The United States of America will turn 250 years old on July 4th, and many events have or will soon take place as we approach that historic celebration.
One unique event is Rededicate 250, described as "a national jubilee of prayer, praise and thanksgiving". The event is Sunday, May 17th, 2026. Although the event is in D.C., the website speaks of churches and other groups hosting watch parties around the nation. I expect there will also be some way to watch online, for those unable (or not interested) in attending a group event. However, as of the writing of this post, I did not see specific info on that. The purpose of Rededicate 250 is to give thanks to God for His presence and for His hand throughout these 250 years, and to ask Him for continued guidance. There are three "pillars" of the day: The Miracles That Made Us; The Miracles Still In Our Midst; and A New Birth of Faith and Freedom.
Normally, I'd be on top of anything and everything about America's 250th birthday. I've always loved learning about the history of America, and since learning as an adult how much God was involved - that our textbooks didn't mention- it has been a particular interest of mine to learn the fuller picture. Alas, my struggle that began last year but intensified over the winter, sapped much of my energy and attention. And while that seems to be behind me now, other health issues and activities have kept me distracted. ;)
So, I'm late to the festivities, but I want to encourage everyone to spend some time learning or re-acquainting yourself with the truth of America's founding as a Christian nation, and the things God has done for us.
I started by ordering The American Story: The Beginnings and The American Story: Building The Republic by David Barton and Tim Barton. They are the Founder and President of Wallbuilders. I have a DVD called America's Godly Heritage, which once belonged to Grandma Joe, and I saw that it was made by Wallbuilders. I was already familiar with them, though, because during the pandemic I'd learned about them and enjoyed their newsletter. But it was nice to be reminded about them and their wonderful resources!
I have also had three DVD sets ('The American Heritage Series', 'The American Heritage Collection', and 'Foundations of Freedom') produced by Wallbuilders, on my ChristianBook.com wishlist for quite some time now, and intended to finally order them - but they're backordered until June. I managed to find two of them available on YouTube, and I think Amazon Prime has all three available to purchase for streaming, but I prefer physical copies and hope to order them this summer. Until then, I'm enjoying the online videos. (I did not see these DVDs available on the Wallbuilders website).
My hope is to write a few blogs this summer that highlight some of the details of this nation's history. I'd love to learn about more historians, books, DVDs, etc. that also teach the fuller picture of history, instead of stripping out Christianity. Knowing the worldview and moral background of the leaders really does make an enormous difference in how we understand the people, their motives and reasoning, and the events that took place. How do you begin to understand a person until you know their character and values and how they see the world? Removing that is like removing the soul of a person. It makes history dull, and leads to misunderstandings and misinterpretations, which can lead to rewriting or denial of historical truths later on.
So, please, make an effort this summer to learn about how imperfect but largely Christian men and women were led by God to establish and shape America.