Our National Motto – Help Display It in Your Community: Jacquie Sullivan is joining us to talk about In God We Trust-America, a great organization that helps to get our national motto into many prominent places including schools! Displaying our motto is a great way to remind us how important it is to keep God in the equation of America and recognize that that’s where our source of freedom actually comes from. The Bill of Rights doesn’t give us these freedoms. God gave us these freedoms and the Constitution is supposed to protect them, so we need to remember it’s in God that we trust. Tune in now to learn how you can help get our national motto displayed in your area!

Air Date: 10/02/2018

Guest: Jacquie Sullivan

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. This is WallBuilders Live! Where we”€™re talking about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture.

Having that conversation with David Barton, he”€™s the president of WallBuilders and a national speaker and pastor. And my name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas legislator.

Find out more about us at two websites – WallBuildersLive.com, our radio site. That’s where you can get a list of our stations across the country and also you can get archives. So, in other words, you can go back several weeks into the programming here on WallBuilders Live. If you missed some of those shows and get some Good News Fridays, some Foundations of Freedom Thursdays, and some of the great interviews we have Monday through Wednesday. Check all that out at WallBuildersLive.com.

Then at WallBuilders.com, there’s all kinds of tools that you can get for yourself and your family, your church, your community – DVD programs, online programs, great books. Just a lot of great information that will equip and inspire you to understand the blessings we have as American citizens and the freedoms that we have. And then how to go out and take action on those things to help preserve it for future generations. So, check all that out at WallBuilders.com.

Jacquie Sullivan will be with us a little later in the program to talk about In God We Trust-America. It’s a great organization that helps to get that motto into prominent places in our public institutions, actually. In schools, and school boards, and city councils, and county commissioners, right there on the dais where they meet.

David, Tim, it’s a great way to remind us how important it is to keep God in the equation of America and recognize that that’s where our source of freedom actually comes from. The Bill of Rights doesn’t give us these freedoms. God gave us these freedoms and the Constitution is supposed to protect them. So, we need to remember it’s in God that we trust.

We Need to Remember That It”€™s in God That We Trust

David:

It is in God that we trust. The Founding Fathers were very explicit that we had what they called not only a duty, but an indispensable duty, to acknowledge God. They believe that was the first step in national success. First step in having limited government was to remind government that it is not God. There is a God, and government, you’re not it.

So, this is the place where they started. But it’s interesting that’s also a biblical place as well in that we’re told in Romans 1 that if you stop acknowledging God, if you take Him out of your mind, if you stop being God conscious, your behavior will change and not for the better. So, being God conscious helps in a lot of ways. It helps keep government small by reminding us that our rights come from God not from government. But it also helps remind us that there is a God and we will account to Him some day and our behavior needs to comport with that reality.

So the acknowledgment of God, and while it”€™s a really small thing, and whether it’s for words in the pledge, “€œOne nation under God”€, whether it”€™s four words in a motto, “In God We Trust”, those really aren’t small things. They are big things.

And one of the things I love about what Jacquie does is really why we– part of why we chose the name WallBuilders for our organization. Folks, realize that has nothing to do with border security in the southern wall. It has everything to do with rebuilding that which has been torn down. It comes out of the Bible, book of Nehemiah. And one of the parts we love so much and part of why we chose that name was it shows what average ordinary people can do in helping turn a nation around by doing it at the local community level.

And instead of saying, “€œWell, I don’t have contacts in the national level, I’m not a senator.”€ Great – you’re exactly the person that can help turn America. Because, as Jacquie has demonstrated, I think she’s up to 700 counties and cities now have made “In God We Trust” their city and county motto. And I know even where our ranch is at out here in Texas the police cars are now running around town with “In God We Trust” plastered all over the police cars because we’re one of those counties that said, “€œHey, that’s our county motto as well and we’re puttin in on our county vehicles.”€

Making a Difference at a Lot of Levels

David:

So it really does make a difference and it makes a difference in a lot of levels. And Jacquie’s been really good at helping communicate that across the nation. But this is where we really can urge our listeners – this is where you can make a difference in a big way. We’ve got people all over the nation that listen, podcast all over the world. Man, go to your local entity and say, “€œHey, you need to make this the official city motto, the official county motto, the official police or fire department motto, and then display that. Use it – don’t back up from it.

