American Exceptionalism

Good morning church. Before we get going this morning we have a young man in our congregation who is moving to Minneapolis Minnesota. Chase Chumshaw, I feel like I'm joining this morning. It's a double honor to chase my nephew as well as a member of this church.

I'm going to ask the elders to come join me. I'm not just a family to join me because this is a big deal. If you're in church family, come on down and chase. Come over here and we're going to bless him.

He's a member of this church. Chase is moving to Minneapolis to go to school to a seminary. He believes God's got a further calling on his life. So we're going to pray over here.

Amen? What a blessed family continue. Come on. Grandma and grandpa.

His mama. He's having a hand as well. Just got to stand there like, come on. Father, you were so good to us.

Father God, when we were born, you put giftings and callings in our life. Father God and chase is responding to your call upon his life. Lord, we respect that. We honor that.

Father God and we anoint him as a member of this congregation. Father God, we send him with our blessing. Father God, we call forth all the giftings, all the things that you have inside of him to come forth to come to fruition. Lord, but most importantly, Father, we pray for his heart to continue to be softer and softer and softer and softer.

You look God, bring a meekness and a humbleness, Father God, to any man who handles the word of God. Father, we pray you're blessing over him in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.

Well, good morning, patriots. In my entire 51 years of life, I've never known how to dress. Normally, you get in the morning, you put something on your go, I don't know how to dress for the occasion. How do you get dressed up for 250th birthday?

I don't know how to get into a hundred year old birthday party. I've never been to a 250th year old birthday party. So I thought the first thing I should do to come to a birthday party is this. I think any good patriot, any good pastor should have a gun.

And for those of you who don't know history, oh, maybe let me tell you something, every pastor in the American revolution in the 1700s had guns in their studies, had guns in their pulpit, had guns around them because they never knew who was coming or what was coming or what was going to happen in the country around them. Maybe so I think that's the first thing. I think the second thing any good pastor should have is a flag. Alex, when you come join me on stage, how can we celebrate a July 4th weekend without starting off with the Star Spangled Banner?

Yes. Great. Now I know some of you grew up in school where you did this every morning in school and some of you don't have to go, I don't remember ever doing this in school. So those of you who need the words to have the words on the screen behind you, we're going to do the Pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, and liberty and justice for all. Amen. Thank you, gentlemen. And the word republic is in red for a reason.

We are not democracy. We've always been a republic for those who are learning history and those who don't. It's been a great week and I hope that you celebrated July 4th like you've never celebrated July 4th in the history of your life. It's just an amazing thing.

If you didn't have a chance to watch President Trump's speech last night go online, watch the speech, the fireworks were, oh my gosh. As he says, it was huge. It was huge. Beck and I both thought, oh my gosh, somebody bomb Washington DC last night because the opening fireworks were just like, oh man, what just went down.

But church, there's an important thing that I think the church has lost somewhere in its historical understanding is the church has said, well, the church is the church and the state is the state or the church is the church and the education system is the education system. And that's what's caused so much damage to our nation. So this morning, rather than giving you a sermon or follow up on first Timothy 4, I'm going to be more of a historical teaching of what things did you say? Well, Pastor Michael, those things, I think they sound kind of, I'm not too sure about those things.

That's good. I hope you're not sure about those things because anybody's a good Berean always follows up and reads whether pastor teaches them. Go to their Bible, look to their Bible and historical documents, historical statements you need to know. But let me say this to you, if you're an American citizen, and if you're an American citizen, we have some members of our church who are not quite American citizens yet.

They're in the process of becoming American citizens. Amen. But what we've found in America is this, those who are not Americans take the citizenship test and they can pass the test. But if you give the citizenship test to Americans, they fail.

It makes no sense at all. It does make sense because I think there's been a miseducation of America intentionally to keep people at bay not knowing what the truth is so that they can't stand up for their rights or their freedoms. So let me say this to you, if you've never read these two books, you need to buy these two books, get on Amazon, I don't care if all my messages going on or tomorrow, Black Friday, it's always to say what in the world happened in Wharton, Texas? If you don't have the book called The Light and the Glory, you need to own The Light and the Glory.

