The Bible Comes to Washington D.C.

America and the public reading of Scripture:

As I type this piece, there is a seven-day public reading of the entire Bible in Washington, D.C. It began on April 18 and will end on April 25. It involves all sorts of people, including President Donald Trump. He will be reading 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 from the Oval Office on Tuesday, April 21, from 6PM and 7PM EST.

The event that will also feature hundreds of others, including actresses Candace Cameron Bure and Patricia Heaton reading parts of the Bible. Candace has urged Americans to participate in this, saying: “There’s just a whole other life worth living for in a way that is God-honoring.”

This event, called “America Reads the Bible,” has its own website. It says this on its homepage:

Just as Ezra read the Word aloud to the people of Israel (Nehemiah 8:1–3), awakening revival and repentance, inspiring them to rebuild the temple, and working with Nehemiah to mobilize the people to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, America Reads the Bible is a sacred opportunity to call our nation back to its spiritual foundations. Through a public, continuous reading of the entire Bible in our nation’s capital by our national leaders from all spheres of influence, we believe God can spark revival in individual hearts and inspire Americans to carry the Word forward in their lives and communities into the next 250 years of our national story.

It also says this:

America Reads the Bible is a national Scripture-reading event and movement led by Christians Engaged – a nonprofit organization committed to discipling Americans on biblical worldview and their responsibilities as citizens to pray, vote, and engage for the wellbeing of our nation.

 

Having the vision for this movement over two years, Bunni Pounds, the founder and president of Christians Engaged has stepped out by faith to join the Body of Christ for the purpose of encouraging people to go back to the Bible. 

 

This initiative invites Americans from every background to return to the spiritual foundation that has shaped our country — the Word of God. Over the course of one week, leaders and everyday citizens alike will participate in a public reading of the entire Bible, bringing together voices from government, education, business, the arts, and the Church.

 

In honor of the 250th birthday of the United States, America Reads the Bible serves as a spiritual celebration of our nation’s founding ideals and a call to rediscover the truth that still anchors us today.

 

Through live readings, national broadcasts, discipleship partnerships, and local gatherings, this movement exists to remind leaders — and the nation — that lasting renewal begins with a return to God’s Word. https://www.americareadsthebible.com/about

Just some of the many readers include the following:

Hon. Michele Bachmann
David Barton
Dr. Michael Brown
Jonathan Cahn
Dr. Ben Carson
Senator Ted Cruz
Gov. Ron DeSantis
Katy Faust
Congressman Brandon Gill
Franklin Graham
Sec. Pete Hegseth
Amb. Mike Huckabee
Speaker Mike Johnson
Eric Metaxas
Fr. Frank Pavone
Sec. Marco Rubio
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Kevin Sorbo
John Stonestreet
Allie Beth Stuckey
Lance Wallnau

See the full list here: https://www.americareadsthebible.com/readers

Pastor Mike Signorelli said this about the week-long event:

The atmosphere in Washington, D.C. is shifting right now because something historic is taking place. As we approach the 250th anniversary of this nation, we are returning to the only foundation that cannot be shaken. From April 18 through April 25, the entire Bible is being read aloud from Genesis to Revelation at the Museum of the Bible. For seven straight days, nearly 500 people from across the country are gathering to lift their voices for 12 hours a day. There is no human commentary, no political spin, and no personal interpretation. This is the raw, unfiltered Word of God being spoken over our capital and over our land. This is more than an event. It is a prophetic stand for spiritual renewal…in a time when America is statistically the most secular she has ever been! In a season of deep division, this is a moment of total unity where we declare the ultimate authority of Scripture. We are calling for a turning point in America, and that turning point always begins with the Word. The sound of Truth is being released into the atmosphere. Watch, listen, and share this everywhere. Let’s make sure the Word of God reaches every home in this nation.

A few things can be said about this endeavour. First, you will hear next to nothing about this from the mainstream media. Being so hardcore secular-left, it of course is not interested in something like this. On the other hand, a media outlet like Fox News, which has a number of Christian presenters, has been quite keen to discuss it and promote it.

Second, having a week of public Bible reading by many VIPS does not mean America is now some sort of godly chosen nation. Chances are that it is under the judgment of God for its many sins. But the passage from Nehemiah referred to above certainly is important here.

And the text that Trump will soon read is also vitally important, and nicely sums up the whole situation. It is well worth sharing here in full:

Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’

“But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Lastly, the fact that Trump reads a portion of the Word of God may not make him some real deal Christian: God only knows for sure. But I pray for him every single day – and you should too. Pray that as he reads these words, the Spirit of God speaks to him and all those listening.

And just bear this in mind: can you imagine Obama or Biden or Hillary or Kamala or Omar or AOC or Mamdani reading the Bible in public, and having their supporters fully get behind this? Me neither. I for one am so grateful we now have a leader in the White House who is willing to be involved in this great event.

I will just ignore all the usual critics, and pray that God uses this event to indeed help turn America around and once again become a nation that is blessed by the living God.

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