Rick:

That’s one of things that always strikes me about this one is this is such a– I think “€œeasy”€ is the right word here. This a simple and easy way to make a huge difference. It”€™s not complicated, it doesn’t take a whole lot of time, and work, and effort, and Jacquie has made it so easy to get the packet from her and the information on how to do it. But it is a significant difference. It’s becoming, Tim, you called it being God conscious in the culture. That’s vitally important.

Rim:

Yeah, it really is important that we maintain that God consciousness. If you back up when Abraham Lincoln was president and we determined in America that we wanted to put “In God We Trust” on the coins. Part of the idea was remembering what our nation was built on and based on. When you have Dwight Eisenhower becoming president and he’s looking at our nation, and he’s acknowledging the fact that America is becoming increasingly secular, and he wants America to remember God, one of the many things he does promoting God, even as President, was to have “In God We Trust” put on the paperback on the currency.

Keeping God-Consciousness in the Forefront of Our Minds

Tim:

And this is something in our society and culture it’s important for us to remember that that man or government is not God there is actually an entity beyond us. Right. There’s something, a power, greater than us that we ultimately are living under. And a duty and responsibility we owe something to that, really, a lot of the position of the Founding Fathers kind of aligns with that.

But, dad, as you mentioned Jacquie is somebody, Jacquie Sullivan is somebody who’s done a lot to try to help communities, city councils, remember something as simple as our national motto. Which really does help keep some God consciousness in the forefront of people’s minds.

Rick:

Well, we love getting her back about once a year to get an update and find out how many new entities have been added to the list and then encourage people to continue to grow this across the country. So she’s going to join us when we come back from the break. Stay with us. Jacquie Sullivan, our special guest today. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

FrontSight Firearm and Constitution Training

Rick

Hey Friends, Rick Green here from WallBuilders Live. Tim Barton and I just got back from FrontSight Firearms Training Institute in Pahrump, Nevada. Took our families out there and did some fantastic training on how to defend ourselves and our families. And also taught on the Constitution, had a great group of people that studied the Second Amendment, studied the Constitution, and then also physically learned how to live that out, how to actually defend their families. It”€™s some of the best training on the planet. It’s a great time for families. And we love having our WallBuilders Live listeners with us on these trips.

We’re headed back out October 29th and 30th. Now, that’s coming up pretty quick. So, there’s very little time to sign up. There’s very few spots left, but we would love to have you join us. So, please go to RickGreen.com today if you’re interested in constitutional defense. That means studying the Constitution and the Second Amendment, getting the intellectual ammunition that you need. But also learning physically how to defend yourself and your family.

If you’d like to learn how to go for free with us at WallBuilders, it”€™s normally a thousand dollars to do this two day class. If you go to FrontSight.com today that’s exactly what you’ll pay. But if you go with us here at WallBuilders Live, if you are a supporter and donor to WallBuilders Live, we’re going to give you a certificate for free. Go to RickGreen.com to learn more and join us October 29 and 30th.

We’ll have some other trips later in the year, but this is going to be the best one with the best weather. So, make sure that you join us. Be sure and check it out at RickGreen.com today.

In God We Trust-America

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Jacquie Sullivan is back with us for an update on In God We Trust-America. Check out the website: InGodWeTrust-America.org. We’ll have a link that makes it really easy for you today at WallBuildersLive.com. So excited about what’s happening in this movement. Jacquie, good to have you back.

Jacquie Sullivan

Thank you, Rick. Thanks for inviting me. It’s always wonderful to be on your show and have a chance to talk to your audience across the country.

Rick:

Well, I’m looking at the map on your website and it looks like we’re just adding city councils and school boards all across the country that are displaying the national motto “In God We Trust”. Continuing to grow, people are getting excited about this.

Jacquie Sullivan:

Well, that’s true Rick. And our national motto, “In God We Trust”, is our official motto adopted by Congress back in 1956. So, it’s totally legal to display those wonderful words. So, it’s really catching on. I just feel that there is a wave of patriotism in our country which is, of course, love of God, it”€™s love of country. And it’s just important for everyone.

Victories in Almost Every State

Rick:

I noticed that it’s almost every state now has some victories. We’ve got some some level of government portraying the national motto as they should. And Jacquie, just real quick, before we go any further– So, some people immediately will say, “€œWell, wait a minute, is this a separation of church or state issue? Can you put “€˜In God We Trust”€™? Should government be displaying this?”€ And, of course, here at WallBuilders we talk about it all the time.

But how do you answer that when a– you”€™re former City Council member and that’s how this all got started. How do you answer that when when a city council member from some other state calls you and says, “€œWell, I’m interested in this, but is this really legal?

