Preface: HOLY TRINITY CHURCH v. U.S.

“If we pass beyond these matters to a view of American life, as expressed by its laws, its business, its customs, and its society, we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. Among other matters note the following: The form of oath universally prevailing, concluding with an appeal to the Almighty; the custom of opening sessions of all deliberative bodies and most conventions with prayer; the prefatory words of all wills, "In the name of God, amen;" the laws respecting the observance of the Sabbath, with the general cessation of all secular business, and the closing of courts, legislatures, and other similar public assemblies on that day; the churches and church organizations which abound in every city, town, and hamlet; the multitude of charitable organizations existing everywhere under Christian auspices; the gigantic missionary associations, with general support, and aiming to establish Christian missions in every quarter of the globe. These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation. In the face of all these, shall it be believed that a congress of the United States intended to make it a misdemeanor for a church of this country to contract for the services of a Christian minister residing in another nation?”  See full text of Supreme Court Opinion

Imagery In The Night - Superman Meets the Ant-lion

Ezekiel 8
“And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.”

There are times down through the six thousand years of human history that we can definitely see supernatural events occurring, which events run counter current to the natural events that we all see.

Now, the only way these supernatural events can be explained is by a supernatural BOOK that has recorded these very same supernatural events.

Now it follows that a supernatural BOOK can only be authored by a supernatural PERSON. This supernatural PERSON is revealed in the BOOK, which is called the BIBLE.

[Now the BIBLE in the English language, which is the language of the end times, is the Authorized Version of 1611 [which includes any of its editions].] The Authorized Version of 1611 is commonly known as the King James Bible.

Next, the supernatural events of the last two thousand years [events since the Son of God, Jesus Christ, went back to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, events not recorded in the Bible] … have occurred nonetheless. These events are specifically those which involve the PERSON [and work] of the Holy Spirit manifested in the hearts of men.

Down through the centuries of time men have been saved through supernatural interruptions, called revivals. Each interruption [or revival] moved [or translated] a massive number of the souls of men [dead in their sins] from the power of darkness [Satan] into the Kingdom of God. See for this, in the book of Colossians, chapter one, verse thirteen: “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” [Colossians 1:13]. Thus, deliverance + translation equals salvation!

In the United States of America, we saw supernatural events occurring [in what is now known as the Great Awakening] from the years 1730 to 1760. For this, God used George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and William and Gilbert Tennant, along with others.

Also, in the 18th century, God interrupted the natural order of events with the second birth [John 3:3] of Shubal Stearns [in Stonington, Connecticut, 1751], and in the process of time [1755] moved him so as to position him at Sandy Creek, North Carolina.

What began supernaturally by the Spirit of God in Sandy Creek resulted in moving those believers in Jesus Christ in radiantly successive waves to all the American Southeast to establish Bible-believing churches in what would become the present-day states of Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri.

What has been widely known as the Bible Belt began within the regenerated heart [Titus 3:5] of one man, Shubal Stearns, and was continued through other men who were “born of the Spirit”, and lasted till the whole of the southeastern United States was greatly affected towards God. Now, note this: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” [John 3:6]

The last supernatural intervention by the Spirit of God on a national scale in the United States of America is seen by taking a historical picture [an image] of the years just prior to 1900 A.D. Are you ready?

In a snapshot of time, from a past not too distant, we can see “pourtrayed” on a wall, through the twenty-twenty-eyes of history, this image of the United States of America in the latter part of the 19th century. America [seemingly on a rise to becoming the greatest nation of the earth] is seen tottering upon a great continental divide, while musing in a valley of decision.

The decision America made [over one hundred years ago] was to meet in a great [future] meeting with the LORD “in the valley of decision” in the 21st century: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.” [Joel 3:14]
Consider these three historical events, which occurred while America was upon the great continental divide concerning her future as a nation. Again, are you ready for this?

