From the epic film, "Patton," many of us remember the famous prayer that the gritty general "ordered up" to clear the weather and break the Nazi siege of Bastogne. The Third Army Chaplain, James O'Neill, composed the prayer that, well … worked.
Lesser known, though, is the beautifully moving appeal to God from wartime President Franklin Roosevelt. I honestly had never read it until seeing it in the gorgeous nod to our nation's heritage, "God's Promises for the American Patriot." Compiled by Dr. Richard G. Lee (pastor of First Redeemer Church in Atlanta and host of the radio and television ministry, There's Hope) and gift-book virtuoso Jack Countryman, this book is sensational. For years, publisher Thomas Nelson has produced deluxe gift books in the Countryman line, and this offering is one of its finest.
The Roosevelt prayer is just one of this book's reproductions of famous American stories and heroes. From icons like Thomas Paine and Daniel Webster, to lesser-known Elias Boudinor Jr., president of the Continental Congress from 1782-1783, "God's Promises" is chock-full of fascinating vignettes and quotes linked to America's heritage.
As usual, Thomas Nelson/Countryman spares no expense in crafting a luminous book: The padded hardcover has an old world look, with quotes and small stories paired with relevant Scripture. An image of the person being featured is located at the bottom of each entry.
Although "God's Promises for the American Patriot" is clearly wrapped in a gift package, it doubles as a rich historical document that assembles a wide array of documents. Given the lack of historical knowledge in our country today, particularly among young people who often sit under Marxist professors, this little book is literally invaluable. After reading it, one comes away with the clear impression that Providence cloaked America in blessing after blessing.
As with Roosevelt's wartime prayer, I had also never read President George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation, issued in New York on October 3, 1789.
It reads in part: "Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted to the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be."
Awesome!
I wish every American would read the Federalist Papers, but, that is obviously wishful thinking. However, that is precisely why a book like "God's Promises for the American Patriot" is so needed. Besides a small section on the Declaration of Independence and a brief profile of Julia Ward Howe, author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," this book also offers "The Bible and the American presidents."
This two-page spread illustrates quite clearly that some of the men considered by liberals to be "plain" or of moderate intellect were in fact intellectual powerhouses.
For example, John Quincy Adams said: "The first and almost the only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible. I speak as a man of the world … and I say to you, 'Search the Scriptures.'"
Reagan is also quoted: "Inside the Bible's pages lie all the answers to all of the problems man has ever known. … The Bible can touch our hearts, order our minds, and refresh our souls."
My goodness. The contrast between these men and those who "lead" us today is astonishing. Consider the men quoted in "God's Promises" and then consider that the current American vice president reportedly (behind closed doors, of course – the yellow coward) calls tea-party members "terrorists" at the same time he's charging the Secret Service rent for a cottage on his Delaware property! The Founders would have contemptuously, simply sent such a fellow back to merry old England on a leaky ship.
John McLean, U.S. postmaster general and justice of the Supreme Court, once wrote that the Bible is the foundation of the country; in part: "The Bible has shed a glorious light upon the world. It shows us that in the coming day we must answer for our deeds done in the body. It has opened us to a new and living way, so plainly marked out that no one can mistake it."
Look, I implore you, if you lead a church, don't give your high school graduates a smarmy, self-serving, useless, callow, shallow, turgid piece of excrement by Joel Osteen or Rob Bell. Give them something valuable; buy "God's Promises for the American Patriot" by the case. It can help turn the country around.
At a time when revisionists in what were once our great, Christian-based institutions of higher learning – Ivy League schools – would have us believe that Washington, Jefferson and Adams squatted in the mountains and smoked hash with comrades Che and Fidel … it is wondrous that Lee and Countryman would give us such a treasure of American heritage.