As I heard in a nationwide Christian conference decades ago: “Do you feel a righteous anger boiling up inside of you ? Well then, don’t run from it! ; Feed it!” And why is that, if you feed it, you will be so motivated that you will be unstoppable by God’s grace. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
We are locked into a spiritual battle. It is not a war against people; it is a war between Almighty God and the Devil and his minions. Our attitude and resolve is everything going forward. Let’s fight it to God’s glory. We win in the end.
I submit we should focus on being the winners we are through Jesus Christ. Where do we spend our free time? We do it like we have been this past year, studying His word. Through that we focus on serving others and witnessing His truth. “Mojo” is important. We can start there by tuning in to things that are uplifiting to us in the warrior spirit. And conversely, tuning out the devil’s evil and tired old mantra via the media, including social media.
With respect to this article. America is not an idol to us. But there is a more than healthy God focus here, no? We could choose to watch old movies on this theme. Suggestions: 1) Amazing Grace – 2006 – the amazing story of William Wilberforce’s relentless battle against slavery; 2) Lincoln – 2012 with Daniel Day Lewis. Don’t miss Tommy Lee Jones portrayal of Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania. It is a classic.; 3) Movie “Amistad”, the true story alluded to here in this article. We need to refocus and find anew who we are in the body of Christ. We rebuild the walls, brick by brick and ignore the evil babble going on around us every day. Semper Fi!
Soli Deo Gloria!
Click on the link below and a pdf version of the article will pop up. Be a Paul Revere!; Get the word out to all souls.
Francis Scott Key was the defense counsel for the Africans, many of whom were just young teenagers. Key fought to free the slaves in an expensive legal battle which dragged on for seven years. Arguing their case before the Supreme Court in 1825, Francis Scott Key, as recorded by Henry S. Foote: “… greatly surpassed the expectations of his most admiring friends … Key closed with … an electrifying picture of the horrors connected with the African slave trade.”
Jonathan M. Bryant wrote in Dark Places of the Earth: The Voyage of the Slave Ship Antelope (2015): “Most startling of all, Key argued … that all men were created equal … If the United States had captured a ship full of white captives, Key asked, would not our courts assume them to be free? How could it be any different simply because the captives were black? … Slavery was a dangerously hot subject, but Francis Scott Key stepped deliberately into the fire.”
Bryant continued: “Key had unleashed all of his rhetorical weapons … This was a case he believed in and had worked personally to bring before the Supreme Court. The Antelope was a Spanish slave ship that had been captured by privateers and then seized by a United States Revenue Marine cutter off the coast of Florida …”
Jonathan M. Bryant continued: “Using clear precedent, poetic language, and appeals to morality, Francis Scott Key argued that the hundreds of African captives found aboard the Antelope should be returned to Africa and freedom. United States law demanded it, he said. The law of nations demanded it, he said. Even the law of nature demanded it. Key looked into the eyes of the six justices sitting for the case, four of whom were slave owners, and announced that ‘by the law of nature, all men are free.'”
Considered one of its many shameful decisions, the Supreme Court sadly chose to define slaves as property. Only a portion of the slaves were returned to Africa where they founded the colony of New Georgia in Liberia. Key raised $11,000 to help the Africans.
In 1841, two years before his death, Francis Scott Key helped John Quincy Adams free 53 African slaves in the Amistad case. Adams shook hands with Africans Cinque and Grabeau, saying: “God willing, we will make you free.” Adams argued before the Supreme Court: “The moment you come to the Declaration of Independence, that every man has a right to life and liberty, an inalienable right, this case is decided. I ask nothing more in behalf of these unfortunate men than this Declaration.”
During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Though many are familiar with the first verse, the FOURTH VERSE had an enduring effect:
“O thus be it ever when free men shall stand, Between their loved home and the war’s desolation; Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land, Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just; And this be our motto ‘IN GOD IS OUR TRUST’! And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave,Over the land of the free and the home of the brave!”
Nine years earlier, Francis Scott Key had written a song to the same tune with similar words to celebrate the victory over Muslim Barbary Pirates, titled “When the Warrior Returns from the Battle Afar”( Boston’s Independent Chronicle, Dec. 30, 1805): In conflict resistless each toil they endur’d Till their foes shrunk dismay’d from the war’s desolation: And pale beamed the Crescent, its splendor obscur’d By the light of the Star-Spangled Flag of our nation. Where each flaming star gleamed a meteor of war, And the turban’d head bowed to the terrible glare. Then mixt with the olive the laurel shall waveAnd form a bright wreath for the brow of the brave.
Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner” stirred patriotism across America for centuries.
In an interview prior to singing the anthem “Star-Spangled Banner” on the world’s largest stage of the 2019 Super Bowl, Gladys Knight, the Empress of Soul, stated (TMZ Sports; TheBlaze, 1/19/19): “I am here today and on Sunday, Feb. 3, to give the anthem back its voice, to stand for that historic choice of words, the way it unites us when we hear it and to free it from the same prejudices and struggles I have fought long and hard for all my life, from walking back hallways, from marching with our social leaders, from using my voice for good … I have been in the forefront of this battle longer than most of those voicing their opinions to win the right to sing our country’s anthem on a stage as large as the Super Bowl LIII … I pray that this national anthem will bring us all together in a way never before witnessed and we can move forward and untangle these truths which mean so much to all of us.”
During the Civil War, the 4th verse of the Star-Spangled Banner inspired the 125th Pennsylvania Infantry to use “IN GOD WE TRUST” as its battle cry at the Battle of Antietam. Rev. M.R. Watkinson wrote to the Treasury Department, November 13, 1861, suggesting the recognition of “Almighty God in some form in our coins.”
Another proposal was to amend the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution to include the mention of “Almighty God” and “the Lord Jesus Christ.” This proposal was supported by:Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts,Senator B. Gratz Brown of Missouri, andSenator John Sherman of Ohio, along with Director of the U.S. Mint, James Pollock. Their proposal was to amend the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution to have the new wording: “We, the people of the United States, humbly acknowledging Almighty God as the source of all authority and power in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Ruler among the nations, His revealed will as the supreme law of the land, in order to constitute a Christian government, and in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the inalienable rights and the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to ourselves and our posterity, and all the people, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Lincoln’s pastor, Rev. Phineas Gurley, arranged for proponents to meet with the President, February 11, 1864, after which Lincoln responded: “The general aspect of your movement I cordially approve. In regard to particulars I must ask time to deliberate, as the work of amending the Constitution should not be done hastily.”
Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, who Lincoln later appointed Chief Justice, assigned James Pollock, Director of the U.S. Mint, with the task of adding the phrase “In God We Trust” to the two cent coin.
James Pollock was the former Governor of Pennsylvania and a former U.S. Congressman. Pollock complied with Secretary Chase’s request. The Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances (U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, 1863, page 190-191), printed James Pollock’s reply: “We claim to be a Christian nation — why should we not vindicate our character by honoring the God of Nations … Our national coinage should do this. Its legends and devices should declare our trust in God – in Him who is ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords.'”