Madison, Wisconsin (Artist: Susan Cassidy Wilhoit)
Constitution Preamble (1848)
We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom…do establish this constitution.
To read the introduction to and purpose of this series, CLICK HERE.
Tag Archives: faith
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Wisconsin)
Filed under America, Apologetics, Culture Wars, politics, The Magnificent Fifty
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Washington)
Olympia, Washington (Artist: Susan Cassidy Wilhoit)
Constitution Preamble (1889)
We, the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution.
By the way, the “Supreme Ruler of the Universe” doesn’t sit in the Oval Office or the Supreme Court.
Filed under America, Apologetics, Culture Wars, God, politics, The Magnificent Fifty
They Did Believe, But…
I’m on my last day of “vacation” in Charleston, S.C., visiting with our oldest daughter and her husband, but I’ve still found time to sit and quietly study. As a matter of fact, I’ve had some wonderful times of peaceful, uninterrupted periods of reading and note taking.
Which brings me to what I want to share with you this morning, while I have a moment and it’s fresh on my mind.
I’m good friends with a legendary Church of God gospel group, the Branham Family. In one popular song that Donna Branham (Coleman) wrote, she sings about the story of Peter being released from prison (Acts 12:1-19), then coming to the house where the church was praying. In short, the song makes the argument that even though they had been praying all night, because they were shocked to see Peter at the door, they must have not really believed the prayer would be answered.
Then, as the title of the song describes, the chorus leads us to acknowledge that “someone in that house believed when they prayed…” because the proof was that Peter did get released. The assumption, then, is that because the people were amazed to see Peter at the door they must have not really believed God would deliver him from being executed the next day.
And honestly, that’s what a lot of people think about these early Christians. They tend to detract from the fact that they were in one accord pleading with God all night long for Peter’s life, and then describe the prayer warriors as “faithless.”
I disagree.
You see, as I have been studying Acts 12 (along with the rest of the book), it doesn’t appear that the church that prayed for Peter was faithless; it’s just that they were shocked at how God answered.
Think about it, just because Peter and the other “apostles” experienced a similar angelic deliverance in Acts 5, that doesn’t mean they were going to assume it would happen again. After all, both Stephen and James had now been killed, not delivered, so why were they to assume the doors would open on their own for Peter this time?
Yet, they did pray all night for Peter, which is far more than we might see today. Could it be that what they were praying for was Peter’s life to be spared, and possibly by changing the heart of Agrippa?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that there is a message to the Church in Acts 12, and I think it’s more than “believe when you pray.”
I believe the message to us today might be more like, “Don’t be amazed when God answers your prayers in an unexpected way.”
I mean, the church might have been expecting to wake up the next morning to hear word that Herod Agrippa had accepted Christ as his Messiah, or something. But I think it’s unfair to judge this fearless and committed group of early believers as unbelieving pew-warmers just going through the motions.
They DID believe, but they never expected how miraculous the answer would be.
So, keep praying and believing; you might be surprised at what God has planned.
Filed under Bible Study, Church, Faith
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Louisiana)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Artist: Susan Cassidy Wilhoit)
Constitution Preamble (1921)
We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political, economic, and religious liberties we enjoy.
To accomplish their goals, nearly every state constitution will have to be re-written. But that is the depth to which the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) in Wisconsin and their 20,000 members (a tiny fraction of our population) must go should they want to remove God and faith from the public square and our nation’s foundations.
#Bryancollege #FoundationofFaith #themagnificentfifty
Filed under America, Apologetics, Faith, God, The Magnificent Fifty
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Kansas)
Topeka, Kansas (Artist: Susan Cassidy Wilhoit)
Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights, Section 7 (1859)
The right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed.
Filed under America, Apologetics, God, The Magnificent Fifty
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Illinois)
Springfield, Illinois (Artist: Susan Cassidy Wilhoit)
Constitution Preamble (1870)
We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.
Amazing how so many of our states’ constitutions recognize the existence of God, isn’t it? Yet, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and their kind want nothing less than to scrub that fact from history. The purpose of this series of posts called “The Magnificent Fifty” is being published in an effort to combat that. Please share them.
CLICK HERE to read the introduction to this series.
Filed under America, Apologetics, The Magnificent Fifty
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Idaho)
Boise, Idaho (Artist: Susan Cassidy Wilhoit)
Constitution Preamble (1889)
We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings.
