During the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we remember that infamous day in history when terrorists threatened the United States by flying planes into the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC. I think it’s safe to say that every American has been touched in some way by what happened on September 11, 2001. The events of September 11, 2001 taught the American people how to turn tragedy into triumph.

The Pledge of Allegiance contains just 31 words, but what’s infinitely more important about the Pledge of Allegiance is that it starts with “I” and ends with “All.” And that’s what America is all about; I, the individual, and All, the all of us. Every one of us is valuable, but what’s more potent is how powerful all of us are together. The power of the “All” became evident during the tragic events of September 11th.

Let’s go back to Monday, September 10, 2001 for a moment. Most people were focused on the “I” rather than the “All.”

On Monday there were people fighting against prayer in schools. On Tuesday you’d be hard pressed to find a school where someone wasn’t praying.

On Monday people were trying to separate each other by race, sex, color and creed. On Tuesday they were all holding hands.

On Monday people were fighting the 10 commandments on government property. On Tuesday the same people said, “God Help Us” and “Thou Shalt Not Kill.”

On Monday people argued with their children about picking up their rooms. On Tuesday they couldn’t get home fast enough to hug their children.

On Monday people were upset that their dry cleaning wasn’t ready. On Tuesday they were lining up to give blood for the dying.

On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses. On Tuesday, grief stricken, they were standing on the White House steps singing, “God Bless America.”

On Monday, September 10th we were focused on the “I,” on Tuesday, September 11th we were focused on the “All.” In the days, weeks and months after September 11th we saw people of all nationalities and backgrounds banding together in an attempt to triumph over tragedy.

There was still yet another image that emerged as a result of the events of September 11th. That image is a three letter word spelled W-A-R. The headline on MSNBC during the week after 9/11 was “America’s New War.”

War typically evokes images of destruction, killing and death, but Webster’s dictionary defines war as any conflict or struggle. There were 3 types of war that emerged as a result of the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001 – the War on Terrorism, the War on Recession, and the War in our own minds.

The War on Terrorism
Terror is defined as intense fear. A cloud of fear has attempted to fill this great land of ours. But remember this; no terrorist attack, no external force can ever take away your personal power of choice, of thought, of emotion, and of action. The purpose of the faith that possesses the human spirit is to triumph over fear. If you feel that you are productive, have faith in that productivity. If you believe that you are intelligent, have faith in that intelligence. If you have unique abilities, have faith in those abilities. If God has given you a dream, have faith in that dream. I challenge each and every one of you to replace fear, which is expecting something bad to happen, with faith, which is expecting something good to happen. You can adopt an attitude of faith instead of maintaining one of fear by remembering the words of the apostle Paul as told to his protégé Timothy (in 2 Timothy 1:7): “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

The War on Recession
The actuality of recession is always made worse by the attitude of recession. Recessions happen when people stop spending money, but remember this; you don’t have to buy into it. As a child of God, you don’t have to participate in any recession. As Kingdom citizens, we can trust God as we continue to give, and our giving equates to spending money. Question: What do most people worry about? Answer: Money. That’s why Jesus addressed this important issue in Luke chapter 12 when He said, “Don’t worry about your life nor have an anxious mind. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” During any so-called recession, you can adopt an attitude of trusting God instead of maintaining an attitude of worry and anxiety.

The War in Our Own Minds
The war in our own minds is as ancient as life itself, but once again, the human spirit can prevail over fear and anxiety.

All wars produce heroes, and on September 11th heroes fought a war in their own minds; a war in a firefighter’s mind that went like this: “Do I go back into that burning building and try to save someone’s life or do I run out and save my own?”

Three heroes on flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania had a war going on in their minds when they said this to each other just before they died: “There are three of us and if we’re going to die, we’re going to do something about it.” This referred to allowing the terrorists to crash that plane into a Washington DC target or take action to prevent it.

We can all become heroes by winning the war in our own minds. We all fight a war in our own minds; primarily the battle to think positive thoughts or negative thoughts. Let’s make the decision to think love instead of hate, to think good instead of evil. Every person has the ability to win his or her own mental war by what they choose to meditate on – meditation simply being what we think about on a regular basis.

When we win the war in our own minds, the “I” wins, and when that happens, we can help others win their war and, thereby, impact the “All.” As we successfully do this, the word War,
W-A-R, can now stand for Watch America Rebound.

