This year, my staff gave me a truly remarkable and priceless gift — a first edition, original sermon delivered by pastor Jonas Clark on May 30, 1781 before the Governor, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The sermon, the first election sermon delivered for the new government in Massachusetts, specifically addressed the duty of the state to acknowledge God and of civil magistrates to follow the biblical doctrine of interposition against any and all magistrates acting contrary to the higher law or outside the scope of their legitimate jurisdiction. Pastor Clark was not only famous for his preaching and careful exposition of the Word of God, but for being a man who lived out his message. After all, as a younger man in 1775, Pastor Jonas Clark had rallied the men of his community to the green of Lexington where he and they defended their homes against the invading Lobsterbacks.

Just a month ago, I was standing on Concord Bridge and Lexington Green with my good friend Richard “Little Bear” Wheeler, the Chief Justice of Alabama and his family, and more than 150 home educators as part of the 2003 Vision Forum Ministries Faith and Freedom Tour. Below is the monument to the patriot pastors of Lexington, including Jonas Clark.