SPEAKER_03 0:07

This is the Intersection of Faith and Culture. It's the Wall Builder Show taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective. Two websites for you wallbuilders.com for virtually everything you need to celebrate the 250th, to get educated about what happened 250 years ago, what the foundation of our country is and how to preserve and protect it and move forward into the future in a strong way. Wallbuilders.com and then wallbuilders.show for the radio program. You can catch up on shows you might have missed. And then be sure and check us out on all the different podcast apps out there and share the program with your friends and family. Be a force multiplier and help us increase the audience so we can teach more people the truth on all of these issues. Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton. Later in the program, Cynthia Scott will be with us to talk about her book about celebrating God as our founder in America. So not only our founding fathers, not only the fact we were founded on the Christian faith, but how God actually ordained this nation to be a positive influence in the world. And as we've seen in the last even hundred years, hundreds of millions of people that have been able to live in freedom as a result of America's impact on the world. So she'll be with us a little later to talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Man. So Rick, hang on. I got I got to interrupt for a minute. I just hear critics' voices going off in my mind. You know, you made the comment that God ordained this nation. I can just hear people say, no, he didn't. It just, you know. Well, if he didn't, then he's sitting in heaven saying, Man, I never believed it turned out this way. I had no clue. You know, it's like saying God didn't know how this was going to turn out and didn't orchestrate things to do that. And we believe that he does that. And so now you get a theological debate, or you're a menian, or you're Reformation. Do you think it's preordained or whatever? I just, I'm with you and I echo what you said. And for anybody who who is a critic of the fact that God planned this, what do you think he's doing now? Being surprised at the way it turned out after 250 years? I don't think so. Yeah.

Providence Stories From Columbus To Pilgrims

SPEAKER_03 1:58

He's he's sitting up there going, well, these Americans, man, they're doing a pretty good job. Maybe I ought to be watching them. No, I I love, you know, Ronald Reagan used to say it this way. He said, I've always believed that God uh made it where between these two shores there would be this special place that ultimately became America because of its geography and because of the way that it's uh you know, why it was founded and the people that came here, it would end up being this incredible blessing of the world. So even Ronald Reagan, in the way that he described it, said, God set this in motion and planned for this place to be that. And I always think about when I say that word ordained, you know, I think about I always think I don't know why, maybe the two words aren't even having the same root, but I think of a city council doing an or uh an ordinance for their area, right? It's like they're planning the area, they're actually putting in place uh these different rules or whatever or how things are gonna work. That's how I see um the way that God raises up kings and sets down kings in the same way as nations.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Well, guys, this is one of the things that we've been telling for decades here at Wall Builders is if you actually knew the story of America, whether it be go back to the pilgrims, and of course, we can go back to uh Jamestown or Columbus, actually. Let's go back to Columbus first, because Columbus is the guy who says he was inspired by God. The Holy Spirit led him in his journey. And of course, we have been defenders of Columbus in a lot of ways. Not that he did not have sins in his life, because we know all of sin and comes toward the glory of God, but acknowledging he's not the villain he's been labeled to be in the more recent decades, he actually is someone who's far more honorable, incredible things, but from Columbus. You can jump forward uh similar with the pilgrims, when in the midst of their voyage they encounter a storm and the main beam breaks. But it just so happens on an overcrowded ship that one of the guys brought the jack screw. Uh allegedly, this is William Brewster from his printing press that helps elevate the main beam. Uh, that there's a guy that gets washed overboard, and somehow he grabs a rope that wasn't supposed to be dragging, but in the midst of the storm, it's dragging, and they're not even sure it's tied to anything on the other end, but he's able to hang on, they pull him back up. You go through the miracle after miracle where that they encounter Sama Set and Sama set's like, Hey, I got this other guy, speaks way better English. Squanto comes back. I again you can go through and stack up all of these miracle providential moments, and and if you understand the odds it would take for this to happen, if God wasn't involved, you would go, Yeah, there's no way the probability this this is too crazy, there had to have been a God involved. And I say a God, we know there's only one true God. I'm saying for a skeptic, you would have to go, man, for this many things to go right, for this many people, for for this far along the way, clearly there is a providential aspect to this story. And so tying in with you guys exactly what you're explaining, that the notion that God was not directly involved and directing all along the way, you only can come to that conclusion if you are ignorant of history, or and I say that with love, if you are ignorant of history, it's not an insult, just means you don't know. Yeah. Or you have to be somebody who's really salty and angry at God, and and therefore you want to explain things away without God, uh, but there's too much evidence for the foundation of our nation to come away thinking anything else if you actually know, study, and read from those original documents and stories.

