MY CASE FOR GOD

 

 I have noticed in the last few years that more and more people identify as atheists. On the eve of Kennedy's assassination in 1963 about 5 in 6 American's regularly attended church. Today church attendance has dropped to about 1 in 5. Christians today, many times, are viewed as weirdos and out of the mainstream. In my view this reflects the impact that Marxist indoctrination has had on our society in the last 57 years. Polls show that religious belief and attendance are undergoing a sharp decline in America. Two of the ways that Marx wanted to undermine capitalism was by destroying religion and the family. Marxism has greatly weakened both institutions. Traditionally in America people turned to the church or the family in times of need. By destroying the church and family it forces people to turn to the state for help.

The four pillars of American exceptionalism have been a protestant religious foundation. The common law. Private property with written titles and deeds and a free market economy. England had three of these things, minus the protestant church. England was Catholic before Henry the 8th established the Church of England. No reflection on these churches but they are ruled from the top down. American protestant churches like the Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, pentecostal and other denominations are mostly run from the bottom up. This was also reflected in the average American's view of their government which was in principle from the bottom up. Other countries have had elements of these four principles but only America has had all four. These four elements have been the basis for our success and longevity. 

America is going through a communist cultural revolution right now that in in many ways is reminiscent of the French revolution. That revolution was based on atheism and a rejection of the Catholic church. The French revolution was inspired by our own but it devolved into mob rule and mass murder before it was over. Our revolution was based on the self evident truth of God and that all men were created equal. That our inalienable rights came from God separate from government and it was our government's primary job to protect those rights. The left is always beating Christians over the head by saying that Christianity has been responsible for more deaths than anything else. They always refer to the Crusades, the inquisition and the witch trials. First of all true Christianity would not support these things and these actions did not follow the teachings of Christ. Also the thousands of people that were killed by pseudo Christianity during Medieval times do not hold a candle to the millions killed by atheistic regimes in the 20th century alone. It is estimated that the communists killed over a 100 million people in the 20th century and that is a conservative estimate. That doesn't include the occultist regime of Adolph Hitler. At least 61 million babies have been aborted by the left. If America succumbs to the evil of atheistic communism I believe we will enter a dark age unlike anything the world has ever seen. America has been that shining city on a hill but our fall will drag the entire world into darkness. 

I believe in God for the following reasons:

1. HUMANS ARE FREE MORAL AGENTS - When I hear about a serial killer like Ted Bundy or the man in North Carolina who shot a 5 year old boy in the head while playing in his yard many people are tempted to call these people animals. I think that a more accurate description for these people would be monsters. If an animal kills another animal, or a person, they are simply following their natural instincts. A human on the other hand can be as evil as they choose to be or as righteous as they choose to be. One of satans biggest lies and a lie that has been pushed by the left is that man is an animal, although a highly evolved animal. The Bible says in Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1: 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 

 For many years I believed the lie that man is an animal and far too many Americans believe this lie. Second Corinthians 4:4 says In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Skeptics might look at some people and say that if God made us in his image he did a poor job. We forget that he created us in a state of perfection. Adam and Eve were perfect human specimens. They had the same glorified bodies that the saints will have after the resurrection. Like Adam & Eve they will have access to the Tree of Life and they will put on immortality. First Corinthians 15.52 says "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" 15:53 says For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 

 Because of free will Adam and Eve screwed things up for mankind and death entered the world. The major difference between the left and Christianity is that the left says that man evolved from a lower form. Christians believe that man was created in perfection but because of free will Adam & Eve chose death over life. God provided a plan to restore us to a state of perfection through belief in the perfect 2nd man Adam or Jesus Christ. The total transformation back to Adam & Eve's perfect state will occur when Christ returns. Rejection of Christ simply means that through free will you have chosen eternal death over eternal life. Ezekial 33:11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