The second book, the follow up set book is from See the Signing Sea by Peter and David Emanuel. Those two books should be on every American's book shelf. The Bible is there on the top shelf, these should be on the second shelf as an American. If you've never read those two books, let me tell you something, they will shift probably 85% of what you learned in public school.

And they'll probably shift 100% what you listen to from the media. Because as I was preparing for this, looking at different historical documents, reading different things going, man, it would take me about 15 years to preach this message. Because I think there's so many things Americans just flat don't know. And so I began to work through this and go in and it's like, what do I leave in?

What do I leave out about 2020 and I just passed your miles, did one on Americans Christian heritage. I would encourage you to go find that call, share and get the copy of that message as well. He did some things, I thought he did on that. I don't need to add on to that or repeat those things.

I added on some different things. I think we need to know as a church, as a nation, and let me tell you something, you've never heard me so promote in my life and I'm not going to do it. The day's the only time I would say I would encourage you. If you have friends who don't know history, share this message with them.

Because they need this message. And so we're going to start using it, Tyler's going to say, Tyler's message is American exceptionalism. Now that is a controversial two words. I've been called all kind of things here recently because people have said, man, are you like a Christian nationalist?

I said, well, I don't know what that phrase means. It's a liberal made up word. Terminology. So let me go research some things.

Am I Christian? Yes. Am I a patriot? Yes.

Do I love my nation? Yes. So Mr. Raghatoran, you think it's bad about me to call myself a Christian nationalist?

Then I am one. Amen? And so I have no problem with that. But what is American exceptionalism?

And it's not one of those crazy weird things. You can find different definitions. Please don't Google. Please don't go and try to go.

What is American essentialism? That's a bad way to find definitions of historical facts. Go back to the old thing called books. The old thing called books that you need to read and find things out.

And when I was looking for an American exceptional definition, I thought, I mean, there's not to be a good one. Somebody wrote one. And unfortunately, there's not one. The best that you can find is Alexis Ditokoville's definition.

And it's a connovelation of different thoughts and things he put together. And that's actually what it is. He actually never said the words American exceptionalism. He gets credit for it, but he's actually never said the words.

But here's the best definition they put together from Democracy in America from 1831. American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States possesses a unique national character. Distinguished by liberty, equality of opportunity, religious vitality, local self-government, civic responsibility, and a democratic culture unlike that of other nations. And that's the response I thought I would get.

That's the response that so many Americans respond to government. That's good. This is the founding of who we are as a nation. This is a unique character.

Distinguished by liberty. Could you imagine you woke up this morning in Russia? You wouldn't be seen in a congregation. Could you imagine waking up in Iraq and Iran?

You wouldn't be waking up in a congregation. You'd be begging God to figure out just a little hole to live in today. Equality of opportunity. Well, Pastor Michael, so and so got this and so and so got that.

I'll all learn this. That's the same thing that I think is important. We all woke up one day and said, and we breathe called being born. And we were born in the United States of America, which means we all got equal opportunity.

Well, no, no, Pastor Michael, so and so was Richard and I was. So what? So what? Well, they had all these years of family blessings.

Yes, but their children still have to go to school and learn the same things that you had to learn that I had to learn that we had to choose to do. That's the equality. Every single one of us steps to the line and says, I'm making choice to be educated, work hard, and have a successful life, or I back away from the line and complain. That's American essentialism.

We get the choice. Religious about how the, oh my gosh, we're the only country in the world that's free like this. If you look north of us, our Canadian friends are in trouble. They are absolutely in trouble.

New York State is in trouble. We've known California has been in trouble. Local self-government. Oh, that's a big one right here.

And I want to stop and pause for a second. We, the race community fellowship, need to be involved in our local government. We need somebody or some bodies who will run for city council. We need somebody or some bodies who will run for school board.

