Faith And Culture Opening

SPEAKER_02 0:07

This is the Intersection of Faith and Culture. Thank you for joining us today. You're listening to the Wall Builder Show, where we take on the hot topics of the day with a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective. We're going to get all three of those perspectives about what happened just a couple of days ago in Washington, D.C. Incredible, incredible rededication to God for America. Absolutely amazing. Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton, who both were actually there. I was up in Idaho doing an event and couldn't go. But man, guys, I so enjoyed the few clips I got to see online, the worship service. I can only imagine. In fact, Tim, I saw a couple of your videos that you made. And wow, I mean, just the atmosphere came through on video. I can't imagine what the atmosphere was like actually being there.

Setting The Scene In DC

Heat, Crowds, And A Fainting Veteran

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Yeah, it was absolutely incredible. Um and and as eventful as you might imagine, when you have um I'm I'm guessing it was tens of thousands of people. I I haven't seen a final number. I know there's been speculation. Um I'm sure at some point there'll be a better count that comes out. Um, but I mean, just thousands upon thousands of people, and it was hot. It was sunny most of the day. Uh, there were several people that passed out. I was actually uh getting ready to do an interview with Real American Voice, and uh there was a lady uh the the place we were doing the interview was elevated. There was a tent covering, and there was a lady uh in the lawn behind us, and she kind of came toward the fence because all of the media section is kind of blocked off. And as she came toward this little metal fence, she said, I need help. And and we were not live at that point. And so one of the guys said, Man, what can I do for you? She said, I'm passing out, I'm fainting. And she starts to collapse. So I jump down. Um, he runs to go grab some water. So I'm on the ground with her helping hold her. Uh, it turns out she is a 77-year-old uh marine veteran um who loves America, loves God, wanted to be there. But coming through the magnetometers, uh, they apparently she had brought a water bottle in a metal container, which they didn't let you bring in. And they sold bottles of water there, but it was like$7 a bottle, and she couldn't bring herself to pay$7. And apparently, uh her marine strong mind, she was like, I don't need water for eight hours and 90 degrees heat. I'll be totally fine as a 77-year-old woman. And her body at some point was like, that's incorrect. Uh, we're gonna make you lay down for a little bit. And so, anyway, um, so we actually wait, Tim.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

What's a seven dollar bottle of water? Well, she's definitely marine tough. I mean, that sounds like a marine at that point. 77, you're not gonna take me down. I love it. That's great.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

So so Tim got to be paramedic, you know, EMT guy and uh uh and and make all those videos you made. So that's that's impressive, man. I didn't know you did that kind of stuff.

Why The 250th Anniversary Matters

SPEAKER_03 2:58

Yeah, so so all of this to say is there was a lot more happening than most people even realized. Uh, you know, uh things we didn't expect, but it was an incredible, uh it was an incredible time to be there. Um before we even get into some of the incredible speakers, uh pastors, political leaders, uh worship leaders, all of the incredible parts of the event, which we'll take some time and talk about. Uh the fact that it's on the 250th anniversary of when the Second Continental Congress issued a proclamation for a day of prayer and fasting, because the founding fathers fully recognized if we don't get God's assistance in what we're doing, we're never gonna succeed. And the fact that we got to be 250 years later in Washington, D.C., in the nation's capital, ultimately saying the same thing that if we don't get God's intervention, this is never gonna work. And the fact that you had probably tens of thousands of people there in person, and then certainly tens and hundreds of thousands of people watching online, uh, live streams from all kinds of media outlets that were there, it was just so special to be able to be there in person, uh, certainly for a lot of the spiritual significance, but then as people that love history, that's a pretty significant historical moment as well.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Yeah, and let me add to it that I I talked to some of the White House people, uh, and they said that they were told by the park police that it was over 30,000. So that at least that was what they told the officials in the thing, which was you know, for a 90-degree day. Now, as a Texan, I man, I was looking for a jacket or something. It was pretty cool up there at 90 degrees. I I was I was really fine with that.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

So I would say the sunburn on your face in the back of your neck. Uh, if people were watching the video right now of you, uh, they would recognize, sir, that was incorrect.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Well, I I I mean, I may have got sunburned, but it didn't bother me. I I I didn't feel that hot. I was I enjoyed the whole day, even the rain that fell on just to make it nice and muggy.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Of course, what we know, Tim, about David is that you know, with 90 or 100 degrees outside, he's still going to be inside with a fireplace and the air conditioner going. Listening to his Christmas music. That's exactly right. Listening to his Christmas Christmas music. That's right.

