“You’re standing on a battleground right now.”
David Jackson stood in the blazing sunlight on an unseasonably hot day in Trenton, New Jersey, sharing the area’s rich history with anyone who wandered up to talk. Originally from Bordentown, about 15 minutes away, Jackson joined more than 2,500 others from his home state on Wednesday for the 43rd stop of the Decision America Tour with Franklin Graham.
The noon prayer rally brought a diverse group of men, women and children together to pray as one for New Jersey and the United States. But Jackson couldn’t help but stand out from the crowd. He was, after all, the only one dressed in head-to-toe Revolutionary War costume.
“I wanted to come dressed like this and introduce the body of Christ present with the body of Christ past,” Jackson said, explaining how the birth of the United States was inextricably tied to a guiding faith in God—not just the faith of the Founding Fathers but the faith of ordinary Americans who believed prayer was as natural and essential as breathing.
As the area in front of the State House filled with people sweating it out in the heat, it was hard to imagine they were standing in the same place where Gen. George Washington marched his troops through deep snow after crossing the icy Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776. What followed was the Battle of Trenton—a crucial battle in the American Revolution.
“The outcome of this battle determined whether America as we know it today would continue or cease to exist,” Jackson said. “This was a turning point.”
When Franklin Graham stepped up to the podium, he talked about a different kind of battle—one that’s happening in the homes, schools, churches and government buildings of America.
“We’re in a battle for the soul of this country,” he said.
The people who filled the sidewalks and street in front of the Capitol murmured in agreement.
“I just think it’s amazing what Franklin is doing with this tour,” said Shari Becker, who came to the rally with her mother, Charlotte Boellmann. “Our country needs prayer more than anything else.”
The only way to turn the nation around, she said, is “if we repent and cry out to God.”
That’s exactly what the people who gathered in Trenton did—some quietly and some out loud, as the sounds of thousands of prayers filled the space in front of the Capitol.
Among the crowd was Pastor Everett Kelly from Faith Deliverance Cathedral in Ewing, New Jersey. Since he was “a little lad,” Pastor Everett has watched Billy Graham, admiring how he has shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ in plain and simple terms. The pastor came to the rally to see what Franklin Graham had to say and to join with other believers in unity.
“It’s so wonderful when the saints, when Christians can come together and unify,” he said. “We get caught up in so many different things and we get sidetracked, but God wants us unified.”
He said our country’s problems can be solved if believers will focus on these words from Jesus, who was quoting the Old Testament of the Bible:
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself'” (Matthew 22:37-39, NKJV).
There was plenty of love to go around as the people of New Jersey joined hands with total strangers, prayed and sang praises to God. Most importantly, everyone within the sound of Franklin Graham’s voice heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ—that God loved the world so much, He sent his only Son to pay the penalty for our sins.
“When Jesus Christ died and hung on that cross, He shed His blood for you.” Franklin said. “And God raised His Son to life.”
As Franklin issued an invitation to accept Christ, murmured prayers could once again be heard throughout the crowd, as some pulled out their cellphones to text in their decisions.
More than 300 years ago, when Washington surprised the Hessian soldiers in the Battle of Trenton on that icy cold night, the fledgling country known as the United States of America celebrated a crucial and unexpected turning point. In the midst of a dark hour, there was suddenly hope.
“I’m looking at it today and saying it’s another turning point,” Jackson said, in between conversations with strangers curious about his unusual attire. “It’s a spiritual battleground.”
The invisible battle may be raging, but as the truth of the Gospel rings out from capital cities across the country, it’s clear the United States is not beyond hope. In fact, every decision to stand up and follow Christ is one more blow to the enemy in the battle for the soul of America.