We need some bodies or someone who will be a part of different organizations across this county, across this region, so that we can begin to have local self-government. Because honestly, I think we're underrepresented. I think Christians are underrepresented in all aspects of local government. Civic responsibilities.

We're responsible to respond to our community. And a Democratic culture, unlike that of other nations, we have the ability to vote. Well, Pastor, I just don't know who to vote for. Come see me.

I don't know what to do. I'm not ready to shoot a vote. Come see my car ball. My car was now set up to register people to vote.

There is no reason anybody in this church should not be registered to vote or informed to vote. Amen? Now listen to those people who are out there who are listening to this online and say, oh, you think America is superior, you think America is this? I didn't say that, but do I think America is great?

Yes. Absolutely, I believe that. And it's not about, oh, may you like superior or this or that? Get out of here, that nonsense.

Let me just knock that down. So let me always say this. Some people go, oh, I didn't know you're Mexican. Yes.

My family's from Mexico. My family's from South America. None of my parents were born in America. Sorry.

My parents were born here. My grandparents were born in America. So it's not like, oh, you got this moral superiority of being a white Anglo-Saxon male. No, I just love my country.

Amen? And the top of the bill says this also. It means it's amazing. He admired America's institutions, while also warning that liberty could be endangered if citizens became apathetic.

That sounds prophetic to me. Or if an overly centralized government weakened local responsibility. The people got apathetic and the government said, yeah, we take control. Well, I can't stand the government.

The government's not the problem. Because the Constitution starts out, we the people. So who's the government? Me?

You? We? We're the people. Well, I don't like the government.

You know, like yourself. I mean, it's just amazing. Look, we're the government. We are the government.

If we don't like it, we vote. If we don't like it, we get involved. If we don't like it, we step up. I mean, I actually got so sick of social media.

I turn it off. People don't say, birthday wishes. But I got sick of social media yesterday. All these people say, well, great merit is 250, but the government sucks.

Did you look in the mirror? Because the Constitution says, we the people. You're the people. And the government sucks.

You suck. Amen? So here's point number one. We're a Christian nation.

We are a Christian nation. Please write that down. We are a Christian nation. Now, I know some of you have been taught your entire lives, and I'm going to get to that in a minute, but you've been taught your entire lives.

We're a Judeo-Christian nation. Nonsense. Absolute nonsense. Because Judeos and Christianity are polar opposites of each other.

So there's no way we can be both. Oh, but Pastor Michael, the Jewish people helped start America. We'll get to that. In 1892, the United States Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, determined the case of the church versus Holy Trinity versus the United States, that America was a Christian nation from its earliest days.

The United States Supreme Court says we're a Christian nation. President Woodrow Wilson, the Bible and Progress speech he gave May 7, 1911. America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify the devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.

Come on, Woodrow Wilson. Listen, I'm going to go on Woodrow Wilson. Which one? He was the president?

Yes. Listen, I'm going to quote the Supreme Court. President's different individuals. It's so important.

Former Chief Justice Earl Warren said this, I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the good book and the spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been on our guiding genesis. Whether we look to the first charter of Virginia or to the charter of New England or to the charter of Massachusetts Bay or to the fundamental orders of Connecticut, the same objective as present, a Christian land governed by Christian principles. Chief Justice of Supreme Court. He continues to say this, I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it.

Freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of power to the people. I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country. That's a really funny Supreme Court justice.

If we will just follow the Bible, no harm can be fit our country. Yesterday we went and saw Young Washington. If you haven't seen Young Washington, go see it. I felt like an ignoramus sitting there because I'm like, man, I didn't know any of this history.

I mean, so many parts and pieces are in there and I won't take the whole story. But here's what happened, I think it spoke to loudest to me. And I've heard the story before, I've never really studied out, but I've heard the story that Washington was shot 17 times. Two of his horses were shot from underneath him.

