Beloved President Abraham Lincoln guided the United States through the nightmare that was the Civil War. Even as brother fought against brother, Lincoln invited the divided nation to set apart a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer. Today we are again divided. As we set aside a day to celebrate Thanksgiving, let us listen to Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863. Then, let us learn how Lincoln’s proclamation established the national Thanksgiving holiday, how it encourages us to recognize our blessings and acknowledge the Source of those blessings, how it exhorts us to pray for our nation, how it has many similarities to George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789, how it calls the nation to unity, and how it applies to our own lives. Don't miss out on Lincoln's words of wisdom!

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The Constitutional Convention was one of the pivotal moments in U.S. history, and it nearly crashed and burned. Yet, Benjamin Franklin’s speech pushed the quarreling delegates to stop focusing on that which was contentious and served their own interests and to start focusing on what would be best for the nation as a whole. His call for prayer reminded them that even though they were intelligent and insightful, if they proceeded without God’s guidance and succor, their efforts would be in vain. After a 4th of July timeout for an attitude adjustment, the delegates resumed their debates. This time, a workable compromise was found.

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Christian and Hopeful arrive at the Delightful Mountains, a place of refreshment and teaching. Christian asks the shepherds there some questions and receives cryptic answers. In turn, the shepherds have some questions for the pilgrims and then offer them some hospitality. The next morning the shepherds show them Hill Error, Hill Caution, and the by-way to hell and also let them look through their perspective lens. They then send the pilgrims on their way with a map and some helpful advice.

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In this episode we will be continuing our series on the United States Constitution. While God is not mentioned directly in the Constitution, His fingerprints are all over it. While God or worshipping God is discussed in all fifty state constitutions, we are going to focus on the governing documents of the original thirteen states that existed when the U.S. Constitution was created. If a state’s foundational governing document mentions worshipping God or being thankful to God, then it was a reflection of the culture and the priorities of the people in that state. If it wasn’t important to them, then they wouldn’t be putting it in their constitution. So, if God was important to the people in all thirteen states, then He was important to the people in the entire nation and thus was reflected in the U.S. Constitution, even if it wasn’t blatant. 

Listen up to find out more!

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The Articles of Confederation were a disaster and needed to be replaced. However, the public would not accept tampering with them unless the one man they knew and trusted - George Washington - was involved in the process. He had to be convinced to come out of retirement and to oversee the Constitutional Convention. His sense of duty that led him to lay aside what he wanted to do to serve his country, his serene leadership that promoted cooperation at the Constitutional Convention, and his noble character that led to a single president in the executive branch and promoted ratification were all crucial for the success of the Constitution. Yet Washington didn't take the credit for it; he said it all happened "by the good pleasure of Providence."

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Between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution our nation was governed for a few years by the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Since the Founders abhorred the strong, centralized British government so much that they declared the American colonies independent from Britain, they didn't want to create another strong, centralized government for the new American nation. However, the government they devised in the Articles of Confederation was ineffectual and weak during a pivotal time of recovering from the Revolutionary War, addressing the squabbling among the colonies, and dealing with a financial crisis. Therefore, they quickly realized they had to scrap the Articles and start over again to devise a more suitable governmental structure.

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Through Whitefield's preaching, particularly through his "Father Abraham" sermon, God united the thirteen colonies. Despite division caused by geography and denominationalism, when the colonists were affected by revival, their divisions became inconsequential and they became aware that they were all equal before God and that they were a nation chosen by God for a specific purpose.

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John Marrant became a Christian after an encounter with George Whitefield and became an evangelist himself, mostly preaching to the Native Americans. Meanwhile, George Whitefield continued to travel throughout the colonies making friends (such as with Benjamin Franklin) and opponents (such as the querists) wherever he went. Through his faithful ministry, hundreds of thousands of people came to know Christ.

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Learn how God worked through Jonathan Edwards, who was a world-class theologist involved from the early days of revival; through William Tennent, who founded a college for ministers; through Gilbert Tennent, who preached that ministers needed to be saved (really, he did!); through Samuel Davies, who influenced Patrick Henry, made the colonists aware of God's hand on George Washington, and evangelized to the Cherokees and slaves; and David Brainerd, who evangelized to the Native Americans.

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The American colonies had fallen into spiritual apathy, and they desperately needed to be stirred up again. God answered this need with the First Great Awakening. George Whitefield was a university student who came to know God in a powerful way and then set out to help others know Him too. After helping bring revival to England, Whitefield felt God calling him to preach in the colonies. There, he found the fields ready for harvest because God had already been working through other church leaders. The first such church leader was Theodorus Frelinghuysen.

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