prevailed. Now, there’s an old saying that bad politicians are elected by good people who don’t vote. Can you imagine the difference just 10, 15, or even 20% more Christian voters could make in any given election? Now, each and every vote can and does make a tremendous difference. However, our voting needs to line up with biblical truth. Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ should take our values from the Word of God. Consequently, we should vote for candidates whose policies and positions best align with biblical principles. Unfortunately, many professing Christians don’t consider their own biblical beliefs and convictions when voting. often choosing candidates whose policies and positions are actually at odds with biblical truth. A study by Barna Research found that religious beliefs were the top influence for only 33% of Americans. Now, according to Gallup, two-thirds of Americans claim to be Christian, so that means only about half of us put our faith first when it comes to voting decisions. Well, that should not be. Founding Father Samuel Adams said this, he said, quote, let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is executing one of the most solemn trust in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country, end quote. We’re accountable to God for how we vote. Again, we should vote for candidates whose policies and positions best line up with biblical values. Another of our founding fathers, John Jay, who served as our nation’s first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, chosen by George Washington, had this to say about voting. Quote, he said, “…providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers.” And it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers, end quote. But not Christians in name only. We need to ensure those we support have positions that actually line up with Scripture. Fortunately, scripture spells out some of the fundamental values that we should look for in the first 12 chapters of the book of Genesis. Number one, acknowledging God as the creator in Genesis 1.1. Protecting human life in Genesis 1.26. promoting man-woman marriage in Genesis 2.22, and preserving human sexuality as created male and female in Genesis 1.26, and defending and blessing Israel, Genesis 12.3. Those are the biblical values that I use to measure whether or not a candidate deserves my support. So for the sake of America, we need to vote biblical values. Again, we offer help with all of that at frcaction.org. Again, look past the crafty commercials, the pie in the sky promises, and the flowery rhetoric, and see the record of how they voted and where they stand on the values we care about as believers. Do your homework. then prayerfully vote for the candidate who best lines up with biblical truth. So now we come to the third and final action step. First, pray, then vote, and finally, for the sake of America, we must stand. My favorite scripture is from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in chapter 6, verse 10 and following, where he says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. the power of his might put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this age you can spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places therefore take up the whole armor of god that you may be able to withstand an evil day and having done all to stand Again, we need to pray, we need to vote, and then finally, we need to take our stand. Like these pilgrims who took their stand against the hostile king of England, who insisted that they conform to his brand of religion or be fined in jail, lose their jobs and have their property confiscated, and threatened with expulsion from their nation. These principled pilgrims refused to cow down to the king and chose instead to conform only to biblical truth. And it led them here to America, where they helped lay the foundation for our freedom. The centrality of the scriptures is portrayed in this painting. If we hope to see a return to our godly foundations, We need to get back to the Bible. And I invite you to join me in reading through the Bible chronologically in our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. Just text the word Bible to 67742. That’s 67742, the word Bible. Or visit frc.org slash Bible. Like these brave pilgrims, we need to take our stand on the Word of God. Speaking of taking a stand, there are few more dramatic stories from the American Revolution than that of Patriot Pastor Peter Muhlenberg, captured here in marble. Muhlenberg was an American-born son of a German immigrant who was the founder of the Lutheran Church in America. Peter became a circuit-riding minister to several German Lutheran churches and one English-speaking Episcopal congregation in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Pastor Muhlenberg served alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry as a member of the Virginia Colonial Legislature, where he heard Henry’s famous Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech in the St. John’s Church in Richmond, where the legislature met to evade the British. A few weeks later, Peter Muhlenberg was shocked to learn that the Royal Governor of Virginia sent British Royal Marines under the cover of darkness to the Powder Magazine in the capital of Williamsburg to seize the town’s military arsenal for defense, disarming them. Their own government had turned against them and was using the military to try and make them knuckle under and give up their call for liberty. Well, about the same time, word came of the battles in Lexington and Concord, where again, the British’s goal, it was to disarm the Patriots. In December of 1775, there was armed conflict between British and Patriot militia forces at the Battle of the Great Bridge. America was at war, and it had come to Virginia. Pastor Muhlenberg thought first about signing up as a military chaplain, but George Washington and Patrick Henry convinced him to recruit and lead a regiment of German settlers in the fight for freedom. He mounted his pulpit in Woodstock, Virginia. In early 1776, dressed in his black clerical robe, he recounted the clear and the present dangers of British tyranny and the need to stand up for their liberty. His scripture reading for that morning was from Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to sow and a time to reap, a time to kill and a time to heal. And then he went on and got all the way down to verse 8, where he said, there’s a time for war and a time for peace. And according to tradition, handed down by family, his message reached a climax with this. In the language of the Holy Writ, there is a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray. But those times have passed away. There is a time to fight, and that time has now come. Then Pastor Muhlenberg dramatically took off his black clerical robe in the pulpit, and in the shock of his congregation, there he stood in the military uniform of a colonel for the Virginia militia. The pastor, now clad as a soldier, stepped down from the pulpit, strode through the log church building to the front, calling on the men and the congregation to join the fight for freedom. He had a young man drum for recruits at the door. And by March, when they mustered for their first mission, Muhlenberg led 300 men. They became the 8th Virginia, or the German, Regiment. And Muhlenberg became one of George Washington’s most trusted generals, and one of only 17 major generals in the Revolutionary War. If you ever go to Valley Forge, the first group of barracks you come to on the hill are those of the Muhlenberg Brigade, built by members of his churches who fought side by side with him all the way to Yorktown, the final battle of the Revolution. Well, Patriot Pastor Peter Muhlenberg not only served as a soldier, but also as a congressman in the first federal Congress that gave us our First Amendment. And ultimately, the good people of Pennsylvania commissioned this marble statue of Muhlenberg to be placed right here in the U.S. Capitol, recalling the iconic moment when that pastor took off his minister’s robe to reveal his military uniform before going out to lead in the fight for liberty. That is our heritage. That is our calling, to fight for our faith, our families, and our freedom. Well, as we come to the conclusion of this God in Government course today, It should be obvious by now that we’re in the spiritual battle. We don’t use swords and muskets, cannons and cavalry like they did in the American Revolution. You know, Paul declared that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or fleshly, but they are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every proud thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Consequently, as Paul put it, we must put on the full armor of God and take our stand in this evil day. As we conclude our course of God and government, I want to commission you, and I want to charge you. If we hope to see this nation return to its biblical foundations that were laid by the founders, which resulted in America enjoying the special favor and the blessing of God, well, now is the time. for us to pray. Now is the time for us to vote. Now is the time for us to stand. Well, you’ve been listening to a special edition of Washington Watch, an Independence Day edition of Washington Watch, where we’ve been sharing some of the material from our 13-week God and Government series. You can have access to the entire course by downloading the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store, download the Stand Firm app or text APP to 67742, and I’ll send you a link. We’re going to be making this available in the fall to churches, to our PrayVote Stand chapters, which will be launching this fall. and to homeschool groups. So if you’d like more information about how to access when it’s available, just send me an email, tony at tonyperkins.com. All right, that’s all we have time for today. Happy 4th of July, and folks, keep praying and keep standing for our freedom.
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Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