Jacquie Sullivan:

Well, Rick, let me first say I’m still a city council member.

Rick:

Oh, I didn’t realize you were still on the city council. I apologize.

Jacquie Sullivan:

No, no, that’s okay. I’ve had seven elections, very strong victories. And, Rick, I know that much of it is because of my stand for God and country. So yeah, I’m still going strong.

Rick:

Excellent.

Jacquie Sullivan:

I”€™m mid-term. I have two more years. But, Rick, I feel I am going to be approaching our school trustees and I’m going to be approaching the subject on an educational level. It is our national motto. Some students, I’m sure, are not even aware of that. So, it’s good for communities, good for our country as a whole, and unless our young people are taught the true history of our country they’re not going to know what sets America apart from  from other countries in the world.

Rick:

That’s right, that’s right. That’s the very reason we have it even on our money supply is to remind us as a people this is the crux. This is the real difference and what makes the American value system actually work is that we recognize our freedom doesn’t come from government, doesn’t come from our neighbors, it comes from God. That’s where our faith is and that’s what makes our system work so well.

How You Can Be a Part of This

Rick:

I love your website. It”€™s just gotten better and better and now you can even go in and look at each state and see all the different cities, or counties, or school boards, that have displayed the national motto. So, folks can even go to the website and click on their home state and then look and see if anything’s happened in their community. And they could actually be a part of this, right? They could actually contact you, get a packet, and be the ones to go to their local city council, or school board, or county commissioners, and get the national motto displayed.

Jacquie Sullivan:

Right, Rick. And the only way this is going to spread even more across the country is for people to get involved. I encourage people to call– wherever they live– to call their own city hall and ask if those words are displayed. Many times, in fact, in most cases, the answer is, “€œNo, it is not being displayed.”€ So, they can make that their first mission and either just go and see where your city hall is, see who their elected officials are.

And, Rick, when David Barton, the wonderful dedicated David Barton, was our guest speaker for annual celebration back in 2014. I still remember the main part of his message was be careful who you elect to office because those are the decision makers. And unless they are patriots, unless they value our true history, they’re not the ones to support.

Rick:

Right. Right. And definitely it’s vitally important to start now for elections coming up next– in some states, like in our state, most city councils are elected in May. So, now’s the time to be thinking about who could run out of your church and your community.

Jacquie Sullivan:

Yes.

Government or Privately Funded?

Rick:

Find out who those people are and go find the ones that do share our values, and support the Constitution, and support this biblical worldview. And then, like you said, make those calls. Just get in contact with that city council, or school board, or county commissioner, and say, “€œHey, if we don’t have the national motto displayed we can and we should.”€ And Jacquie, in most communities it’s private– you normally recommend they raise the money privately to actually create the display, right?

And part of what we need to let folks know, we’re not talking about– these are nice displays. This is something that you put across the dais, or the back wall, and it looks gorgeous. And you”€™ve got a ton of examples on the website and every community, maybe, does a little bit different design, but this looks really good as well. But is it normally, is it government funded or is it privately funded?

Jacquie Sullivan:

Oh goodness. That is definitely privately funded because that is the only issue that someone opposed to what we are doing would have a legitimate complaint – taxpayer dollars. And, Rick, these displays are very, very, inexpensive. Some of them are even wooden letters purchased at Hobby Lobby, for instance, and spray painted. So, they can be hard plastic, they can be anything.

Rick:

Yeah.

Jacquie Sullivan:

But, Rick, we need volunteers across the country to work in their own areas. I welcome, I eagerly welcome, people to contact me personally. My contact information is on the website. I’ll send them everything that they need. And I’ve had people say, “€œGosh, exciting to be involved in something where we can really see a difference from our own effort.

Rick:

That’s right. That’s right. People are always asking, “€œWhat can I do?”€

Jacquie Sullivan:

Yes.

How Can I Make a Difference?

Rick:

“€œHow can I make a difference?”€ Well, here’s a simple but profound way to make a difference. Because it’s easy to do, but yet think about it – it’s getting our mindset right. It’s putting that national motto in front of not only our government leaders, but all the people that come into those meetings as well.

Two ways I’m going to recommend people take action today. One is to get on the website, InGodWeTrust-America.org and get your packet. Contact Jacquie and find out how you can get it started in your community. And then two, if you don’t want to take that big of a step the easiest one is click on the contribute button and donate to In God We Trust-America, and help spread the word, and find people in cities and communities all across the country to be a part of this.