He had bullets in his actual coat, a bullet in his hat, 17 different times shot. The Indians, two of his stories, the movie kind of closes with the story, but kind of closes with the actual Indians who were the Indians called him and say, I want to meet the man who we shot. We know the man that we shot. But here's historical teachings of that, where the actual Indian warrior was on his deathbed and said, y'all got to take me to go meet this man who I cannot kill.

He said, I know me and my brave shot you 17 times and you would not die. Somebody like you is covered by God's blessing. George Washington isn't the only one covered by God's blessing. A nation who knows their God, who knows their Bible, no harm can come to it.

So in 1993 when the World Tracer attacked the first time, 9-11 when he attacked the second time, I think God's gonna give us warnings. You're not following my word, harm is be following you. Come on church, we got to get this and I'm gonna get inside you. And listen, if you want to clap, I'll keep talking or you clap me down, I'll stop talking.

But it doesn't bother me because listen, we need to get this. And I'm gonna read some comments from different people across the United States, I don't want to focus in just one area. Former Governor of Mississippi, Hurt Florida says this, America is a Christian nation. And immediately he was attacked.

Rabbi Steven Ingle, Rabbi Jewish, there is a fine line between anti-Semitism and ignorance. How could you say it's a Christian nation? What's a Judeo-Christian nation? No sir, not at all.

I told you we'd get here. Here's a big myth. We are not a Judeo-Christian nation. Historically, historically, all 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.

We can trace their denominational affiliation. Now I know if you said, well I've heard that their deist will deal with that in a minute too. Here are the denominations of the signs of the Declaration of Independence, Anglican, Episcopalian, Congregationalist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Quaker, and one Roman Catholic. I don't see Judaism.

If you don't have Judaism, then how can we be a Judeo-Christian nation? They're all Protestants. All this, everything that's in the last one is Roman Catholic. I mean what?

A trip. That same governor was attacked by one of his own representatives, Mr. Representative Ed Blackman says this, the governor has no tolerance at all to diversity or religious or racial. What a knucklehead.

But I love what Gary Demarsis. This is great. Christianity is the predominant religion in America. We all know that's an incomerible fact.

The media always refers to the Jewish state of Israel. They talk about the Muslim countries of Saudi Arabia, of Iran, of Iraq. We talk about the Hindu nation of India. America is not a nothing country.

It's a Christian country. But it's amazing how we say things like that. The Jewish state of Israel, the Muslim nation of Iran, oh America, we're stuck to nothing. We're a hodgepodge.

Nonsense. Stop saying that. Stop letting people say that to you. It's time for the church to push back.

To be educated one to push back. And what that's all about. President Roosevelt talking to Winston Churchill in the middle of World War II, the dark of World War II. That's how he described the United States.

The lasting concord between many nations founded on the principles of Christianity. 1947, President Truman wrote Pope I.S. the 12th. This is a Christian nation.

Pastor Michael, you're getting more proof? I go all along with this back right here alone. We go to Supreme Court, we go to President. We can talk about different government.

The whole shebang. We are a Christian nation. The only ones backing away from that are the Christians. We're the only ones backing away from that truth.

We're the only ones afraid to say that truth. Oh, I don't want to sound anti-Semitic. Well, it's too late for me. I already sound that way because I just told you the truth here.

But I'm not anti-Semitic. I'm very much a believer in the truth of Christ. And we are a Christian nation. So, you say, Pastor Michael, okay, we're a Christian nation.

I got that in Supreme Court. Presidents. I've all said these different things, different documents and things. But I hear you and I want to believe that.

But that's 1776. I'm glad you like that. Well, why isn't in the Constitution more of Christian things? Why don't you put more of God and Christianity in the Constitution?

Because the founders of our Constitution signed our Declaration of Independence. Two different groups understood something. The populace of America was Christian. It was not atheist.

It was not deist. They understood what it was all about. And they expected for those men and those people to continue in that way. So, let's look at the colonies.

Let's look at the colonies. The colonies are going to just floor you. Look at the colonies. The first charter of Virginia.

