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Glory Revealed 2

2009-07-13T19:25:24Z

Glory Revealed 2 is now available. Produced by Mac Powell (Third Day) and David Nasser.

"How Great" - Mac Powell (Third Day), Shane Everett (Shane & Shane), Jonathan Shelton, Brian Littrell
"Rejoice In The Lord" - Trevor Morgan, Mark Hall (Casting Crowns)
"Wake Up, Oh Sleeper" - Jason Crabb, Jonathan Shelton, Bear Rinehart (NEEDTOBREATHE)
"Since The World Began" - Matt Maher, Amy Grant, Ed Cash, Mac Powell
"Psalm 23" - Trevor Morgan, Geoff Moore
"Praise The Lord" - Natalie Grant, Laura Story
"What We Proclaim" - Brandon Heath, Mike Donehey (Tenth Avenue North), Aaron Shust
"Blessed Hope" - Mac Powell, Shawn Lewis (Hyper Static Union)
"There Is A City" - Sara Evans, Bethany Olds
"Cup Of Salvation" - Shane & Shane
"Never" - Shawn Lewis, Bethany Dillon
"To You Be The Glory" - Matt Maher, Kari Jobe

Tullian Tchividjian: Making a Difference By Being Different

2009-07-13T10:23:00Z

Tullian Tchividjian, Billy Graham's prodigal grandson turned megachurch pastor, is our guest on this episode of Steve Brown Etc.

Join us as we talk about making it big and making a difference in the world by being different.

In 2003, Tullian Tchividjian started New City Presbyterian Church near Ft. Lauderdale. In May of this year, New City merged with Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and he succeeded Dr. D. James Kennedy as senior pastor.

Louie Giglio at Hillsong 7/12 on GODTV

2009-07-13T01:55:08Z

Hillsong 2009 Conference - GODTV will be carrying the night sessions from the 2009 Hillsong Conference Wednesday (7/8) through Sunday (7/12). Hosted by Bo Sander in Sydney, Australia, GOD TV’s coverage of Hillsong 2009 includes:

Sunday July 12 at 8pm / 20:00 BST - Louie Giglio, who is the director of Passion Conferences, a movement calling for students around the world to live lives that reflect their Creator.

Praise and worship will be led by the Darlene Zschech, Joel Houston and the Hillsong music team and special guest, Chris Tomlin, who is best known for the song, ‘How Great is our God’.

GODTV - DIRECTV Ch. 365; Sky Angel 138; Sky 580, 581

The Story Behind "Revelation Song"

2009-07-12T18:02:00Z

Jennie Riddle, author of "Revelation Song," tells the story of how the song was written.

I gave my life to Jesus back in 1988. There was a new song out at the time entitled, "I Hear Angels" by Garrit Gustafson. The lyrics read:

"I hear angels singing praises, I see men from every nation, bowing down before the throne… like the sound of many waters… like the rushing wind around us… multitudes join the song… and a symphony of praise arises… tears are wiped away from eyes as men from every tongue and tribe all sing…. Holy, holy… God almighty… who was, and is, and is to come…"

I remember looking up and around asking, "Where God? I want to see and hear that too!" Those prophetic words from Mr. Gustafson took residence within me, became the lullaby sung over each of my children, and fueled an earnest, decade long prayer to see multitudes gathered around the throne.

Back in 1999, I had just changed my 20,446th diaper (yes… I count… don't you? ), and began singing the aforementioned lullaby over my fourth son, Andrew, as we cuddled in our blue chair. My keyboard was broken down, and I simply didn't have the energy to set it up; it had been a really tough "mommy" day. The guitar (which I didn't really play) was accessible, my spaghetti dinner was begging to be cooked and screaming my name… but so was the Holy Spirit! I, again, began telling Him how much I wanted to SEE and HEAR all creation worshipping Him. The songs being sung by the Bride at that time were focusing on need. My heart longed to focus on something far greater than my need, knowing that all needs would be satisfied with just one glimpse of Him.

