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Father, we thank You for the Christian values enshrined in our nation, even in the Pledge of Allegiance. Prevent these values from being removed, God.
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The phrase “under God” was not originally a part of the Pledge of Allegiance. Let’s thank God for the men who installed this phrase.

From The Washington Post. Standing in the Rose Garden at the beginning of May, President Trump took the lectern to commemorate the National Day of Prayer. Wearing an American flag lapel pin, and with a life-size flag a few feet behind him, Trump said that prayer uplifts the soul and unites Americans “all as one nation, under God.”

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He continued: “And we say it here. You know, a lot of people, they don’t say it. But you know what? They’re starting to say it more.”

In fact, the controversial phrase “under God” was not always part of the Pledge of Allegiance. …

The original pledge took root in the late 19th century. In 1891, Francis Bellamy, the son of a Baptist minister and a former preacher himself, accepted a job with the family magazine Youth’s Companion. Put to work in the magazine’s promotions department, Bellamy was tasked with creating patriotic programs for schoolchildren. …

Bellamy knew he would need a salute to the flag. He felt strongly that a pledge should invoke allegiance, especially so soon after the Civil War. His original pledge read:

“I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands — one Nation indivisible — with liberty and justice for all.” …

It was not long before calls to insert “under God” gained momentum. Enter the Rev. George Docherty.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1911, Docherty was brought to the United States in 1950 to become pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, a historic house of worship in downtown Washington that Abraham Lincoln attended. …

Docherty had previously sermonized about the need to insert “under God” into the pledge, but he found his prime audience in February 1954, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended Docherty’s service. …

“To omit the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance is to omit the definitive factor in the American way of life,” Docherty said from the pulpit. He felt that “under God” was broad enough to include Jews and Muslims, although he discounted atheists.

“An atheistic American is a contradiction in terms,” Docherty said in his sermon. “If you deny the Christian ethic, you fall short of the American ideal of life.” …

The week of Docherty’s sermon, bills were introduced in Congress to add the phrase, and Eisenhower signed the act into law on Flag Day — June 14, 1954. …

Did this story encourage you? If so, share this article with your friends and family to encourage them!

(Excerpt from The Washington Post. Photo Credit: Canva)

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JACQUELINE
September 28, 2022

Heavenly Father, we come before You in the Name of Jesus declaring that our children belong to You! You love children and want all of them to come to You. We know it is Your will that they are raised up in the way they should go, so they will never, ever depart from it.
For that reason, we put on the whole armor of God that we might stand against the strategies of the devil—especially those geared toward the next generation and our educational system. We stand against the root of the issue, which isn’t any man or woman, flesh and blood, but rather against spiritual forces of darkness. We take authority over principalities, powers and spirits in heavenly places, declaring that this assignment of the devil to come against our children and our schools will not prevail!
And for those leaders of ours—up to the highest office—who don’t understand the true root of what’s happening, we forgive them. We ask for Your divine wisdom for them, for all those in authority, and we receive it for ourselves, too, so that we know how to conduct ourselves and lead our school officials in Your ways.

Lord, we know You have great and mighty plans for this nation. Things are changing and we’re not giving up. Having done all to stand…we stand! Jesus is Lord over the United States of America! The Great Awakening is here! Amen!

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