Nehemiah And National Renewal Parallels

SPEAKER_00 5:16

That that is exactly right, brother. I got that down for sure. But it was it it was significant in a lot of ways. And if I can take it back a little bit, about a month ago we had the read through the Bible, America Reads the Bible, where that we went through literally the um for seven days, twelve hours a day reading the Bible. And I was thinking about that service of rededication yesterday, and I was looking uh in in the scriptures just before we went on, and I found some real interesting kind of um parallels, if you will, will, scripturally. Because if you go back to uh and what I what I thought about when we did the all the Bible reading back then is hey, that's kind of like when they built the platform and they were rebuilding the walls in Jerusalem after having been in bondage for a while, and they're getting God back in the center of the nation, and they built that platform and and they read read the word. And so I was thinking about well, that's a parallel. But then when I looked, uh I I just went through Nehemiah chapter eight through chapter thirteen, and those six chapters, it it really is fascinating to see the sequence. Uh in Nehemiah 8, they built the platform and they read the word for seven days, which is interesting, exactly what we did on the America Reads the Bible, seven days, twelve hours a day, and so that would be like their daylight hour, so pretty close to the same thing. And then it said the next thing that Nehemiah did was he reviewed the history of the nation. After that time of reading the Bible, he went back and remembered their history and recovered their history and went through the history. And then the next thing they did was renewed the covenant. After having recalled their history, and and that was one of the fascinating things, I think, about what we had uh with the service this weekend was how many people Mike Mike Johnson, I mean Mike Johnson just kind of went back and he in five minutes uh he probably prayed five minutes, and that prayer was a telling of American history from Columbus all the way up to the current time. He just kind of recovered he he just went through history. And there were so many who did that. Take us back through our history and remember our beginnings and going all the way through World War II and et cetera. And then it's interesting that Nehemiah 11, after they renewed the covenant, which is what happened this weekend, it said that Nehemiah spread the people out throughout the whole nation to re-establish their communities. They went from what had happened in Jerusalem there, the capital of the nation, and they went back into all their communities taking that with them. And they took that word with them and started re-establishing their own communities. And then it says in Nehemiah 12 and 13 that the people started following the scriptures and its principles. And so maybe that's what we're coming into. I sure hope it is. Uh, but it it was interesting to me how closely the last several weeks have paralleled what we see in Nehemiah when they're trying to rebuild the nation and get God back in the center of the nation. And I don't think anybody was trying to duplicate that in any way, shape, fashion, or form. There was never a mention of that. Nobody ever a acknowledged that. Uh but it was just fascinating to me to see how closely that occurred. And so hopefully if that's if that's accurate, right now we're in the in the in the place of taking it back to our states and and getting our communities and other things kind of refocused and pointing in that right direction.

When The Day Turns To Prayer

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Yeah, it had to feel like literally the rebuilding of the you know the foundations and and of course starting with that that dedication. What was there uh I I mean a lot of times there's a build-up to it to an event like this and and uh you know you're not sure is the Lord gonna show up or uh you know, I mean, between the the worship that I saw and and some of the videos that I saw, it just seemed like it had a revival atmosphere to it. Did it feel like that?

