Jun 17, 2021 – Prayer Focus
Thursday, June 17, 2021 – The 24/7 National Strategic Prayer Call
“A CALL TO THE WALL…ONE NATION UNDER GOD”
1-712-770-4340 Code: 543555 # (Ongoing call…24 hours a day!)
We begin our hour by praising and giving thanks to God!
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:9-11
We sing: How Great is our God
The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty! Let all the Earth rejoice, all the Earth rejoice!
He wraps himself in light and darkness tries to hide! It trembles at His voice, trembles at His voice!
How great is our God, sing with me, How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God!
Age to age He stands and time is in His hands. Beginning and the end! Beginning and the end!
The Godhead, Three in One…Father Spirit Son…the Lion and the Lamb…the Lion and the Lamb!
How great is our God, sing with me, How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God!
Name above all names! Worthy of our praise! My heart will sing how great is our God!
You’re the Name above all names. You are worthy of our praise! My heart will sing how great is our God!
How great is our God, sing with me, How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God!
How great is our God, sing with me, How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God!
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The key assignment for the 24/7 National Strategic Prayer Call is to intercede hourly
for the safety and security of our duly elected President, Donald John Trump,
and to pray for that which pertains to our nation!
We pray for his protection, for our First Lady, Melania, and their marriage
and for all the members of their family.
We cover them all with the Blood of Jesus.
We ask that in every situation and decision, President Trump will be led by the Holy Spirit!
Pray.
Strategic Focus for Thursday
WELCOME THE KING OF GLORY INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!
The Battle for the Survival of the Nation! – Part 38
The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission Report – Part 17
“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”
1 Corinthians 12:27
Today, as we consider the commentaries in the 1776 Commission Report in Appendix 3, we will consider the matter of identity, and look at the question: CREATED EQUAL OR IDENTITY POLITICS?
Americans are deeply committed to the principle of equality enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, that all are created equal and equally endowed with natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This creed, as Abraham Lincoln once noted, is “the electric cord” that “links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving” people everywhere, no matter their race or country of origin.” The task of American civic education is to transmit this creed from one generation of Americans to the next.
In recent times, however, a new creed has arisen challenging the original one enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. This new creed, loosely defined as identity politics, has three key features.
- First, the creed of identity politics defines and divides Americans in terms of collective social identities. According to this new creed, our racial and sexual identities are more important than our common status as individuals equally endowed with fundamental rights. Pray.
- Second, the creed of identity politics ranks these different racial and social groups in terms of privilege and power, with disproportionate moral worth allotted to each. It divides Americans into two groups: oppressors and victims. The more a group is considered oppressed, the more its members have a moral claim upon the rest of society. As for their supposed oppressors, they must atone and even be punished in perpetuity for their sins and those of their ancestors. Pray.
- Third, the creed of identity politics teaches that America itself is to blame for oppression. America’s “electric cord” is not the creed of liberty and equality that connects citizens today to each other and to every generation of Americans past, present, and future. Rather, America’s “electric cord” is a heritage of oppression that the majority racial group inflicts upon minority groups, and identity politics is about assigning and absolving guilt for that oppression. Pray.
According to this new creed, Americans are not a people defined by their dedication to human equality, but a people defined by their perpetuation of racial and sexual oppression. Pray.
THE HISTORICAL PRECEDENT FOR IDENTITY POLITICS
Whereas the Declaration of Independence founded a nation grounded on human equality and equal rights, identity politics sees a nation defined by oppressive hierarchies. But this vision of America is actually not new. While identity politics may seem novel and ground-breaking, it resurrects prior attempts in American history to deny the meaning of equality enshrined in the Declaration.
- In portraying America as racist and white supremacist, identity politics advocates follow Lincoln’s great rival Stephen A. Douglas, who wrongly claimed that American government “was made on the white basis” “by white men, for the benefit of white men.” Indeed, there are uncanny similarities between 21st century activists of identity politics and 19th century apologists for slavery.
- John C. Calhoun is perhaps the leading forerunner of identity politics. Rejecting America’s common political identity that follows from the Declaration’s principles, he argued that the American polity was not an actual community at all but was reducible only to diverse majority and minority groups.
- Calhoun saw these groups as more or less permanent, slowly evolving products of their race and particular historical circumstances. Like modern-day proponents of identity politics, Calhoun believed that achieving unity through rational deliberation and political compromise was impossible; majority groups would only use the political process to oppress minority groups.
- In Calhoun’s America, respect for each group demanded that each hold a veto over the actions of the wider community. But Calhoun also argued that some groups must outrank others in the majoritarian decision-making process. In Calhoun’s America, one minority group—Southern slaveholders—could veto any attempt by the majority group—Northern States—to restrict or abolish the enslavement of another group. In the context of American history, the original form of identity politics was used to defend slavery. Pray.
