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In 1956 Dwight Eisenhower, who had been a great general, was at that time President of the United States. The Congress passed a law and Eisenhower pushed it through that they would make the motto of America, “In God We Trust”. They began to put that motto on the coins. But, many people started saying quite a few years ago, “Well, we’ve got to keep a division between the church and the state.” In fact, I have had dozens and dozens of people say to me, “Well, you know, in the Constitution it tells us you’ve got to have a separation between Church and State.” I carry a little book of the Constitution with me and I hand it to them and I say “Read it! I’ll wait while you read it and if you find anything… I don’t mean five or six things. I mean one thing. Just one thing in there that tells that there has to be a separation between church and state, you tell me.” It isn’t there! It isn’t there! Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter in which he talked about the necessity to keep a division about church and state but it was not to protect the state. It was to protect the church. It was to keep the state from rolling over the church.
Today we’ve got to wake up! We’ve got to start reaching out and touching peoples’ lives. I don’t ever meet people until I start causing a confrontation. A few weeks ago I was going to a place to preach. I started walking across the courtyard and a lady passed by and said, “Hello!” And, I said, “Hey, m’am, let me ask you a question.” She said, “Yeah.” I said, “Are you a church girl?” You see, that’s my question. I don’t say, “Are you a Christian.” Everybody thinks they’re a Christian. “Well, you know. I live in a Christian nation, and my mother was a Christian. I used to go to Sunday School when I was little.” And, they think that makes them a Christian. “Yeah, well. I went to church sometimes.” Going to church no more makes you a Christian than taking a cow into a barn and making a Ford car out of it.”
There is more to this story! You can watch it on YouTube at RockCCBaltimore!