Chris Tomlin And Holy Forever

SPEAKER_03 8:59

It definitely was something that felt spiritually impactful. Uh certainly throughout the the length of the day, um when you're fighting dehydration uh and trying not to get sunburned, that there definitely were moments uh in the midst of something that is so long where you're kind of going, okay, I need a little bit of a break right now. But ultimately, there were so many moments throughout it that it was very clear whether it was um someone like a Jensen Franklin or dad, as you mentioned, a Mike Johnson, Marco Rubio's speech uh video recorded, but still it was incredible. There were so many people along the way that were very impactful. But I mean, guys, to me, honestly, I felt like closer to the end, and that's also Mike Johnson was a little closer to the end. Closer to the end of the program is where it started to feel a little bit more uh spiritually in-depth. There were there were parts of the program that felt uh knowing this was supposed to be a rededication event, which should focus on prayer. Certainly, there's gonna be some people that give some speeches that focus on the history and remind us. And we're at Wild Builders, we are certainly not against the idea of teaching history, reminding people from whence they came. But there were moments where it felt a little more uh performative driven than prayer-oriented, that they were trying to do a program or a production. And even though there were spiritual tones in it, like going to church service where the choirs, everybody sit down and listen to the choir, sing this song now. There were some of those moments that there were still spiritual realities in the words of their singing, but it felt more performative than participation uh with what we would hope for in a moment maybe for some more prayer time. But I say all of that in context, all of it was good. The later you got in the last couple of hours, it felt to me like it really turned a lot more towards we're gonna take time and pray. And and there was times when at that point, uh, whether it be like a Lou Ingall who's encouraging people, everybody, let's get down on their knees and let's cry out to God, let's confess our sins. Uh, there there were people like that that were challenging and calling on. And then uh Hillsong, uh Young and Free came and did some worship. Uh Chris Tomlin, and and I would say those were moments that felt far more of the pursuit of kind of God and uh maybe more of the prayer service that you would hope and think was happening. So I would say it ended on the highest of notes that you could have possibly wanted. Uh and one of the cool things, Chris Tomlin uh is the the worship leader who closed the whole program. And he was also the worship leader who at Charlie Kirk's Memorial, he has an incredible song called Holy Forever. I would encourage everybody, uh, YouTube at Spotify, iTunes, wherever you listen, just that's a song you can put on repeat. I to me, it is one of my favorites right now. It's so powerful. But he talked about on a podcast after having sung that song, led that worship song at Charlie Kirk's memorial. There's a a point in the song when it talks about that all thrones and dominions are yours. And he he said, I was singing that song looking around and seeing the president of the United States, the vice president, all of these cabinet members and these senators, and right, you have the Elon Musks and all these incredible business leaders and world leaders, and were singing this song there in front of them. And he talked about that for him, it was this really cool revelation that literally, kind of the heart of the song, that's what's happening right now. All of these leaders are engaged in a worship service that is elevating the ultimate, the name that is above every name. All of that to say, when he took the stage, Holy Forever is basically how he ended uh his his worship set. And he came to the microphone, and and there were so many of his great songs that he led in worship that people are the crowd was super engaged with, and there was uh an emotional connecting time of worship. But when he got to Holy Forever, he stepped up to the microphone and he looked out and said, I've been waiting all day just to be able to sing this song in this place. And he's on the stage that the Washington Monument is behind him, and he's looking forward at the Capitol, looking at thousands of people on the lawn in front of him, and leads him in worship of holy forever. And that was just such a powerful, profound way to end it. So I would say absolutely the whole thing was phenomenal. Uh the the parts that might have felt a little slower than others, it's very arguable that there was some heat fatigue and dehydration involved. But I would say the way it finished was everything you would have hoped and prayed for from the outside that would have been taking place there on the lawn in front of the Capitol, the mall. People were literally crying out to God, repenting, beseeching God's intervention on behalf of the nation, and then lifting up the name of Jesus. So it was just absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Love it, love it, man. That that was one of the clips that I got to see was that song. It was just so, so powerful. I'm gonna have a question for David about what George Whitfield has to do with what happened on Sunday. Yeah, yeah. You can wonder for a minute. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Wall Builder Show.

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SPEAKER_01 14:38

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Whitfield Crowds And Jefferson’s Band

SPEAKER_02 15:41

Welcome back to the Wallboard Show. Thanks for staying with us. Yes, um, uh David, okay. You're the one that taught me about George Whitfield and all the 18,000 sermons and all that going up and how he could speak to thousands and thousands of people. And I think it was Franklin that said, you know, 25,000 maybe was what he mapped out as he counted the people. So if there were 30,000 people out there, did you at any point in this long hot day when you were dehydrated out of water, uh, you know, just imagine that George Whitfield was up on stage without a microphone? So all these other guys had microphones, right? I mean, they got microphones, musical instruments. Whitfield would have done that many people without a microphone. Did that occur to you at all during the day?

