God’s Hand in Our Nation’s Birth, part 2: Today we head over to the ProFamily Legislators Conference to hear from Tim Barton. He gives an in depth presentation on God’s hand in our nation’s birth. Tim presents several stories from the revolutionary time period, from prayer in the ContinentalCongress to Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. He steps through example after example of God’s providence in the lives of our founding fathers.

Air Date: 3/14/2023

On-air Personalities: Tim Barton and Rick Green

New Patriot Academy Campus

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Transcription:

Rick Green
Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. It’s WallBuilders. We are taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. And this week, we’ve got a special program taking that on. It’s Tim Barton speaking at the ProFamily Legislators conference. We started it yesterday. We’re going to pick up where we left off yesterday, and just join him there at the conference, telling some great stories about American history and rediscovering that secret sauce, that biblical foundation that made America great in the first place. And before we rejoined Tim and pick up where we left off yesterday, I want to remind you, we’ve got the opening of the Patriot Academy campus, the big groundbreaking celebration is going to take place on Saturday, April 22, in Fredericksburg, Texas, and you are invited, we’d love to have as many of our WallBuilders audience with us there as possible. It’s going to be a big celebration. John Rich is coming in to perform and and share with us. We’ve got Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, and some other members of Congress and, just folks from all across the nation, a lot of our Constitution coaches are joining us, Tim Barton will be there. It’s going to be a great celebration, really the beginning of this campus where we’re going to have… we’re rebuilding Independence Hall and all of these things so that you can come in and get your constitution study, basically have the Patriot experience, where for a week, you can come join us, get your constitution training, handgun defense, all of those things, and even be a legislator for a couple of days, so that you really learn how the system works. And so this celebration, this groundbreaking, this kickoff is going to be phenomenal. But of course the next day, as I mentioned yesterday, April 23, will be the first constitutional defense course on site at the Patriot Academy campus. And we’d love to have you there as a part of that. Learn more at PatriotAcademy.com . It is not too late to sign up and join us. Okay, let’s jump right back in where we left off with Tim yesterday at the ProFamily Legislators conference.

Tim Barton
They didn’t get across the 4AM and they still have a 12 mile march to get to Trenton and they were trying to get there before there’s any light out because they already wanted to be surrounding, right, set up. So when light rises, the Hessians realize we’re outnumbered, okay, let’s not have this issue. Well, how in the world are you going to arrive unseen at this point? There’s no way they can do it. You can’t make that march with this many troops and arrive and get set up before there’s light. Well, one of the unfortunate things that happens on the initial perspective was there was a blizzard that comes out. And as they’re going and this blizzard is coming and pounding on them, in the in the battle for Trenton, and this is… I’m getting a little bit ahead of the story. In the battle for Trenton, no Americans died. The only Americans that died that night, died on the march in the blizzard. Because even at this point, Americans so often were just farmers who had enlisted and they didn’t have winter clothes. Right? They weren’t outfitted. They weren’t ready for this. So literally two men froze to death on the march. Well, if you’re an American, you’re going, God, come on, right, like we are fighting for freedom, liberty, we’re trying to do a good thing. And you send this blizzard? This is ridiculous. You can imagine there might have been some frustration, some consternation. Well as you’re going through this 12 mile march through a blizzard, right, you have two men that have now frozen to death. What’s interesting about this, is the Hessian guards, when this blizzard unfolds, they’re like, hey, let’s go inside. There’s no way the Americans are dumb enough to march in this weather. We are good, let’s just, let’s go get warm by the fire. Literally the Hessians pulled in their guards. So there’s nobody watching the forts as the Americans are walking to the fort in the midst of this blizzard. And so, as they approached the fort, they actually get in position by 8AM, which normally you already have a light out, but because all the Hessians are in staying warm by the fire, they have no idea the Americans have even arrived. So when Washington makes the alert, right, they fire. It’s a complete surprise. They end up winning this in pretty significant fashion, because if you look, the battle lasted only about 45 minutes. And when you’re talking about somebody in a fortified position that you’re attacking, and it lasts 45 minutes, that’s not a very long battle for lots of surrounding context. Now, the results of the battle, remember that the Hessians are fighting on the British side, right, they’re the mercenaries. Well on the British side in this, or the Hessians specifically, there were 20 killed, there was 100 that were wounded and 1000 that were captured. On the American side, there were three that were wounded. Okay, let me go a little further. Of the three that were wounded… Let me back you up and tell you more of the story. So as the Americans, they get across the river and they’re marching to Trenton, well as they’re marching at night and 2,400 people, they’re marching by a farmhouse. And at the farmhouse, there’s a dog starts barking, and the guy in the farmhouse actually comes to the door with his muskets, right? Like what’s going on? Because his dog’s barking and looks and sees all the American troops. And he asked somebody, what are y’all doing? And they say, well, we’re marching on Trenton. He says, well, I’m a doctor, and let me come with you. Y’all might need help. He says, I support the cause. So I’m coming with you. So he goes inside, get his medical kit, medical bag. He comes. And he goes with the Americans as they go to Trenton.