The 250th Celebration And Political Narratives

SPEAKER_03 5:27

Well, and and you know, we just we've we've talked about it on so many programs, we need to get them to pay us some advertising. But uh A Great Awakening, the movie, you know, Benjamin Franklin's speech at the end, the whole thing is about the hand of Providence and how God moved throughout the revolution. That didn't stop. He kept doing that throughout our history in in an amazing way. I think one of the coolest things you guys have been able to do this year in the 250th is point to this stuff that that people just forgot because, you know, like you're saying, if they're ignorant just because they don't know because it wasn't taught in our education system, man, we got the president of the United States pointing this stuff out because y'all fed so many great dates to the White House of moments in our history where it was acknowledged that the hand of Providence was was being seen and what was happening with our country. So, you know, maybe this 250th thing can really be an awakening of even just that knowledge, because once you recognize that and you see that history, wow, that then you then you start even looking for it going into the future.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Hey, I've got a question and throw at you because Rick, you mentioned it. Tim and I were just at New York City. We were at Statue of Liberty after we did an event with Moms for Liberty. Um it was an awesome event, and Statue of Liberty, all the fireworks going off in New York City. I'm sure everybody in the city was wondering what the special event was, and it was just an awesome, awesome event. And Trump had been invited to be there. He couldn't be there, but he showed up a video and did this peace forum video, and so all this cool stuff. But I was thinking about what we've all been doing so far. We're not even to July yet, and all of us have been swamped with all these 250th events, and they're going all over the nation. They're awesome events, they're big events, and I was just thinking, let's just now I I don't want to create a nightmare situation here, so you know, if if you need some therapy, grab therapist now. But if Kabala Harris had been the president of the United States, what do you think would be different about the way we celebrate the 250th? What do you think we would have been doing at this point?

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Well, we would be doing nothing but apologetics about why America is not an evil nation and and actually why we should be celebrating instead of bashing her in these moments. Because when you come from the Marxist communist side that Kamala Harris advocates, they're not people that are acknowledging of God's providence in the building and forming this nation. They're not people that want to celebrate the greatest good that any nation has contributed for the last 250 years coming from this nation. They want to point out the sins of this nation. And in fact, in many occasions, they're creating and making up the sins of this nation in incredibly dishonest ways. Because if they told the true story, we wouldn't be as bad as they want to paint us as. And if you knew it in the context of other nations, you'd realize wow, America really is the greatest nation, the most free, stable, prosperous, and benevolent nation there's been for the last 250 years, and it's not even close.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

Yeah, and I I remember wow, I mean, even like three years ago during the Biden administration, the 250th Commission, and all the efforts for getting ready for this year. Oh man, they were so woke already. I mean, they were you'd go to their websites, and what would they be talking about? How the Declaration of Independence, um, you know, uh provides for LGBTQ, this and that. And I mean, the whole thing was left, left, left, left, left. So, man, David, I hate to say it. No, no, I'm I'm happy to say it. I'm joyful to say it. It would have been horrible, but it's not. And because we get to have President Trump during the 250th and and the access that we've all been given uh to be a part of these things and and to to watch the the people that are connected to wall builders or our Patriot Academy grads that are in all of these positions getting to influence it. It's just beautiful, man. I I I I I I hated going to Washington, D.C. during the Biden administration. It was just like this dark cloud, but I have so enjoyed my trips lately, especially taking the scholars last week and them getting to see all of that, all the Patriot Academy scholars. It's it's a beautiful, beautiful time to be a part of all this.

Moral Foundations And Rising Violence

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Well, guys, one of the things too that we have talked about a lot, uh, the founding fathers uh highlighted this, and we are just repeating what they said, is if if we ever get away from this religious and moral foundation, then we will be ultimately risking everything and losing everything. Uh, because as John Adams so eloquently said in 1798, that letter to the Massachusetts militia, where he says that our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people, it's wholly inadequate to the government of any other. One of the things that is very clear is this experiment only works if we maintain the foundation. And I say that knowing that yesterday there there was a shooting up in Washington, D.C. Uh, as more details, of course, are emerging as we're doing this early in the morning. Um, there's still a lot that has not been released yet. I'm sure we'll find out more as the day goes on. But somebody was apparently had a concealed handgun. And Rick, when I was reading details on this, I just thought, man, that this guy was called out because somebody saw him printing so badly, they're like, hey, hey, what are you doing? And he turns to run, they chase him, he draws a gun to shoot, they return fire, he gets hit. Which just as a total side note, uh, as as people that do conceal carry often, um if if you are getting called out for printing, um, you're not doing something right. And I'm not saying that because I want bad guys to do a better job of concealing. I'm just saying, uh, what are you doing right now?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

I gotta believe that half the people out there that that may not be in the country don't know what printing means. When when you say the guy was printing, what's that mean?