SPEAKER_00 16:19

No, that is a great question. It did not. And I should have thought about that because that would have been the right size crowd for Whitfield with some of the stuff he had. But interestingly, I thought somebody else, I thought about Thomas Jefferson. And I thought about Thomas Jefferson for a very different reason. Part of it was what Tim was saying about how that at the at toward the end, as things started coming together, and you've had all this this uh we were there about eight hours total for for what we were there. And you had in the start of the day, it was kind of like getting engaged and and listening to people, and and there was a a lot a lot of music. I just went through and marked some of the stuff. The U.S. Armed Forces Trumpets, Liberty University Worship Collective, Grand Canyon, Christian University, their Choral Society, Hillsdale College. Um, here's the Marine Band, the Marine Band, the Marine Band, Adon King, um, Liberty University Praise. I mean, all these different groups, and it wasn't uh it was all Christian music. But what really got me was toward the last, and talking about Chris Tomlin, um, I guess maybe a half hour before that last part, maybe an hour before, uh, the Marine Corps band came back out, and the Marine Corps band is known as the President's Own. And that goes back to Thomas Jefferson. Um, the Marine Corps band, Jefferson's the first one to have a full term in the White House, and the Marine Corps band got the name Jeff President's Own under Jefferson. And it was the Marine Corps band that Jefferson had playing the worship services in the church that met at the U.S. Capitol. And Jefferson's one of the ones who started that church at the Capitol. So on Sunday, they had the Marine Corps band come play the worship services at church on Sunday, and then eventually they thought, well, that's a little ostentatious, you know, maybe the brass is too much or whatever. And so they they moved kind of back toward traditional choir kind of music. But I watched the Marine Corps band when they were doing that that uh worship set there about an hour out, and I just watched those guys and they weren't performing. Uh the guy who who played the uh the guitar and was kind of the lead for the the they had a smaller group of six. I mean, he and and the the black lady that was singing with him, they were they literally were worshiping. They weren't just performing and they had their eyes closed, hands raised. And I thought how how cool is that to have one of the best bands in the nation there and they're engaged in what's actively going on. They're not just performing. And I thought that was a really to me that was really impressive to see the level of engagement of so many that were there. Even the political people that spoke. It was not like they were speaking to uh a state or a a national Republican convention or something. I mean, they really had some stuff to say. And so it was it was it was quite amazing in my opinion, just to see all all the folks that there, but especially to watch the the Air Force and the Marine and the Navy. Uh they had the branches uh all there doing bands and man they just did a stellar job.

What We Take Home Personally

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Well, I had not thought about Jefferson because I I and I do remember I do remember the first time I went on a Capitol tour with you, and uh and we were talking about the churches that had met at the Capitol, and and that was the first time I had heard about Jefferson and the Marine Corps band, but I didn't think about that for for Sunday. So very, very good. Uh so what what do you guys think for the people that were there, what do they take home with them from the from an event like that?