The first event came in 1888, when George Eastman invented a dry, transparent, and flexible photographic process called rolled photography film, and mass produced the brownie camera, thus enabling every American an affordable image-taking experience in the very same manner [called mass production] that Henry Ford was soon to achieve by literally putting America on wheels.
Now don’t forget, it was Kodak that dominated the American photography [imagery] industry, and indeed that of the whole world.

Following from: The Economist: The Last Kodak Moment
• Fact: Even as late as 1976, Kodak commanded 90% of film sales and 85% of camera sales in the United States.
• Fact: Kodak employed over 145,000 workers in 1988 worldwide.
• Fact: By 1996 – at its peak—the company was the fifth most valuable company in the world.
• Fact: By 1996 … at its peak … Kodak had over two thirds of the global market share.
• Fact: By 1996 … at its peak … Kodak’s revenues reached nearly $16 billion, and its stock exceeded $90, and the company was worth over $31 billion.

Now, for the great fall. By the year 2012 [just 16 years from its peak] Kodak was bankrupt. What happened to Kodak? [What happened to Kodak … will happen to us.]

The second event was in the year 1892, when David Josiah Brewer stated in his concluding opinion as a Supreme Court judge these words:

“These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation.”

The third event was in the year 1887, when a young man from Ames, Iowa, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and began preaching all across America. His name was Billy Sunday.

Now God sees a thing from afar. God has a different plan. God calls a man. God equips the man. God enables the man. Now enter Billy Sunday!

Now we need to preface this run of Billy Sunday with this:

GOD sent his prophets to Israel.

GOD sent his preachers to America!

America was increasingly rejecting them. With that rejection, the Bible colleges and seminaries began turning out a different breed of preachers. Modernism, materialism and unbelief had crept in. America was turning away from the God of the Bible. History had repeated itself.

God's old-time preachers who stood true suffered derision and ridicule, and were often threatened with their very lives.

Billy Sunday preached for over forty years the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and was the last man that God would give to preach nationally the last time to America.

Now, Billy was saved by the blood of the LAMB of GOD [Jesus Christ] at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, Illinois, while he was playing professional baseball. God deliberately hand-picked this rough-cut jewel to be the man to do the job GOD had in mind in order to bring America back to the semblance of being the Christian nation it professed to be in 1892. [David Josiah Brewer -

“These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation.”]

Remember this side note: There is one thing we can learn from history, and that is, men never learn from history!

Billy was no slick educated man, but rather a man who was a product of a godly mother, with humble beginnings in the midst of the rich Iowan cornfields of mid-America. No matter to God, for God picks the tool. The timing was perfect!

The Kodak [Brownie] imagery was on the scene, the Supreme Court justice had already made his concluding opinion: “These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation”, and the man Billy Sunday was already making the circuits around the bases from the mid-western states to the far-western states, and then lastly, to the large cities of the east coast states of the United States.

With successive supernatural waves, which first began in America’s “corn belt” in Garner, Iowa [1896], sixty meetings followed over the next five years in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, and Missouri [1896-1901]. Then, westward, “the sawdust trail” continued to the states of Colorado [1905], Montana, Oregon, Washington.

Then, wheeling around, the Spirit of God opened the door to the eastern United States to Pennsylvania [Scranton, Pittsburg, and Philadelphia], to Massachusetts [Boston], and to Washington, D.C. [1915]. The high point in this wave was reached in 1917 with the New York City meetings with the people hitting “the sawdust trail”.

The news media from coast to coast published in veritable excitement Billy Sunday’s messages in their newspapers. In community after community, the talk of the town was “the Gospel of Jesus” and the need to “get saved”. Never, never, has this ever occurred before, or since, in the United States of America. Hundreds of thousands of Americans were born of the Spirit, and millions upon millions were greatly affected with the fear of God to the moral good and health of this nation.

The last of the Rear Guard preachers was now “pourtrayed” in the media [newspapers] in the final march which was powered by the imagery of the Holy Ghost.