We read that while going to Earl Warren's statement. The first charter of Virginia. We greatly commend and graciously accepting of their desires for the furtherance of so noble work, which made by the province of Almighty God. Hereafter, ten to the glory of His divine majesty, in propagating the Christian religion, to such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of true knowledge and worship of God.

And may in time bring the infundelles and savage living in those parts of the human civility and to a settled and quiet government. Do but these are letters, patient, graciously accepted of and agreed to their humble and well-intended desires. What is the charter of Virginia? We want to evangelize our area.

We want to change our area and make it Christ-like. Reverend Robert Hunt, worship services almost began the hour of the Land of the Mayflower in 1607. There the first seat of the four English Christianity on American continent was sown when they landed in 1607. Not 1776.

In 1607, the seat was put in the soil in Virginia that was supposed to be spread to all of the United States of Christianity. Oh, well, Pastor Mike, we were talking about 1776, 1931, in 1607. B.F. Morris.

The Christian religion was the underlying basis and the pervading element of all the social and civil institution of the Virginia colony. Virginia was planted with the seat of Christianity. Ladies and gentlemen, today Virginia is a hellhole. My daughter goes to school in Virginia, so I'm a good student of history, a good student of things.

I pay attention to Virginia politics. And what I'm going to say to you next is probably some of you who's young ears in the room, sorry, it's just politics and they're 12 years old and they need to learn. When Aubrey was there first of a year or three years ago, she was helping, of course, she's in government, school of government, doesn't know. In the school of government, they asked her to help campaign for his individual.

So she goes out campaigning and I go and research, so she can't pay for it. He's a good guy. He's a Christian guy. He's a worthy.

Well, that was not my concern. My concern was the opponent of this guy. She was painting and financing her campaign by her and her husband doing sexual videos. Here's the campaign.

You tell us what to do and we will video it. She lost by 14 votes. Virginia, which had seeds of liberty, seeds of Christianity, have become apathetic. How can you say that so strongly?

Because again, I talked to my daughter. I said, what's liberty's response to this? What's liberty's response to this whole deal? Dad, they're quiet.

Now, if you're a Liberty University, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr., those in 1980s Ronald Reagan, more majority, that dude was out there. He was planning, CTE was saying all kinds of stuff and they watered it down. Well, Pastor Michael, that's Virginia.

Oh, Texas boys, be quiet. But Virginia started. What a great start. Rhode Island.

Well, Rhode Island. Rhode Island. I mean, just a liberal, no, slow down. Even in the fundamental law of the province of Rhode Island, a Christian purpose is expressly stated.

And in particular form of Christianity, Protestantism was required as a qualification for office. If you weren't Protestant, you couldn't even get it in office. If you weren't Catholic. No, no, no, no.

You couldn't do it. Now, I've been to Rhode Island. And man, it's a beautiful state, beautiful place. But my Lord, it's a mess.

Virginia, Rhode Island. The colonies were just amazing. How about Delaware? The Delaware Constitution established by a Christian religion while not elevating one religious sect in the state in preference to another.

They were trying to say, we want you to be Christian. But here's what Delaware did require of its office holders to subscribe to certain Deological Tenants, Article 22. Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house or appointed to any office or place to trust shall also make and subscribe the following declaration to wit. You ready for declaration?

Here it is. Aye. Michael Lemas. Do profess faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ his only Son and in the Holy Spirit.

One God bless forevermore and do acknowledge the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration. Sorry, I got a smile. And then I got a smile. Who's our former president from Delaware?

Joe Biden. Joe Biden's our former president. If this was still the requirement, if Delaware would have held a standard, it would have saved this nation so much heartache. That's wild, isn't it?

That's your mind. I've never heard that. Most of us have never heard this stuff. And what's so interesting, it's out there in plain history.

It's in every historical book. It's out there. Everyone in these states, everyone in these colonies knows exactly what is out there. New Jersey, the New Jersey Constitution of 1776, and the Lord of the Lord.