SPEAKER_02 11:07

So if if you have a weapon and let's say you're wearing it somewhere around your waist and you have a shirt over that gun, printing means the gun is pressing, uh protruding from your body, pressing against a shirt. So you basically have the outline, the silhouette of that firearm showing through your shirt. So it's printing through the shirt, is is what they would say. And the the guy at the time uh was closer to the Washington Monument uh uh than he was the White House, but uh there's a lot of speculation of what that is. But uh but again, I bring it up because we have seen an increase of violence when it was just a week ago. You had at the White House correspondent dinner. Was that a week ago, maybe two weeks ago now? I don't even remember. Uh we we've been traveling a lot, but when you had an another targeted shooting, and and one of the things, you know, Rick, we've talked about in some off-air, is the media right now is trying to spin and say, hey, there's violence on both sides, you can't label this a left issue, you know, leftist violence. Just because we're progressives and Marxists and communists, it doesn't mean that we're inherently violent. This is the rhetoric coming out, but what what is evident is there an is an increase in the violence. And I think a lot of it is there, there's a lot of spiritual things in that because we recognize that the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6 that that our battle is not just against flesh and blood, there are spiritual things that happen, is what the Bible tells us. And so there are spiritual realities that we are navigating, but also there's practical realities. Pragmatically speaking, if you stop teaching people right and wrong from the Bible, if you stop teaching kids the Ten Commandments, if you start telling people, programming them that the other side is evil, that they are Nazis, that that they are Hitler, then what you are doing is you are basically giving them the justification for them to do something that we would argue is very immoral, is heinous behavior, but you are now giving them in essence this moral equivocation that they can justify and defend their position because of how evil the other side is. This is again, and I'm saying all of this connecting some some dots and bows now, that this is why it matters that we have to restore a biblical foundation or freedom will not work. Number one, and number two, we will not be able to function well in society if we have removed the the common morals and values. If everybody decides what's right and wrong for themselves, and one side is saying the other side is evil, they're Nazis, they're Hitler, and they must be a stopped at all costs. That is gonna be a very hard society for us to function in as free people.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

You know, I've kind of decided that they are into gun control because the people they're around the most need gun control, and it's their own people. You know, while they like to say both sides are doing the same thing, that's just not it. I don't know. I I'm gonna grant that I I think I've heard of one semi-conservative person who got into a situation shooting like that. So I don't know, maybe it's one out of 50, one out of 100, whatever it is. It's it's their side that, of course, they are so opposed to religion and morality, which is what Washington said you had to have the nation's gonna survive. And they're the ones all calling for gun control, and it's really their side that needs it. It's not the other side that's the problem on this thing, it's their side, which is one of the ironies of it. And Tim, you're right. They try to project it and say both sides are guilty of it. Yeah, about one out of every hundred, maybe the uh the other side or three or whatever it is, but it's a small percentage. So it is a real disappointing thing to see them jump all over that bandwagon when it's really their side, but that's always the thing. You throw a rock and a pack of dogs, and the one gets hit the hardest is going to bark the loudest, and it seems to be them that bark about gun control. And it seems to be because they're the ones that engage most often in abusive gun control.

SPEAKER_03 14:55

Yeah, man, we've got to we've got to both stop the poison from going in that produces these results, just like Tim's saying, and then also teach the good stuff, get back to the foundation that that makes America great in the in the first place. And uh, Cynthia Scott has a book literally about that, celebrating God, our founder, at America's 250th birthday. So this is part of that effort here in the in the 250th to to re rediscover for many people the foundation that made America the greatest nation in history and then build on that for our future. Cynthia Scott, when we return, you're listening to the Wall Builder Show.

Cynthia Scott On Honoring God

SPEAKER_02 15:34

This is Tim Barton from Wall Builders with another moment from American history. America is a special and unique nation. The average length for a constitution in other countries is only 17 years. But we've had ours for over two centuries, and our 4% of the world's population produces 24% of the world's gross domestic product, and every year we produce more inventions and technology than the other 96% of the world combined. In 1831, Alexia de Tocqueville of France came to America, traveled the country, and in his famous book, Democracy in America, reported, the position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one. This is the origin of the phrase American exceptionalism, and affirms that America is unique because of the distinctive ideas on which we have been based, including inalienable rights, individualism, limited government, and the importance of religion and morality. For more information about American exceptionalism, go to wallbuilders.com.