Rick Green
Quick break, folks. We’ll be right back. You’ve been listening to Tim Barton speaking at the ProFamily Legislators Conference. Stay with us here on WallBuilders.

Tim Barton
This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment from American history. Many today assert that religion is something private that it has no place in the public square and that it is incompatible with government. But the Founding Fathers believed exactly the opposite. They held that religion was absolutely necessary in order to maintain our free system of government. For example, John Adams declared we have no government armed with power capable of continuing with human passions unbridled by morality and religion, and signer of the Declaration, Benjamin Rush, similarly affirmed without religion, there can be no virtue and without virtue, there can be no liberty. And Liberty is the object and life of all Republican governments. The founding fathers understood that limited government required public morality from the people, and that public morality was produced by the Christian religion. For more information about the founding fathers views on religion and public life, go to WallBuilders.com.

Rick Green
Welcome back to WallBuilders. Thanks for staying with us. Let’s jump right back in with Tim Barton at the ProFamily Legislators Conference.

Tim Barton
What’s interesting about this that the doctor that joins them, right, he’s going to go with them. Three people were shot. Well, one of the guys was actually shot right by the heart. And this shot right by the heart actually tore part of the artery, this doctor… and it’s kind of interesting going back because like it sounds like he basically stuck his finger in there, and then got something to cauterize it. Like, really weird. I don’t know, I… maybe that’s normal. Seems weird to me. Nonetheless, bullet hole, finger, done. We’re good! However, what’s crazy about this, the guy that he saved, literally, he saved this guy’s life. The guy that he saved, if you’ve ever seen the famous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware, well, the guy he saved is the guy right behind Washington. Who’s that guy? Well, that guy’s name is James Monroe, who became the fifth president of the United States. Okay? Now, let’s go even further. Let me take you back. Right? I mentioned, right, this total victory for the Americans. But I mentioned that one of the generals, there was General Henry Knox. Well, General Henry Knox even wrote about this battle. Here’s one of the things he explained about it. He said the hurry frightening confusion of the enemy was not unlike that which will be when the last trumpet sounds, right, which is kind of an interesting reference from the Bible. But he went on and explained, providence seem to have smile upon every part of this enterprise. Everybody who was there, recognized things are happening that are beyond our control, things that are happening that don’t make sense, unless God is doing something. Well go to 1778. One of the first significant victories… actually Washington that very few victories in the American Revolution, but the battle of Monmouth was one of his victories. At the end of that victory, he wrote General Thomas Nelson a letter and he was talking about how he was seeing God move on their behalf. And this is a letter you can look up from Washington to Thomas Nelson 1778. Here’s what he told Thomas Nelson. He said, the hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel, that lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations. He said, If you can’t… if people look, and they can’t see what God has been doing, they got to just be wicked, right? More than wicked, if they can’t see what God’s been doing. Well, it was so obvious. Well, that’s a quote we often use. And one of the things that we will tell people all the time is, when we put up quotes, a lot of times we’re putting up just a brief synopsis, so you can see what’s there. If you go back and read the whole letter, and read more of the letters, like there’s even more profound and amazing stuff. So I included a second part that I don’t normally include, but I want to give you guys even more context, and I’ll show you this, and I’ll give another thought. So that’s right, period. But that’s actually not exactly what he stopped with, because he then goes on and says, but it will be time enough for me to turn preacher when my present appointment ceases, and therefore I shall add no more on the doctrine of Providence. That’s George Washington, he’s like, okay, when I retire, I might have become a preacher. We’ll talk about miracles. Right now I’m going to go back to fighting. Right? Like, this is super significant, because this is the reality of what these guys were seeing and who they were. And again, this is only a part of the letter. During the American Revolution, Washington talked about God’s providence 250 times. It was very apparent to them that God was moving. When my dad first wrote Original Intent, which now has been out, I don’t know, two decades or something. When he first wrote that, there was a attorney who worked for the ACLU, in Louisiana. And that attorney reached out to my dad and said, hey, I think what you’re doing is ridiculous to suggest America’s Christian founding, Christian ideals, Christian values. He said, I know you have a lot of footnotes. I don’t care how long it takes me. I’m going to go back and I’m going to expose you for the fraud you are. I’m going to show how ridiculous what you’re… Well, there’s a reason we put the footnotes there, right, like, you can go read it. Well, this guy actually does go through every single footnote. He finally reaches back out to my dad. And he says, I want you to know, I checked every single footnote. In fact, I even began reading lots of other surrounding things, just to see if you were picking, right, the anomaly. And what I now can say, the only real criticism I can offer of this work is you significantly understated your case. He became a Christian. He’s now a judge in Louisiana who defends religious liberty, okay. But but here’s the reality. Go back, most famous evangelist in the second Great Awakening was Charles Finney. How to Charles Finney get saved? By studying to be a lawyer. How do you get saved in law school? Because back then, the law books referenced the law of Moses, and biblical values so much. He said, well I should just go back and read the Bible and figure out what it’s really about. He goes back and reads The Bible, he gets saved, becomes the most famous evangelist in the Second Great Awakening. But here’s the reality. If you actually really studied American history, what you would discover is so much of the biblical and Christian influence of America… And this isn’t like reading what some professor wrote about the founding fathers. Go back and read their actual documents, read their letters, go study what they did. And this is what we used to do. In fact, if you come, the last major battle, the end of the revolution, the last major battle is a Battle of Yorktown. And the Battle of Yorktown is where we defeat Cornwallis. And once we… I mean, at this point, we are now beginning to win some battles and we know if we can capture Cornwallis we might really be able to win this thing and end the revolution. If we end the revolution, we’re out from under King George. And one of the things King George had done, there was a law all the way back under King James in 1616, that you could not print any religious material in America. Unless you had an Anglican license.