GOD sent this last REAR GUARD preacher to America … to try to turn America back to himself … before the different imagery of the night came, which imagery came from Hollywood, California, in the movies made with the Eastman Kodak rolling film.

It was the perfect time [1892-1935] for God to move the preacher to preach:

"Let's quit fiddling with religion and do something to bring the world to Christ. If you want to drive the devil out of the world, hit him with a cradle instead of a crutch. I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, and I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old and fistless and footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition!"

We have this following time line provided to us:

• “1887, Fall - Billy Sunday accepts Christ as Savior at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago.

• “1888, September 5 Sunday marries Helen Thompson at the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in Chicago.

• “1890, Fall - Billy is traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to Philadelphia and signs a three-year contract.

• “1891, March 17 - The Philadelphia team releases Billy from his contract and he accepts a job with the Y.M.C.A. in Chicago.

• “1893 - Billy resigns from the Y.M.C.A. to become the “advance” man for Evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman.

• “1895, December - Dr. Chapman accepts the pastorate of Bethany Presbyterian church in Philadelphia and leaves evangelism.

• “1896, January - Billy Sunday holds his first evangelistic meeting in Garner, Iowa.

• “1898, April 21 - Spanish-American War begins.

• “1901, September 14 - President William McKinley is assassinated. Theodore Roosevelt becomes President.

• “1903, April 13 - Sunday is ordained to the gospel ministry by the Chicago presbytery.

• “1905 - First Billy Sunday Tabernacle is erected in Perry, Iowa.

• “1907 - Homer Rodeheaver becomes Sunday’s song leader.

• “1914 - World War I begins in Europe.” The war to end all wars!

• “1915, Jan. 18 - President Woodrow Wilson entertains Billy at the White House.

• “1915, January - March - The largest Sunday campaign yet is held in Philadelphia with over two million people in attendance.

• “1917, April 2 - President Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany.

• “1917, April 8 - The twelve-week New York City campaign gets underway, nearly one hundred thousand people hit the sawdust trail before it is over.

• “1919, January 16 - Prohibition is approved as the eighteenth amendment to the Constitution.

• “1920 - Warren G. Harding is elected President.

• “1927 - Homer Rodeheaver leaves the Billy Sunday Evangelistic Organization and is replaced by Harry Clarke.

• “1929, October 29 - The stock market crash begins the Great Depression.

• “1932 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected President.” [The New Deal socialism bursts into the scene.]

• “1933, Dec. 5 - Prohibition is repealed by the twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution.

• “1935, Oct. 27 - Billy Sunday preaches his last sermon in Mishawaka, Indiana.

• “1935, Nov. 6 - Sunday suffers a fatal heart attack and the “sawdust trail” is ended.”1

• 1939-45 - World War II and the use of the atomic bomb.

• 1950-53 - the Korean War is fought to a stalemate.

• 1952-60 - Dwight D. Eisenhower is President. The Welfare State emerges from the socialist idealisms.

• 1962-63 - John F. Kennedy is President. The U.S. Supreme Court divorces God from the United States [by removing prayer and the Bible from the public schools].

• 1963-75 - Under Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon the Vietnam War ensued and we lost the war.

• 1964-80 - The moral decay spreads over the land of the United States and the United States is in rapid decline as a world power. We massively decide to murder babes in the wombs.

• 1980-1988 - Ronald Reagan is President. These years brought a momentary pause to our descent as a nation.

• 1992 - 2000 - William Jefferson Clinton is President. These years put us into the steep slippery slide downward towards our national destruction.

• 2001- 2008 - George Bush is President, and we blindly go to war in the caldron of the Middle East.

• 2009 - present - Barak Hussein Obama is President, and we turn from Israel and we are economically bankrupt and militarily emaciated.

1 “Events in the Life of Billy Sunday” on pages 127-128 from Billy Sunday, Home Run to Heaven by Robert Allen, 1985 Mott Media, Inc.

Next  1. The Spirit of Jealousy