I was blessed to see an original, hand-written copy of Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence. He wrote several copies so people could see what Congress had done to it. I read part of his paragraph denouncing slavery in SuperCentennial Celebrations (keeping his use of ALL CAPS): 

“He...

     (to AUDIENCE)

...being King George...

     (reading)

“...has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain, determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold.” 

     (to AUDIENCE)

I went on to write how every law passed by our people to set the slaves free was stricken down by King George. Sadly Georgia and South Carolina delegates refused to sign the Declaration unless I took that out. Did you know the Carolinas are named after King George’s great great great uncle, Charles the First, and Georgia was named after the grandfather of King George? That may lead you to some prayer direction. We felt it was important that we had unanimous agreement on the Declaration, but it was one of the saddest moments of the whole process. In the Year of Our Lord Christ 1769 when I served in the Virginia House of Burgesses I made one effort for the permission of the emancipation of slaves, which was rejected. Most believed it was our duty to be subordinate to the mother country in all matters of government. Many of us wanted to abolish slavery in our Constitution when we wrote that in the year of our Lord Christ 1787, but South Carolina said they would secede and take Georgia and North Carolina with them. That would have meant that British soldiers would have been welcomed to our shores to prepare to attack us in the North. We decided it was better for us to be a truly “United States of America” and to put off the issue of slavery for 21 years. That’s seven years from now, and it’s my earnest prayer that everyone in our nation will be free. God has no attribute that could take sides with the oppressor in such a contest, and the hour of emancipation is advancing; in the march of time, it will come.

You can see more of the monologue at www.RichDrama.com/blog (7/9/26).

Sadly we kept pushing the issue of slavery off until war, famine, and disease devoured us. 

Lord, may we turn back to You and away from the issues of our day that break Your heart, while there is time. 

What follows is from my #WhatScriptureSaysAboutLove series, which is explained at www.RichDrama.com/blog/post/WhatScriptureSaysAboutLove.

 ‎ אָהֵב [ʾāhēb] v. 

218 uses in 202 verses 

Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

— Malachi 2:11 NAS95 

May we turn away from foreign gods while there is time!

We no longer need to hide! We can run to the One who can cover our shame. He paid the price so we can walk with Him once again. 

After receiving Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World by Eric Metaxas, Joyce and I went out to see Revolutionary America on its last night in theaters, featuring an interview with Eric Metaxas. 

One of the themes of the film was how much our forebears suffered so that we could live under "the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God," rights that should never be taken away because they’re given to us by the Lord. Some of those winters in tents without shoes (because they ate them when the dogs were gone) must have felt like the terrible day of the Lord! Yet the final judgement will be far worse for those who aren’t trusting in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins. 

The other day we were walking down the sidewalk and heard behind us, “Be 100% certain you’ll spend eternity in Heaven.” I thought someone was witnessing, until the young man explained to the young woman he was walking with that the phrase was on a bus that then crossed in front of us. They went on to mock it. It’s probably good I didn’t think of it at the time, because I think what they needed was the prayer I was prompted to send up for them, but it occurred to me that to mock Salvation they must have confidence that there’s nothing after this life, that everyone gets into Heaven, or that hell isn’t really all that bad. 

Better to have confidence in the only One who can save you from the terrible day of the Lord’s judgment: www.RichDrama.com/blog/post/MyPassion.

Great to see Ian Anthony Reid directed Revolutionary America! He was cinematographer and editor of The Screenwriters. 

#ScriptureInTheNight 

www.RichDrama.com/blog/post/InterpretingTheTimes 

What follows is from my #WhatScriptureSaysAboutLove series, which is explained at www.RichDrama.com/blog/post/WhatScriptureSaysAboutLove. 

 ‎ אָהֵב [ʾāhēb] v. 

174/202 

They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have gone after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the face of the ground.

— Jeremiah 8:2 NAS95

We certainly deserve the Lord’s judgment. 

Lord, we’ve rededicated our nation to You. Bring revival, awakening, and reformation that will forestall Your judgment and make Heaven crowded!

Our church (www.WestchesterChapel.org) is one of four congregations that use a single building. We’re there Saturday evenings. Upon arriving to set up yesterday we were greeted by two women from the Brazilian fellowship who were the last to leave after their service. They led us to this fawn, which was clearly breathing, but it didn’t seem able to get up. We called animal control, who informed us they don’t handle wild animals, but they would make some calls. We prayed for the little fellow and went in to set up. 

After the service the fawn was gone. 

Not sure how the Lord answered our prayers, but we’re blessed that He did! 

As I’ve been preparing my SuperCentennial Celebration monologues the miracle of abolition keeps coming up. Of course 250 years ago we have to look at it from the other side. Two grievances in the Declaration of Independence hinted at how Britain was striking down laws allowing colonies to release their slaves. In Thomas Jefferson’s original draft, he was much more overt: 

“[King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.”

He continues with language that needs interpretation to our modern minds. This is how I do it in the monologue:

“I went on to write how every law passed by our people to set the slaves free was stricken down by King George. Sadly Georgia and South Carolina delegates refused to sign the Declaration unless I took that out.“

Pro-slavery advocates used this #ScriptureInTheNight to point out how Paul was returning a slave to his master, but the Christians who were advocating abolition like Frederick Douglass and William Wilberforce were using it to push back against the dehumanization that was keeping people in chains, showing they can have eternal life and the Holy Spirit living within them.

I wrote more about this in my article, "Our Founders Wanted to Abolish Slavery."

What follows is from my #WhatScriptureSaysAboutLove series, which is explained at www.RichDrama.com/blog/post/WhatScriptureSaysAboutLove. I typically post this series on my Instagram page, but this post was too long for Instagram: 

‎ אָהֵב [ʾāhēb] v. 

171/202 

“Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her;

Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,

— Isaiah 66:10 NAS95 

What a perfect passage for Israel Day! 

Lord, set Your Chosen People whom we love free from the rising antisemitism around the world and in our city of New York. We pray protection on all marching in the Israel Day Parade today.

It was March 1, 1997, when President Bill Clinton, Hillary, and Chelsea (plus friends) hit Broadway for a matinee of RENT at the Nederlander Theatre on W 41st St in NYC.