Jacquie, we’re so thankful for what you’re doing – 675 victories across America displaying “In God We Trust”. Let’s get that number and just keep it going up right.

Jacquie Sullivan:

Right, well it’s over 700 now.

Rick:

Oh, I’m just looking at the website. You’re over 700 already.

Jacquie Sullivan:

Yes. We’ve got to get that updated. But, Rick, we hear about the concern of God being taken out of our country. It’s true there is a definite effort for that to happen. People are wanting to change our history, to ignore our history. So, having this wonderful motto of “In God We Trust”, this is the way to just legally get this * back there and have our young people know that this is our motto adopted by Congress.

And, Rick, let me read our mission statement, In God We Trust-America’s mission statement, “€œTo promote patriotism by encouraging elected officials to vote “€˜yes”€™ to legally display our national motto “€˜In God We Trust”€™ in every city and county chamber in America.”€

Rick:

Love it. Love it. Well, we’re on our way. So, over 700 already. Jacquie, keep up the great work. We’re going to have the links available today at WallBuildersLive.com so folks can get in touch with you quickly. Thanks for what you’re doing. Let”€™s get you back for another update soon.

Jacquie Sullivan:

Thank you so much, Rick. Keep up your good work. We love God, we love country, and we each one need to do all we can to do our own part.

Rick:

Amen, amen. That”€™s Jacquie Sullivan InGodWeTrust-America.org is the website. Stay with us, folks. We’ll be right back with David and Tim Barton.

Join The Bartons and Greens In Israel!

Rick:

Hey Friends! Rick Green here from WallBuilders Live. The WallBuilders team is going to Israel and we’d love to have you go with us. It”€™s going to be January 28 through February 7th, a Holy Land tour that is the experience of a lifetime.

Just imagine sailing on the Sea of Galilee. Imagine going to the Elah Valley where David slew Goliath and even picking up pebbles from the very brook where he picked up those stones to slay Goliath. We’re going to go to Jericho, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the pool of Bethesda, and so much more. And you can go with us.

David and Tim Barton, and myself, Rick Green, you”€™ll just have a great time. The Fellowship’s going to be phenomenal and the Bible is going to come to life right before your eyes. Join us January 28th through February 7th, 2019. But you need to get in and make your reservations now. Check it out at WallBuildersLive.com for this very special trip to the Holy Land.

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Thanks to Jacquie Sullivan for joining us. And special thanks for all the work that she does and also just making it available to us all across the country to be able to duplicate and replicate this. So, great news on the numbers, guys. More and more states as well joining in.  

I would encourage people to actually think about being a champion not just in your community, but even your state. So, get it done in your city or county and then start spreading it. A lot of our listeners are very involved in different groups – whether it’s a party affiliation, or Tea Party, or whatever it might be, church networks, they have networks where they could get this done and then show other people what they’re doing. Share it on Facebook, get other people to do the same thing across their own states as well. So, you can really replicate this effort and be a force multiplier.

David:

Well, Rick, you mentioned at the beginning that we like getting her on about once a year to have updates. So, I was thinking it was 700. I think she said it’s now 725. But I remember it was only a year or two ago that she was like at 400, she had made 400 and we thought that was amazing. And now look at this kind of exponential growth that”€™s happening. And it, again, is just because local groups, local people, whether it’s VFW, or whether it’s a civic club, or Rotary Club, or Lions Club, whatever, are approaching their own city and county officials and saying, “€œHey, guys, this is something you can do.

Tim:

You, guys. In fact, one of the things we talked about, I think, on our last Good News Friday was the idea that when atheists have challenged “In God We Trust” and said, “€œWell, it can’t be on the currency.”€ The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals came back and unanimous 3-0 decision said, “€œActually, no. “€˜In God We Trust”€™ is not an unconstitutional phrase. It doesn’t violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

So, even though there are groups that that are trying to secularize America, even though there are atheist groups that are hostile towards Christianity, this is absolutely something that is constitutional. In fact, even backing up, the Founding Fathers certainly would have promoted and supported this idea. You can go back to Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin”€™s National Seal and Motto

Tim:

In fact, if our listeners have never looked up Benjamin Franklin’s proposal for the national seal and motto, just do a basic google search and look up what Franklin suggested ought to be the national seal and motto for America. It’s actually even more than “In God We Trust”. It was a little more blatant. His motto was “€œrebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”€ and he kind of tells the story and depiction of Moses crossing the Red Sea with Israelites, and Pharaoh’s army being drowned in the Red Sea, and then you have the pillar of fire, and you have the cloud that was with the Israelites.  

