BOISE, Idaho – While the secular left continues to promote the term “Christian Nationalism” as a shameful tag, a congregation that usually worships on Sundays inside a middle school is hosting a church service outside, in front of the State Capitol Building in Boise this coming Sunday, Sept. 17 instead.
Pastor Marty Yost of the non-denominational church, Mountain Heights Calvary Chapel, told The Washington Times that the reason for the outreach is to focus on an “Appeal to Heaven” on Constitution Day. The American federal holiday, which usually passes by with little fanfare, is a call to recognize the adoption of the United States Constitution. It is observed on Sept. 17, the day in 1787 that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia.
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Mr. Yost said that the event to be held on the capitol grounds is about giving God the highest priority, “even above” a love for America.
“Conservatives need Jesus, too,” Mr. Yost said. “There are people who need to get Christ above the flag, not the flag above Christ. The reason we love our country is because God gave us this country and He gave us this Constitution. He put this together and the reason it’s great is because we seek Him in all things. This is about getting back to exactly what our country was founded on.”
The Idaho State Capitol was also the location of a recent “Let Us Worship” service as part of the Kingdom to the Capitol tour from worship leader Sean Feucht. That event and its participants were labeled “dangerous activists” by detractors. It’s estimated that 12,000 attendees joined worship services on capitol steps in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Montana this summer.
Mr. Yost said that the United States’ founding fathers were “seeking the Creator and seeking freedom” while penning the Constitution.
“Although our [nation’s] founders were imperfect they knew to seek a perfect God because they knew it was the wise thing to do. They knew that the fear of God is the first step to wisdom,” he said. “We have to get back to exactly how this [nation] was planted. And that is on our knees first.”
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One of the guest speakers scheduled after the worship service at the event is William J. Federer, who is a nationally known speaker, author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America’s heritage.
Mr. Federer told The Washington Times that at the Constitution Day event he plans to “remind people that the purpose of the Constitution was to limit power from concentrating” and that everyone has a role in governing.
“It was a way for the people to rule themselves. Bottom-up versus top-down,” he said. “It’s the difference between a dead pyramid rule top-down and a living tree bottom-up rule, where every root and every tiny capillary root helps suck in nutrients to keep the tree alive. It’s a form of government where every person needs to participate. Every person is a part of the covenant. It’s not where you just are lazy and not involved. You are part of it, you’re in agreement with the covenant.”
Mr. Federer said one of his favorite quotes regarding individual freedom and autonomy is from John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the U.S. It reads: “Your life, your liberty, and your property will be at the disposal only of your Creator and yourselves. So you get to decide what you want to do with your life and your liberty.”
Mr. Yost said members of Idaho’s House and Senate have been invited to the event at the Capitol. They will be prayed for, he said, and despite a widening political divide, he expects many of them to attend who are from both sides of the aisle.
“God is the only way out of this predicament that we’re in, He can extend time,” he said. I’ve seen firsthand that there are people who are believers in the [Idaho State] Senate and the House. Unfortunately,everything’s a ‘wheel and deal’ down there.”
Mr. Yost, who prays with a prayer group inside the State Capitol weekly, said that the state’s legislators are always asked by other legislators to compromise their stance in order to later receive the legislation they want. He said he reminds believers, who are working to represent the people of Idaho, while in this “gray area,” that their identity is in Jesus.
“He’s not the way, the truth, and the compromise. He’s the way, the truth, and the life,” Mr. Yost said.
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Alex Murashko is a journalist and the writing team leader for Think Eternity, a site for powerful faith content to help you live the fulfilled life in Jesus. Connect: @AlexMurashko.
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