Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

… a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

• Ecclesiastes 3:8

“The news of the Battle of Bunker Hill cut into Muhlenberg’s heart like a sword, and on January 21, 1776, he preached the dramatic sermon with a surprise ending.  His text was Ecclesiastes 3 1:8. …
“According to a nephew, when Muhlenberg came to verse 8, he read the words with great feeling: ‘A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.’
“’The Bible tells us there is a time for all things,’ the preacher said, ‘and there is a time to preach and a time to pray; but for me the time to preach has passed away.’ Raising his voice like a trumpet, he called out, ‘And there is a time to fight, and that time has now come.’
“Some accounts say he went into a side room, removed his clerical gown, and put on the uniform of a soldier. Others claim he threw off his clerical gown before the congregation, revealing a soldier’s uniform beneath. In any event, the church was stirred as he walked down the aisle, strode out the door, and signaled a drum to beat as he appealed for volunteers.
“The congregation spilled onto the lawn while others from the village, hearing the drum, rushed to the scene. ‘The sight of the pastor in uniform, standing at the door and calling for recruits, kindled the most unbounded enthusiasm, and before night nearly three hundred men had joined his standard.’
“Muhlenberg was with George Washington at Valley Forge. He fought battle after battle, and after the War was promoted to major general. He never returned to the pulpit, though his faith in Christ remained strong.”

• Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses That Made America

In my recent trip to visit the grandchildren, the oldest of them went with me to Nashville, to sell used books and games.  One of the books that I purchased in return was 100 Bible Verses That Made America by Robert J. Morgan.  As we approach the 250^th anniversary of the birth of the USA, I thought I would do a condensed mini-series on some of these verses, four posts per week for a few weeks – maybe not all 100 verses.

John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (1767-1948) was elected to the first Congress in 1801.  He served under Thomas Jefferson as the supervisor for Revenue in Pennsylvania and continued in that office until his death at 61.  There are a few statues of Muhlenberg, and his name has been given to a college, a county in Kentucky and in other places.  He was known as “the Fighting Parson of the Revolution.”

He was challenged that he should return to the pulpit, but in a letter of reply, he said that he was serving God by serving the new government.  He had a duty to God and to country.

I think a true statesman are rare these days, someone who serves selflessly the people in the government as a calling.

I went to a rally in 2016 led by Franklin Graham and his call was for people of faith to be involved at the grassroots level in politics.  It would be the only way for us to reverse the direction that the USA was going.  Here ten years later, some politicians are not afraid to talk about their faith, but not many.

But wherever we contribute to God and Country may we do so to the glory of God.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.