So, Franklin’s idea was even more religious and he’s one of the least religious Founding Fathers. But he thought, “€œNo, religion is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a very positive thing. Which is where many of the Founding Fathers, actually the majority of the Founding Fathers, if not all of the Founding Fathers, were that we needed to maintain a God consciousness in our society.

Rick:

Quick break guys. We’ll be right back and talk about how people at home can do this as well. InGodWeTrust-America.com. There’s a dash in there, so go to WallBuildersLive.com if you want to make sure you get to the right website, Stay with us. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

This Precarious Moment Book

David:

This is David Barton. I want to let about a brand new book we have called This Precarious Moment, Six Urgent Steps That Will Save You, Your family, and Our Country. Jim Garlow and I have co-authored this book and we take six issues that are hot in the culture right now.

Issues that we’re dealing with, issues such as immigration, race relations, our relationship with Israel, the rising generation Millennials, and the absence of the church in the culture wars, and where American heritage is, our godly heritage. We look at all six of those issues right now that are under attack and we give you both Biblical and historical perspective on those issues that provide solutions on what each of us can do right now to make a difference.

These are all problems that are solvable if we’ll get involved. So you can grab the book This Precarious Moment and find out what you can do to make a difference. This Precarious Moment is available at WallBuilders.com.

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live. Thanks to Jacquie Sullivan for being with us today. And, guys, let’s close out today just kind of talking about how people can do this at home. We said what school boards, city councils, county commissioners. David, you mentioned police cars, so I guess because the county adopted it then they also put it on the police cars?

David:

Well, the county doesn’t have to adopt it. The police chief can say, “€œHey, this is our national motto and we”€™re going to put this on there. Tim mentioned the 8th Circuit Court. We have never lost a case on “In God We Trust” ever. And these guys are suing it all over. They do forum shopping and try to find courts, they try to get districts where they think they can win, they’re not winning. So, this is not a losing proposition.

Build Individual Relationships

David:

So, even if your county says, “€œWe’re not going to do this in the county.”€ Great. Get the local city hall to do it, get the local cities to do it, get the local police chief to do it, get the local fire chief to do it, get the EMS service to do it. This can be done anywhere because it is the national motto and it is not unconstitutional in any way, shape, fashion, or form. And court after court has upheld that.

This is, by the way, this is a way for all citizens to get to know a local official. You need to contact the school board and say, “€œHey, we have school board meetings. Let’s put the national motto up in the school board room.”€ You can contact the city councilman to say, “€œHey, you need this in the city council chambers.”€ This is where you can start building individual relationships with political officials. It’s really easy to do especially at the local level. They get very few contacts at that level, they get very few contacts at the federal level for that matter.

But just create a relationship and offer this. And again, Jacquie’s got a packet of materials that you can get. You can go to her Facebook site, see all the stuff, they give you clear guidance, it”€™s an easy thing to do. This is something every single American can do and can make a difference with.

Rick:

A very doable activity that actually makes a difference, folks. It’s a great way for you to be involved. People are always telling us, they e-mail in, or they call, or come visit at a book table out for give a presentation, saying, “€œWhat can I do? I just feel like I need to be a part of this, I feel like I need to help save the country, I know there’s things happening that are not good and I want to change the trends.”€ Very easy action item for you today. Help get “In God We Trust”, help get the national motto adopted by your local entities.

Another thing you can do is just come alongside us here WallBuilders. Actually be a part of what we’re doing, actually be a part of helping us train leaders out there. Help us get more legislators elected that are good folks and get them trained in biblical worldview and biblical application in these things.

Or the young people that we train through Patriot Academy, and our intern program in the summer at WallBuilders, and all the different things that we’re doing there. It makes a huge difference generationally, but also right now in our nation. Even the daily program educating and equipping people across the country on these foundational principles.

Our National Motto – Help Display It in Your Community

Rick:

You can be a part of that and know that you’re making a difference by making a contribution at WallBuilders.com or WallBuildersLive.com today. Even on your phone right now you can go in there and become a monthly donor, and dedicate five bucks a month, or you could give up one cup of coffee a month, or one trip out to eat and donate that and it will make a huge difference for our culture in the long run as well. It will help us restore this constitutional republic, help us restore these biblical, constitutional, historical, values and make sure that our nation survives for our children and grandchildren to enjoy the same things that we”€™ve enjoyed.

Thanks so much for listening. You’ve been listening to WallBuilders Live.