One nation under God

By Raymond V. Epps

Powerful people in America have been working diligently to expel Almighty God from the public forums of this nation.

They are going directly counter to the intents, purposes and prayers of our Founding Fathers. Revisionists are working through the courts, universities, law school and even our public schools to rewrite American history.

Whether we realize it or not, we are in a battle for the soul of our great nation. This is a battle we must not lose. It is imperative that America be a nation under God.

The legal minds and those who want God out of American public life have concocted a supposition that Thomas Jefferson created the mythical wall of separation between church and state.

They cite the First Amendment, which says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." They make no reference to the rest of this amendment: "Nor prohibit the free exercise thereof." Purposely, the clause guaranteeing free exercise of religion is being ignored by powerful people who know better.

We are a diverse nation of many religious beliefs, and that is as it should be in a free nation. Countless good men have fought and died to maintain our religious freedom.

The liberty we have to serve and worship our Lord and Savior must not be curtailed by a godless minority who feel embarrassed to recognize the Supreme Authority of the universe.

George Washington set aside a national day of prayer on Oct. 3, 1789, with these words:

"It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly implore his protection and favor."

Are these the words of an atheist or a deist?

Absolutely not.

Following the bloody Battle of Bull Run, Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of prayer and fasting with these words: "It is fit and becoming all people, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God, to confess and bow in humble submission to his chastisement, to confess and deplore their sings and transgressions in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their past offenses, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action."

The world is filled with people who hate America and all we stand for. They hate our constitutional, democratic and representative form of government. They hate our liberties. And they hate our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Their focus is against western civilization, and their aim is to overthrow us, our freedoms and our religion.

We must remain, at all cost, one nation under God. And we must turn back to the God who is the giver of freedom and who is the keeper of the nation that will honor him.

In 1892, the Supreme Court decreed: "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon 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."

It is dreadfully appalling and sad how far we have fallen away from the firm foundation which was laid by great and wise men who believed in, worshipped and prayed to God Almighty.

The Lord our God calls us by his inspired Word to a national repentance. All you men and women who have been in the service of our great nation may recall what you were asked to do when you too the oath of military service. You pledged that you would faithfully defend our nation, its Constitution and its citizens against all foes from without and from within.

But there are those who work day and night to make us a totally secular nation. Powerful special-interest groups seek to expel God from all public life in America.

The freedom to take our religion with us wherever we may be in this land and to express it freely must not be prohibited by any court, politician or any other authority. Our religious freedom, as will all our other freedoms, came to us at the expense of the precious blood and sacrifice of countless American patriots who valued these freedoms above their own lives.

Pray for America. Pray for God to truly bless America. Pray that God will give us men and women in authority who will never yield to the pressure to ignore God.

We need a new birth of freedom in America, the freedom envisioned by men who founded our nation upon the sure foundation of faith in God and in Jesus Christ.

The Rev. Raymond V. Epps is the pastor of Shawnee Hills Baptist Church in Jackson. This article is adapted from his sermon at a special patriotic and recognition service held June 29.