Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Unless the Lord builds the house,
    the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain.

• Psalm 127:1

“In May 1787, delegates gathered in Philadelphia for a convention to draft a constitution that would establish an effective federal government. They appointed George Washington as chair, but that’s about all they agreed on. From the beginning, the delegates quarreled over deeply held disagreements as to the extent and form of the new government.
“That’s when venerable Benjamin Franklin, eighty-one, rose to make a motion:

“In this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard-and they were graciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in the struggle, must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. 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? … 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 therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held to this assembly every morning before we proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of the city be requested to officiate in that service.”

• 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.

I love that story.  Benjamin Franklin has become the poster boy for the demolishing of the history books that say the founding fathers were not Christian and most were not religiously inclined.  They speak about how Benjamin Franklin was barely a deist.

Yet, in a previous chapter of the book, it was said that Benjamin Franklin often sat with Robert Morris at the church where they were both members.  And here, he stopped a delegation to ask for prayer.  Two delegates, Wiliam Samuel Johnson (Connecticut) and Hugh Williamson (North Carolina) were educated and qualified to pastor a church.  They both had other interests, but Johnson often preached as a lay minister.

It is widely said among those that admit the story is true that Congress have prayed before deliberations ever since.

That may be true, but Franklin’s proposal failed due to the government having no money to pay the preacher.

But three days later, George Washington, chair of the delegation, ushered all the delegates down the street to Philadelphia’s Reformed Calvinist Lutheran Church.  Rev. William Rogers made similar comments to that of Benjamin Franklin.  He ended his sermon with the Lord’s Prayer, and it was noted that all the delegates joined in reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

Soon after the prayer meeting, the delegates agreed on a document that began: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union. …”

Another item that may not be known by everyone, Rhode Island, one of the initial 13 colonies and states, sent no delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

And sadly, I found a website while researching my comments.  It advertises as the website devoted to Teaching American History.  It had a “.org” suffix.  It gave financial interests and financial backgrounds of every delegate.  It said nothing about their religious affiliations.  Even going to the linked subsequent pages for each delegate redirected you to more financial information.  Finally, if you kept persisting, you got a biographical page of some of the delegates.  In the biographies it might mention influence in their education that touched on one denomination or another.

This is the reason that I am writing these posts.  People are being taught something that is simply not true.  Our Founding Fathers were sinners, just like any Christian, but they knew that they could not build this nation unless God led them in the right direction.  And that faith seems lost in this nation today.  We rely on the government too much, and we do not pray enough.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.