Therefore, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me write a song that painted Him; a song that the angels and creation were already singing, so that we could join in with One Voice, as One Bride, to One King. My heart recalled Ezekiel 1:26-28 and Revelation 4

"And then, as they stood with folded wings, there was a voice from above the dome over their heads. Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne, sky-blue like a sapphire, with a humanlike figure towering above the throne. From what I could see, from the waist up he looked like burnished bronze and from the waist down like a blazing fire. Brightness everywhere! The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day—that's what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of God! (Message)

"…a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was[like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns[] of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightenings, thunderings, and voices… Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal… And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures… And they do not rest day or night, saying: ' Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!'…"

I put the baby down to play with his toys, picked up the guitar, and began to play four chords I had "discovered" the day before. Immersed in those scriptures, the Lord helped me paint what I was seeing through those passages," Clothed in rainbows of living color, flashes of lightening, rolls of thunder..." The melody stuck. It had the sound of heaven in it. The song wouldn't leave me and I sang it for weeks. I can still hear the Lord whispering to me that He would carry this song across the world. I remember thinking how cool it was going to be to have a couple of my missionary friends carry it to the natives in the bush to be sung around campfires. I had no idea…

Continue reading at her blog.

Chris Tomlin: I Will Rise

2009-07-12T09:49:00Z

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say, It is well

Jesus has overcome
and the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise
When He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise, on eagle's wings
Before my God
fall on my knees,
and rise...
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
when this darkness breaks to light
and the shadows disappear
and my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
and the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise
when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise, on eagle's wings
Before my God
fall on my knees,
and rise...
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing
Worthy is the Lamb!
And I hear the cry of every longing heart
Worthy is the Lamb!

And I hear the voice of many angels sing
Worthy is the Lamb!
And I hear the cry of every longing heart
Worthy is the Lamb!
You are worthy! You are worthy!
Worthy is the Lamb!

Passion 2010

2009-07-11T21:32:41Z

From Louie Giglio and our other friends at the Passion House:

Though the summer pace is a little slow and campuses are sparse things are moving around the Passion House as Passion Twenty Ten is now LESS THAN SIX MONTHS AWAY! Crazy!

A few things you need to know right now. For one, our friends Hillsong UNITED have confirmed they will be joining us in January and we are pumped. These guys have been great friends for a while now and it's been amazing to see the way God is using them around the globe. We couldn't be happier to have them joining Redman, Crowder, Tomlin, Fee, Stanfill, Nockels, Hall and the Passion crew.

As well, we are planning another web link on Monday night, September 14. Last spring we gathered students from hundreds of campuses with only four days notice. So how many campuses/students/nations can we gather with over two months to spread the word? This should be pretty cool. In fact, we recently met the crew from Southhampton, England who stayed up until 2AM to join us last time around. Not only will they be on the Passion 2010 Live Link in September, nine of them are already registered to join us in Atlanta! More details are coming, but for now make plans to be in front of a computer with your friends on September 14.

The very next day, September 15, the price for Passion Twenty Ten goes up. I know that seems like a long way away, but it will be here before you know it, so register today! And please continue to help us spread the world. Wherever you are this summer, tell people about this international gathering of university aged people and make sure they have the chance to join us.

College student? For all the info visit the Passion 2010 website for details and register today!

NEXT 2009 Live MP3 Download Set

2009-07-10T22:11:12Z

From our friend Bob Kauflin at Sovereign Grace Ministries in Gaithersburg, MD:

The Next 2009 conference took place in Baltimore, Maryland May 30-June 2. More than 2500 people gathered to worship Jesus Christ in song, to study his Word, and to rediscover who he is and what he has done. Bob Kauflin led the songs along with three different bands: the Na Band, Reilly, and Zelos. Some of the sessions also featured a 14 piece string section.

This album contains thirteen of those songs as they were played and sung at the conference, including “All I Have Is Christ” (Jordan Kauflin), “I Need You” (Kristian Stanfill/Eddie Kirkland), and “By This We Know Love” (Judah Groveman). Whether you were able to attend Next 2009 or not, we trust hearing these songs will inspire a greater devotion to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Preview and download all songs for just $5. Two songs are available for free download at the Sovereign Grace store.

A Tale of Two Funerals

2009-07-10T20:34:20Z

From our friend Ed Stetzer:

While 31 million people were watching Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7th, I joined a few hundred people at Life Point Church in Smyrna, TN for the funeral of 17-year-old Gabe Brewer, the son of Chris Brewer, my friend of many years. Chris and his friend Tim Miles helped me write my first book. Chris and I have traveled to Romania to teach church planting. And, I know how much Chris and Judy loved Gabe.

