A Literary Treat Just in Time for 4th of July!
Friends! I’ve got a lovely literary treat for you and your friends...It just so happens to be quite patriotic—perfect timing with our country’s Independence Day happening this week!
One of my favorite authors is Robert J. Morgan. I’m blessed to also call him a friend and mentor. He’s authored numerous books, each one a treasure . This particular book we’re about to discuss will positively blow you out of the water. You’ll learn multiple snippets of history which happen to be related to specific Bible verses. It’s beyond fascinating because it shows God at work in a plethora of miraculous details...
The book? 100 Bible Verses That Made America: Defining Moments That Shaped Our Enduring Foundation of Faith.
Many of you from around here in Louisville, Kentucky, know Bob Russell. John and I still call him “our pastor.”
I often find myself dubbing Rob Morgan “the Bob Russell of Tennessee,” as he’s pastored his church, Donelson Fellowship, near Opryland in Nashville, for forty years like Bob pastored Southeast Christian in Louisville for forty years. They both continue to preach, teach, and write—their influence and legacies far-reaching. Don’t miss their blogs, and do visit their websites for more information!
www.bobrussell.org
www.robertjmorgan.com
I was super proud of Rob with this 100 Bible Verses that Made America’s release as he landed an interview on the Eric Metaxas Show as well as one with Lauren Green from Fox. Rob told me in an email this week that his book was just picked up by Fox Nation to be a series of 100 5-minute segments! “Good press” is practically an oxymoron these days, and Rob has received good press on many occasions. Huge praise!
This book would be great for men and women of all ages, for teachers, preachers, homeschool moms, you-name-it. History buffs will fall out of their chairs.
My friends who’ve been reading this book have already told me they’re buying multiple copies for family and friends after only reading a few pages. You’ll get to hear their thoughts on this book shortly. We will only share snippets from five out of the one hundred entries, just to whet your appetite.
The books’ entries are organized chronologically. Most readers are enjoying the book as a devotional and start at the beginning.
Ever the oddball, I’ve been hopping around, choosing articles that jump out at me. So far, I’ve starred over half of the ones I’ve read, along with exclamation points showing my astonishment, multiple pages dog-eared.
Each entry begins with a specific date, the title of the entry, and a Bible verse. How they’re all related is soon revealed, each one only three pages long. Rob packs a punch in each, while building your awe in our God who clearly orchestrated these moments in history.
Rob says, “Trying to explain American history without its Bible is like trying to understand the human body without its bloodstream. Had there been no Bible, there would be no America as we know it.”
Abraham Lincoln wrote in a letter “dated September 7, 1864, In regard to this Great Book, I have to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book.”
100 Bible Verses That Made America begins in 1511 and runs through 2019. The timing of the book’s release this year cannot be lost on us with our nation in a pandemic, numerous uproars across the country, etc.
I recently watched a sermon by Louie Giglio from Passion City Church on 2 Chronicles 7:14. (You can watch it via YouTube. Sermon title is: “20 Inches to Mercy: If My People Pray”)
I was stunned to read Entry #90, from January 20, 1953 in 100 Bible Verses that Made America, about “Eisenhower and His Preacher.” The verse? ALSO 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says:
It was on this verse in his Bible where President Eisenhower placed his hand when he was sworn in as President! We also learn President Eisenhower and Billy Graham became friends. Billy quickly turned into Dwight’s confidante and mentor, reassuring the President of his faith and how to live confidently with an eternal perspective. I believe Billy’s influence largely contributed to President Eisenhower’s growing faith.
Another fun discovery is found in entry #8 from May 31, 1638 about “Thomas Hooker, the Father of Democracy.” The verse is from Deuteronomy 1:13 which says,
I’d never heard or read about Thomas Hooker. He was born in Leicestershire, England, in 1586. We read, “He studied theology at Cambridge and became one of the most powerful and popular preachers in England.”
Because of pressure from the government since he held strong Puritan views, he wound up fleeing to America where he received the opportunity to pastor a church near what’s now Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was called “perhaps the greatest of the seventeenth-century American preachers.”
Don’t miss several quotes from his sermons. They’re saturated with the gospel and wisdom. We learn “The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, inspired by the ideas of Deuteronomy 1:13 as preached by Thomas Hooker...represent the beginning of democracy in America. Some have called Hooker the Father of Democracy, and his ideas were firmly rooted in the priesthood of the believers based on the gospel of Christ.” Such pearls can be mined from every single entry.
My friend, Judy, after receiving her copy of Rob’s book, ordered eight more copies for her grandchildren and younger son, Phil. I’d given her older son, Rusty, who’s a preacher in Port Charlotte, Florida (checkout www.ndcc.com,), a copy thinking it’s ripe for sermon illustrations.