Without free will there can be no love. God is like us. He prefers someone who chooses to love him. Just like us when we are looking for someone to spend our life with. Ideally we prefer someone who will reciprocate the love that we show them. If we love someone it shouldn't be a one way street. The relationship will not last otherwise. If our mate chooses not to love us we are saddened but like God we cannot force someone to love us nor should we want to force that person to love us. The church is described as the bride in the Bible and Jesus is described as the groom. Revelation 19: 7-Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

2. MAN IS A LIVING SOUL : Many people mistakenly say that we have a soul. We don't have a soul we are a soul. Genesis 2: 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. First Corinthians 15:45 So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam (Jesus Christ) became a life-giving spirit.When I was in the Air Force Security Forces we were tasked to meet every medi-vac flight that landed on our base. The control tower would alert us that a flight was preparing to land and they would say that there were 39 souls on board or whatever number of people there were on the manifest. I always thought this was weird until I discovered that humans do not have a soul they are a soul. 

 In the Declaration of Independence it says that all men are created equal. Although Jefferson was a slave owner he believed that Blacks were souls because he believed in their humanity. After slavery became very profitable in the 1800's the idea became popular among slave owners that Blacks were not souls. If the slave owner admitted that they were human then that meant that the Declaration of Independence also applied to them and the slave owner had no moral authority to enslave them. A person has to be dehumanized before you can justify enslaving or killing them. Many slave owners viewed the ownership of a slave in the same way that they looked at owning a cow or a horse. Buckner H. Payne, who is buried in Nashville's Mount Olivet cemetery was a big proponent of this theory. He wrote a book called The Negro: What is His Ethnological Status and tried to use the Bible to justify his theory. The same way that some people have used the Bible over the years to justify other unbiblical ideas such as polygamy, divorce, homosexuality, and the mistreatment of wives and children. 

 People have also used the Bible to argue against bi-racial marriages. The Bible actually makes an argument in defense of bi-racial marriage. “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman” Numbers 12:1.And they said: 'Hath the LORD indeed spoken only with Moses? hath He not spoken also with us?' And the LORD heard it... And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and He departed “When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow” (Num. 12:10) A Cushite was from a region near Ethiopia and Cushites had dark skin. God became angry with Moses sister Miriam because of her criticism of Moses marriage. So God gave her leprosy. In essence God was saying that if you like lighter skin so much I will give you a disease that makes your skin whiter. Another interpretation of this incident is that Miriam didn't have a problem with the Cushite womans race but the fact that she wasn't Jewish. Either argument supports bi-racial marriage.

3. THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF JESUS CHRIST: One of the reasons that I believe in God is because I have witnessed the transforming power of Jesus Christ first hand. I once supervised a girl years ago that hated me. She had a terrible attitude and was constantly running late or not showing up for work. I would have to write her up, or reprimand her from time to time and she wasn't very fond of me because of that. Out of the blue one day she walked up to me and humbly apologized for everything negative that she ever said or done to me. Of course I accepted her apology but I was baffled by this sudden turn around. Later I learned that she had given her heart to Jesus. The change in this girl was amazing for the remaining years that I worked there. I never had another problem with her and her conversion even changed her physical appearance for the better. 

 After I left this job I went to work for Bridgestone - Firestone in Lavergne. Everyday I would walk to my work station carrying my Bible. During my break I would read it while I sat on my machine. After I got to know people better they would tell me that their first impression of me was that I was some kind of weirdo, or religious zealot because I openly carried my Bible to work. I worked with a guy who was in his early 20's and I was in my late 30's at the time. He was very curious about the Bible and history. We had some very deep conversations about Jesus and many other things. He was a great guy but he and his wife weren't Christians. He eventually left our department but occasionally I would run into him from time to time. One day he told me that he and his wife had given their heart to Jesus. Years later he told me that the Lord had used me to plant the seeds of his conversion. We are still great friends all these years later and he and his family continue to grow in the Lord. 