No person shall ever be deprived of the inestable privilege of worshiping Almighty God in a matter agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience. I have to be a Jersey man for Brian. Georgia, 1777 Constitution, Article 6 states, the representatives shall be chosen at a residence in each country and they shall be of the Protestant religion. Massachusetts, Constitution 1780 states, it is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly and in stated seasons to worship the supreme being, the great creator and preserver of the universe.

At a state of the government shall be chosen annual, qualifications for holding office are next listed. No person shall be eligible to this office unless he shall declare himself to be of the Christian religion. Here's the oath, the falling oath. I, my calling, must do declare and believe that the Christian religion and have firm persuasion of its truth.

That's what the colonies started as. This is what we're leading into, into the Constitution, into the Declaration of Independence. This is what we're leading into to the founding of our nation. So why would those framers think otherwise?

Come on church. So you have number one, we're a Christian nation, number two, the colonies. Here's number three, which I think is a major issue that we Christians have got to get, the separation of church and state. This is probably the biggest lie repeated and repeated by Christians, which is just shocking to me.

It's like, you're a Christian, how could you not know this and I go, hold on, American education system. You sound so down on it, I'm not down on it, what I'm down on is what they've ripped out of it. Because in the early days, what they put into it was just phenomenal. Every young person had to read their Bible.

You came to school, you gotta read your Bible. You gotta know your Bible. Amen? But here's what's so amazing.

Most of the misunderstandings around the church and state issue is rather from secondary sources and misinformation. Some people read what somebody else said. Go to the source. Go to the source.

Robert L. Coors says this, history by omission. The feather to deal with historical facts that run counter to a strict separation of the First Amendment. Too many people have their bent rather than going back to historical fact.

Well, I've heard CNN all my life turn that nonsense off. MSNBC, turn that nonsense off. My Lord. Well, Pastor Michael, I was on the airport, it's all they show, they don't pay attention to it.

Amen? There's this whole debate, I just don't know, I just don't know. That's what we're here today for. Hello?

Come on, come on, come on, come on. So let's read the First Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Or bridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people pleasingly to the simple and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amen? Now, I know I have a lawyer somewhere over here. He's not a constitutional lawyer, so I do. He does get to pass on that one.

I think it's like, I just don't know. But lawyers have jacked this thing so bad. And here's what's so bad. We the American people have went and bought it.

Because when I went back and read the original documents, it's amazing. And lawyers are great people and judges are great people, but their interpretation of things is just so messed up. Because if you really read this, it's amazing. There's no mention of the word church, state or separation in the First Amendment.

Or in the body of the Constitution. Oh, it's there in the First Amendment. Where was it? Nowhere.

Do you bring that back up for me, Renee? Nowhere is the word church, state or separation. So what did judges and lawyers do? They read into things that were never written there.

But the sad part was, as they didn't do what I was talking about earlier, they didn't go back to the books and open the books. The Federalist Papers, we have every Federalist Papers, we have their thoughts of how and what they constructed to come with the Constitution. We have all the different things that you understand are here. Thomas Jefferson will get to him in a minute as well with this whole nonsense.

But people, thanks to Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson wrote that as president. No, he did not. He wrote that to a Baptist association.

It's where you get the words separation of church and state. That's where it comes from. Dan Berry, church, you want to copy that? I'll send you a copy of that.

I'll send you a copy of it. You can read the letter. They're response to him and his response to them. It's just simple.

But here's the interpretation that absolutely floored me as I was preparing for this message. Included in the amendment are additional items which relate to the free exercise of religion. Gotta get that. Usually, these constitutional protections are narrowly applied, so they are not a part of the freedom of religion provision.

Ready for this? The right to talk about religion is a freedom of speech. The right to publish religious works is freedom of the press. Well, no, no, no!

Freedom of the press allows the media to do whatever they want to do. That's not what it was written about. It was freedom of the press was they could publish any Christian document they wanted. The government could not stop them.

