There’s been a lot of talk this week about the Confederate flag. Indeed, I got some pretty nasty responses to my Wednesday Watchman on the Wall column about the prophetic significance behind the Confederate flag backlash.
Now, another flag is under fire: the Appeal to Heaven flag.
You might have seen this flag flying atop the Arkansas State Capitol, or in the hands of believers like Mike Huckabee and Gov. Bobby Jindal, or hanging in prayer rooms and churches across the nation that carry a heart for awakening. You may have even seen it on the cover of my book, The Next Great Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening.
Apparently, this flag has landed on the radical atheist’s radar screen.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is charging that the flag, which bears an evergreen tree with the words “An Appeal to Heaven” across the top, is unconstitutional. The FFRF doesn’t want to see the flag flying at the Bradley County Courthouse below the Arkansas state flag—or anywhere else, for that matter.
Unlike the Confederate flag, which is stirring some pretty vitriolic debates even among Christians, the Appeal to Heaven flag carries no stigmas of racism or rebellion. Before its foundation—and before the famous Don’t Tread on Me banner that has gained popularity in recent years—America flew the Appeal to Heaven flag.
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This was the banner George Washington used on his navy ships to signal that their only hope against British rule and religious persecution was an appeal to heaven. Washington cried out to God for deliverance from British tyranny. This banner is galvanizing a movement that could lead to a Third Great Awakening in America.
It’s hard to understand why, at a time when the ISIS banner is finding a place in American culture and people are trampling the American flag as part of a new fad, atheists are up in arms over this harmless symbol of God’s deliverance. Or maybe it’s not so puzzling after all, given that atheism is one of the many anti-Christ agendas pressing for attention in this hour.
“The inherent religious significance of the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag is undeniable. While the flag has ties to the founding of the U.S., it is now viewed as a Christian flag,” the letter, signed by Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott, reads. “No secular purpose, no matter how sincere, will detract from the overall message that the flag stands for Christianity and its display promotes Christianity.”
And? Would that the Appeal to Heaven flag flew at every courthouse and state capitol. Would that all Americans understood that our nation was birthed from an appeal to heaven. Would that Christians everywhere rallied under this banner, crying out to God for a Third Great Awakening. Would that God moved over America with a spirit of repentance and revival.
These legalistic atheists contend that the flag violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which states, “Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion …” I’m not sure when waving a flag equaled passing a law, but the atheist mind is much different than the mind of Christ so I’m not surprised that the FFRF would spend their money attacking a flag that does, indeed, represent Christianity.
The attack just confirms the rallying power of this flag in American culture. This flag—and more importantly, the revelation behind this flag and the covenant our Founding Fathers made with God at our nation’s birth—is symbol of hope for many intercessors who have been laboring in prayer for revival for years and even decades. I say let it fly high, in Jesus’ name.
Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and author of several books, including The Next Great Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening; Mornings With the Holy Spirit, Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God; The Making of a Prophet and Satan’s Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
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