 In 1971 I was stationed in Colorado Springs at N.O.R.A.D. I took my 16 year old brother Mark out there with us. My brother and I were orphaned in 1963 because of the death of our parents and since I was 21 at the time I was able to become his legal guardian. While in Colorado both of us were saved. Mark even felt the call to preach. After I was discharged and we returned home to Tennessee Mark eventually drifted away from the Lord. He drank, smoked weed, and was hanging around with some people who were bad characters. I would try to talk with him about the Lord and he would just become defensive. After a while I felt led by the Lord not to lean on him so much but to back off. I felt led just to befriend him and spend more time with him. He was married by this time and living in Nashville. Mark and I had singing voices and a good sibling harmony. Eventually I began to invite him to church in order to sing with me. After a few such visits Mark rededicated his life to Christ one Sunday. I don't know anyone who is a more authentic Christian than Mark Segroves. His faith has been sorely tested by the loss of two wives to cancer. If you say you are a Christian you can maybe can put on a pretty good act in public but your family sees you up close and personal. You can't fool them. My whole family will agree with me when I say that Mark is the real deal, and I have a huge family. He has also become a powerful preacher of the gospel. 

I recently interviewed my pastor Jeremy Myers on my podcast and he is very transparent about his conversion from a life of drug dealing, drug use, alcoholism and living as a homosexual man for nearly 20 years. His parents divorced when he was 2 and he was sexually molested at 4. He had given his heart to Christ at an early age but began to backslide. His mom prayed for him without ceasing and one day after being arrested for a D.U.I. he had a supernatural encounter with Jesus Christ that turned his life completely around. I first met him years ago at Santa Fe restaurant in Murfreesboro where he was working as a server when he was on the wrong path. Since resuming his walk with the Lord he has given up the drugs, alcohol, and is married to a beautiful Christian woman and he is now a father. 

There are many historical examples of Christs transforming power. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul comes to mind. His job as a Pharisee was to kill and persecute Christians. After his conversion he ended up writing half of the New Testament. Paul risked his life spreading the gospel to the Gentile and would eventually die for Christ. All of Jesus's disciples were persecuted and it is believed that only John died a natural death but even he spent time in prison for preaching the gospel. Peter died on a cross hanging upside down. Christ revealed that Peter would die for him in John 21: 18-19 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” This was the same man who had earlier denied Jesus three times during his crucifixion

ALVIN C. YORK: Alvin spent his young adulthood as a rebellious hell raiser. After his conversion he went on to win the Medal of Honor and was the highest decorated soldier of WW1. Because of his faith he was reluctant to take human life and he killed more to save the lives of his fellow soldiers than to inflict harm on the enemy. After the war York refused the opportunity to become a wealthy man by turning down multiple commercial contracts that would exploit his fame. He looked at that money as blood money. York spent the rest of his life using his fame to advance the cause of Christ.

LOUIS ZAMPERINI : Louis was one of the fastest runners in the world until he enlisted in the Army Air Corps after Pearl Harbor. He was one of only 3 survivors when his bomber crash landed in the Pacific. Zamperini drifted in the Pacific Ocean for 47 days in a life raft exposed to the elements and living on almost no food and water. He and the only other survivor were captured by the Japanese. The Japanese tortured them and used them as guinea pigs until they were transferred to a prison camp in Japan for two years where they were brutally tortured and starved by their guards and an especially brutal guard named "The Bird". Upon release he hated the Japanese so much that all he could do was visualize going back to Japan and killing them. He became an alcoholic because of nightmares and his wife told him that she was leaving him. She went to a Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles and gave her heart to Jesus. She went back home and told Louis that she had changed her mind about leaving him and invited him to go to the crusade with her. He did and during the 2nd night Zamperini gave his heart to Christ. The anger that was destroying his life left him and he never had another nightmare after that night. He went back to Japan not to kill his captors but to forgive them. 

