“George Washington’s Christianity”

George Washington's Christianity 1

© 2024 Don Pinson | [Download]
(Link not working? Right-click and select “Save As”.)

Each year on February 22nd, we celebrate the birthday of the Father of our country, George Washington. There are some things about George Washington that my schooling never taught me. Things like what Rev. Henry Muhlenberg, Pastor of the Valley Forge Lutheran Church in 1777, said of him when our Continental Army spent the winter there. I quote Rev. Muhlenberg:

“I heard a fine example today, namely, that His Excellency General Washington rode around among his army yesterday and admonished each and every one to fear God…[and] to practice the Christian virtues. From all appearances, this gentleman does not belong to the so-called world of society, for he respects God’s Word, believes in the atonement through Christ, and bears himself in humility and gentleness. Therefore, the Lord God has also…marvelously preserved him from harm in the midst of countless perils, [ambushes] fatigues, etc., and has hitherto graciously held him in his hand as a chosen vessel.”

(The Notebook of a Colonial Clergyman, Theodore Tappert (Fortress Press, 1975), p.195)

Were you aware George Washington was Continue reading

“The Greatest Need in America”


© 2024 Don Pinson | [Download]
(Link not working? Right-click and select “Save As”.)

The Greatest Need in America 1With more disrespect being shown to our flag, even within our own borders, it would do us well to revisit our heritage! Fort McHenry (where in 1812 a battle raged which inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner) was named after a man who served as a medical soldier in George Washington’s army, and later signed the U.S. Constitution. His name was James McHenry. While unknown to us today, James McHenry was one of those men who laid such a firm foundation for America that during the 1800s it would grow to become the greatest nation on earth. James McHenry got his foundation from the Bible. In addition to his achievements just mentioned, he also served as a member of the Continental Congress, his state legislature, and the U.S. Secretary of War—and President of the Baltimore Bible Society! He had this to say about the Bible:

“…public [usefulness] pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise…can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness.

“In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments.”

He then Continue reading

“Knowing the God of Lincoln”

Knowing the God of Lincoln 1

© 2024 Don Pinson | [Download]
(Link not working? Right-click and select “Save As”.)

There’s a little-known story about Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday we celebrate this week, which needs to be told.

Shortly before his death, an Illinois clergyman asked Abraham Lincoln, “Do you love Jesus?”  Mr. Lincoln solemnly replied:

“When I left Springfield I asked the people to pray for me.  I was not a Christian.  When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian.  But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.  Yes, I do love Jesus.”

(America’s Providential History, p. 241)

Abraham Lincoln was not Continue reading