Rick Green
Alright folks, we got to take another quick break, stay with us. You’re listening to WallBuilders.

Tim Barton
Hi, Friends, this is Tim Barton of WallBuilders. This is a time when most Americans don’t know much about American history or even heroes of the faith. And I know oftentimes for parents, we’re trying to find good content for our kids to read. And if you remember back to the Bible to the book of Hebrews, it has the faith hall of fame, where they outline the leaders of faith that had gone before them. Well, this is something that as Americans, we really want to go back and outline some of these heroes, not just of American history, but heroes of Christianity in our faith as well. I want to let you know about some biographical sketches we have available on our website. One is called the courageous leaders collection. And this collection includes people like Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Francis Scott Key, George Washington Carver, Susanna Wesley, even the Wright brothers, and there’s a second collection called Heroes of history. In this collection, you’ll read about people like Benjamin Franklin or Christopher Columbus, Daniel Boone, George Washington, Harriet Tubman, friends, the list goes on and on. This is a great collection for your young person to have and read and it’s a providential view of American and Christian history. This is available at WallBuilders.com . That’s www.WallBuilders.com

Rick Green
Welcome back to WallBuilders. Tim Barton is sharing at the ProFamily Legislators Conference, we’re going to go right back to his presentation.

Tim Barton
The king refused to grant any Anglican license to any American. Now, there was a little leeway where you can print some sermons and they begin to let them print things, but they would not let them print any Bibles in the English language. So all Bibles we had in America we had to import from other European nations. Well, during the American Revolution, we had a massive Bible shortage. And the guy who was the official printer for Congress, printed all their proclamations, all their documents was Robert Aitken, and Robert Aitken says guys, we now are at war with the king, but we’re really kind of separated from the King. Could we maybe look at printing our own Bible? And actually he told Congress, he says, I actually already started. And I just want to make sure it’s okay with you guys that I’m doing this. Well, what happens is we win the Battle of Yorktown. We… This is kind of the last major battle of the revolution. There’s still a couple skirmishes happened later, but at least in the Peace Treaty of Paris. Nonetheless, he goes on to do this work. The very first Bible printed in English and America is known as the Bible of the revolution, or it’s also known as the Aitken Bible. The reason it’s known as the Aitken Bible, right, you see it’s printed and sold by R. Aiken. He was the official printer for Congress. Well, what Congress did, is they said, okay, you’ve already started work on it, but let’s talk this through a little bit. If we’re going to do a Bible in America, we need to make sure it’s a really good version. So Congress did what Congress is do, they said, we’re going to appoint a committee. And the committee is going to oversee this. So they appoint a committee. And from that committee, the committee said, well, let’s choose a couple of theologians who can review and make sure it’s a really good translation. So they chose two pastors who were theologians who knew Greek and Hebrew and Latin, so they were able to go to the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, right, go back to the Hebrew, and these pastors said, you know, he did a really good job with this. In the very front of this Bible, it actually has the report. Now you see, William White, and George Duffield, those are… and actually we can even… the chairman of the committee, it has the report from the two theologians, from the pastors. It has a report from the committee. But what’s also awesome, is not just the fact that you have pastors acknowledging this is a great addition. And you actually