Judy believes her grandkids will learn a lot about history and its relation to Scripture. She says, “This book needs to be beside everyone’s Bible to read as a study, reading Scripture referenced, and looking up more information on the historical events surrounding the Scriptures. It should be read by school kids and parents alike!”
The entry that hit her the most because of what we’re all going through right now is #3: It’s from September 10, 1608, is called, “Jamestown,” and the verse is 2 Thessalonians 3:10 that says, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”
Judy said much of what the settlers experienced is what is ringing true today. Gradually they learned the strong work ethic emphasized in the Bible.
In this entry we get to meet Robert Hunt, a brave pastor who on June 21st, 1607 “presided over the first communion service in British America...Hunt appealed for a spirit of unity and pointed out that the very sacrament of communion represented the urgency of living in harmony.” Oh, that we would strive for this today…
Judy concluded her email with, “If I’d been asked to give a communion meditation last Sunday, I would have used this chapter.”
Likewise my friend Betsy said, “I’m blown away by how timely this book is in the midst of what our country is going through...and just how far, as a nation, we have strayed, rejected, and ignored God’s Word when everything having to do with our founding fathers is rooted in God’s Word!”
She added, “We get to go all the way back to 1511 when a Dominican missionary became the first man to publicly speak against slavery and oppression in what is now Haiti/Dominican (part of the Americas). His name is Antonio de Montesinos. His sermon resulted in the first ordinance in the Americas to protect indigenous peoples. This missionary was the first defender of human rights in the Americas. Antonio spoke as the voice of Christ crying in the wilderness...with boldness, courage and conviction.
I love the way Rob Morgan concludes this chapter, ‘We should be the voices crying in the wilderness, calling our culture to repentance and obedience to the grace of Jesus Christ.’” (See Matthew 3:3 from a quote from the prophet Isaiah. This is from the very first entry in Rob’s book, December 21, 1511, “Antonio de Montesinos and His Blowtorch.”)
My friend Sherry said, “From reading this book and looking at American History, I could strongly see that God helped us with freedom in America just like He helped the Israelites.”
My friend Nancy is still doing somersaults over this book. She’s from New England, so many of the stories really resonated with her.
She revealed she wasn’t a Christian back then and said, “But as I’ve grown and matured, I am profoundly impacted by the strength, resolve, and faith of the pilgrims and their journey to find freedom to worship, the building of Harvard in 1636, and all the other chapters weaving together the Invisible Hand who was always working for America’s good!”
Nancy added, “Rob Morgan took ALL my history lessons (Boston Massacre, Bunker Hill, Breeds Hill, the Mayflower compact, Dorchester Heights, etc.) and brought a shining light of the brilliance of God to my heart! Extraordinary preachers like Thomas Hooker, George Whitefield, John Eliot, Samson Occom, William Tennent, Sr., Jonathan Edwards and their words are each a masterpiece.”
She ends with, “As I let these long-forgotten truths richly dwell within me, I am always directed in praise to the One who championed our cause and strengthened our faithful and steadfast leaders by His Holy Spirit! THIS BOOK IS LIFE-CHANGING...ESPECIALLY NOW IN THESE UNCERTAIN, HARD TIMES.” (Sidebar: Nancy and I adore SHOUT TYPING when we’re in need of a thousand exclamation points.)
My friend, Mary, is as passionate about Rob’s book as Nancy is. She declares it’s a must-read and says, “I confess I stay up too late at night reading it. I plan to read two stories, and then one more, and just one more, until I have read seven!...
Many people firmly believe God had to have intervened for the colonists to succeed. Morgan recounts story after story of their reliance on God and Biblical verses to sustain them through their highly ambitious endeavors.
A favorite entry is #37, “The Prayer That Saved the Constitution,” with the Scripture of Psalm 127:1 which says,
This entry reports of Benjamin Franklin, at the age of eighty-one, introducing a motion to the delegates at the contentious Philadelphia convention tasked with drafting a constitution establishing a new, democratic federal government. The motion is for their meeting, each morning, to begin with prayer...I strongly encourage you to read for yourself Franklin’s strong conviction ‘that God governs in the affairs of men.’”
See? Don’t take my word for it. If 100% of my friends who are reading this book are blown away by it, you will be too. The good news is with one hundred entries, the book will educate you and keep you entertained for a long while, bringing you comfort and assurance in our Sovereign Lord and growing your own, personal faith.
Let’s close with how Rob opens his book because it’ll get you excited about reading it: (Consider praying the last paragraph of the quote daily…)
Lord, may it be...
Now you know how I usually end my posts: “Run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore and grab several copies of 100 Bible Verses that Made America: Defining Moments That Shaped Our Enduring Foundation of Faith. Your friends and family will thank you!”
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”