JAKOB DESHAZER : Jake was a volunteer for the Doolittle raid over Tokyo. After running out of gas the crew was forced to parachute into enemy territory over Ningpo, China when their B-25 ran out of fuel. DeShazer was injured in the jump and along with the rest of his crew, he was captured the next day by the Japanese. DeShazer was sent to Tokyo with the survivors of another Doolittle crew and was held in a series of P.O.W. camps both in Japan and China for 40 months – 34 of them in solitary confinement. He was severely beaten and malnourished. Three of the crew were executed by a firing squad, while another died of slow starvation. As the war came to an end, on 20 August 1945, DeShazer and the others in the camp at Beijing (Peiping), China were release after being rescued by American soldiers. While he was a POW Jake persuaded a Japanese guard to give him a copy of the Bible. He was only allowed to have it for three weeks but it changed his life forever. Jake was saved and because of his change in attitude toward his captors they began to treat him with more respect. After his release he became a Christian missionary and returned with his wife to Japan in 1948. Jake met and befriended Captain Mitsuo Fuchida who led the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and they became close friends. Through Jakes Christian witness Fuchida was saved and he became a Christian minister. DeShazer and Fuchida preached together in Japan on several occasions.

THE TYPOLOGY AND PROPHECIES OF JESUS : For several years after I became a Christian the Old Testament didn't make a lot of sense to me. I had trouble believing the biblical account of creation, the flood, and Jonah being swallowed by the big fish. Jesus of the New testament made perfect sense to me but I could never connect the Old testament with the New. The Poetry and prose of Psalms made sense but not much beyond that. It seemed that the God of the Old Testament was a different God than that of the New Testament. Then I met a Christian who taught me how to study the Bible which unlocked truths that absolutely blew me away. I discovered the purpose of the Old Testament and a Bible harmony. It was like working a jigsaw puzzle until the picture becomes clearer and clearer. Simply put I learned that the cross or Calvary was the center of all human history. Everything in the Old Testament pointed forward to the cross and everything in the New Testament pointed back to the cross. I began to see Jesus everywhere in the Old Testament. The Jews were chosen as Gods people for one reason and one reason only. To eventually spread the gospel to the entire world. The ceremonial and civil law, or the Law of Moses was a teacher. It's purpose was to teach the Jews about the coming Messiah. If they learned their lesson well they would recognize Jesus when he appeared in the flesh. Unfortunately too many of them were not good students and many rejected Jesus when he appeared as the Messiah or the Anointed One. 

THE GREAT I AM: God was identified as the great I AM, which means self existent one. In Exodus 3:14 God identifies himself to Moses from the burning bush. "And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you". Genesis 18: 1-2 talks about the day that three men came to visit Abraham. "And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth". We know that two of these men were angels that later went to Sodom & Gomorrah to warn Abraham's brother Lot to leave the cities before he was destroyed. One of the men was God because a Jew would never bow to anyone but God. The Bible tells us that Jesus is God and we know that Abraham saw Jesus that day. In John 8: 53 Jesus was asked by the Jews "Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” Jesus answered in John 8:56-58 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”Jesus identified himself as God. He was a Jew and if he was lying he would be guilty of blasphemy. This is why Jesus was crucified. He had identified himself as God and was guilty of blasphemy in the eyes of those Jews who did not recognize him as the Messiah.

THE TABERNACLE OF EXODUS 25 : Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. 3 And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; 4 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; 5 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 6 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. 8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. 

