On this Labor Day we celebrate the ‘land of the brave and the home of the free’ aka the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave.’ We honor all American workers for their dedicated labor and contributions to the development and achievements of United States of America and their Christian faith.
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.
Our country’s forefathers also played an important role not only as founders, but were also gifted statesmen, businessmen, entrepreneurs, craftsmen and other kinds of workers who valued their Christian faith. Who were our forefathers and how did they conduct themselves in their daily Christian walk?
by Emanuel Leutze, MMA-NYC, 1851
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States, were a group of late-18th century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, led the war for independence from Great Britain, and crafted a framework of government for the new United States nation which continues today.
Historians recognize prominent leaders of the revolutionary era such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are widely credited with the nation’s founding, while other scholars include all delegates to the Constitutional Convention whether they signed the Constitution or not.
Furthermore, some historians include signers of the Articles of Confederation, which was adopted as the nation’s first constitution in 1781.
Beyond this, the criteria for inclusion vary as historians have come to single out individuals ranging from military leaders during the Revolutionary War and participants in events before the war to prominent writers, orators, and other contributors to the American cause, including both men and women.
Yes, women! Let us not forget the magnificent women of God like Betsy Ross, who sewed together the first flag and others serving with their husbands, teaching their children, and their beloved prayers spoken at the dinner tables day after day.
Women played critical roles in the American Revolution and subsequent War for Independence. Historian Cokie Roberts considers these women our Founding Mothers. Women often followed their husbands in the Continental Army.
These women, known as camp followers, often tended to the domestic side of army organization, washing, cooking, mending clothes, and providing medical help when necessary. Sometimes they were flung into the vortex of battle.
New York teenager Sibyl Ludington was the female equivalent of Paul Revere, though she rode twice as far as Revere and in a driving rainstorm in April, 1777. Her ride took her through Putnam and Dutchess Counties, New York where she roused local militia to fight a British force that had attacked nearby Danbury, Connecticut.
The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a heroic equestrian statue to Ludington in Carmel, New York along the forty-mile route she traveled.
The Founders identified themselves as Christians. In 1776, every European American, with the exception of about 2,500 Jews, identified himself or herself as a Christian. Moreover, approximately 98 percent of the colonists were Protestants, with the remaining 1.9 percent being Roman Catholics.
by John Trumbull
Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1776.
Enacted during the American Revolution, the Declaration explains why the Thirteen Colonies at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain regarded themselves as thirteen independent sovereign states, no longer under British rule. With the Declaration, these new states took a collective first step in forming the United States of America.
The declaration was signed by 56 of America’s Founding Fathers, congressional representatives from New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The Declaration became one of the most circulated and widely reprinted documents in early American history.
Constitution of the United States
Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America.[3] It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation’s first constitution. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the national frame of government.
Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress (Article I); the executive, consisting of the president and subordinate officers (Article II); and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Article III). Article IV, Article V, and Article VI embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment.
Article VII establishes the procedure subsequently used by the 13 States to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified national constitution in force.
Obedience to God
Our Biblical forefathers made a covenant with their Heavenly Father throughout the last six thousand years which brings us to where we are in 2022.
Christian leader Dutch Sheets shared with CBN News how God’s relationship with us is set by a sacred covenant. Author of Giants Will Fall, Sheets said, “It’s even what He based our salvation on: ‘I’m coming to bring a new covenant through Jesus. The shedding of His blood ratifies this covenant.’ It is a binding together that in Him is unbreakable.”
America Began in Covenant
Early English settlers also wanted their new land to share such a binding covenant with God. Christian historian Eddie Hyatt, the author of The Great Prayer Awakening of 1857-58, said those who came to Jamestown starting in 1607 put it in their Virginia Compact.
“To propagate, to expand the gospel, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to take the gospel to people who were ‘lying in darkness and had no knowledge of the one true God.’ They said that was the reason they had come,” Hyatt stated.
The Pilgrims arriving in Massachusetts stated the same in 1620. Jerry Newcombe, the author of The Book That Made America, paraphrased what they wrote down: “‘Having undertaken a voyage for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.'” Newcombe explained of the Pilgrims and Puritans who followed, “They came for God as opposed to coming for gold.”
Hyatt says John Winthrop, leading 700 Puritans to Massachusetts in 1631, said it like this: “‘Others may come to the New World for wealth and furs.’ He said, ‘We have another goal, another end. We have entered into an explicit covenant with God to be His people in this New World.’ And they wanted to be that city on a hill. They wanted to be a model of Christianity for the rest of the world to see.”
David Barton of Wallbuilders said as these early settlers wrote out their covenants, “They were very cognizant of the fact that we answer to God. We need to get God at the center of what we do. If we do, He’ll bless us. If we don’t, we’re in trouble.”
These Covenants Became Models for the US Constitution
These early covenants pledged the signers to each other and to obeying the laws they’d form with God’s guidance.
As Newcombe put it, “This was something that would bind each man and each person to the whole community as an agreement under God.”
According to historian William Federer, such compacts became the model for the US Constitution, whose authors were also very much guided by their Christian faith.
