The subtle embrace of night casts her shadow across the brow of the young maiden of liberty. Night’s luring embrace seems to seduce the nation further into an abyss of compromise slouching toward chaos. The brilliant hope of the nations and the grand experiment of self governance seems to be reeling to and fro from the weight of her confusion and toll of her compromise.
America is staggering like a drunken fool from compromised values, confusing and unsustainable standards and a glamorized chaos. Where is the leadership compelled by vision for America’s future that is truly worthy of her good past? Where are the champions of mercy and the heralds of brotherly love? Where are those who will lay down their lives to bring us together and stand for a cause greater than themselves?
Has the future of America ever been more at risk than it is today? If the answer is “Yes,” could it be because we are in dire need of bold leadership willing to raise a standard in our generation and cry out to God for national repentance and revival?
How a flag from the days of our founding was introduced to me is irrelevant in this writing. The fact that it was introduced to me is the compelling force behind this writ of proclamation. I had never seen the flag. I was never taught about it in school, and it is totally beyond me as to how I could have missed it or why others would be silent concerning it.
The flag (pictured) is a white standard with a simple evergreen tree in the center with the words “An Appeal to Heaven” across the top of the standard. Designed by John Locke, it would fly beneath the orders of Gen. George Washington atop the ships that would make up The Continental Navy. This navy was funded out of the pocket of Washington himself. The flag would be known as the Washington’s Cruisers Flag.
The message of the flag is simple. The founders were living in days cruel for their times, and men were hungry for the great pearl of liberty. Their frailty was obvious for any honest onlooker, and none dare, not even for a moment, suspect that their worthiness in warfare would lead them to triumph against the greatest navy of the world.
They only had one hope for the cause of liberty to prevail. It was the hope of heaven’s intervention. It was the hope of angel armies to render assistance in a cause to set at liberty the dreams of the world. It was simply that—”An Appeal To Heaven.” Beneath the standard championing their plea, courageous and selfless men surrendered their lives to the cause of welcoming liberty’s embrace. It was enough!
We are in need of such an appeal today! These days are marked by a nation increasingly confused, comfortable with compromise and vacillating on the brink of chaos. There are markers strewn along the path of the last decades that indicate an approaching crossroads of peril or awakening.
As difficult as it is to be up against forces and foes that are visible and formidable like our Founding Fathers faced, it seems excruciatingly perplexing that the foe of our generation is much more stealthy, invisible and barbaric. Great signs of societal strife and chaos need not always herald a looming doom; they also can serve as a catalyst for common sense and become a clarion call to humble ourselves and cry out to God making an “Appeal To Heaven.” I propose to you the latter.
Some may quickly interject such a plea is foolishness, and surely many would judge an “Appeal To Heaven” as futile and fruitless. Is the nation today absent of the valor of such men, or is it void of such a brave and courageous people?
Rather than dismiss the Founders from our history, what if we remember their courage, their sacrifice and their dreams that carried them on eagles’ wings to establish a good people in a prosperous land? A nation that would become “one nation under God.”
I say to you confidently that the nation is full of people who still love liberty’s dream and they are full of brotherly love, courageous hearts and a willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of coming generations. There is a people who believe brotherly love triumphs over barbarism in any generation.
There is a sound of awakening and transforming revival being carried on the winds of the Spirit in these days. There are cities and regions across the nation that are experiencing the hopeful rains of early outpourings of the Spirit. It has yet to become a sweeping movement of holy reconciliation and revival, but it is on its way!
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