But modern lawyers, modern constitutionalists, have changed this about media, about the newspaper. They've hijacked our rights. They've hijacked our historical meanings for their own purposes because they knew what that meant. And if they can get us to believe this, then we don't do this.

That aggravates me. The right to publish religious works, freedom of press, and the right to people to worship publicly, either individually or in groups, freedom of assembly. And the right to petition the government when it goes beyond its delegated constitutional authority in these areas, the right of political involvement. Christians can't be involved, nonsense.

God can't be involved, nonsense. Jesus Christ can't be involved, nonsense. But when we don't know, we go, well, they're smarter than me, nonsense. They're dumber than us.

The reason they're dumber than us, they went to Passchamoc Lake, got over on us yesterday, read some of the books, or somebody read the book and said, don't go down that path. We have now just been educated. And if the Bible says once you know the truth, now you're responsible for the truth. This prohibition is addressed to Congress, not to the people.

Individual states and government institutions, public schools, capital, buildings, national parks are not included in the amendments prohibition. Listen to me, Church, we have a right. So many people are trying to rewrite the First Amendment. We have rights as people.

They're trying to keep Congress in control. The founders thought Congress had too much power, and the Bill of Rights are to limit their power. Justice Joseph's story. The real object of the First Amendment was not to consonants, much less to advance Muhammadism, and that's a nice word there, Muhammadism.

Judaism or infidelity by Protestant and Christianity, but to exclude all rivalries among Christians, sex, just denominations, and to prevent any classy ecclesiastical establishment, which would give to a hierarchy of the exclusive patronage of the national government. This amendment was simple to make all denominations equal to not make one higher than the other, but simply make it all the same. Supreme Court Justice William Winkquist, I told him to be all about a lot of coaches morning. The framers intended the establishment clause to prohibit the designation of any church as a national one.

The clause was also designed to stop the federal government from asserting a preference for one religious denomination or sect over others. Remember, they were all Protestant? They were just saying we want to give everybody equal footing. Amen?

During those debates, the word, separate and church, were never even uttered. Never even uttered you go back and lit the federal papers. They never send those things. Well, Pastor Michael, I'm confused.

Yeah, you're confused because you would talk to Confusion. We had some confused deist. Confused deist said, there's separation. Oh, come on, let's stop and read that for a second.

It's amazing. You know, Benjamin Franklin was a confused deist. Thomas Jefferson was a deist. At the end of their lives, they may have started to, as we say, American out deconstruct their faith, but they never had to believe that God made the universe and stepped away.

Never believe that. Well, how can you say that? Well, these people who wrote all these founding documents, all these founding things were bad deists if they were deists. Or they were confused deists.

On September 24, 1789, the same day, the same day they approved the First Amendment. Remember that everybody says, separation of church and state? That same day, Congress called on President Washington to proclaim a day of prayer and thanksgiving. The same day they passed the amendment, they asked the President to get involved in church.

I'm confused as much as they were confused. Or how about this one? The First Congress, very first Congress, that a joint committee of both housed me directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with gratitude of grateful hearts that many signal favors have allowed. The many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them as opportunity, peaceably, to establish a Constitution of the government for the safety and happiness.

Here we go again. Remember Benjamin Franklin saying several times this morning, Benjamin Franklin, God governs in the affairs of men. That's a bad deist. That's a confused deist.

If he believes that God is able to be the affairs of men. Come on, Church, we've told this stuff our whole lives. And so we just want to go in. Thomas Jefferson.

Remember Thomas Jefferson, the guy who gets all the credit for the Constitution? Thomas Jefferson had no hand in drafting the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Here's an important fact for you to know. He was in France at the time.

He wasn't even in America. But all these crazy liberals say, oh, Thomas Jefferson had his belief? Well, who cares what he believed? He didn't write it.

He wrote the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. Two different founding documents. Well, I've never known how to fight that argument. Well, simple.