can get online and you can read the whole thing. I don’t have to whole recommendation, or report here on the slide. But I do want to point out where they concluded, where Congress concluded, and this was printed in the front of the Bible. Congress put an endorsement in the front, resolve the United States and Congress, highly… are assembled, and he goes on, they highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken. But let me just jump down and point out, their conclusion, they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States. The very first Bible printed English in America was done with the approval, authorization and endorsements of Congress and the founding fathers. Okay. Robert Aitkin, when he went to Congress to appeal that he could actually legally print this Bible. What he told Congress is that we had a Bible shortage in schools, among other things, and what he actually said in the records, he said, We need a neat edition of The Holy Scriptures for the use of schools. So his argument actually was we need a Bible for schools, it’s in the official record, a neat edition of The Holy Scriptures. That’s the official congressional records from the revolution. And Congress said, you’re right, we do. Let’s do it. When people have this idea that America was a secular nation, or that we didn’t have a religious founding, again, all it tells me is you don’t really know very much history, or you haven’t actually read very many original documents. Because even if you go… the peace treaty that ended the American Revolution, right? This is what makes America a free independent nation. The three guys who were there, John Jay on the left, John Adams in the middle, Benjamin Franklin on the right, they’re the Americans who were over as ambassadors trying to negotiate the Peace Treaty of Paris. Well, the Peace Treaty of Paris is still on display. today. It’s up in Washington, DC, it’s actually in the State Department, but on the sixth floor, it’s known as the John Quincy Adams state drawing room. Now on the left, you see article 10, because it was 10 articles, you’ll see signatures on the bottom left, David Hartley is one with the blue ribbon, but then John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay. Again, this is the document that secured American independence. This is the document that ended the American Revolution and made America free and independent nation. Look at the title of this documents- in the name of the most Holy and undivided trinity. What made America a free nation came in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I don’t even know pastors who would put this in the title of a document, right? Much less founding fathers.

Rick Green
Alright folks quick break. We’re going to be right back, you’re listening to WallBuilders. Tim Barton teaching at the ProFamily Legislators Conference.

Tim Barton
Hey, this is Tim Barton with WallBuilders. And as you’ve had the opportunity to listen to WallBuilders Live, you’ve probably heard the wealth of information about our nation, about our spiritual heritage, about the religious liberties, about all the things that makes America exceptional. And you might be thinking as incredible as this information is, I wish there was a way that I could get one of the WallBuilders guys to come to my area and share with my group, whether it be a church, whether it be a Christian school or public school, or some political event or activity. If you’re interested in having a WallBuilders speaker come to your area you can get on our website at www.WallBuilders.com And there’s a tab for scheduling. And if you’ll click on that tab, you’ll notice there’s a list of information from speakers bios, to events that are already going on. And there’s a section where you can request an event. To bring this information about who we are, where we came from, our religious liberties and freedoms, go to the WallBuilders website and bring a speaker to your area.

Rick Green
We’re back here on WallBuilders. Thanks for staying with us. Let’s jump right back in where we left off with Tim, at the ProFamily Legislators Conference.