God gave specific details about how he wanted Moses to build his tabernacle. It was divided into three parts. The Courtyard, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The Courtyard is where the Altar of Burnt Offerings was. This is where the people brought their daily sacrifices. The people brought their unblemished lambs, and other unblemished animals to the priest to be sacrificed. This represented Jesus who was the unblemished lamb being sacrificed once and for all for the sins of mankind. Then there was the Holy Place or Inner courtyard which represented Jesus as our mediator or lawyer. This is the compartment from which the High Priest would enter the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement to ask forgiveness for the entire nation of Israel before the Mercy Seat where the Great I AM sat. Under the new covenant that Jesus made possible on the cross we are now the priests, Jesus is our high priest and when we pray Jesus takes our prayers to God, the Father. Then there was the Most Holy Place which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was where God himself sat on the throne. The tabernacle taught the Jews about the threefold ministry of Christ. Everything in the tabernacle represented Jesus in some way. The lavar represented washing sins away or the Living Water. The table of shewbread represented Jesus as the Bread of Life. And the 7 candlesticks represented Jesus as the perfect light of the world. 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM : The 2nd chapter of Daniel talks about a troubling dream that Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had one night. The king called in his astrologers and they couldn't interpret the dream. Nebuchadnezzar was advised to call upon Daniel who worshiped the living God of the Jews in order to interpret the dream for him. Daniel told the king that what he saw was a great image. The head was made of gold, the breast was silver, the torso was brass, the legs were iron and the feet were iron mixed with clay. Each metal in succession represented a kingdom and the metals decreased in value the lower down they were on the body. The gold head represented Babylon. Silver represented Medo-Persia, The brass represented Greece. Iron represented Rome and the iron mixed with clay represented the nation states of Europe that evolved from the old Roman Empire. 

History confirms that this prophecy was accurate because Medo Persia conquered Babylon, Alexander the Great of Greece conquered Medo-Persia and Rome conquered Greece. The iron mixed with clay means that clay and iron cannot cleave together and although Europe has tried to unite on occasion it will never be successful. We know this because Daniel 34-35 says "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. The stone that smote the image is Jesus and this is a prophecy of jesus 2nd coming. Since we are living in an age of European nation states Daniel chapter 2 confirms without a doubt that we are living in the last days. No one knows the exact day and hour of his coming but we can know by the signs we are near. Matthew 24: 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

PSALM 22 - THE PROPHECY OF CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION: 

1. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from my cries of anguish?

6. But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

7. All who see me mock me;

they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,

“let the Lord rescue him.

9. Let him deliver him,

since he delights in him.”

12. Many bulls surround me;

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions that tear their prey

open their mouths wide against me.

14 I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

it has melted within me.

15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me,

a pack of villains encircles me;

they pierce my hands and my feet.

17 All my bones are on display;

people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my clothes among them

and cast lots for my garment.

I could give many more types of Jesus in the Bible and prophecies but these are just a few of my favorites.

GOD IN AMERICAN HISTORY

In 1866 historian George Bancroft said: “That God rules in the affairs of men is as certain as any truth of physical science.” George Washington wrote about the American Revolution in 1778 that “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all of 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.” If anyone should know about the hand of Providence it would be George Washington. In 1770 Washington traveled to the Ohio country to stake a claim on land promised to him by the English government for his service in the French and Indian War. At the battle of the Monongahela, fought 15 years earlier on July 9, 1755 Washington had miraculously survived the battle without a scratch. He was with the English general Braddock's army that had been ambushed by French and Indian forces. After Braddock's mortal wounding Washington led what remained of the British and Colonial troops to safety and saved them from annihilation. Washington found four bullet holes in his uniform and had two horses shot out from under him doing this battle but emerged without a scratch. On his trip in 1770, according to Washington's personal physician, an Indian chief or sachem who had fought against Washington in that battle approached him. The chief said that because the great spirit had preserved him he prophesied that “he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn, will hail him as the father of a mighty empire!” I have heard that Washington was also told that the Indians were ordered to focus on killing him but after a while it became evident that he had powerful medicine protecting him and the Indians were then ordered to leave him alone. 