He was in France. Isn't that funny? But not only that, you say, well, Patrick Michael, well, he was in France, okay, whatever. Well, he's the governor of Virginia.

It's amazing. He declared days of public and solemn thanks given in prayer to Almighty God. He's a bad deist. He signed bills, appropriating money for chaplains in Congress.

As president, the armed service, he signed articles of war which provided chaplains for the military. He was even such a bad deist that he advocated the taxpayer dollars to be sent to the College of William and Mary to make a perpetual mission among the Indian tribes, which included the instruction of the principles in Christianity. Church, we've been so fed a bunch of nonsense. We've eaten a bunch of nonsense.

Or we've been starved of truth. I think both are there. We've been fed nonsense and we've been starved of the truth. The pastor Michael, I mean, this is fastly historical things, but this is church.

How does it affect me? Glad you asked. Psalm 3312. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

The people he chooses for his inheritance. American exceptionalism, God has chosen this country to glorify him. God has chosen the states to glorify him. That's what American exceptionalism is.

It's the ability to glorify Father God. So let me give you three practical applications before we go. Here's number one. We must know who our God is.

We must know our history. We must not back down. We must know our God. We must know our God is.

We must know our history. And we must not back down. So in the little amount I have left, I want to share with you some things. You guys want me to go and say, oh, you sound you went a little right this morning.

I'm going to go a little right this morning because we need to understand this. Actions by the Trump administration. Church, President Trump and his administration have done some powerful things in this country that you haven't heard about. We haven't been told about.

And people who are not just in the dark about it. President Trump's bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, and we've been totally these bad things. But all these things that are happening behind the scenes, the average American doesn't know about. That's why I talk about the historical piece of this, the church part of this, now we're beginning to today.

Here's number one. President Trump's administration has pursued potential violations of the establishment clause and the free exercise clause of the Constitution used unlawfully against Christians and churches. He has protected the church. He has protected Christians.

He's created a federal task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias through the federal government. He's established the White House Faith Office and the Centers for Faith, which has a faith liaison in every department and agency. He's got a Christian in every department and agency, making sure the Christian faith is propelled into the government. He's ordered a repeal of all federal regulations that violate religious liberty.

They targeted and persecuted the anti-Christian Southern Poverty Law Center. If you ever give it to them, repent. Absolutely repent. He's put in several good Supreme Court justices.

He's abolished the Johnson Amendment, and I can go on and on and on. I literally have a page that's got two pages of front and back of items that the Trump administration has done. The church's family, we are on the cusp. On the cusp of God doing something in the church and God doing something in the nation.

But my only concern, and I speak this as truth, my only concern is the Christians are apathetic. My only concern is the Christian gets excited on Sunday about the rest of the week, the rest of the year goes. Politics, Michael Jurendy, House race here in District 85, Stan Kitzman, and Dennis Niesem, my God, there was 11 flyers every day, 15 flyers every day. That's on purpose.

On purpose for what? To make you disinterested, to make you apathetic. It's a strategy. In the old ways, they kept us ignorant.

Now they bombard us with all the information. It's nonsense. And you go, oh, forget none. It's neither one of them is good.

Church, I want you to stand this morning. I want to stand together as Christians, as patriots, and hopefully this morning historically involved and informed. I know the truth. Father, I thank you.

I thank you for this great country. Father, I thank you for the men and women who lost their lives before we even knew who they were. We even knew this thing called the United States of America. Father, God, those men and women who lost their lives in the forests of Virginia, in the forests of North Carolina.

Father, God, all upon the East Coast where we never even knew our father, those who died in the ocean in Atlantic and never made it here. But they gave their lives to help this country. Father, we honor them. Father, we ask your blessing upon their generations and generations and generations.

And Father, today we stand here as Texans saying we will not back down. We will stand up. We will be who you called us to be. Christians first, your children, and Father, God, your people who will stand up for their state, who will stand up for their nation and say not on my watch, not on my life, in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Have a great Sunday afternoon, Church.