Tim Barton
This is the reality. See, this is why when John Adams was talking to Jefferson in 1813, and he says, you know, the general principles that we accomplish this, it was the principles of Christianity. It literally was the principles of Christianity. And today, we know so little history that we don’t realize the religious foundation we had. And let me go even further, because we’ve already talked about this a little bit. The influence and the role of the pastors, there was a theologian, historian, Bishop Charles Galloway, and he wrote in the late 1800s, he’d been setting the American Revolution, and he was writing about pastors, and he described pastors in early America. He said, mighty men, they were, men of iron nerve and strong hand unblanched cheek a heart of flame. Now, he’s describing them as being incredibly courageous people, right? I mean, no disrespect. It’s not the way I think of Joel Osteen. Maybe a little disrespect, but right. Okay. This is the reality. So many pastors today, they just want to be friends. We just want to get along, right. We don’t want to offend anybody. Have you read Jesus. Like Jesus offended people all the time. You know, every time Jesus grew his congregation what he did? He chased them off. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. And the disciples are like, whoa, stop, shhh! Don’t say that. That’s so weird. Everybody’s leaving. Jesus was not into growing his numbers. He was into making disciples. Super interesting, right? If you go back to early America, see… and let me finish the quote, because he continued on he said, God needed not reeds shaken by the wind, not men clothed in soft raiment, but heroes of hardihood and lofty courage. What he explained was these early pastors, they were people who had backbone, integrity, and stood on principle, regardless of whose feelings they were hurting along the way, because you can know there were some major opposition, especially during the American Revolution, he explained and such were the sons of the mighty who responded to the divine call. Well, yeah, if you go back and actually study the revolution, right? When Paul Revere makes his famous midni ride, you might remember Paul Revere was not arbitrarily just riding through Massachusetts screaming the British are coming. No, he actually was riding specifically looking for John Hancock and Sam Adams. Why? Because the British had released an order. And in this order, it says, Our business was to seize a quantity of military stores and the bodies of Mr. Hancock and Adams. The bodies? That sounds like dead or alive, right? Well, John Hancock was about to become the president Congress. Sam Adams was… and both these guys were leaders in the Sons of Liberty. Sam Adams is known as the father of the revolution. He was one of the guys very thoroughly involved. He wrote the very first ever committee of correspondence. These were significant, guys. Well, if Paul Revere is going to ride to warn Hancock and Adams. Like, Hey, man, you got to watch out; the British are coming for you. Well where are you going to find these two guys? Paul Revere wrote to the home of the Reverend Jonas Clark. Why? Well, Jonas Clark actually was a cousin of John Hancock. But they also were known to be friends. Jonas Clark was known to be a mentor of John Hancock and Sam Adams. Well Paul Revere arrives, and he said, hey, man, the British are coming, you guys, y’all need to get out of here. And Hancock and Adams are a little skeptical. Like, I’m not sure we just need to run. That’s not the right tone we want to set. And Jones Clark says no, you need to get away. Well, they ended up being out on a hillside. So they’re separating themselves. But they watched as the battle unfolds. And if you remember, in the American Revolution, when you go through, and you have the first four major battles. Well top right you have the shot around the world and then you have Lexington Green. Top left is Concord Bridge. Bottom left is a… battle on the road back to Boston. Bottom right, is the Battle of Bunker Hill or Breeds Hill. As this unfolds, we can point out all the pastors who were involved along the way, which we know Jonas Clark, there were 73 men at Lexington Green who opposed more than 700 British. All 73 men were from the church of the Reverend Jonas Clark. When you get to Concord Bridge top left the Reverend William Emerson there’s 300 men from his church, they show up to oppose the British.

Rick Green
Okay, folks, we’re out of time for today. Tomorrow, we’ll get the conclusion of Tim Barton speaking at the ProFamily Legislators Conference, some great stories from history, learning that secret sauce of what made America great and reigniting that fire of liberty in us so that we can be a new generation that restores liberty, a new generation that fights for these things and make sure that we’re handing this intact to our children and our grandchildren. So be sure and join us tomorrow for the conclusion. While you’re at our website or if you haven’t visited make sure you visit our website today WallBuilders.com And WallBuildersLive.com . Make your contribution there if you want to help restore liberty, we’re investing in freedom by training pastors and teachers and students and legislators. In fact, this presentation that we’re sharing over the course of three days was done for legislators at the ProFamily Legislators Conference. A lot that you can do to join us. Of course we talk a lot about it, but becoming a constitution coach is one of those things. Host a biblical citizenship class in your home or at your church. It’s a great way to be a force multiplier, to expand liberty in your community. And if you want to get some good training on that, then join us April 22, for the groundbreaking, the ceremonial groundbreaking, the celebration of the Patriot Academy campus in Fredericksburg, Texas. We would love to have you be there as a part of it, and be part of this this really launch of the next level. This is going to be an incredible campus where we’re able to bring people in from across the nation for the Patriot experience. And you need to be a part of that. We’re also having the next day after the April 22 groundbreaking the first, the inaugural, constitutional defense course on our campus, at our ranges. We’ll already have the classroom built the ranges in, and you can be a part of that very first class. Check it out today at patriot academy.com . Hope to see you on April 22. But first I’ll see you tomorrow here on WallBuilders As we get the conclusion of Tim Barton’s presentation at the ProFamily Legislators Conference. Thanks so much for listening to WallBuilders.