copyright, 1997-Apocalypse Productions
Part 7-A World Power-1945 to 2000
HISTORY QUIZ-Who or what are the above pictures?-
(Click pictures for answers.)That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.-Psalms 106:5
TWENTIETH CENTURY INAUGURATIONS
Warren Gamaliel Harding was a newspaper editor, state senator, U.S. Senator, and became the 29th President of the United States. On March 4, 1921, he stated in his inaugural address....
"What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
Lyndon Baines Johnson was the 36th President. He first took office when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated. On January 20, 1965, in his inaugural address, he made reference to King Solomon and the prophet Isaiah, when he said....
The 37th President of the United States was Richard Milhous Nixon. On January 20, 1969, in his inaugural address, he proclaimed....
"Let us go forward firm in our faith....sustained by our confidence in the will of God."
Gerald Ford became the 38th President of the United States following the Watergate Scandal which deposed Richard Nixon. He stated in his inaugural address on August 9, 1974....
"I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers....God helping me, I will not let you down."
Finally I wish to take a look at Jimmy Carter, our 39th President. It was President Carter who would bring the term "born again" to the public eye. He would also, totally out of political character for most politicians, claim full blame for the failed attempt to rescue our hostages in Iran. In his inaugural address on January 20, 1977, he proclaimed his faith in God's word when he said....
While many of our national leaders, both past and present, have only mouthed these words to gain favor with the American people, others truly meant them from their hearts. It is important to note that all of these leaders felt that America's people were a people who believed and revered God and His word. Pray for a time when God will raise up again leaders who really do believe in God, and bring to the light of day the evil deeds of those who are only mouthing meaningless platitudes.
CALVIN COOLIDGE
John Calvin Coolidge was a mayor, state senator, governor of Massachusetts, and vice-president under Warren G. Harding. In a message he gave in 1923 entitled "The Destiny of America", he proclaimed....
"If there be a destiny, it is of no avail for us unless we work with it. The ways of Providence will be of no advantage to us unless we proceed in the same direction. If we perceive a destiny in America, if we believe that Providence has been the guide, our own success, our own salvation require that we should act and serve in harmony and obedience."
Speaking of our founding fathers in this address, he stated....
"They were intent upon establishing a Christian commonwealth in accordance with the principle of self-government. They were an inspired body of men. It has been said that God sifted the nations that He might send choice grain into the wilderness. Who can fail to see in it the hand of destiny? Who can doubt that it has been guided by a Divine Providence?"
Upon becoming the 30th President of United States, in his inaugural on March 4, 1925, he stated his belief in our Christian heritage when he said....
"America seeks no empires built on blood and force. No ambition, no temptation, lures her to thought of foreign dominion. The legions which she sends forth are armed, not with the sword, but with the Cross. The higher state to which she seeks the allegiance of all mankind is not human, but of Divine origin. She cherishes no purpose, save to merit the favor of Almighty God."
In 1923, he gave a stern warning for the future of our nation that we should take to heart today. In it he gave a grave definition to the moral crisis that our nation is currently facing.
"The strength of our country is the strength of its religious convictions. The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country."
Thus we see the dilemma that faces us today. The blame for this I lay squarely at the door of the church. Before we can expect our nation to turn back to God, our churches must. If we cannot teach the pure and simple doctrines of the Bible, undiluted by the opinions of men, godly or otherwise, we cannot honestly expect any one else to ever take us seriously again.
Please pray for the time that the church in America will again hold high the torch that has been passed to us by past generations. If we do not, then what happens to America is totally our own fault.
HERBERT HOOVER
Herbert Clark Hoover was a mining engineer and, during World War I, was the food administrator for the United States government. He became our 31st president and, in his inaugural address on March 4, 1929, he stated,
"This occasion is not alone the administration of the most sacred oath which can be assumed by an American citizen. It is a dedication and consecration under God to the highest office in service of our people. I assume this trust in the humility of knowledge that only through the guidance of Almighty Providence can I hope to discharge its ever-increasing burdens. I ask help of Almighty God in this service."
In 1943, as the specter of World War II became an ever-present danger, Herbert Hoover, along with several other national leaders, issued a joint statement addressing the concerns of that day.
"Menaced by collectivist trends, we must seek revival of our strength in the spiritual foundations which are the bedrock of our republic. Democracy is the outgrowth of the religious conviction of the sacredness of every human life. On the religious side, its highest embodiment is the Bible; on the political side, the Constitution."
With the war finally behind them, the new menace of atheistic communism was threatening the freedom of the world in 1950. In a radio broadcast on April 27, Hoover would once again reaffirm his belief in the forces which had made America truly the great nation it was at that time.
"What the world needs today is a definite, spiritual mobilization of the nations who believe in God against the tide of Red agnosticism. It needs a moral mobilization against the hideous ideas of the police state and human slavery. And in rejecting an atheistic other world, I am confident that the Almighty God will be with us."
With all these forces opposing our nation during the early years of the twentieth century, it becomes obvious what many Americans, including godly leaders like President Herbert Hoover, knew was needed to turn our nation, or any nation, from the downward path and back to the God of our fathers.
"The whole inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the prophets. To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life."
If this wisdom would just be taken to our hearts today, we would begin to make much greater headway in turning our nation back to God.
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
Franklin Delano Roosevelt became our 32nd president as our nation was in the throes of the great depression. In his first inaugural address, on March 4, 1933, he made the famous statement that we still hear so often today. This statement becomes even more powerful when you get to hear, as Paul Harvey has so often said, the rest of the story.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. We face arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values. In this dedication of a nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us! May He guide me in the days to come!"
One of the things that made Roosevelt so popular with the American people was his many radio "fireside chats" broadcasts that helped to strengthen so many during those dark days. During a radio broadcast in 1935, he stated....
"We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic. Where we have been the truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity."
During World War II, Gideons International printed multitudes of New Testaments that were given to our troops as they left for the service. The prologue to this Bible was written by President Roosevelt and was short and to the point as to why these Bibles were given out.
"As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel, and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul."
In the darkest hours of the war, President Roosevelt attended a mid-Atlantic summit with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. During this meeting, Roosevelt stated that the United States was , "the lasting concord between men and nations, founded on the principles of Christianity". He then requested the crew of the ship he was on to join him in a rousing chorus of "Onward, Christian Soldiers". Pray that God will raise up a new generation of Christian soldiers, to help turn our nation back to the God of our fathers.
U.S. PRESIDENTS SPEAK OUT ON AMERICA'S GODLY HERITAGE!
"If we fail now, we will have forgotten that democracy rests on faith....For myself, I ask only in the words of an ancient leader: 'Give me now wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people'....Come now, let us reason together." -Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969)
"Here before me is the Bible used in the inauguration of our first President in 1789, and I have just taken the oath of office on the Bible my mother gave me just a few years ago, opened to the timeless admonition from the ancient prophet Micah: 'He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God"-Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
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