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When planning a shoot for our TV/ program, we try to group geographically proximate locations together. It so happened that while planning an interview with the son of Singspiration founder Al Smith, nearby we found a documented site tied to the old spiritual, “The Old Time Religion.” In 1834, the South Carolina Lutheran Synod purchased this building and started a Read more...
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Inscription: Near this spot was the boyhood home of Rev. Bob Jones, (1884-1968), D.D., L.L.D., internationally known evangelist and founder of Bob Jones University. The eleventh child of W. Alexander and Georgia Creel Jones, he was three months old when the family moved to Brannon Stand in 1884, where he lived until his father’s death in 1900. Four years after Read more...
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And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. (Numbers 20:11) In late 1863, the Confederate States of America needed a place to hold Union prisoners of war. Though the Confederates would not win the war, they had captured over Read more...
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The relationship between Daniel Sickles and Abraham Lincoln offers a striking window into the complexities of leadership, politics, and personality during the American Civil War. Both men were prominent figures in Union efforts, yet they came from very different backgrounds and embodied contrasting styles of authority. Daniel Sickles was one of the most unconventional generals in the Union Army. Before Read more...
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Dwight D. Eisenhower and Billy Graham formed one of the most influential partnerships between political leadership and religious life in twentieth-century America. Their relationship, which developed during Eisenhower’s presidency in the 1950s, reflected a broader cultural moment in which faith, patriotism, and public life were deeply intertwined. Eisenhower, a five-star general during World War II, entered the presidency in 1953 Read more...
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The tallest structure in DC is the Washington Monument. This is a fitting monument to General Washington whose willingness to challenge the great British Empire and whose humility to relinquish that power is properly honored. But the top of the monument does not honor Washington, rather it reads, Laus Deo – Glory to God. Straight north of the Washington Monument Read more...
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Inscription Birthplace of Carry A. Nation With hatchet in hand, this famous Kentuckian harassed saloon owners across U.S. Four miles from here on Carry Nation Rd. is house where she was born, 1846; lived there five years and in other Ky. towns before moving west. After Kansas banned liquor, Carry began crusade there in 1899, smashing furniture, mirrors, bottles. Home Read more...
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Carry Nation (1846-1911) was born in Kentucky and later married to Charles Gloyd. A doctor and an alcoholic, they had one daughter, a dissolving marriage, and a dead husband in less than two years. The first hand experience with liquor would change her life dramatically. In 1894, she led her branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union into a local Read more...
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The life of Carrie Nation stands as one of the most striking and controversial chapters in the history of the American temperance movement. Known for her dramatic methods and uncompromising stance against alcohol, Nation became a national figure in the early twentieth century, symbolizing both the intensity and the division surrounding the push for prohibition in the United States. Born Read more...
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The tragic shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on November 5, 2017, stands as one of the deadliest attacks on a place of worship in American history. The event shocked the nation, not only for its scale but for the setting—a small, close-knit church community gathered for Sunday worship. On that morning, members of the congregation had Read more...
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Preacher “One of the most useful qualifications of a good minister is that he have a lively sense of religion upon his own heart.” John Witherspoon Born in Gifford, Scotland, in 1723, Witherspoon was educated at the University of Edinburgh, completing his divinity studies in 1743. The son of a clergyman, he became pastor of the Presbyterian congregation in Beith Read more...
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The history and impact of the The Gideons International and their widely recognized “Gideon Bibles” represent one of the most enduring efforts to place Scripture directly into everyday life. For more than a century, this organization has been known for its simple but far-reaching mission: to distribute copies of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, in places where people are Read more...
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The story of the “Beecher Bibles” and the later shortfall of the Social Gospel movement reflects two distinct but related attempts to address moral crisis in American life. Both arose from a desire to confront injustice, yet they differed sharply in method and long-term impact. The term “Beecher Bibles” is associated with Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent nineteenth-century minister and Read more...
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The Pennsylvania Bible Society stands as one of the oldest Bible societies in the United States, reflecting a long-standing commitment to the distribution of Scripture and the promotion of biblical literacy. Founded in 1808 in Philadelphia, the society emerged during a period of religious revival and growing interest in organized efforts to make the Bible widely available to all people, Read more...
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The first English-language Bible printed in America, commonly known as the Aitken Bible, stands as a remarkable achievement in the early history of the United States. Produced in 1782 by Robert Aitken in Philadelphia, this edition of the Scriptures was born out of both necessity and conviction during the years following the American Revolution. Before independence, most English Bibles used Read more...
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The relationship between Abraham Lincoln and religion has long been a subject of careful study and thoughtful debate. Unlike many American leaders of his time, Lincoln was not formally affiliated with a church, yet his language, convictions, and leadership were deeply shaped by religious ideas, particularly those rooted in the Bible. Lincoln was born in 1809 in Hardin County, a Read more...
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William Jennings Bryan began practicing law in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1883. After graduating from law school at Union College of Law (now part of Northwestern University), Bryan moved to Jacksonville, where he opened a law practice. There he partnered with a local attorney and quickly became involved in both legal work and public speaking. His time in Jacksonville was formative. Read more...
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The story of William Jennings Bryan and his famous “Cross of Gold” speech is most often associated with the dramatic scene at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Yet, like many great speeches, its power was not born in a single moment. Bryan had developed and delivered earlier versions of his argument in towns across the Midwest, including a Read more...
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The Mayflower Compact stands as one of the most significant founding documents in early American history. Signed aboard the ship Mayflower in November 1620, it established a basic framework for self-government among English settlers who had arrived on the shores of what is now Massachusetts without a formal governing charter. Though brief in length, the Compact carried lasting influence, shaping Read more...
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Thomas Hooker stands among the most influential early Puritan leaders in colonial New England. A gifted preacher, theological thinker, and community organizer, Hooker played a foundational role in the development of democratic ideas in America and in the founding of the colony of Connecticut. His life reflects the broader story of Puritan migration, religious reform, and the shaping of early Read more...