American history teaches dividing citizens into identity groups, especially on the basis of race, is a recipe for stoking enmity among all citizens. It took the torrent of blood spilled in the Civil War and decades of subsequent struggles to expunge Calhoun’s idea of group hierarchies from American life. Nevertheless, activists pushing identity politics want to resuscitate a modified version of his ideas, rejecting the Declaration’s principle of equality and defining Americans once again in terms of group hierarchies. They aim to make this the defining creed of American public life, and they have been working for decades to bring it about. Pray.
INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS OF IDENTITY POLITICS
The modern revival of identity politics stems from mid-20th century European thinkers who sought the revolutionary overthrow of their political and social systems but were disillusioned by the working class’s lack of interest in inciting revolution. This setback forced revolutionaries to reconsider their strategy.
- One of the most prominent, the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, argued that the focus should not be on economic revolution as much as taking control of the institutions that shape culture. In Gramsci’s language, revolutionaries should focus on countering the “Hegemonic Narrative” of the established culture with a “Counter-Narrative,” creating a counter-culture that subverts and seeks to destroy the established culture. Pray.
- Gramsci was an important influence on the thinkers of the “Frankfurt School” in Germany, who developed a set of revolutionary ideas called Critical Theory. Herbert Marcuse, of the Frankfurt School, immigrated to the United States in the 1940s, and became the intellectual godfather of American identity politics. With little hope that the white American worker could be coaxed to revolution, Marcuse focused not on instigating class conflict but on instigating cultural conflicts around racial identity. He saw revolutionary potential in “the substratum of the outcasts and outsiders, the exploited and persecuted of other races and other colors.” Pray.
These ideas led to the development of Critical Race Theory, a variation of critical theory applied to the American context that stresses racial divisions and sees society in terms of minority racial groups oppressed by the white majority. Equally significant to its intellectual content is the role Critical Race Theory plays in promoting fundamental social transformation. Following Gramsci’s strategy of taking control of the culture, Marcuse’s followers use the approach of Critical Race Theory to impart an oppressor-victim narrative upon generations of Americans. This work of cultural revolution has been going on for decades, and its first can be seen in 1960s America. Pray.
THE RADICALIZATION OF AMERICAN POLITICS IN THE 1960s
Prior to the 1960s, movements in American history that sought to end racial and sexual discrimination, such as abolition, women’s suffrage, or the Civil Rights Movement, did so on the ground set by the Declaration of Independence.
In leading the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr., was aware that other, more revolutionary groups wanted to fight in terms of group identities. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, King rejected hateful stereotyping based on a racialized group identity. He warned that the “marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust all white people.” Pray.
King refused to define Americans in terms of permanent racialized identities and called on Americans “to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood” and see ourselves as one nation united by a common political creed and commitment to Christian love. He wrote:
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Pray.
As the 1960s advanced, however, many rejected King’s formulation of civil rights and reframed debates about equality in terms of racial and sexual identities.
- The Civil Rights Movement came to abandon the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity of colorblind civil rights in favor of “group rights” and preferential treatment.
- A radical women’s liberation movement reimagined America as a patriarchal system, asserting that every woman is a victim of oppression by men.
- The Black Power and black nationalist movements reimagined America as a white supremacist regime.
- Meanwhile, other activists constructed artificial groupings to further divide Americans by race, creating new categories like “Asian American” and “Hispanic” to teach Americans to think of themselves in terms of group identities and to rouse various groups into politically cohesive bodies. Pray.
We pray:
- That we would understand our identity in Christ, so that the “creed” that all “are created equal and equally endowed with natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” will always link “the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving” people everywhere, no matter their race or country of origin.” Pray.
- That we as a people will be defined by that belief in equality, and not by race or sexual preference! Pray.
- That “identity politics” will be exposed for the demonic instrument it is, designed to divide and pit one American against another! Pray.
- That as President Trump speaks out against CRT and identity politics, Americans will agree with him! Pray.
- That he will set an “appointed place” and an “appointed time” for our meeting with him! Pray.
(Resource: 1776 Commission Report, Appendix 3)
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Listen to the song ahead of time, then either sing or pray it!
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HINENI, ADONAI! HERE I AM, LORD!
ENGAGING IN A WARFARE OF LOVE! THE BATTLE OF THE BRIDE!
KADIMA! ONWARD…FORWARD!
“LAYNA!” LIGHT AND TRUTH!
BE STRONG…COURAGEOUS…BRAVE!
UNASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST!
GOD’S CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE!
MARANATHA! COME, LORD JESUS!
BE READY! REVIVAL IS COMING!
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!
ONE NEW MAN!
VICTORY!
STANDING IN THE GAP!
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