After Our Nation’s Fall Does Christian America Need a New Flag?
You’ve seen the black-and-yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, and many Americans from all walks of life are flying them in the face of a tyrannical government.
Of course, that’s not the only alternative flag that’s selling more these days. While Confederate flag sales have all but come to an end, more flag retailers are selling banners that some say better represent the plight of Christian Americans.
After the recent Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage the law of the land, two pastors in North Carolina erected a Christian flag above the American flag on poles outside their churches. The idea is to communicate that we’re one nation under God.
“Our typical flag etiquette is to have the American flag above the Christian flag. But when you stop and think about it, it should be our commitment to God first, then our commitment to country,” said Rit Varriale, pastor at Elizabeth Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina. “I really don’t need a lecture on patriotism, I’m willing to give my life for my country. When you think of military motto’s, for example, God and country, God first and then country.”
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Varriale and neighboring Focus Missionary Baptist Church pastor Walter Wilson may be starting a trend. They are flying what is known as the Christian flag, a white flag with a dark blue square in the corner; a red cross in within the square.
“As I was changing the rope one day, the Lord just laid on me that He is first and when He told me that, I switched the flags around,” Wilson said. “We know that not everyone is going to agree with that. But that’s not going to make us sit down and stop talking about what’s important.”
Of course, there’s another flag that’s makings its way on the flagpole, inside churches, and even on T-shirts. It’s a white flag with an evergreen tree in the center and the words “An Appeal to Heaven” written across the top. It emerged long before the Christian flag and was a predecessor to the Don’t Tread on Me flag.
Indeed, an emerging movement is growing under this banner. 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.
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.
Of course, the devil hates it. A group of pastors were kicked out of the U.S. Capital Visitor Center (CVC) over a prayer meeting with an Appeal to Heaven theme. And atheists have waged an all-out war against the flag. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is charging that the flag is unconstitutional.
So, same-sex marriage is constitutional but this flag isn’t? What the Star Spangled Banner stands for was tainted when the Supreme Court voted to violate the Constitution in June. I’m not suggesting that we do away with Old Glory, but after America’s great fall it seems the flag no longer represents what was intended.
For example, the white stripes signified purity and innocence. Purity is almost a curse word in this nation, where pastors and government officials alike are caught in sex scandals and the floodgates are open to perversion. Innocence is a foreign concept to a pro-choice movement that fights for the right to shed innocent blood. Valor, or personal bravery, has been largely replaced with cowardice in the White House. And where’s the justice?
That brings me back to the Appeal to Heaven flag. British philosopher John Locke believed inalienable rights came from God, not from laws of man. In his Second Treatise of Government, he wrote, “And where the body of the people, or any single man, is deprived of their right, or is under the exercise of a power without right, and have no appeal on earth, then they have liberty to appeal to heaven … .”
Saints, this is where we are today. Our government is corrupt. Our churches are not rising up with truth and light. Our society is ailing. Our economy is failing. I am believing God for a Third Great Awakening and He wants to pour out His Spirit in a mighty way. But we have to do our part. We need to make an appeal to heaven, with a contrite heart, and keep lifting our voices and taking faith-inspired actions until we see His glory in this nation again. I’m all in. Will you join me?
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.
