America's very first war as a nation wasn't with the British — it was with Islam. In Part 9 of The Cross & the Crescent, Pastor Daniel Hayworth walks Christians through 250 years of forgotten history and shows why this moment demands biblical courage, not fear. This episode traces the line from the Barbary pirates who enslaved thousands of Americans and forced Jefferson to send the Marines "to the shores of Tripoli," through the Armenian genocide that killed 1.5 million Christians a century ago, to the modern-day terror attacks and cultural battles unfolding right now. If you've ever wondered why Islam keeps producing the same fruit across 1,400 years, why the Church seems to keep forgetting its own history, or what Christians are actually called to do in a kairos moment like this one — this episode answers those questions head-on and points you back to the Word of God.

Pastor Daniel Hayworth serves at Vintage Church in Central Texas and joins the Under God Podcast rotation alongside Pastor Stephen Martin, Pastor Rob McCoy, and Pastor Nathan Brown. This is Part 9 of The Cross & the Crescent — the podcast's ongoing series tracing the theology, history, and modern reality of Islam through a biblical lens. Daniel closes this message with a clear call: proclaim the gospel, refuse to equivocate between Islam and Christianity, elect leaders who will name the threat, and stand on the Word of God without apology.

What You'll Discover:

✅ Why Thomas Jefferson sent the Marines to Tripoli — America's first foreign war

✅ How the Tripoli ambassador's 1786 answer to Jefferson and Adams revealed Islam's true doctrine

✅ The forgotten Armenian genocide and why Hitler cited it before the Holocaust

✅ Why Scripture calls fear a sin — and how to respond with courage instead

✅ How the Church recently helped defeat an Islamic curriculum in Texas

✅ What the "Red Green Alliance" is and how taqiyya operates in America today

✅ The biblical strategy for standing firm: proclaim the gospel, name evil, seek His face

📖 Scripture Study:

📖 Isaiah 41:10 – "Fear thou not, for I am with thee": the anchor verse for facing evil without being paralyzed by it.

📖 Ezekiel 33 – The watchman on the wall: the pastor's commission to warn God's people, and the weight of silence.

📖 Esther 4:14 – "For such a time as this": Mordecai's charge to Esther, applied to every Christian in this kairos moment.

📖 Nehemiah 4:6, 14 – Do not be afraid of the enemy; remember the Lord and fight for your brothers, sons, daughters, wives, and homes.

📖 2 Corinthians 11:14 – Satan and his servants disguise themselves as angels of light, which is why discernment matters now.

📖 Ephesians 6:11 – Put on the full armor of God so you can stand firm on the day of evil.

📖 2 Chronicles 7:14 – "If my people... will humble themselves and pray": the promise of national healing tied to Christian repentance.

📖 Romans 1:16 – "I am not ashamed of the gospel" — the weapon that is not of this world.

Questions this episode answers:

What was America's first war? — America's first foreign military campaign was the First Barbary War (1801–1805) against the Muslim Barbary states of North Africa, who were enslaving American sailors and demanding jizya tribute. Jefferson sent the Navy and Marines, and the U.S. flag was raised on foreign soil for the first time at Derna in 1805.

What is a kairos moment in the Bible? — Kairos is a Greek word for time that denotes significance rather than chronology (chronos). It refers to a divinely appointed moment that demands a decisive response. Pastor Daniel Hayworth argues the West is in a kairos moment now, and how Christians respond will shape generations.

What was the Armenian genocide and why does it matter to Christians? — Beginning in 1915, the Ottoman Empire systematically murdered roughly 1.5 million Armenian Christians — the oldest Christian population in the world, who had converted before Rome. The world's forgetfulness of this atrocity is what emboldened Hitler to carry out the Holocaust two decades later.

Does the Bible say fear is a sin? — Pastor Daniel Hayworth teaches that fear is not merely a negative emotion but a sin, because God commands "do not fear" 366 times in Scripture — once for every day of the year, including leap day. Fear dishonors God and is a poor strategy; courage rooted in Christ is the biblical response.

What should Christians do about Islam in America? — The episode calls Christians to proclaim the gospel without apology, refuse to equivocate between Islam and Christianity, vote for leaders who will name the threat, and seek God's face in prayer according to 2 Chronicles 7:14. The Church that stands cannot be overcome.

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