America can and will rebound when the majority of its people respond with the truth of God’s Word instead of reacting to cultural pressures. America can and will rebound when the people of this great free country focus once again on the biblical truths that our founding fathers were so adamant about. Many thought the events of September 11th would bring America back to God as people attended church more regularly and treated one another more compassionately. Many even thought the events of 9/11 were a wake-up call from God for America.

However, the way to bring revival to the United States is by communicating the knowledge of God, and every person can be a part of it. 2 Corinthians 2:14 states: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” We can move from tragedy to triumph as we continually communicate the knowledge of who we are in Christ, and the way we do that is by speaking words out of a believing heart.

All wars involve weapons, and the most powerful weapons used during the weeks following 9/11 were the weapons of words.

Television reporters and newscasters kept us updated on the days events during (and following) the tragedy of 9/11. Their words created images in our minds and left emotions in our hearts. Their words left us with feelings of strength or defeat, faith or fear, hopelessness or a sense of responsibility.

Mayor Giuliani, commanding and compassionate, said to the people of New York: “We will rebuild and be stronger.”

President George Bush, in his address to a joint session of Congress and to the American people said: “We will not cower in the face of these terrorist acts.”

Words, spoken and heard, rule our lives. Words spoken about ourselves, and words spoken about others, have a significant impact on how our lives turn out. Most people are the sum total of the words, spoken and heard, that have gone into their minds.

The question becomes: How can we use words to bring ourselves to a place of triumph as a result of the tragedies that will inevitably occur in our lives? Here’s how: We must be careful not to wage war with the most powerful weapon of all; words improperly spoken. Words are to the human spirit what tanks, rifles and grenades are to an army. Words improperly spoken have held many a great person in mediocrity.

The weapon of destructive words includes criticism, slander and gossip, among others. James chapter 3 talks about controlling the tongue. Verse 2 says: “We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way.” Verse 5 says: “The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do.” Verses 9 says: “Sometimes the tongue praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. Verse 10 says: “And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” Words, spoken and heard, can have an enormous impact (both positive and negative) in our lives and in the lives of others.

Words that build the “I,” are words that build the “All.” Question: What are you saying to yourself? Are you listening to the little voice in your mind that says “I can’t, I won’t, I’ll never amount to anything” or are you saying words that encourage yourself? Next question: What are you saying to other people? Are your words building them up or tearing them down? First Thessalonians 5:11 admonishes us to encourage one another and build each other up. By controlling your words directed at the “I” you’ll have greater impact over the reactions and responses of the “All.”

When we become triumphant in our own lives, we then become triumphant in other people’s lives. Here’s a great question we can ask that will help us become triumphant both in our own lives and in the lives of others: “What kind of a country would this country be if everyone in it were just like me?”

When the “I” is ready, it can serve the “All.” When you focus on making a difference in your sphere of influence by being an example for others to follow, the “I” is ready and it will serve the “All.” By controlling your reactions – the reactions of the “I” – you will have greater impact over the reactions of the “All.”

Speaking words of encouragement, releasing thoughts of fear and anxiety, and living in unity with one another all focus on preparing the “I” so it can serve the “All.” And that attitude will not only strengthen and re-build your home, your family, and your life, but it will also be responsible for strengthening and re-building New York, Washington, and the entire republic known as the U.S. of A. Ladies and gentlemen, that is how we can take tragedy and turn it into triumph.

On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to approve a complete separation from Great Britain. Two days later, on July 4th, the early draft of the Declaration of Independence was signed, initially by only two individuals: John Hancock, president of Congress, and Charles Thompson, secretary of Congress, and later by a total of 56 men. We do not know a whole lot about those 56 men, but what we do know for certain is that they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor so that we could be free.

Four days later, on July 8th, members of Congress took that document and read it aloud from the steps of Independence Hall, proclaiming it to the city of Philadelphia, after which the Liberty Bell was rung. The inscription around the top of that bell, Leviticus 25:10, was most appropriate for the occasion:

Leviticus 25:10 (KJV)
“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

The day after Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote a letter to his wife Abigail, saying: “This day will be the most memorable epic in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”

And he went on to say: “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

John Adams believed that the Fourth of July should become a religious holiday; a day when we remembered God’s hand in deliverance and a day of religious activities when we committed ourselves to Him in “solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” This was the spirit of the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of those who led it.