The writer of the online American Minute.com stated, “George Washington at the beginning of the Constitutional Convention, he said ‘the event is in the hand of God.'”
How Has America’s Constitution Lasted So Long?
“They saw the Constitution as being a very religiously-based document,” said Barton. “It was also a very covenantal-based document. We made a covenant. The Constitution is a covenant of these states.”
Barton pointed out they studied 3,154 direct quotes from these Founders’ political writings and discovered how much God’s Word figured in them. He summed up, “The number one source was the Bible: 34 percent of all those quotes in those political documents, etc., came out of the Bible.”
Sheets explains in his book Giants Will Fall that the makeup of the government was shaped by biblical passages like Isaiah 33:22, writing, “Our nation’s form of government was actually taken from scripture.
‘The Lord is our Judge {Judicial Branch} …Lawgiver {Legislative Branch} …and King {Executive Branch}.'”The Founders put God first and foremost in the Declaration of Independence.
Federer stated, “It says right in there ‘appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world.’ In this founding document, we appealed to God. We invited Him to be a part of this American experiment.” The Founders put Scripture on the Liberty Bell, Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof…”
The concept of this being one nation UNDER God harkens back to Jesus telling Jerusalem in Luke 13:34 that He wanted to “…hide you UNDER my wings, covering and protecting you.”
Dire Consequences of Deserting Covenant
What happens though, as parts of the nation don’t want to be under God, disregard parts of the Constitution, and no longer honor sacred oaths?
Sheets warned, “We have walked away from covenant with Him.” And even from the marriage covenant, with the divorce rate soaring 302 percent in the 20th century.
Newcombe argued, “A lot of the things that we’re experiencing in America today are because we’ve disregarded God’s covenant.”
America, once the number one exporter of the Gospel, is now the number one importer of illegal drugs and the number one exporter of pornography. Newcombe explained God warned about this, saying, “‘Obey me then I will bless you. But if you disobey me, I will remove my blessing.'”
So Much Is on the Line
If America really is to be the place from which the Gospel is spread to the whole world, then the salvation of billions hangs in the balance.
Sheets believes there’s hope, but only if Americans return to honoring their covenant with God, because that makes us His family.
Barton pointed out the long-suffering faithfulness of the Lord, saying, “We’re told in Psalm 105 He keeps His covenant for a thousand generations.”
Sheets added, “I don’t think there’s a stronger force in the world.” So, there’s a chance the nation can still someday completely fulfill the prophecy of destiny Jamestown chaplain Robert Hunt said in 1607 as he came ashore in Virginia, just a few miles from where the Christian Broadcasting Network’s headquarters are located.
Hyatt explained, “He made this declaration which I believe was prophetic. He said, ‘From these very shores the Gospel shall go forth, not only to this New World but to all the world.’ And that was just not very far from CBN!”
It just takes getting back to covenant. As Joel 2:13 says, “Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness.”
Don’t Give Up
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Chronicles 15:7 But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Speak Words of Faith
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
1 Timothy 4:6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
Mark 11:23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
Matthew 15:1-3 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
Hosea 6:6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Proverbs 6:2 If you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth.
Persecuted for our Faith
1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2 Corinthians 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Revelation 2:10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
~ ~ ~
Dear Friends,
I did not write this – but WOW does it speak to my heart!!! Worth the read.
Love and Prayers, Rev. Irene
Barely the day started and… It’s already six in the evening.
Barely arrived on Monday and it is already Friday. … And the month is already over. … And the year is almost over.
… And already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed. … And we realize that we lost our parents, friends.
…and we realize it’s too late to go back… So… Let’s try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time…
Let’s keep looking for activities that we like… Let’s put some color in our grey…
Let’s smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts.
And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left.
Let’s try to eliminate the after… I’m doing it after… I’ll say after… I’ll think about it after…
We leave everything for later like ′′ after ′′ is ours. Because what we don’t understand is that:
Afterwards, the coffee gets cold… Afterwards, priorities change…Afterwards, the charm is broken…
Afterwards, health passes… Afterwards, the kids grow up… Afterwards parents get old…
Afterwards, promises are forgotten… Afterwards, the day becomes the night…
Afterwards life ends… And then it’s often too late…. So… Let’s leave nothing for later…
Because still waiting sees you later, we can lose the best moments.
The best experiences, Best friends, The best family… The day is today… The moment is now…
We are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone what needs to be done right away.
References:
History of Labor Day | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)
Founding Fathers of the United States – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Leutze
Articles of Confederation – Wikipedia
Constitution of the United States – Wikipedia
The Constitution of the United States | National Archives
Still the land of the free and the home of the brave? | The Free Speech Center (mtsu.edu)
Did America Have a Christian Founding? | The Heritage Foundation
[3] Barry A. Kosmin and Seymour P. Lachman, One Nation Under God: Religion in Contemporary American Society (New York: Harmony Books, 1993), pp. 28–29.
Women in the American Revolution | American Battlefield Trust (battlefields.org)
Declaration of Independence, an 1819 painting by John Trumbull, depicts the Committee of Five (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston) presenting their draft to the Second Continental Congress on June 28, 1776.[1]