On June 28, 1914, one hundred years ago, an otherwise incompetent assassin fired a shot that killed Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.  The pistol waving radical would never have received his chance had not the Archduke’s driver become confused, stopped the open car, and backed right up to the spot where the assassin stood.  Such are the chances that change the world. 

That hot speck of lead plunged Europe into the bloodiest war, till then, in the history of the world.  It marched, step by step to ignite the Russian revolution and the rise of tyrannical Communism in Russia, China and Europe.  It goose-stepped straight into World War II, and then engulfed Korea, and Viet Nam.  A hundred years of death and destruction—hundreds of millions of people perished, and countless others groaned through the agonies of the twentieth Century.  One shot. One evil-possessed man. 

But there is another June 28 anniversary that birthed a vastly different outcome.  This one occurred 127 years earlier in Philadelphia.  On that day after several weeks of difficult discussions and passionate debates, Benjamin Franklin rose on the floor of the Constitutional Convention and called the delegates to prayer.  They paused in their deliberations and sought the aid and guidance of Almighty God.  Not any God.  The God of the Bible.   One man who read the need of the hour and acted. 

James Madison, the principal author of the Constitution said of that moment, “It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it the finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution.”  Madison knew whereof he spoke.  He had been taught at Princeton College by the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Rev. John Witherspoon.  He based the prevailing concept for the government of the United States on the model of the Presbyterian Church. 

Benjamin Franklin observed, “[I] beg I may not be understood to infer that our general Convention was Divinely inspired when it formed the new federal Constitution . . . [yet] I can hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance to the welfare of millions now existing (and to exist in the posterity of a great nation) should be suffered to pass without being in some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler in Whom all inferior spirits “live and move and have their being” [Acts 17:28].” 

 And George Washington, who was the president of the Convention, declared, “As to my sentiments with respect to the merits of the new Constitution, I will disclose them without reserve. . . . It appears to me then little short of a miracle that the delegates from so many different states . . . should unite in forming a system of national government.” 

What blessings have flowed to countless millions from the divinely guided work of the Constitutional Convention.  Hundreds of millions of people have benefited from the fruits of freedom and self-government.  You and I among them.  And across the world, America has been the beacon of hope, the liberating power that has time and again delivered the oppressed into freedom. 

Now, in our day, these two forces have collided in an angry struggle for control of the world.  It is the latest chapter of the war for the planet that has raged through the centuries.  On one side slithers the power of Evil, fueled from hell itself.  It seeks to destroy the race that bears the image of God.  And on the other side rises the force that descends from heaven, nourished by the grace of God, bought by the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross.  That force seeks to set men free.   Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”  The forces wrestle. 

The Constitution of the United States is the rule of law that has held off evil and preserved freedom and liberty for many years.  Only, in these days the Constitution is being severed with studied determination by those who hold power in the city that bears the hallowed name of Washington.  The President declares that he will act in open defiance of the law.  The Supreme Court delivers a small check.  The President is reinforced and supported by politicians of both parties who love power more than they love liberty.  And in their lust they pit themselves against what God himself guided good men to create. 

June 28 marks the contrast.  One force leads to death and destruction and slavery.  The other celebrates the hope of human hearts that only God offers.  The war is waged in the halls of our Capitol and across our nation.  In the statehouses and in the pulpits of our churches.  Now is the time for every man, woman, and child who loves life and liberty, to heed the call of Franklin, voiced that day 227 years ago.  And on this July 4, to seek the aid of Almighty God.  He is not deaf.  Nor is he powerless to intercede on our behalf. 

Dr. Rick Perrin is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and Chairman of the Board of World Reformed Fellowship..  He writes a weekly blog called ReTHINK which may be accessed at www.rethinkingnews.wordpress.com. He may be contacted directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..