Many have shared their thoughts on the passing of a pop culture icon, and the spectacle that was his very public memorial service. I don't want to rehash what others have said so well about our culture's habit of deifying and worshiping men whose talents and gifts should point us to the giver of all good things, but I was so struck by these two different services I am compelled to talk about it.

Michael Jackson was one of the most famous men of his lifetime, selling over 300 million records, earning hundreds of millions of dollars, and was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-- twice. And if you're over 30 and under 70 you owned the Thriller album. Don't lie, you know you did. Everyone had it.

Gabe Brewer was entering his senior year at Lancaster Christian Academy. He loved the Lord and his family. He was a leader among his peers, a good student, and played football and soccer. Chris told some wonderful stories in our time together and at the funeral. Gabe's faith and passion were clear.

Only one of these men was famous before men, but both were precious to God and stood before Jesus when they died. And, I saw both services the same day.

After describing the service and call to Christ, which was preached by the young man's father, Ed closes:

Millions tuned in to watch Jackson's memorial service where the King of Pop was remembered, and his work was lifted up. Everyone looked back, and it seemed there was nothing to look forward to. The golden casket seemed, at least to me, a sad reminder that not even a Pharaoh could take wealth into eternity.

A few hundred gathered at Gabe Brewer's funeral where the young man was remembered. But while we all looked back at the life Gabe lived, Chris also called us to look back to the One who gave his life that we might find ours; to Him who was raised from the dead victorious over death. And he called everyone there to look forward-- to the rest of our lives and called everyone there to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ.

Gabe didn't have a golden casket, but he is walking on streets of gold.

This was quite the contrast.

Read it all

The Best Things in Life Happen on the Way to Something Else

2009-07-10T06:55:00Z

²⁰ Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. ²¹ Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. ²² David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. ²³ As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. - I Sam 17

David didn't wake up planning to fight a giant. When he was killing bears he didn't visualize killing a warrior. When he went to the battle, he didn't go as a solider; he went as a deliverer of cheese. A cheese delivery boy. His day didn't turn out as planned.

He was on his way to something else and grabbed an opportunity. That opportunity changed everything. What if he had dropped the supplies and gone back home? What if he followed his pre-determined agenda? "Sorry guys, I am just here to drop off some cheese, not fight a giant and change the world. I have a schedule to keep."

The best things in my life happen on the way to something else.

You may be on the way to something else, but keep an open mind. Today God may have much bigger plans than being a delivery boy. He may have an opportunity for you to change the world. Keep your ears open.

Scot Longyear, Resonate

Biblical Parenting Conference: Tedd Tripp Audio & Video

2009-07-09T03:31:00Z

Conference audio and video from Ted Tripp's Biblical Parenting Conference is available at no charge from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Tripp is the author of Shepherding Your Child's Heart and recently conducted a series of classes at the church's Ballard campus.

Biblical Parenting: The Call to Formative Instruction [audio | video]
Biblical Parenting: Giving Kids a Vision for God's Glory [audio | video]
Helping Kids Understand Authority [audio | video]
Helping Kids Understand the Heart [audio | video]
Overview of Corrective Discipline [audio | video]

The Idol of Cool

2009-07-08T09:10:00Z

Writes Glenn Lucke:

...given that fashion is at least significantly about creating obsolesence so as to separate you from your money, why play ball? I once asked a guy attending my church's high school summer "Beach Retreat" what the difference was between his $165 designer-of-the-moment sunglasses and the $10 sunglasses I brought for the object lessson. I had purposely picked cheap sunglasses that looked exactly like one of the popular versions of the Oakley sunglasses that were "in" at the moment.

I asked him, given that the lenses are the same, the frames look the same, and they accomplish the same function of blocking UV rays from the sun, what did you get for your EXTRA $155 that I didn't get?

His answer: Mine are cool.

Why? The brand. Identical look minus the brand.

In my estimation the kid had coughed up $155 from his wallet to place in various Oakley employee wallets. For what? For cool.

If it were my money, I still wouldn't spend the $155 on cool. But it's not my money, it's God's money. Is this the best way to steward God's money, purchasing cool? I think of messages I've heard from Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll recently about idolatry, and I don't know how Christians square their stewardship of God's money with playing ball with the idol of being cool and being fashionable.

You Are What You Tweet

2009-07-07T23:58:00Z

From Stephen Altrogge:

I can feel as though the things I say and post on Facebook and Twitter don’t really matter. As if, somehow, the things I say and do online are separate from the real me. Come on, it’s just Facebook, right?

