Great Leaders Knew Their Source

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Great Leaders Knew Their Source

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Oh where have all our great leaders gone? Men and women who will stand up for what is right even if they have to stand alone. Leaders who will acutely understand that what is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular. Leaders who will once again shout from the senates and parliaments the virtues of God and His laws, and show us the moral compass to a rich and rewarding life. Heads of state who are not afraid to be "politically incorrect" and take a stand against the immoral cesspool and perilous times in which we live.

Where are the leaders who will echo the following sentiments of these great leaders from the past?

Thomas Jefferson: "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever."

George Washington: "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection, aid and favors."

Benjamin Franklin: "I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth...that God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"

James Madison: "We have staked the future upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to sustain ourselves, according to the Ten Commandments of God."

John Adams: "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

William Penn: "We will either be governed by God or ruled by tyrants."

Andrew Jackson: "The Bible is true.... I have tried to conform to its spirit as near as possible. Upon that sacred volume I rest my hope for eternal salvation, through the merits and blood of our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."

Abraham Lincoln: "...We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."

These are voices from the past that remind us that "righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Proverbs 14:34, NIV). We need leaders like these who are great leaders because they follow and rely on God. We need leaders who know that our long-term protection and prosperity depend on our moral conduct. We need leaders who point us to the Creator for His blessings in this life and the gift of eternal life.

Comments

  • Scott Ashley
    The Thomas Jefferson quote is taken from the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. You can find it online in a number of places.
  • Gronkdawg
    You really should cite your sources if you are claiming to quote historical figures and make commentary about their beliefs. I can't find any source for the first quote from Jefferson, and it is pretty out of character with the way in which he talks about God in his other writings. Reading through Jefferson's letters, I have never seen him talk about a God which would, or was even interested in, actively punishing and correcting man's mistakes. He spoke of the old testament as if it was largely myth, and even regarded much of the story of Jesus' life as such: "And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. But we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with all this artificial scaffolding..." Jefferson's letter to John Adamns, April 11, 1823 He seems to view God as a creator of the natural order of the universe and the source for man's sense of right and wrong. It is hard to find any evidence that Jefferson believed in a God which actively participated in human affairs
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