During the American Revolution Washington avoided death on many occasions. He was constantly exposing himself to enemy fire during battles because he led from the front many times. Major Patrick Ferguson led an elite group of sharpshooters in the British army. On September 7, 1777, a few days before the battle of Brandywine Creek Washington was scouting an area near the British lines. He and another man were riding together when they came upon Ferguson and his sharpshooters. The man that Washington was riding with is believed to have been Polish Count Casimir Pulaski. The following account of the encounter comes from American Revolution .org. Ferguson stated that the first rider was a brilliantly clad Hussar and the second rider, a few paces behind, was wearing the traditional blue and buff uniform of an American Senior Officer, mounted on a bay horse and wearing "a remarkably large cocked hat". He also noted that the Officer was of "exceptional distinction". His first thought was to cut the two riders down where they sat, so he ordered his men "to steal near to them and fire at them". He then changed his mind and signaled his men to hold their fire. He thought his first impulse was "disgusting". He then stepped from his place of concealment and ordered the Hussar, the closest of the two, to step down from his mount. The hussar shouted an alarm. Washington whirled his horse, Nelson, around and galloped off. Ferguson wrote "As I was with the distance, at which in the quickest firing, I could have lodged a half dozen balls in or about him before he was out of my reach, I had only to determine, but it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an unoffending individual who was acquitting himself coolly of his duty, and so I let him alone." Washington survived to found this great nation while ironically Pulaski was later killed at the battle of Savannah and Ferguson was killed at the battle of King's Mountain. 

Washington began his Revolutionary War career with a resounding victory over the British at Boston. The British were forced evacuate the city after Washington's chief of artillery Henry Knox, the same fellow that Knoxville is named after, posted artillery all along Dorchester Heights making the British position untenable. Washington then occupied New York city and what is today Long Island. Although Washington is responsible for winning our revolution he wasn't the greatest tactician. His placement of our troops on Long Island invited disaster. On August 27, 1776 British troops landed and outflanked Washington's forces. Only the bravery and fighting abilities of a small group of 400 Maryland soldiers saved our 9,000 man army from being completely destroyed. Washington's troops on Brooklyn Heights were encircled by the much larger British army commanded by general William Howe. Our only line of retreat was crossing the East river over to Manhattan but if our army was seen crossing the river they could easily be slaughtered. Howe decided to wait until the following morning to finish off the American's. Incredibly a heavy fog settled over Long Island that night and Washington was able to transport his army over the river to Manhattan right under the British noses averting disaster. It was said that the fog was so heavy that you literally could not see your hand in front of your face. Washington army would later be soundly defeated in New York and much of his army was captured but he was able to avoid the total destruction. Mainly because of the near disaster that he avoided at New York Washington would change his strategic vision. He came to realize that preserving his army was the most important thing. As long as the army existed America existed. His ultimate strategy would be to outlast the British rather than defeat the British head to head on the field of battle.

Washington lost the battle of New York and it would be held by the British until the end of the war. His dream was to to recapture New York because Washington was a very aggressive general at heart but the opportunity would never come again. Washington's army was forced to retreat out of New York in November 1776. The British would chase Washington into Pennsylvania and things were looking pretty bleak for the American army. Washington began the New york campaign with 20,000 men and he was now down to 3,000. He knew that something had to happen or America might be done for. He came up with an audacious plan to attack the German Hessians on Christmas day 1776 in Trenton New Jersey catching the Hessians by surprise and soundly defeating them. A few days later Washington won another great victory at Princeton against British general Lord Cornwallis. These victories came at a crucial time for the American's and raised our morale immensely. Washington was able to recruit more men to replace the men he at lost in New York. Over the next few years the American's lost more battles than they won but were able to keep the American army alive. In the fall of 1777 the American's were able to win the decisive battle of Saratoga which greatly influenced the French to ally themselves with us. Because of their navy and the combined French and American army we would win the decisive battle of Yorktown which compelled the British to grant us our independence.

In September1780, just a little over a year before our war winning victory at Yorktown, Benedict Arnold was discovered to be a traitor. Ironically we probably would not have been able to win the war had it not been for Arnold. He was our greatest and most successful general. Arnold was the key to winning the battle of Saratoga and Saratoga was the battle that convinced the French that we could actually win our independence. When you read about Arnold's treachery he was within a hair of turning over one our most strategic location to the British. The British wanted West Point in order to separate the upper colonies from the lower colonies. They also wanted to gain control of the Hudson River. This had been their goal during the Saratoga campaign which Arnold had been instrumental in preventing the British from achieving. 