SPEAKER_03 16:33

Welcome back to the Wall Builder Show. Thanks for staying with us. Cynthia Scott is with us, author of Celebrating God, our founder at America's 250th birthday. Cynthia, thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

It's great to be on with you, Rick.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

What a great year. This is incredible. We're getting to talk about what made the nation great in the first place. And of course, you cannot have a great America if you don't have a great God that actually is the foundation of what we're all about. So thanks for bringing attention to that.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Well, it's great to do it. You know, it's such a joy to be able to talk about God in relation to our nation. And this is the year to do it. You're absolutely right. People are interested, Rick.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

What do we what would you want people most to focus in on? I mean, there's kind of an information overload right now happening with the 250th, which is great. Like two or three years ago, we weren't sure. Okay, is this going to get passed by and we're not going to pay attention to it? Now there's so many groups, so many things happening. The president's talking about it. So there's a little bit of information overload. What would you say is most important for people to emphasize during the 250th?

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Well, I think it's the reasons that I wrote the book. And the book started with prayer. The prayer is both history of the hand of God and the founding of our nation and prayer for the nation in every chapter. So the book really arose out of prayer. The Lord laid it on my heart to pray for the nation out of the history of the nation. And that was six years ago. And those outlines sat in my computer until last May. So, most importantly, to answer your question, is that we give God the honor that he deserves as our founder. You know, I never learned that in school. But when I started to research our history and God's hand in it for these prayers that I wrote for corporate prayer meetings, I realized by the time I got to the fourth or fifth one that God himself is our founder and we never learned it. So, yes, we are uh talking a lot about America 250, but we need to be talking about the truth of our founding and that God is the one who really from the beginning, from our inception, brought us, brought us into existence and has sustained us.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

And you dot you you basically take people through really the whole history, tying it to the the first great awakening. You go through the pilgrims, the Puritans, First Great Awakening, the the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Second Great Awakening. I mean, you really kind of show the thread of God's hand in all of those different major moments in our history.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

That's exactly right. And that was the intention to show an overview. People often ask me, well, what is the one moment in American history that really has convinced you that God is our founder? And I said, there isn't one moment. That's the point. It's all through our history, from going back to the pilgrims, the covenant they made with God at the time of the Mayflower Compact, as you mentioned, through our educational system, the biblical foundation of thinking in America, the first great awakening, we the revolution, you know, just the fact that our constitution is based on the eternal truths of scripture. All these things and many, many more show that God is our founder and that he should be honored. That's my heart, Rick, that God would be honored at this moment in history. He deserves to be. And it's also my heart that Americans would know the truth so that we can have a confidence when we defend our Christian heritage and our freedoms as coming from God. You know, many people will say that, well, our nation was built by God, but the facts elude them oftentimes. And the more facts we have as Americans and as Christians, the stronger we'll be in defending our freedoms.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Okay, personal question. I'm curious because you're there in in uh or outside of uh Pittsburgh. Did you get any of that into the book? Like any of the Battle of the Monagahalo or any of the stuff Washington going up there. I mean, you got so much history right by you. I don't know if it's meant for the book. And I oh, you do? Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Well, you know what? Actually, there is a little bit of history for this region, and that is the um Washington, you know, when he had two horses shot from underneath him and bullets all through his coats and and really survived. God preserved him. And even a great Indian chief acknowledged that 15 years later, when he said, I've got to meet this great warrior that our braves could not hit with a bullet, because the great spirit was on him. And so, yes, there is some local history involved in the book and prayer and prayer, prayer for our cities, you know, mine and all of the cities, and prayer for the nation. We've got to pray for the nation, Rick. You know that.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

Amen. And it's a great call to prayer, the book itself. What's the uh best way to get the book? Where do you want to send people?

SPEAKER_00 21:17

Well, the book is available on Amazon, hard copy, soft copy um audiobook. And uh, if anybody is interested in some people have been interested in using it as a tool for small group study or devotions. If you wanted to buy them, you know, in bulk, it's Redemption Press, redemptionpress.com.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

Okay, redemptionpress.com or go to Amazon. It's called Celebrating God, our founder at America's 250th birthday, historical truths and prayers for the future of America. Cynthia Scott, God bless you. Thanks for coming on the Wall Builder Show.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

Thank you so much, Rick. It's been a pleasure.