The American Flag is the most visible symbol on the fourth of July. The document that describes the meaning of the American Flag is called the Pledge of Allegiance. The power of the American Flag lies in the words contained in the Pledge of Allegiance.

But to really appreciate the power of the American Flag, we must take a closer look at the 31 words in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance only contains 31 words, but what makes the Pledge so powerful is the meaning of those 31 words.

The Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

The first thing we must notice about the Pledge of Allegiance is that it starts with “I” and ends with “All.” And that’s what America is all about, “I,” the individual, and “All,” the all of us. Every one of us is valuable, but what is more potent is how powerful all of us can become together.

So when we pledge allegiance to the flag, one of the things we are pledging our allegiance to is unity. Notice that our country is not called “The Divided States of America.” So we pledge our allegiance to the United States of America, all 50 states, each of them individual, and each of them represented on the flag, yet formed into a union of one Nation, the United States of America. The Pledge of Allegiance; it starts with “I” and ends with “All,” which equates to unity.

The Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

And to the Republic for which it stands: A Republic is a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. Government is the people, and it is from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

In the words of Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address: “This nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Ronald Reagan said this: “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.”

The Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

One Nation Under God: On June 14, 1954, an amendment was made to the Pledge of Allegiance to add the words “Under God.” As then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized this change, he said: “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”

In 1967, Red Skelton said this to a classroom of students: “Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: the words Under God.” And then He said this: “Wouldn’t it be a pity if someone said that this is a prayer, and that it should be eliminated from schools?”

On June 26, 2002, members of the House of Representatives gathered on the steps of the Capital and recited the Pledge of Allegiance en masse in response to a court ruling that the words “Under God” make the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional. That case was brought to a San Francisco court by a communist, atheist man who objected to his daughter being compelled to listen to her second-grade classmates recite the pledge.

On June 14, 2004, the Supreme Court allowed millions of schoolchildren to keep affirming loyalty to “One Nation Under God” as a result of a self-proclaimed atheist minister’s attempt to sue his daughter’s Sacramento-area school district, Congress, and the President of the United Stated over the words “Under God” being in the Pledge of Allegiance.

• The Supreme Court itself begins each session with the phrase, “God save the United States and this honorable court.”
• The Declaration of Independence refers to God four different times.
• Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.
• And of course, our currency has the words, “In God We Trust,” written on it.

But let’s go back to our American heritage for a moment, and find out what this great republic, known as the United States of America, was founded upon.

In 1620, the Pilgrims landed on the shores of America for one reason. They wanted to establish a nation upon the principles and precepts of the Word of God and their faith in Jesus Christ. This was their stated vision: “We want our nation to be a stepping stone to take the Gospel to the nations of the world.”

In 1779, George Washington, our first president, said this: “You do well to learn…above all the religion of Jesus Christ.”

Thomas Jefferson himself declared: “I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.”

Look at the last sentence of the document that was signed on July 4, 1776, known as The Declaration of Independence: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

The original intent of our founding fathers could be summed up in one phrase, “One Nation Under God.”

The Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

Indivisible: Incapable of being divided. The U.S. of A. cannot be split into parts.

The first three words of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution sum up the meaning of the word “indivisible”: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

“We the people” equals “I” + “All.” In other words, we need to be united with the original intent of our founding fathers.

Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia makes this statement: “It is the position of the [center] that the interpretation of the Constitution according to the original intent of the Founders is the only safe basis for the preservation of limited government and all rights including those important to our association.”

Patrick Henry was one of our founding fathers, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He made the famous statement, “Give me liberty or give me death”, but he also said this, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

John Adams had this to say about our original intent: The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”

Most of us are unaware that the American Revolution had a motto, like most wars do (e.g. World War II: “Remember Pearl Harbor.” The Texas War for Independence: “Remember the Alamo”). The motto of the American Revolution was directed against King George III who regularly violated “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” The motto was very simple and very direct: “No King but King Jesus!”

John Quincy Adams, one of the framers of the Constitution, said this: “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this-it connected in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government and the principles of Christianity.”

It was the objective of our founding fathers to establish “One Nation Under God.” And the reason the United States of America is the greatest country in the world is because we have made Jesus Christ the Lord of our great nation.

The Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

With Liberty and Justice: With liberty and justice means with freedom and fairness.