He gave a a map of West Point and a plan of attack over to the British spy Major John Andre. Andre was caught in an area that was held by the British but just by chance he ran into several American militiamen. Andre was a little too comfortable and let down his guard, thinking that these American's were British and revealed to them who he was. The militiamen searched him and found the map and battle plans for the attack on West Point in his boot. They turned Andre over to George Washington who was enroute to West point for an inspection. Luckily for Arnold he found out about the capture of Andre in time to make his escape. Arnold would become one of the British Army's best generals and would escape the gallows for his treachery. Andre on the other hand was executed as a spy. Although Washington was livid about Arnold's treachery he, as well as the Continental congress, considered our discovery of the plot to be providential.

In October 1781 General George Washington commanded a combined force of 17,000 American and French troops at Yorktown. Washington's 17,000 troops surrounded British general Cornwallis's army of 9,000 men who were trapped in Yorktown. The French fleet had blocked Chesapeake Bay and the British had no way to be reinforced or escape by sea. Their last desperate hope was to sneak across the York river to Gloucester Point. On the night of October 16, 1781 British General Cornwallis attempted to make good his escape across the York river to Gloucester Point. Out of nowhere a violent storm ensued that made it nearly impossible for the British to escape. The following is General Cornwallis's account of the storm in a letter to British general Clinton. “Sixteen large boats were prepared, and upon other pretexts were ordered to be in readiness to receive troops precisely at ten o’clock. With these I hoped to pass the infantry during the night, abandoning our baggage, and leaving a detachment to capitulate for the town’s people, and the sick and wounded. … After making my arrangements with the utmost secrecy, … at this critical moment, the weather from being moderate and calm, changed to a most violent storm of wind and rain, and drove all the boats, some of which had troops on board, down the river. It was soon evident that the intended passage was impracticable, and the absence of the boats rendered it equally impossible to bring back the troops that had passed.” Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire army on October 19, 1781. Although the war did not officially end in 1781, Yorktown forced the British to begin peace negotiations that would grant our independence in the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution. 

On September 13, 1862 Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana regiment noticed a paper wrapped around three cigars lying in a field near Frederick Maryland. After keeping one of the cigars for himself he read the paper and to his surprise it was General Robert E. Lee's special orders 191 which a careless courier had lost. Corporal Mitchell would pass the order up through the chain of command until it got to Union commander George McClellan later that same day. If McClellan had been a more aggressive commander it is possible that he could have destroyed Lee's army piecemeal because at that moment Lee's command was divided into 5 sections that were all out of touch with each other. Lee would eventually wise up to the danger he was in and concentrate his army at Sharpsburg Maryland along the banks of Antietam Creek and with the Potomac river at his back. On September 16, 1862 Lee only had 19,000 men while McClellan had 101,000. Yet he still failed to attack Lee. McClellan always believed that Lee outnumbered him and he was fighting against phantom armies. 

One could make a strong argument that God was on Lee's side instead of the North. Yet Lincoln had issued a preliminary emancipation proclamation earlier that summer and was only waiting for a Union victory to announce it. Although Antietam was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War and a tactical draw it became a strategic victory for McClellan nevertheless since lee was forced to withdraw from Maryland. This enabled Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation which would be enacted on January 1, 1863. If Lee's orders had not fallen into McClellan's hands who knows what Lee might have accomplished. Before Antietam recognition of the Confederacy was still a possibility for the South from England and France. After Lee's defeat that window of opportunity would never reappear for the Confederacy. The Emancipation Proclamation forever put an end to the possibility of foreign recognition. Because the war became not only about preserving the Union but human freedom which was a popular notion among Europes working classes. 

There are so many other instances in American history where one could argue that God may have intervened to change our history for the better. As I write this America is faced with what might be it's final battle if God doesn't look on us with favor. The 2020 presidential election. If the Harris-Biden ticket wins this literally could be the end of our republican form of democracy in America. I firmly believe that in a short time we could lose our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. The Democrats will in essence establish a one party totalitarian rule. If God is ready to allow us to go down that road then his will be done. Believers know that God is in control and he wins in the end. We know that because we have all read the Book.