SPEAKER_03 19:54

I I think one of the things that we should look at and celebrate is uh similar to anything that we can point to in the founding era when they had days of prayer and fasting, um, one of the modern criticisms of early America is but these weren't perfect guys, and you know, some of them were they all were really flawed, but some were like really, really flawed. This is the modern telling, the modern narrative. And of course, we would uh want to have some some wisdom and some biblical worldview perspective, and we would want to say, guys, that's not the whole story. There's more to the story, but but one of the things that I was able to it for if if anybody saw us doing interviews, uh my dad and I both had a lot of interviews, and we actually just went to participate. So I was wearing a t-shirt and a hat. Um, my dad was wearing one of his throwback uh 1990s uh short sleeve patriotic button-ups. It was awesome, everybody loved it. Um, but we we were just going to be there. So we most of the people that were doing interviews and were really like leading and participating in some of these um higher level activities, they're there in their suits and whatnot. So all of that to say is what we were just expecting to participate. But one of the things I kept reminding people on these interviews is what we are doing now is probably far more similar to things that happened for decades, if not hundreds of years in early American history, where they would literally have days set aside. And and I point out that virtually every founding father that was a governor uh or was a president, they issued prayer proclamations calling either their state or the nation to times of prayer. And and if you go back and say, okay, so what happened on those days? Well, it it it it probably was very similar to what we did, where they would have time set aside where somebody probably comes and and they give a word and there's some Bible study, there's some prayer time, there's some worship. So this is probably far more reflective of what we used to do in America. And I say that because one of the things that we should take away is we should begin to normalize faith and Christianity in America again. One of the things that that I hope we take away is that we need to be more bold and courageous in our faith and even just letting people know that we are people of faith. But also one of the things that is very clear throughout the Bible, and it's one of the things that there were several moments that there was encouragement from speakers to be introspective and reflective, to say if there's sin in our life, we need to repent. And this this is kind of where it starts. If if we don't, if we don't first confess our sins, then we can't hope for the nation to for find forgiveness of sins and really to leave that sin. And so I would say that in the midst of us being more bold and courageous and normalizing Christianity in our faith, we also ought to be more intentional about being repentant. Um, President Trump's video that was played, it was the same video that was played from America Reads the Bible, where he's reading from Chronicles 7.14, um, that right at the time when there's not rain and there's a drought and there's all these problems, and if my people who are called by my name would humble themselves, would would pray, would seek my face, would confess their sins and turn from their wicked ways. This is what he read. And that was a theme that was repeated. And I would say one of the things that in the midst of us being able to identify a lot of sins and problems and evils that are occurring in the nation, that we need to start with ourselves first, and then we need to be more bold and proactive in our faith. Uh, because America certainly needs a political change in a lot of what we are doing, but we also have to recognize that a political change is not going to come the way we want it if we don't first have a spiritual change. So we need a great awakening before we can have a political transformation.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

You know, going with that, this this day was called on the 250th anniversary of the May 17th proclamation by Congress. And it was for Tim, as you pointed out, it was for a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer. It was all about everybody individually on their own, humbling themselves, fasting and praying. And here's what it says in the proclamation that we may with united hearts confess and bewell our manifold sins and transgressions, and by sincere repentance and amendment of life appease his righteousness' pleasure, and through the merits of Jesus Christ obtain his pardon and forgiveness, humbly imploring his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes of our enemies and on it goes. But it's the same tone, Tim, that you're talking about. And that's that was what this whole day was based on, and that's a good thing for us definitely all to remember. Uh is that it starts with that individual, every one of us humbling. Um fasting and praying is a good thing to do if you haven't done that. That's a that's a good practice to use. And the Bible supports that practice. Our history supports that. Um there's been, you know, we pointed out more than 1,400 government-issued calls to prayer by 1815, and about half of those were for fasting humiliation in prayer. And so it's it's significant that we all do that. So it's a good thing to remember for sure.

Your House Matters Most

SPEAKER_02 25:13

I was thinking as as you were saying that, and and and Tim, as you were laying out, you know, it starts personal. I I I wish I could remember the pastor. I just remember like, this is really when I first started going out for you, David, and speaking for wall builders. And I was doing my presentation called Is America One Nation Under God. And this pastor, after I after I finished, he came up to do the altar call and he and and he had I mean he was so good. He said, if we're gonna be a nation under God, we gotta be individuals under God. And he just started talking about exactly what you just said, Tim. And I and it is so critical. Because we get so caught up in the policy or the the politics side of it and who's winning an election and that sort of thing. But it's like we always say, it's not as important. It is important what happens in the White House and State House, but it's not as important what happens at the White House and State House as it is what happens at your house. And are we actually living these things out ourselves, teaching our children and our grandchildren to do the same?

SPEAKER_00 25:59

And Rick, something else that's really important, at least to me. 219.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

219 days. I'm guessing till Christmas. Exactly right, bro. So everybody, as soon as we sign off here, David's gonna go start the fire, turn on the air conditioner, turn it up high, put on some Christmas music, and uh and maybe we'll have to share some Christmas music before the before the week's out. Well, what a great, great week. Rededicating the nation to God. So thankful for a president that has an administration doing that. So thankful that David and Tim got to be there Sunday, and that so many people came in from across the nation, and uh, and that we once again have that heart posture that is right. Everything else will flow from that. Thanks so much for listening. You've been listening to the Wellbooker Show.