Let’s take a look at an incident that happened in 1962 and see if that incident exemplifies liberty and justice. The incident I am referring to is the landmark case brought before the Supreme Court known as Engle vs. Vitale. The result of this case was that it removed prayer from public schools. Take a look at the prayer that was so offensive to one atheist woman. “Almighty God we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee and we beg Thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.”

And then in 1963, Bible reading, religious classes, and religious instruction were banned in public schools. How could this happen seeing that we are a Christian Nation? A recent Gallup Poll shows that 84 percent of the people in this nation firmly believe in Jesus Christ and a separate poll indicates that 94 percent believe in God. Polls have also shown that more than 80 percent approve of voluntary prayer in school.

Additional findings could be cited, but the conclusion is inescapable: Although we have been led to believe that we, the 94 percent who believe in God are the minority, we most definitely are not!

Imagine a hypothetical vote in the U.S. Senate where the final tally was 94 to 6. It would be untenable for the 6 to be declared the winner and their policy enacted over the votes of the 94, yet this is exactly what happened when public acknowledgment of God was prohibited.

Here are some of the repercussions of these two decisions in 1962 and 1963:

• Birthrates for unwed girls between the ages of 10-19 has increased by 553%
• Sexually transmitted diseases have gone up 257%
• Premarital sexual activity has increased by an average of 461% for 15-18 year olds.
• The divorce rate has increased by 117% and the United States is now #1 in the world in the rate of divorce.
• Every measurement relating to the breakup of the family has statistically skyrocketed since 1963 after the separation of biblical principles from public policy.
• Single parent families are now up 140%.
• Unmarried couples living together are up 536%.
• SAT scores have plummeted by 80 points, causing the number of Christian schools to increase from 1,000 in 1962 to 32,000 in 1984.
• Violent crime has increased by 794%

To sum it up, the United States, since 1962/63, has become the world leader in the following categories: violent crime, divorce, voluntary abortions, illegal drug use, teenage pregnancies (western world) and illiteracy (western world).

What is the solution? The solution is found in the last two words of the Pledge of Allegiance:

For All: We must unite as Christians and take America back! We the people, the all of us, must do our part in maintaining the integrity of the Constitution in our nation.

Here are 4 things we can we do take America back:

1. Pray. Prayer is the first key to effecting significant change, for situations do not change on earth until they have been changed in the heavenlies.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)
“Then if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

1 Timothy 2:2 (NLT)
Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity.

2. We must realize that we (the Christians) are the majority, not the minority. We make up the 80 to 90 percentile. Jesus taught that true Christians are to exert a positive moral influence on a society, when He compared us to both “salt” and “light”
.Matthew 5:13-14 (NLT)
13 “You are the salt of the earth…”
14 “You are the light of the world…”

3. Don’t give up. You have probably heard or perhaps even made statements such as, “My vote won’t make a difference anyway.” “It does us no good to vote.” “As Christians, we’re already in the minority.” As we have seen, that simply is not true.

Positive change actually rests in the hands of we the citizens; not our leaders. This has been proven time and again. For example, in U.S. Senate races just over a decade ago, five candidates, who stood for returning Godly principles to public affairs, were defeated by a collective total of only 57,000 votes, less than 12,000 votes per state. Yet in those five states, there were more than 5 million Christians who did not even vote. If only 1 of every 100 nonvoting Christians (one percent) had voted for the Godly candidate, those five would have been elected, resulting in a ten-vote swing in the Senate toward godly policies. Imagine how different America would be today if those Godly leaders had been working in the Senate for the past decade.

And in a more recent election, five incumbent God-fearing U.S. Senators were defeated in their five states by a collective total of only 100,000 votes. And millions of Christians did not vote in those states. If only Christians had returned those five to the Senate, partial-birth abortions would now be banned, religious liberties protected, and many other measures reflecting Biblical values would have been passed over the past few years.

Godly candidates are most often defeated, not by activists and radicals, but by inactive Christians! This means the ability to change the current situation is in our hands.

As Edmund Burke explained: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

4. Keep the faith. Always know that God is for us, and He has blessed this Nation as His own.

We must accept the civic responsibilities implied and expressed by Abraham Lincoln when he made this statement: “It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

Psalm 33:12 (NKJV)
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

Every time you recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag, remember that you are recognizing that we are One Nation Under God, that we cannot nor should not be divided, and we understand that the right to liberty and justice belongs to all of us.

The Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.