The year was 1775 and Virginia leaders had convened the Second Virginia Convention at Richmond — in what is now called St. John’s Church — instead of the capitol in Williamsburg to avoid interference from Gov. Dunmore.
Delegate Patrick Henry presented resolutions to raise and establish a militia and to put Virginia in a posture of defense.
Henry’s opponents urged caution and patience until the crown replied to Congress’ latest petition for reconciliation.
On the March 23, Henry presented a proposal to organize a volunteer company of cavalry or infantry in every Virginia county.
By custom, Henry addressed himself to the Convention’s president, Peyton Randolph of Williamsburg.
A selection of his oratory includes the following… “Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave…It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
We now know that this was a key moment in our nation’s history that helped set the stage for these and many other Godly men who loved their country more than life the opportunity to forge for our children and us the longest living republic on the face of the earth.
You and I have been lovingly handed another key moment in history unlike any we have ever known.
This new historical revisionist trend goes against previous centuries of orthodox thought, research, and opinion.
By deconstructing the true history of America and the fingerprint of God throughout its frame, they remove its greatest gift and render its timeless principles useless.
Revisionism’s fatal flaw is that generations to follow will rightfully look back with disdain and anguish at all America and its exceptional principles could have given them and their children had its courageous and Godly history not been intentionally erased.
George Barna writes, “Christian morality is being ushered out of American social structures and off the cultural main stage, leaving a vacuum in its place—and the broader culture is attempting to fill the void. It’s what many refer to as the “New Moral Code… The research also reveals the degree to which Americans pledge allegiance to the “morality of self-fulfillment,” a new moral code that, as David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group argues, has all but replaced Christianity as the culture’s moral norm. “The highest good, according to our society, is ‘finding yourself’ and then living by ‘what’s right for you.’”
History records for us an event called “Kristal Nacht,” the Night of the Broken Glass.
On this particular night in 1938, Nazi thugs moved through the cities of Germany smashing the windows of German homes and shops, burning the synagogues.
Innocent people — men, women and children — were beaten and killed simply because they were Jews.
An eyewitness recalled, “I was there as a young man,” he sobbed, “And I can still hear the sound of the shattering glass. There were many of us who were Christians then, but we did nothing. We looked the other way, and we did nothing. That was the beginning of the Holocaust because the Jew haters knew then that no one would stop them, no one would stand in their way.”
It seems as though each time I reach back to examples of what happened in the ‘30s and ‘40s in Europe, I find myself accused of using scare tactics because “Pastor, it’s just not that bad here and now!”
I know it’s not and you can never understand how very thankful I am for that!
But for the sake of the children of this generation and the generations that follow, God has chosen you and me with this challenging moment in time.
In 1776, when Patrick Henry surveyed the political and cultural landscape, he listened to the voices of objection and compromise.
Ultimately, he knew in his heart the truth that inaction was unacceptable and tantamount to sin. It mattered not what course others would take.
Something must be done!
As for me, I depend on the same source as he… we shall not fight our battles alone!

Tim Throckmorton is the national director of Family Resource Council’s Community Impact Teams.