Wrong. In Matthew 15:19 Jesus said:

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

So what does this mean? It means that our status updates, photo uploads, wall posts, and online chats are a visible display of what is taking place in our hearts.

Posting flirtatious comments on someone’s picture isn’t “just what happens on Facebook”. Uploading an inappropriate photo isn’t just for fun. Relentlessly mocking someone isn’t what happens online. It’s the overflow of the heart. And it’s sin. What we do online is the real us. It doesn’t matter that we’re safely behind a computer screen.

And the sobering thing is, every action that takes place online has effects that last into eternity.

Read it all

Marcus Buckingham: The Truth About You

2009-07-07T21:59:51Z

When best-selling author Marcus Buckingham writes, people listen. At least they should. He’s one of the few “motivational speakers” with something to say besides the usual platitudes and clichés offered up by many.

Buckingham has become something of an authority in the business world in helping people identify their strengths and weaknesses, and encouraging them to spend more time playing to their strengths than improving weaknesses.

Buckingham’s latest, The Truth About You from Thomas Nelson, offers a condensed tool one can use to identify one’s passions and talents. Although it’s not a thick book and can be read quickly, the real benefit will come with a slower, introspective read, taking the time to answer the questions and consider the trends.

The book includes a DVD with a short story that helps set the stage for the discovery process the book intends to take the reader down, illustrating the importance of understanding your strengths.

This is not a book of psycho-babble. Buckingham goes against the grain at times, throwing out conventional wisdom at times and replacing it with a common sense approach to contemporary times. It's not an overtly Christian book, but it does help one identify their God-given talents and in so doing helps Christians learn to steward their abilties for kingdom purposes.

This is a book, admittedly, that is applicable only to a free people in a modern day society. Indeed, in times past the vocational choices of most people were limited. You did the job that was needed, whether you liked it or not, and whether you were any good at it or not. But today, the choices before all of us are astounding. We have a tremendous amount of choice in America today. Yet many people are unhappy with their vocational choices.

Buckingham makes five points, and expounds in each of them throughout the book. These five points summarize what Buckingham has learned over the years and is derived from his list of five things he wishes he had known when he was first getting started in his career.

Throughout the book, Buckingham elaborates on five valuable pieces of advice he wishes he had received when just starting out in life.

1) Performance is always the point
2) Your strengths aren’t what you’re good at, and your weaknesses aren’t what you’re bad at
3) When it comes to your job, the “what” always trumps the “why” and the “who”
4) You’ll never find the perfect job
5) You’ll never turn your weaknesses into strengths

Buckingham also offers insight into five statements that “sound right but aren’t:”

1) Always treat people as you would like to be treated
2) There is no “I” in team
3) You should work on your weaknesses
4) Push yourself beyond your comfort zone
5) Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness

Throughout the discussion of these topics, Buckingham offers insightful questions designed to reveal your true motivations, your true passions, your true talents. Those that make you happy, not just successful. Read this book, slowly, and think about the questions provided throughout the commentary. You’ll be better equipped to evaluate job opportunities and navigate a career path once you understand the strategy and thinking behind the statements made above.

Preview the book here

Just Do Something: Finding God's Will For Your Life

2009-07-07T09:28:00Z

Kevin DeYoung offers wise counsel to those wondering how to figure out what God wants to do with ther lives. What to major in? Who to date? Who to marry? Where to minister? Where to work? Kevin helps us understand it's not as mystical as many try to make it. MP3 from the 2009 This Is Next Conference.

Preaching to the de-churched: Matt Chandler

2009-07-05T19:38:00Z

Matt Chandler explains why many people who grew up in church have given up on God.

What's That Sucking Sound? Dealing With Approval Addiction

2009-07-05T13:39:54Z

At the root of idolatry is misplaced worship. And when we find rest only when we have the validation and approval of other people, we are not worshiping God, but idols. Matt Ballard explains in this MP3 entitled What's That Sucking Sound? Dealing With Approval Addiction. Notes (including the Approval Idol Test) are available here.

Lazarus Waits, Rachel Weeps

2009-07-05T02:42:38Z

From Jill Carratini at Ravi Zacharias' Slice of Infinity:

In our impervious boxes and minimalist depictions of the Christian story, we comfortably live as if in our own world, blind and unconcerned with the world of suffering around us, intent to tell our feel-good stories while withdrawing from the harder scenes of life. In fact, to pretend as if Christianity does not at times function as a wishful escape from the world is perhaps another kind of wishful thinking. There are some critiques of Christianity we ignore at our own peril.