Folks, I hope this series of posts is opening a few eyes. The whole point is to counter the idea that our nation (and states) were founded on “godless” principles. To the contrary, these posts featuring The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith art collection at Bryan College show that faith – not godlessness – was very much a part of the fiber of our nation. To deny this exposes one of two things: an ignorance of history, or the willful desire to rewrite it.
Filed under America, Apologetics, Faith, The Magnificent Fifty
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Connecticut)
Hartford, Connecticut (Artist: Susan Cassidy Wilhoit)
Connecticut’s Great Seal (1784) and State Motto (1788)
Qui Transtulit Sustinet
“He Who Transplanted Still Sustains”
Image credit: Wikipedia
If it wasn’t clear enough, here is what Wikipedia has to say about the history of Connecticut’s state motto:
History of motto
The current motto looks a little different than the 1639 version (c.f. Sustinet qui transtulit). It was first seen in the colonies in 1639 on a seal brought from England by Colonel George Fenwick. The meaning of the motto was explained on April 23, 1775 in a letter stamped in Wethersfield, Connecticut: “We fix on our Standards and Drums the Colony arms, with the motto, Qui Transtulit Sustinet, round it in letters of gold, which we construe thus: God, who transplanted us hither, will support us”.
However, this explanation for the origin of the motto is questionable. In 1889, State Librarian Charles J. Hoadly published an article, “The Public Seal of Connecticut” that indicated the 80th Psalm as a possible source. The article stated:
“The vines [on the State Seal] symbolize the Colony brought over and planted here in the wilderness. We read in the 80th Psalm: ‘Thou has brought a vine out of Egypt: Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it” – in Latin, ‘Vineam de Aegypto transtulisti, ejicisti gentes et plantasti eam’; and the motto expresses our belief that He who brought over the vine continues to take care of it – Qui transtulit sustinet“
To read the introduction to and purpose of this series of posts, CLICK HERE.
Regardless, I’m rather enjoying countering the nonsensical notion that faith (specifically a Judeo-Christian kind) had little to do with our nation’s founding. It’s obvious that if one wanted to eradicate God from the public square, he’d have to do a lot more than silence voices; he’d have to take a chisel or sledgehammer to the stone of our state capitals.
Filed under America, Apologetics, Christianity, Culture Wars, Faith, politics, The Magnificent Fifty
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Alabama)
Montgomery, Alabama (Artist: Susan Cassidy Wilhoit)
State Creed (1953)
I believe in Alabama, a state dedicated to a faith in God and the enlightenment of mankind.
Click HERE to read the introduction to this series.
The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith (Introduction)
Reason for Series of Posts
Since 1978 the Freedom From Religion Foundation (Madison, WI) has fought to completely secularize every aspect of American public life. Part of the Atheist Alliance International and the Secular Coalition for America, FFRF pushes not only a secularist agenda but promotes atheism (“nontheism”) every chance it gets.
Despite the evidence suggesting our founding fathers were far more religious than not, and despite the fact that our Declaration of Independence starts off with the once-common assertion that our “unalienable Rights” are given by God, FFRF claims the very Constitution meant to protect those rights “was very purposely written as a godless document…” Therefore they claim God, faith, and any expression of religion – even cross-shaped memorials for the dead and prayer before local city council meetings – should be eradicated from the public square.
So, in response to their regular attacks on anything religious, and especially in response to what is nothing short of propaganda-like attempts to rewrite history, I felt compelled to respond with series of posts depicting actual history.
Contrary to what many people believe, our nation has a strong foundation of faith, and I want to prove it with some art.
The Magnificent Fifty
As some of you may know, two of my daughters attend Bryan College in Dayton, TN. Therefore, I have had more than a few opportunities to roam the corridors.
The first two floors of the main building at Bryan (Mercer Hall) house a permanent art exhibit featuring the work of Susan Cassidy Wilhoit. On display are paintings she made of every state capital building, along with a brass placard below.
The art collection is called “The Magnificent Fifty: Foundation of Faith“ because the placard below each painting includes words demonstrating “the foundational belief in and acknowledgment of God’s providence and blessing within each state’s heritage.”
Therefore, tomorrow I am going to begin a series of posts featuring photos I’ve taken of the state capital building paintings (in alphabetical order), along with the words engraved on the placards below them.
The following posts will not attempt to argue that America is a Christian nation, but that our nation’s founding documents were anything but “godless.”
Contrary to what the Freedom From Religion Foundation says, our nation has a foundation of faith.
Tomorrow: Alabama
The Recovering Legalist 