How To Get The Book

Patriot Academy Leadership Training Message

Ripple Effects Of The 250th

SPEAKER_03 21:51

Stay with us, folks. We'll be right back with David and Tim Bart. Have you noticed the vacuum? Of leadership in America? We're looking around for leaders of principle to step up, and too often, no one is there. God is raising up a generation of young leaders with a passion for impacting the world around them. They're crying out for the mentorship and leadership training they need. Patriot Academy was created to meet that need. Patriot Academy graduates now serve in state capitals around America, in the halls of Congress, in business, in the film industry, in the pulpit, in every area of the culture. They're leading effectively and impacting the world around them. Patriot Academy is now expanding across the nation, and now's your chance to experience this life-changing week that trains champions to change the world. Visit Patriot Academy.com for dates and locations. Our core program is still for young leaders 16 to 25 years old, but we also now have a Citizen Track for Adults. So visit the website today to learn more. Help us fill the void of leadership in America. Join us in training champions to change the world at Patriotacademy.com. Welcome back to the Wallboarder Show. Thanks for staying with us. Back with David and Tim now. Um, and thanks to Cynthia for coming on. The book celebrating God, our founder at America's 250th birthday. Man, guys, there's so many good things coming out this year. Movies, books. I mean, the focus is fantastic. And hopefully it's not just for this year, right? I mean, David, you're the one that I was I was so worried, oh, it's all gonna stop July 4th, 2026. You're like, no, Rick, we got another year, man. The 250th goes until July 4th, 2027. But hopefully it even goes beyond that, guys. That hopefully all of this good stuff, if you will, the these good seeds being planted into the soil of America, into the hearts and minds of Americans will will will carry us forward for years and decades.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

You know, the Bible says that out out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Jesus talked about that. And for the for the last half a year and for the next year, we're gonna be celebrating so much of America. People's hearts are gonna be filled with some really good things about America. And I think you're gonna hear this resonating and going on for the next few years. Um, because it's gonna be in in the minds of the kids that got to see all these celebrations. Uh it's gonna be in the in the minds of the hearts of the parents who are teaching it to their kids, and the minds of the school teachers who are doing special lessons on it, in pulpits who are now preaching about America and uh and and the things for America and I I think this will go on the ripple effect will go on for years, and it will be a generational effect, which is what we needed. I I think this really is part of we all think we're in a revival right now. We hope it's gonna become a great awakening that lasts for years and years and influences the culture, but I think this is part of it. I think what Trump has done to put such a big emphasis on this, what he's doing to to reshape DC, returning heroes and statues and and getting good good things back in front of the people that'll be there for years and years and decades on the national mall, all these new statues, and and even statues of you know Ezra and and Moses and St. Paul and all these Bible heroes as well. That's the kind of stuff that you're gonna keep thinking about in your mind. And and one one of the things we know from the scriptures is the Bible says in Romans 1 that because they did not like to retain God in their consciousness, they did all these evil, wicked things. And so we're making a much more God conscious society as a result of the 250th. And I think the the really basically the two years of intensive focus on the two fifty that we're gonna have is gonna is gonna have a ripple effect for I don't know how many years and decades to come. It's gonna be amazing.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

Well, Tim, you mentioned yesterday so many events coming up. You got the the you know, March 17th, uh big event in DC. You guys are gonna be there. The whole rededication thing, I mean, that's gonna be huge.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

It it's gonna be incredible. There are so many things going on. So many of our friends are doing events, and dad, as you mentioned, we are so busy going from event to event to event. Uh obviously, there's a ton of stuff that is also on uh our website, all kinds of resources, and guys, we're on so many podcasts, so many uh news sites, websites. So between Patriot Academy, Wall Builders, there's plenty of content out there where people can find out more of the stories of the history of America, they can share it with their friends, and also there's plenty of events if they want to come show up and support and celebrate America together.

Practical Ways To Celebrate Locally

SPEAKER_03 26:21

All right, folks, make sure you're listening to the Wall Builder Show. We'll keep you updated on some of those events as they continue throughout the year. And then do your own. Get together with people, plan a July 4th celebration at your church, in your community, in your neighborhood, wherever. Uh, but get together with people, read the Declaration of Independence, get some good wall builders materials. Again, Wallbuilders.com for all of those things, and then Wallbuilders.show for the radio program. Thanks for listening to the Wall Builders Show.