In reality, the stories Jesus left us with are so much more than wishful thinking and his proclamations of the kingdom among us are far from declarations of escapism. The story of Rachel weeping for her slaughtered children and Lazarus waiting in agony at the gate of someone who could make a difference are two stories among many that refuse to let us sweep the suffering of the world under the rug of unimportance. The fact that they are included in the gospel that brings us the hope of Christ is not only what makes that hope endurable, but what proves Freud and Marx entirely wrong. For Christ brings the kind of hope that can reach even the most hopeless among us. And Jesus hasn’t overlooked the suffering of the world anymore than he has invited his followers to do so; it is a part of the very story we tell.

4th of July Quotes

2009-07-04T19:42:00Z

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.”
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” – Benjamin Franklin

A Former President Explains What July 4 Means to Him

2009-07-03T18:31:00Z

What July 4 Means To Me
by Ronald Reagan

For one who was born and grew up in the small towns of the Midwest, there is a special kind of nostalgia about the Fourth of July.

I remember it as a day almost as long-anticipated as Christmas. This was helped along by the appearance in store windows of all kinds of fireworks and colorful posters advertising them with vivid pictures.

No later than the third of July – sometimes earlier – Dad would bring home what he felt he could afford to see go up in smoke and flame. We'd count and recount the number of firecrackers, display pieces and other things and go to bed determined to be up with the sun so as to offer the first, thunderous notice of the Fourth of July.

I'm afraid we didn't give too much thought to the meaning of the day. And, yes, there were tragic accidents to mar it, resulting from careless handling of the fireworks. I'm sure we're better off today with fireworks largely handled by professionals. Yet there was a thrill never to be forgotten in seeing a tin can blown 30 feet in the air by a giant "cracker" – giant meaning it was about 4 inches long. But enough of nostalgia.

Somewhere in our growing up we began to be aware of the meaning of days and with that awareness came the birth of patriotism. July Fourth is the birthday of our nation. I believed as a boy, and believe even more today, that it is the birthday of the greatest nation on earth.

There is a legend about the day of our nation's birth in the little hall in Philadelphia, a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words "treason, the gallows, the headsman's axe," and the issue remained in doubt.

The legend says that at that point a man rose and spoke. He is described as not a young man, but one who had to summon all his energy for an impassioned plea. He cited the grievances that had brought them to this moment and finally, his voice falling, he said, "They may turn every tree into a gallows, every hole into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the Bible of the rights of man forever."

He fell back exhausted. The 56 delegates, swept up by his eloquence, rushed forward and signed that document destined to be as immortal as a work of man can be. When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors.

Well, that is the legend. But we do know for certain that 56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor.

What manner of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, 11 were merchants and tradesmen, and nine were farmers. They were soft-spoken men of means and education; they were not an unwashed rabble. They had achieved security but valued freedom more. Their stories have not been told nearly enough.

John Hart was driven from the side of his desperately ill wife. For more than a year he lived in the forest and in caves before he returned to find his wife dead, his children vanished, his property destroyed. He died of exhaustion and a broken heart.

Carter Braxton of Virginia lost all his ships, sold his home to pay his debts, and died in rags. And so it was with Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Rutledge, Morris, Livingston and Middleton. Nelson personally urged Washington to fire on his home and destroy it when it became the headquarters for General Cornwallis. Nelson died bankrupt.

But they sired a nation that grew from sea to shining sea. Five million farms, quiet villages, cities that never sleep, 3 million square miles of forest, field, mountain and desert, 227 million people with a pedigree that includes the bloodlines of all the world. In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation.

It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history.

Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.

We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.

Ronald Reagan
President of the United States

From NewsMax

From Sea to Shining Sea

2009-07-03T12:44:00Z

From Benjamin Franklin, during the debates and discussions surrounding the writing and acceptance of the U.S. Constitution.

"The small progress we have made after four or five weeks' close attendance and continual reasonings with each other--our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ayes--is, methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all round Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances.

"In this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark, to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings. In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of dangers, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance?

"I have lived, sir, a long time, and, the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth--that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that 'Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.'

"I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed, in this political building, no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and by-word down to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.

"I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service."